Being a home entertainment enthusiast, I'm really keen on improving on my home network. I really want a digital entertainment network as well as boring old broadband. For the last few weeks I've had my desktop hidden away behind the TV in my living room with Windows Media Center running. Let me tell you, throw in a remote and it's a real joy to watch videos and listen to music but watching TV and more importantly recording TV is proving difficult.
At the moment that box holds all my media content which isn't ideal. What I really want is a server somewhere hidden away where the noise won't annoy my girlfriend and a sexy little box that has all the functionality that I want.
I keep seeing things which could work. Hard Disc recorders with freeview, sure sounds good, but I can't network it and stream/copy media either way. And what about if I want to upgrade to Sky or cable? What about BTs IPTV coming out in Autumn? That could be an interesting solution, but it's likely to be encoded so once again I cant stream/copy to my network.
The question is, is it best to get a HTPC and build it, or better to buy a mix match of hardware that together makes something cool. I'm unsure. Thrown in the question of next generation DRM issues and lets not forget, the price, and I'm in limbo.
2 comments:
I think I've found it...
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=41JS&CategorySelectedId=11228&NavigationKey=11228&InMerch=1
Hey Robbie my man!
Mate, this is something I have considered for ages. The solution you found is great as a portal... but far as I could see, it has not storage capability. So you are still stuck with streaming content to a machine which will act as a server and save everything.
Not easy. And it is true that girlfriends find even the quietest computer noisy. I guess I am too used to it.. I can't even hear myself typing anymore :D
Enjoy your hol you two, I look forward to reading about it.
Nic.
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