Media Center Project

This is a project to build a client/server based media center using a small pc connected to the media server (which is just \\godzilla, a dual xeon ubuntu desktop).

We were orginally going to use the shuttle xpc which was purchased for the games project a couple of years ago and ended up being a desktop when pc games lost their allure. (discovered i only like turn-based strategy games that make you think, a very unpopular genre so not many options)

Anyway, the shuttle was converted to ubuntu desktop and a DVI to HDMI cable purchased. I had some qualms about this approach as then you needed multiple audio cables and there was concern about an agp video card keeping up with HD video.

As it turned out the shuttle xpc is 7 3/4" wide and the new entertainment unit when fully populated with the pre-amp, 2 power amps and 2 optical disc players only had 7 1/4" of free space. So out it went. I then researched all the embedded media players available such as the WD, the popcorn, Dlink, Apple TV etc. The apple is the easiest to get working but ties you to iTunes which i don't want and will not play all media types. The WD is considered about the best, although Asus has a new player that is pretty good. However, all of those players do not support all the open source formats i use for a/v so they were out. They also tend to use windows shares browsing, which i did not want to do. This led me back to the original idea, the only way to ensure all the stuff i have can be played is to use a computer-based solution.

The problem is that computer-based media players like the shuttle are expensive and come with windows media player, which i don't want because it will not play all the open source formats. The solution was either to build my own box using an expensive pci-e video card with HDMI output for video and audio, or find a cheap and small box with that capability.

After a little research i settled on the Acer Revo, a 7.1″H x 7.1″D x 1.2″W computer that has an atom 1.6 cpu, 2 gig of ram, and the nvidia ion chipset with HDMI audio/video out. And it is cheap! The next step was to decide what software to run. I flirted with the idea of MythTV because i've always wanted to try it but it is geared towards PVR and TV tuners and TV watching. I don't watch much TV and don't even have cable or sat - i just want to access the terabytes of media files on my network. The solution i decided on is the XBMC open source media player. The idea is for the revo client to run the xbmc client and connect over the network to the UPNP media server (\\godzilla running upnp). I did a test using the shuttle xpc running the xbmc client and running mediatomb on the server and it worked ok. Not crazy about medatomb at first glance so will spend more time on that end when the revo arrives.

Also ordered a windows media center remote that was listed as working with xbmc. Since the revo can be set to come up in xbmc this means no need for a keyboard. There is also a liveCD fo xbmc so the whole thing can be tested out without installing.

Will post how it works out when it arrives.