So brokencosmos, Chuck, and I had a really good conversation this morning about how you can use a Mac Mini or other computer to rip DVDs, stream Hulu, and act as a media center. Have any of you guys used a Mac or other computer as a media center and if so, what was your setup?
I have a heavy-duty desktop running in my bedroom, which is connected to my TV via VGA and to my sound system with a simple stereo jack (only because my receiver is really pathetic).
I’m running Vista Ultimate, which comes with Windows Media Center integrated into it. I’ve tried MC a couple times, but in general I just use straight up windows for my media needs. It works excellent for DVDs (I plan to get a Blu-ray drive soon), music, & HD video content. I also have a TiVo Series 3, and I archive many of my recordings onto my computer with TiVo Desktop so I can watch them without keeping my TiVo full.
If you want to go the Windows route, and will be building a dedicated system for this, I would recommend at least a dual core processor and 512MB video card. These will enable you to play back 720p video with ease (either downloaded or from Blu-ray). As for software, all you need is a good browser to handle Hulu or Netflix streaming (IE and Firefox are both good choices), iTunes to handle music & podcasts, and VLC Media Player for downloaded video and DVDs.
In the near future I’m gonna be flashing my old Xbox and putting on XBMC. My only problem is…I’m kinda doing it for the living room but I want to keep it for streaming hulu so I’m sorta torn.
I’ve been using a HTPC (Home Theater PC) for about 4 years now. I’ve rebuilt it a few times, mostly upgrades to handle first HD and then Blu-ray.
Here is my system:
MSI K9N socket AM2 motherboard
AMD A64 X2 4850e 2.5GHz dual-core cpu
HIS HD 4670 ATI video card
3GB DDR2 800 RAM in dual channel setup
Origen X11 rev. 1 case w/ VFD&IR & rev. 2 HD cage
Cosair 520W power supply
Mitsumi floppy w/ USB 2.0 card reader built in
Seagate 160GB hard drive (OS/docs)
WD GP 750GB hard drive (videos)
WD GP 1TB hard drive (videos)
LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray/HD-DVD player/DVD Burner
PVR-500 MCE dual analog tuner
DVICO FusionHDTV Lite HD tuner
Vbox Cat’s Eye 150 HD tuner
AverMedia M780 combo tuner (Analog & Digital)
XP Pro w/ SP3, SageTV 6.4.8, SageMC 6.3.8a, Catalyst 8.10 driver, purevideo decoder 1.02-223
Video to Westinghouse 32" LCD via DVI and sound via SPDIF to Pioneer receiver
I’ve been able to record 2 HD streams and 2 analog streams at the same time while watching previously recorded HD show with no problems. Plays back Blu-ray with no probems. It’s at the point where it just works. I do want to swap out the OS drive for another GP to reduce temps and increase storage. I’ve never used MCE or VMC but really like SageTV and think it was worth every penny! I recently purchased a SageTV HD extender so I can watch anything on the HTPC at the treadmil. Very cool.
I don’t do much with Hulu or netflix at this point, but I do know there is a netflix plugin for SageTV. That’s the great thing - huge community of support and programing ad-ons. SageMC is a great example of that.
Mike
I’m looking to upgrade my HTPC because I’ve ordered a Ceton cablecard digital tuner and need more PCIe slots. I’m Trying to decide if I should go with a quad-core or dual-core, and Intel or AMD. Also either Intel Intergrated HD graphics (which would force a dual-core intel CPU) or an ATI 5770 or such card. Any thoughts?
I’ve been using an old dell as my HTPC for a long, long time. Mac minis have a great form factor here, but the only decent tuner available for it is the El Gato EyeTV, which is around ~$100 last I checked. On the flipside, a good PC tuner can be had for as low as $40, and a quality one ~$75. That, and Windows Media Center is actually a very good DVR interface with Netflix integrated and Hulu plugins easy to find (if you even need it, with Hulu Desktop being so inredibly useful).
The great thing about an HTPC is that it’s upgradable and doesn’t require a huge investment. I’ve got mine running with 2GB of ram, a low-power Dual-core pentium, two 500GB drives, and an older DX10 video card. However, I don’t record in HD and my playback is only 720p. If you want to run blu-rays and record HD content, you’re going to need a slightly beefier system.
Either way, I’d definitely stick with a PC system for an HTPC. Shuttles and other small form-factor barebones kits make for great settops. Rokus, boxees, appleTVs… won’t need any of em.
I’m in your boat Jolly. I have an old gaming system I’m in the middle of converting to a HTPC. I know the unit will record tv well with the clear qam tuner. Was torn between that or building a new SFF pc to do the job. Going to get a ceton card just the thought of blowing 4 big ones on it has me holding off. It doesn’t help that many decent ATX cases for this task cost 100+ (that Thermaltake costing 250 ouch). So for now its still a work in process.
I’ve been using HTPCs for a while, and I have a challenging environment that requires something that just works, and mine is there.
The PC is currently a refurbed Gateway I picked up for $400 on eBay with a good dual-core processor & RAM, details unimportant. It has an ATI HD card, but other than that, faster is better.
It’s running Windows 7, but the actual work is done with Boxee. That’s the media center program (it’s an offshoot of XBMC). I cut the cord (or cable, in this case) and get all TV episodes off the internet via uTorrent RSS feeds that automagically get new episodes as they air. Boxee then recognizes the titles and gets metadata automatically, so no tweaking required to watch a show.
The actual controlling is done via my Harmony 880 remote, and it’s emulating an MCE Media Center remote to issue arrows, enter key, etc.
Boxee is super easy, it presents my shows and movies in order of newest on top, tracks what I’ve watched and haven’t, and, now here’s the reason it must JUST WORK:
The primary users are my kids (6 & 8) along with my wife and I. There’s no room in our livingroom for a monstrosity that is used like “To watch TV? Yeah, it’s easy, just turn on the TV, then switch it to the PC input and then use the mouse to click Start, Media Center, wait a minute, then maximize it. Now use the infrared keyboard to select the directory with the TV shows and go look at the timestamps and play there. That, or just fire up VLC. Also, if there’s a new show, wait for me to get home so I can put it up, thaaaaanks!” <- This is an actual userflow some of my friends have on their HTPCs.
Mine: “Pick up the remote, click ‘Watch TV’. Now select a show to watch and click play.” The Harmony is great because it handles all operations like turning on TV, receiver, switching inputs, etc etc etc. No funky macro dances, it actually tracks the state of each appliance and is smart about issuing it commands.
Does your Gateway have an IR sensor or did you need to add something on? Harmony remotes are drool-inducing, but I didn’t know you could integrate them with a PC as well.
I forgot to mention I picked up a $5 USB mce remote from eBay so I could use its IR receiver.