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So here's one thing I've been up to... | #1 |
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Webmaster
 
Joined: 2004/12/18
From Plano, TX
Posts: 8468
Level : 61 HP : 1211 / 1514
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Okay, so the other day I was trying to stream some media from my study to my media center PC and the picture kept stuttering. That's no bueno, so I'm upgrading my media center setup. Here's what I did.
I decided to follow a guide I found on LifeHacker.com. Materials: 1. Acer Aspire Revo: 2. (1) 2 gig stick of DDR PC 6400 So Dimm RAM This tiny PC has an HDMI port on the back and the NVIDIA ION LE Graphics, which makes it capable of HD playback. I added 2 gigs of memory to give it a little something extra. The guide calls for removing the windows operating system that it comes with and installing a live version of XBMC. (You can run it from a thumb drive if you want, but I installed it to the HDD to make it faster). XBMC is a free media manager software originally made for the old xbox but has now been ported to run on windows, mac, or linux. It's slick as hell. So I did that. Now the PC is light and snappy because it's only running XBMC on a small linux distro. This leaves the majority of the hardware for the playback of the media. (no more stuttering). Since this only has a 160 gig harddrive, I used Linksys Powerline adapters to get internet connectivity from the router. This gives me a fast hard line connection without having to run ethernet cables in the house. I set up XBMC to watch my media folders on my D-LINK NAS with 3 TB of space. (Goes to sleep when not in use, always connected... like a mini media server / storage.) So at this point I can download / rip movies and put them on my NAS in the appropriate folder and XBMC will pick it up and use the folder name to automatically download the box cover, fan art, movie information, synopsis, etc. Now this alone is cool enough, but I wanted more (as all geeks do), so... I found "an app for that". Yes, that's right... I can control my XBMC with my iPhone via an app. XBMC let's you set it up like a server allowing third party apps to connect to it and control it. The app allows me to see my media library on my iPhone and control my XBMC either by selecting the media I want to watch or directly through a remote control interface connected via WIFI (no pointing at the TV). Oh... and it works over the internet. I can start a movie at my house even if I'm not there. This way Mindy can call me while I'm at work or the gym and ask me to start a movie for her and I can. (This would be good for people who have kids). Yea... Not done yet. I wanted to watch TV shows that I downloaded as well, but it was a pain to manually go and download the videos. So... I setup this program on my windows PC called, "Sick Beard". I tell it what TV shows I want it to download and it finds the associated NZB files and downloads it to a folder I specify. That folder is being watched by Newsleecher. Newsleecher then downloads the TV show via newsgroups, checks the pars, unpacks the files, and places them in my TV folder on my NAS. I also found a site called, TVNZB.com which allows me to download NZB files for TV shows. Here's another cool feature... I setup the nzb folder to be in my dropbox folder (dropbox is a service that syncs folders on your desktop). So now when I'm out and about, I can just drop an nzb file in my dropbox folder, it will sync on my pc, newsleecher will detect it and start working it's magic. It's fucking slick. Suck it TIVO! |
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Negro, I implore you. 
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Posted on: 2010/2/11 10:03
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Rick
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Re: So here's one thing I've been up to... | #2 |
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Home away from home
 
Joined: 2005/9/26
From Alexandria, VA
Posts: 2196
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Quote:
Very good Rick. You've just grouped your wife in the same category as a child who can't turn on a TV. |
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Posted on: 2010/2/11 14:37
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Re: So here's one thing I've been up to... | #3 |
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Home away from home
Joined: 2006/10/22
From Michigan Brrrr!
Posts: 4948
Level : 51 HP : 756 / 1260
Group:
Registered Users Team Slacker |
I bought a logitech harmony 1000 for my parent's system. badass and a half.
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Posted on: 2010/2/11 15:14
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Re: So here's one thing I've been up to... | #4 |
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Home away from home
Joined: 2007/4/19
From Water
Posts: 2051
Level : 37 HP : 363 / 908
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This has zero value for me...
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_________________
Rick is a known coward |
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Posted on: 2010/2/11 15:20
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Re: So here's one thing I've been up to... | #5 |
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Home away from home
Joined: 2007/12/19
From Houston, TX
Posts: 2052
Level : 37 HP : 363 / 908
Group:
Registered Users Team Slacker |
If your kids were too young to turn on the TV by themselves, then why in the fuck would they be home alone?
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Posted on: 2010/2/11 16:21
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Re: So here's one thing I've been up to... | #6 |
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Home away from home
Joined: 2006/10/22
From Michigan Brrrr!
Posts: 4948
Level : 51 HP : 756 / 1260
Group:
Registered Users Team Slacker |
I only briefly read what you posted, does this play 1080p mkv files directly off the harddrive fine? would you consider getting like an external blu ray drive (do those exisit) for it. assuming you don't already have a blu ray player
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Posted on: 2010/2/11 16:26
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Re: So here's one thing I've been up to... | #7 |
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Home away from home
Joined: 2006/12/17
From Waldorf, MD
Posts: 1143
Level : 29 HP : 142 / 714
Group:
Registered Users Team Slacker |
Quote:
I actually envy you.. Im trying a similar setup,(setting up a networked Home Theater) but nothing that extensive or elaborate.... but im using Windows Media Center, My Movies for cataloging, SlingLink Powerline A/VEthernet, 2 xbox360's and a PS3 for Media extenders and a Buffalo 1TB Linkstation Live NAS. I really got to look into XBMC.. So XBMC is DLNA compliant and works with most compressio formats? |
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Posted on: 2010/2/12 7:51
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Re: So here's one thing I've been up to... | #8 |
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Home away from home
Joined: 2006/10/22
From Michigan Brrrr!
Posts: 4948
Level : 51 HP : 756 / 1260
Group:
Registered Users Team Slacker |
If you use windows media center (on windows 7, maybe vista) and what to get rid of all the useless menu options and entire strips. Or want to consolodate everything into a couple strips you should use
Media Center Studio http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/10/building-your-own-custom-movie-strip-for-windows-7-media-center.html You can only place existing menu options on an existing menu strip so what I did was put everything i wanted in the "Video strip" and took everything i didn't want out of it and then turned off all the other strips. You can create a custom strip and add your own things to it, or add your own things to one of the existing strip. You can subosedly redesign the theme of windows media center but i couldn't figure out how or find existing themes online to even import. |
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Posted on: 2010/2/12 7:59
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Re: So here's one thing I've been up to... | #9 |
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Webmaster
Joined: 2004/12/18
From Plano, TX
Posts: 8468
Level : 61 HP : 1211 / 1514
Group:
Webmasters Registered Users Team Slacker |
Quote:
Yes it does play 1080p mkv files just fine. No I wouldn't get an external blu ray drive. I have no need. If I want a super HD video, I will download it and stream all 10gigs. This little dude can handle it  |
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_________________
Negro, I implore you.
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Posted on: 2010/2/18 10:27
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Re: So here's one thing I've been up to... | #10 |
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Webmaster
Joined: 2004/12/18
From Plano, TX
Posts: 8468
Level : 61 HP : 1211 / 1514
Group:
Webmasters Registered Users Team Slacker |
Quote:
Sounds like you have most of what I have already and then some. I highly recommend xbmc, it's very configurable, it looks better than windows, and you can run it as a live lightweight version leaving all your pc's horsepower to the video processing. Also, I highly recommend a program called SABNZBD. (I got rid of sickbeard, sabnzbd does what I want without it.) It's a small program that runs in the background of your pc (access it through web interface, so you can access it away from your home as well... as in queue things up from the office and have them ready when you get home.) and it kicks ass. Here's how to setup SABNZBD for automated awesomeness. 1. Go to TVnzbRSS.com and setup the TV shows that you want to have SABNZBD download. 2. Install SABNZBD 3. Go to the config tab and setup all the settings you want (message me if you have any questions) 4. Sit back and have a coke and a smile. Sab will find the show, download the nzb file, download the tv/movie, check it, fix any errors via par files, un pack it, movie it to the folder you want (will automatically categorize tv shows into proper title and season folders), delete the files not needed, then send a message to your xbmc machine and have it update the library. It will also watch your bookmarks at Newzbin.com and download anything you bookmark. Oh...and it has a nice iphone interface and an app so you can browse what you want on the go and sabnzbd will do the rest for you. Here's how awesome it is... I'm strongly considering NOT renewing my newsleecher subscription  |
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_________________
Negro, I implore you.
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Posted on: 2010/2/18 10:35
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