Where to go to next in my setup.

notposting

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2005
3,498
33
91
Hi everyone, hopefully there is a magic box that will do everything I desire.

Currently I run a 7MC system coupled with an HDHomeRun for tuning, and WHS for DVD/music storage and recorded TV ends up there as well. I use My Movies for metadata and ripping on the server. We just have Limited Basic cable (clear-QAM through Comcast, local channels basically). We do use Netflix through MC, but also have an Amazon Prime sub that gets rarely used (due to needing to use a browser).

We may eventually dump the cable (when they encrypt all channels and force boxes on every device, if not sooner). So my next solution would need to play:
local network media;
Netflix;
Amazon streaming;
preferably Hulu (though it may get locked down but we will see)

The DVD rips are just in folder format. The ideal solution would not involve me having to re-encode or re-rip something like 5-600 DVD's (and growing). Music is just in MP3 format. Something with a good metadata retrieval system would be nice.

Open to ideas, whether a Blu-ray player, console (I do have an Xbox 360), media box, etc. One loony idea I've considered is revamping my server setup to run VM's and have WHS and 7MC on the same physical box and then maybe just use the Xbox...though I need to double check that My Movies will work in that scenario. Also, that would be a huge PITA I think, which is something I would *like* to avoid :sneaky:

TIA for any advice or cautionary tales.
 

notposting

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2005
3,498
33
91
htpc should do it no? what is lacking on your 7mc box?

No integrated Amazon Prime in MC currently, have to go open a browser (ie drag out wireless keyboard etc), basically it never happens. My experience with the cobbled together Hulu plugin was pretty unsatisfactory.

Plus the thing runs all day as for whatever reason (AMD :p) it loses the connection with the TV over HDMI when going into standby (even with the HDMI Detective). Though I haven't checked lately. It's a pretty low power system but especially if we end up dumping live TV it will be overkill in some ways.

I have also thought about getting a new modern board and doing a rebuild/reinstall anyway. I tried fiddling with the menu strips awhile ago and ended up doing a full restore from the server (minus the recorded TV I had forgotten was being excluded from server backups). It's been tinkered with a lot so I feel it is...fragile, sometimes ;)

And the hardware is suspect. I have replaced 2 different sets of capacitors on the board (some crappy board I got off ebay for $20), one the main power input caps by the ATX plug, then the CPU caps (went with solid caps).

So in some ways, something a lot more maintenance free would be nice. Which I'm sure the virtualized server/htpc and streaming to Xbox solution wouldn't be :awe: