Raining_again Posted June 24, 2010 Posted June 24, 2010 I've been thinking about building/buying a base unit to use as a media device/computer. I've got a tv to connect to it, I'm pretty sure the viable connections would be either VGA or HDMI. Happy enough to build, open to suggestions, Apple (constructive suggestions plz) or PC wise. Budget isn't fixed, but I don't want to waste a unneccesary amount of money. Ideally I'd like it to be quiet (fanless where possible), relatively small (although options are open for a normal case) and be able to run HD vids without stuttering =P I'm interested in those new fancy solid state drives, but i've not really kept up in the latest specs n standards. So this is where you clever up to date buffs come in!
Ten10 Posted June 24, 2010 Posted June 24, 2010 (edited) Well windows 7 has media center built in. Although you could go for vista home premium if you wanted to try and cut down on OS costs. I'm not too sure in terms of apple, but I hear a new version of apple TV is on its way in an iphone sized form factor (that's what the rumour mill said) In terms of the machine being fan less / ultra quiet I'm not sure what cpu you could get away with without jerky performance but I'd probably go AMD to make a low cost media pc. As for the GPU I think you can get away with the ATI Radeon HD 4550 Reveal hidden contents 1. Blu-ray drive and HD capable monitor required. 2. Requires a 10-bit display. 3. The ATI Radeon HD 4550 GPUs can upscale video display to 2560x1600 on dual-link monitors which is almost twice the display resolution of 1080p displays. 4. The ATI Radeon HD 4550 GPUs are capable of outputting DisplayPort signals. Manufacturers of ATI Radeon HD 4550 graphics cards may choose to implement this functionality – you may inquire of them which models, if any, support DisplayPort. ATI Radeon™ HD graphics chips have numerous features integrated into the processor itself (e.g., HDCP, HDMI, etc.). Third parties manufacturing products based on, or incorporating ATI Radeon HD graphics chips, may choose to enable some or all of these features. If a particular feature is important to you, please inquire of the manufacturer if a particular product supports this feature. In addition, some features or technologies may require you to purchase additional components in order to make full use of them (e.g. a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive, HDCP-ready monitor, etc.) Personally I'm thinking AMD mobo with integrated graphics perhaps something with a 4290 or above would do the job, with the option to add a graphics card if your needs change. In terms of something pre made as a base unit I wouldn't know where to look. Someone might be able to point out some low power Nvidia cards, I only know of the high end ones. Found a cnet help guide which is along the same sort of lines, and is quite recent: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/build-your-own-home-theater-pc-htpc-for-under-600/7123 Edited June 24, 2010 by Ten10
McPhee Posted June 24, 2010 Posted June 24, 2010 Is it just HD video playback (MKV?) that you want? No fancy post-processing, no TV tuners, no gaming or high-quality sound card? And how do you want to load content to it? Straight from a hard drive or over the network from a server/NAS? Oh, and last question, low-maintenance or long-term tweaking project? Makes a big difference on the software choice.
Wesley Posted June 24, 2010 Posted June 24, 2010 What's very nice for a TV setup is just a nice little Mac Mini sitting underneath it. Then just buy an external (http://go.iomega.com/en/products/external-hard-drive-desktop/ultramax-minimax/minimax/?partner=4735) that has the same form factor as the Mac Mini to match. Could even buy a couple of those I suppose. Although I've just got the 1 connected via firewire. I might buy another and see what it's like via USB. But yeah, then just make ref copies of all the media onto your actual Mac Mini and let Frontrow do the business.
Will Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 Wesley said: What's very nice for a TV setup is just a nice little Mac Mini sitting underneath it. Then just buy an external (http://go.iomega.com/en/products/external-hard-drive-desktop/ultramax-minimax/minimax/?partner=4735) that has the same form factor as the Mac Mini to match. Could even buy a couple of those I suppose. Although I've just got the 1 connected via firewire. I might buy another and see what it's like via USB. But yeah, then just make ref copies of all the media onto your actual Mac Mini and let Frontrow do the business. This is pretty much what I plan to do in a few months. I've realized I use my iMac so little as an actual computer I'd be better off with a mac mini and have it hooked up to the TV rather than having it's own dedicated space.
Shorty Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 My media system is awesome. Regular PC -- Monitor | --- 5 metre HDMI Cable through to the living room -- HDTV -- Wireless Mouse
Mr_Odwin Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 I used to use a laptop hooked up to the TV with a VGA cable. But now I use my Wii with WiiMC. It's just for watching the standard-ish-kinda 350mb downloads so it works fine for us. (But given you mention HD video in the first post this post is useless!)
Wesley Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 will said: This is pretty much what I plan to do in a few months. I've realized I use my iMac so little as an actual computer I'd be better off with a mac mini and have it hooked up to the TV rather than having it's own dedicated space. Hi-five! We can be in a Mac Mini club. Also' date=' like Shorty said, having a nice wireless might mouse and keyboard sitting on your coffee table does the trick. Plus the Mac Mini comes with a nice small remote that you can use for Front Row. Er... the only thing I dislike is I can't turn on the Mac with the remote... I have to get up to switch it on. I can switch it off via my keyboard obviously. I could just do with a very long stick to turn it on. [img']http://www.futuramics.info/cutenews/data/upimages/futurama_professor_finglonger.jpg[/img]
Raining_again Posted June 25, 2010 Author Posted June 25, 2010 McPhee said: Is it just HD video playback (MKV?) that you want? Yes, that and dvd playage. I haven't got a blu-ray collection (or a ps3) so thats probably something I don't need right away, but could consider in the fuuuture. McPhee said: No fancy post-processing, no TV tuners, no gaming or high-quality sound card? -No fancy processing, just capable processing. -no tv tuner, already have digital freeview with the TV set -probably minimal gaming, nothing extremely resource hoggy -I wouldn't mind a sound card, but I can live without. McPhee said: And how do you want to load content to it? Straight from a hard drive or over the network from a server/NAS? Probably from the machine itself. I do have some HDD's somewhere. I can potentially use them (if i can find them haha) but i'm also interested in the newfangled solid state drives for speed and quietness. Last I recall they were just out and insanely priced but I don't know if they've come down to an affordable level. McPhee said: Oh, and last question, low-maintenance or long-term tweaking project? Makes a big difference on the software choice. I'm up for an ongoing project! edit: haha wes you aren't a bit wise! Thanks for the apple input though, appreciated
Raining_again Posted June 26, 2010 Author Posted June 26, 2010 I just found a case that I would bloody love if I had money coming out of my ears. Get ready to nerdgasm: the Zalman HD160XT-PLUS at a mere £440 (just just the case!) featuring -7 inch touch screen interface at 1024x768 -full motherboard and room for a monster zalman heatsink -5 hdd bays!
Wesley Posted June 28, 2010 Posted June 28, 2010 Why paid for such an expensive case that has a touch screen? Most of the time you'd be sat down/away from it?
RoadKill Posted June 28, 2010 Posted June 28, 2010 (edited) I gave some friends of mine an old Dell GX260 desktop that has a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 and 512MB RAM. It had XP installed on it so they left it with that and just run XBMC. Runs perfectly smooth. Has a Geforce4 MX440 AGP in it. You'll likely being looking at VGA, but remember if a machine has a DVI port, HDMI's video is exactly the same, so you can just use a cheap adapter from DVI to HDMI. Honestly, your best bet for a decently powerful slim machine is just trawling ebay for old corporate desktops. They're reliable and quiet and you can find them on ebay all the time. Edited June 28, 2010 by RoadKill
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