Home Media Computer which brand which OS: Windows, Apple, or Linux.

[Rhino Chaser]

Don’t turn this into a hate/bashing thread because I have been pondering this for awhile.

There are several flavors of each OS as well.

For example:

Windows: XP or Vista?

Linux: I was looking at installing it on my PS3, although I read that the ram really makes it slower than most people would like.

Apple: mainly looking at iTunes, which I suppose could run on windows as well.

How much ram would a decent system need? I was looking at about 2gb.

Lately I thinking about a Mac Mini and NAS with about 2tb of storage.

Having the iPhone in conjunction with iTunes as a rechargeable home theater remote is a major plus in my book.

I know next to nothing about dvd playback quality w/ dvd’s on an Mac Mini though. Or video quality with regular movie files either for that matter.

I want a device that I can leave on all the time. So NAS with DHCP would be a pretty solid setup for using the 360 (using Media Center) or the PS3….but having an iTunes coverflow type browser on the big screen would be pretty slick.

[namehater]

maybe i missed it, but are you looking for a HTPC (home theater pc) or for a computer to network your ps3 and 360 to?

you missed a deal on woot last week for a sony vaio htpc that had a core2duo, 2gb memory, blu-ray burner, 500gb hdd for like $700... it was a steal

[Rhino Chaser]

Either would work for me...

I am mainly curious to see what people are doing, what they want to do , or even what they have seen that they would like to do in this arena.

There are a couple of paths...the dyi on the cheap solutions and the full blown pay for it out of the box solutions.

I have a pretty solid hometheater pc, but it is a laptop, so I can't leave it on all the time.

[namehater]

personally i would go with a manufactured one, if your wanting it with a blu-ray drive at least. those drives are to expensive to add to a computer so it would be more cost effective to go with manufactured in that aspect.

ive never had a htpc, but from what i know, it doesnt have to be very powerful to achieve everything you would want it to do (music, video, downloads). 2gb would be more than enough because most video processing is done within the video card. a low end core 2 duo would be plenty sufficient.

ive tossed around the idea of building a htpc so many times, but i dont know anything about tuner cards so i always stayed away since my home pc stays on almost 24/7 and i have the ps3 setup for my media

[WormholeXtreme]

get VISTA!

[MadBryan]

go down to the store and play with Apples FrontRow. Connectivity between my 5 macs and one Apple TV is effortless and with the program Wonder turned me onto my 360 is in the loop now. I just downloaded a trial for streaming to my ps3 and it worked mighty fine. I have not had my mini hooked up to a tv to comment on dvd playback but on a monitor its great. I've never been happier

[namehater]

sorry, im an idiot that didnt read the OP well enough, ive got no experience with mac, but i would choose vista over XP

[Reifel Tower]

I dont know if this will help you but Ill tell you what I have going on.

Apple iMac (and macbook pro)

I use connect360 to allow the xboxes to see the data (video, tunes and pictures).

I rip movies with mactheripper. Save to external. Connect360 is set to look at those folders (external for movies, itunes folder for music and iphoto folder for pictures).

I rip at almost 100% quality. I have over 1000 movies and it works great for us. Its many kids movies. Even they know how to bust open the xbox and flip through and find a movie they want. I have to say it great not having to worry about a physical DVD. If we want to take some in the car it takes 20 mins to burn one... not bad

Its wireless to the 360's. I have yet to experience any lag when watching movies even at that high quality.

I have 3 Apple airport expresses throughout the house which are hooked to home theater, pool and gym speakers.

I use my iphone with the remote app to control my itunes and what speakers I want them to go to.

I dont know if that will help but if you have any questions just ask...

(Since the xbox is the "media center" the ram on the computers is moot for playing. Ripping and what not is another story.

[MadBryan]

Here's a great link for more mac mini info MacminiCenter.com - Mac mini as Media Center

[lovekeiiy]

I can't comment on Vista, since I have very limited time on it. I still like XP. I believe Vista also had a service pack release, so it may be more stable now.

For streaming, I'ver heard it's really easily and works well on the PS3. I was able to do it on the 360, but since the both the computer and 360 were connected to the LAN wirelessly, video streaming was less the desirable. And I believe it'll be a lot easier to do if you're going the NAS route too.

You'll need to some research if you're going to choose unix based OS. Ubuntu is nice and popular, but they're not updated as much as say MS or Mac. It takes time for users to write and debug changes. Plus, it's slightly different enough there is a bit of learning curve. I can't say what benefits or costs if you use it on the PS3.

If you're going to build a HTPC, I agree above the 2G of ram will be more than sufficient for it and you do not need a powerful CPU; heck, a core duo could be argued over kill at this time; I would probably do it since some programs in the future will be designed for it's minimum use. I would research into the video, tv tuner, and sound cards. Those cards are where you're going want the memory so you don't suffer any video or audio lags. Overall, I think buying a prebuilt one is going to be the cheapest route, especially if you want a blue ray drive. Depending on your computer habits, you may want to wait till they offer blue ray burners so you can back up any recordings, assuming you build in the DVR, you want to keep.

[Rhino Chaser]

I have vista on my home media laptop...it works very well streaming to my PS3 and 360...but having to load home media center every time feels like a buzz kill.

An always on solution with a Mac Mini plugged in using dvi and optical out is where I think I am heading. With sufficient NAS I think that I will have a decent platform until I do an extensive overhaul...(new tv, new receiver, etc).

I have a feeling that the next few years will have some interesting surprises in store.

Thank you for the input and I am always open to more.

Any drawbacks to the mac home theater option?

[MadBryan]

your thread got me motivated to get a 300 gb external attached to my Apple TV tonight. I've had the capability for awhile, I just needed to SFTP some file to the atv directory using FUGU. Keep your eye on craigslist, thats where I bought my sons mini (I'm looking for another)

[Rhino Chaser]

Yeah, I am looking at one for 400 right now...I would only buy one off of CL that was still under warranty though.