My HTPC / Media Center

[cryan]

Hey All,

I've been following the forum/site for a while... often very jealous of all the builds people have documented!

Sadly unlike everyone else on here (I think) I'm still only renting a place and don't yet have enough saved for a mortgage! (and won't if I keep buying technology!) - Meaning no drilling through walls - feeding cables or anything else that could be considered permanent, I'm very lucky that I'm quite friendly with my landlord and that I've been allowed to mount several tvs on walls

The forum seemed to be slowing down over the last few months so I thought instead of stealing and day dreaming ideas from it that I'd contribute instead!

I've had a dedicated computer plugged into a TV for the last 4 years and slowly evolved into where it is now.

In my House I have two HTPCs one in the living room and one in the bedroom.

The Living Room HTPC

Sits in the corner of the room and its a Shuttle barebone
Quad Core Q8400 Processor
2* 2GB Ram
2* 1TB Western Digital 7200rpm HDDs
ATI Radeon 4650 Graphics
Wireless media Centre keyboard
LG Blu-Ray reader
Connected to it is a MyBook Elite 2TB via USB and a Drobo containing 2* 1TB WDs and 2* 2TB WDs - Connected via USb formally firewire. (Sadly running out of space will have to order another 2TB soon to swap out!)

It runs Windows 7 MC and has MyMovies plugin (MyMovies.Dk) to manage the BluRay/DVDs and MyTV (MyTV.senseitweb.com) to manage TV shows. I used DVDFab (DVD+Bluray) to backup dvds onto the system and use TMT3 for BluRay playback

The System is attached to a 50" LG Plasma via a number of hidden cables (some badly) and a Logitech 5.1 Surround system with wires hidden under rugs and the two rear speakers balanced on picture hooks!

Back to the future on Blu-ray



Also plugged into the system is a set of Ambx lights... just add that feeling of colour



Also connected into the TV are; A Nintendo Wii and a recently purchased Xbox 360.

The downstairs Media centre acts a server for the second and all other computers in the house refer to its MyMovies database.

Unlike other much cooler members my collection of films is stored on a boring shelving unit!



The Bedroom HTPC

The bedroom HTPC is the atom based Acer Revo 3600 (or whatever the model was) running 1GB Ram and Windows 7 MC with the same plug-ins installed. It connects to the network wirelessly (Unable to drill through walls!) but even with an additional powerful wifi card and nearby router i'm still encountering problems - I'm soon going to connect it to the network wired... taking the longest route possible.. which is the easiest one to undo when I eventually move out.



The Media centre links to a 22" Ebuyer own brand TV and a cheap pair of 5.1 Speakers which have been placed under the bed / on the bedside tables etc with the sub right underneath.

Also connected to the TV is an older Co-axiel cable left by the previous tennants - feeding sky from the RF downstairs to upstairs... future plans involve ether feeding a HDMI wire along the same path or using HDMI over Cat5e








Already looking forward to when I can destroy and rebuild a House modeling it with Automation, Servers hidden away... no wires... HD Projector (already bought!)


Only a month ago I switched out a number of MyBook 1TB External drives and 1TB drives for the 2TB drives currently listed - All ether on Ebay or about to be put on there.

I am wondering how People store there DvDs and Blu-Ray , I used to compress mine and have always used file structure - But with a ever growing storage of all my DVDs/BluRays now reaching 10TB and Full... Just wondering what others do!

[elootos]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing!

Blimey you've got come cabling going on there

Reminds me of living at home and experimenting with different speaker layouts etc, back in the days when I was a student and had disposable income for surround sound. £500 of a student loan on a DVD player...

Anyway, I hope your wish for your own place happens soon enough for you.

[cryan]

Thanks for your reply / wish..

Cabling is what normally gets me in trouble with the other half (who loves the Media Center and what it has to offer... but has also seen other projects including yours elootos and wants floating speakers and a wire free zone!)

Once in a blue moon all the cables are tidied away, but its soon after that I start to make changes and wires are pulled out of their tidy places.

I'd be lying if I said a majority of my student Loan didn't go on HTPC/Media related entertainment! - I just get that feeling I need to upgrade every few seconds!