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Home Media Servers

Discussion in 'Community Broadband & Computers' started by boomertsfx, Feb 17, 2010.

  1. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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  2. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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  3. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Yea, saw that last week and was pretty disappointed. There's a lot of backlash from WHS users, but I doubt MS will change their mind. Another great product slowly being torn apart by some folks who think they understand what their users want...

    I guess I'll just keep applying the patches until they run dry, and then run my box for a while after that until there's a better alternative. For now, my WHS works great, and I feel good knowing I have good backups, etc. It's just sad to see MS going back to their old ways and killing what many users thought was a great, yet niche, product...
     
  4. Rhaegar

    Rhaegar Member

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  5. Ken

    Ken Member

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    Just bought a Acer Aspire Revo 3700 and I'm running XBMC on it. After some trials, it's working great. I'm able to stream a 20 GB BluRay rip over wireless no problem. I did have to buy another wireless adapter though as the one that comes built-in is a little shoddy (one of the trials). I have it dual-booting to Windows 7 and Ubuntu, but honestly I just didn't feel like spending the next 2 months tweaking the Linux/XBMC solution, so I just use the Windows 7 install.
     
  6. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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    I kinda got tired with fiddling with my HTPC so I got a WDTV Live for the bedroom projector and it works well for the most part (price/wattage/remote (learned onto a universal)/etc). I have it hardwired (not a big fan of wireless, but haven't tried n)

    Does XBMC/Boxee integrate ads now? I haven't tried it in about a year.
     
  7. Ken

    Ken Member

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    I actually had a Boxee Box that I returned to Amazon this past weekend. I have a couple TBs of ripped DVDs/BDs that I like to occasionally watch, and the Boxee Box (v1.0 of Boxee) was really geared to a lot of on-line content. Which is sorta weird because Netflix, Hulu and Vudu weren't available on it. :rolleyes3: Plus there was some choppy playback happening on smallish DVD rips. The Boxee team has a lot do to get that Box primetime ready, IMO. I can really only recommend that you check out the reviews on Amazon to find out if it's right for you. It looks like Boxee has made the move to advertise for a lot of on-line providers. BTW, Boxee for Windows is still on 0.9.x, but isn't currently being updated. They're working on the multitude of issues on the 1.0 Box and plan to follow up with 1.0 for Windows/Linux in a few months.

    This was really my reasoning behing going with XBMC. It's solid and is still community-supported.
     
  8. sri_n

    sri_n Member

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    Great thread! Any updates on this topic that someone would like to share? Just about getting around to consolidating my media and PC backup solutions, and looking for ideas/solutions. Anyone have anything new to share?
     
  9. L0stS0ul

    L0stS0ul hmmmm

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    I've now standardized on plex media server to roku boxes and my tablets. Works great for me.
     
  10. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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    I am finally upgrading the CPU in my HP Mediasmart Server (ex485) -- it comes stock with a Celeron and I got a e8400 off of eBay and did all of the BIOS updates/etc but can't get the sucker to POST. This is when it stinks to have a headless server =) Does anyone per-chance have a LGA775 motherboard lying around I could borrow to see if the CPU is DOA? I have video cards and memory..

    Also, on another note... I've grown tired of paying $20 (home media dvr) and $17 (hd dvr) a month for my FiOS DVRs so I recently got a HD Homerun Prime (3 networked tuners) + 3.99/mo CableCard and I really dig it. I put together a new Win 7 HTPC box for cheap and after a few cablecard activation issues everything seems to be working well. I might try something Linux-based at some point, but I hear there are issues with audio bitstreaming over HDMI in Linux.
     
  11. Mike-and-Kim

    Mike-and-Kim Member

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    We've been running a HD prime dual tuner for OTA and it is great, into Windows 7. I think they did a great job with media center, for TV anyway. I set up homegroups so Kim can watch Downton Abbey in the background on the laptop.

    I added a Winegard UHF antenna (we already had their largest model of FM antenna to pull WBJC from Baltimore) to the attic and located the tuner there, using the existing ethernet drop in the attic...no cable loss running to the basement.
     
  12. Zeratul

    Zeratul Well-Known Member

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    Yea I finally got my HTPC up a running over the holidays. I am not doing over the air or regular tv viewing but I am using it for eTVnet service, which is a Canadian company for Russian Language tv. I get 110 live channels and unlimited use of archives for $25 a month. My wife and kids are multi-lingual so it helps with all of them too. I just like access to all the Hockey and Soccer.

    I am also using this box to watch our DVD collection...WIN 7 Media Center works well right out of the box but I find JRiver good as well as MyMovies. I have about 200 movies stored so far. I found a great case that looks like a stereo receiver, with an aluminum front, but I had to cut a hole in the back of the cabinet for cable access (forgot HDMI and USB cables stick out)... and all works well so far. And yes, I can game on it too, but the WAF (wife acceptance factor) keeps this to off hours :)
     
  13. pauleyc

    pauleyc Member

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    What format are you using for archiving the movies?
     
  14. Zeratul

    Zeratul Well-Known Member

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    For just plain DVDs I am simply copying to video_ts and audio folders in a directory structure (movies only, no menu or previews etc.). I am doing this for kids movies and general "other" movies that I do not care about for other features. Some of the BluRays I did in simple ISO format and mount them with CloneDVD in the background. ISOs are handled automatically in the background with MyMovies. I am not doing anything fancy with audio at this point.
     

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