Hello,
As a usual, recorrent consumer of media entertainment, I've been tinkering with the idea of building a multi-purpose HTPC for use at home. Currently, I have a Pi which serves my media-consuming purposes, mostly for series/movies streaming. However this solution is becoming unsatisfactory, as the Raspbmc software is a little buggy, too slow/unresponsive, and the streaming is unreliable at best. I've decided to come up with a topic on the forum to read some suggestions and feedback from fellow interested users and keep up a journal of this project's progress. So, bear and jump in with me
One of the things I must achieve on a new system is ease-of-use and quick response (We arrive late at home and just want to see an episode of something before drifting to bed; Having to waste 20min to get a decent HD strem + subtitles on a 45min episode is exasperating sometimes). I've been noticing other uses my "HTPC" system would be helpful with, and came with a few topics, software and hardware-wise:
- Act as NAS: The HTPC should be able to work as a "light" NAS system. I'd like to be able to store personal documents, some backups and personal photos, movies and media in general. This data should be available on my home network and some of it remotely (act as a cloud where I can dump files when I'm outside);
- Manage/download series, movies and respective subtitles: I'm done with the streaming path, at least for now. My ISP provides some decent download speeds so I'd rather have a system where I can decide which series I follow and which movies I want, then the system itself downloads them automatically when they are available. Same with subtitles. From what I've seen already, looks like slickbeard/couchpotato can do something like this;
- Organize media library: This is a pretty much widespread feature on most HTPC software now. I expect the HTPC to organize, sort and download info/metadata about the media I have/get;
- iOS/Airplay compability: I have some iOS devices at home, and I'd like to be able to control the HTPC with some app, send photos/videos from the phone to the TV screen and access the files when I'm out of home;
- Easy to use: I plan to have the system work simple, at least in the frontend. As much as "sit-and-play" as possible. XBMC-like.
- Responsive: I don't plan on playing any games with the HTPC. But I want to navigate the menus without breaks and play 1080p, eventually 4k if financially possible, without any problems;
- Silent / Low power consuption: I plan on leaving the HTPC on my living room, and have it on all day. Therefore, these two aspects are quite relevant and I'd rather spend a bit more to ensure a lower energy bill later;
- Blu-Ray player: Though not frequently, the system must be able to open and play some BR with movies/pics;
- Portable data: Needs to be able to plug in SD memory cards/USB disks and open the media inside for visualization. Needs to be able to backup to the HTPC these files.
- Good audio output: I'm no audiophile, but I plan on getting a decent 5.1 audio in the room and I'd like to have the HTPC playing the sound through it with decent quality.
From my digging so far, I'm considering XBMC on Windows as a software base, though I'm not fully commited on it yet. On the hardware side, I'm still somewhat in the dark, as I don't want to buy more than I need nor getting a sub-par system just to save a few bucks. I will update this post after I educate myself and get my choices down to fewer options. Your input and suggestions on this are more than welcome!
Cheers,
Blasted
As a usual, recorrent consumer of media entertainment, I've been tinkering with the idea of building a multi-purpose HTPC for use at home. Currently, I have a Pi which serves my media-consuming purposes, mostly for series/movies streaming. However this solution is becoming unsatisfactory, as the Raspbmc software is a little buggy, too slow/unresponsive, and the streaming is unreliable at best. I've decided to come up with a topic on the forum to read some suggestions and feedback from fellow interested users and keep up a journal of this project's progress. So, bear and jump in with me
One of the things I must achieve on a new system is ease-of-use and quick response (We arrive late at home and just want to see an episode of something before drifting to bed; Having to waste 20min to get a decent HD strem + subtitles on a 45min episode is exasperating sometimes). I've been noticing other uses my "HTPC" system would be helpful with, and came with a few topics, software and hardware-wise:
- Act as NAS: The HTPC should be able to work as a "light" NAS system. I'd like to be able to store personal documents, some backups and personal photos, movies and media in general. This data should be available on my home network and some of it remotely (act as a cloud where I can dump files when I'm outside);
- Manage/download series, movies and respective subtitles: I'm done with the streaming path, at least for now. My ISP provides some decent download speeds so I'd rather have a system where I can decide which series I follow and which movies I want, then the system itself downloads them automatically when they are available. Same with subtitles. From what I've seen already, looks like slickbeard/couchpotato can do something like this;
- Organize media library: This is a pretty much widespread feature on most HTPC software now. I expect the HTPC to organize, sort and download info/metadata about the media I have/get;
- iOS/Airplay compability: I have some iOS devices at home, and I'd like to be able to control the HTPC with some app, send photos/videos from the phone to the TV screen and access the files when I'm out of home;
- Easy to use: I plan to have the system work simple, at least in the frontend. As much as "sit-and-play" as possible. XBMC-like.
- Responsive: I don't plan on playing any games with the HTPC. But I want to navigate the menus without breaks and play 1080p, eventually 4k if financially possible, without any problems;
- Silent / Low power consuption: I plan on leaving the HTPC on my living room, and have it on all day. Therefore, these two aspects are quite relevant and I'd rather spend a bit more to ensure a lower energy bill later;
- Blu-Ray player: Though not frequently, the system must be able to open and play some BR with movies/pics;
- Portable data: Needs to be able to plug in SD memory cards/USB disks and open the media inside for visualization. Needs to be able to backup to the HTPC these files.
- Good audio output: I'm no audiophile, but I plan on getting a decent 5.1 audio in the room and I'd like to have the HTPC playing the sound through it with decent quality.
From my digging so far, I'm considering XBMC on Windows as a software base, though I'm not fully commited on it yet. On the hardware side, I'm still somewhat in the dark, as I don't want to buy more than I need nor getting a sub-par system just to save a few bucks. I will update this post after I educate myself and get my choices down to fewer options. Your input and suggestions on this are more than welcome!
Cheers,
Blasted