building a media centre

[lewisredfern001]

ok guys i have decided that instead of plugging my laptop into my tv to stream dvds, music and go on the net i am going to build a media centre.

basically im a novice when it comes to this so need some direction. here is what i would like to acheive:

ability to stream blue ray/hd dvds from hard drive (or disc if my budget will allow, if not then just off HD will b fine)
play itunes via my surround sound
surf the internet
in time i would like to be able to stream to other rooms in my house.

i am thinking about using a desktop pc which is easilly upgradeable. any suggestions on what i could use would be great, i would prefer just something i can just plug and play with at least 50gb hard drive to start with, but will need space to upgrade to a couple of Tb's.

any more info on what i need would be great or if anyone knows of anyone selling anything then let me know. also any good software ideas would be great.

i am working to a budget around £200quid to start off with then upgrade as my collection gets bigger. hope this is realistic

cheers in advance

lewis

 

[Adam K]

for £200 you would be better off with something like a popcorn hour a110.

 

[Revels]

MacMini & Plex.

 

[lewisredfern001]

Have figured I may jus buy the bits and build a proper media centre now, apart from a case wot do I need, in basic terms please guys?

 

[Gavin.]

motherboard
power supply
ram
processor
hard drive
dvd-ram
graphics card
sound card

wireless keyboard and mouse

 

[lewisredfern001]

Any idea on rough price for the above bear in mind its a begginer setup or shall I buy 2nd hand off eBay?

 

[Adams_16v]

iv just spent about £340 on one, but the case was £100 without PSU.

spec is:

mATX motherboard with HDMI port
AMD2 x2 5000+
4GB RAM
1TB HDD
Twin DVB-T card
450WPSU
Antec Fusion case
Wireless keyboard/mouse in one
MCE remote
Vista Ultimate

prior to this i was running it on an old P4 tower with 1gb ram and 250gb hdd and it worked fine, i just wanted something nicer for the living room!

 

[lewisredfern001]

The above I like the look of, will keep my eye out cheers

 

[Andy.]

Remeber that it is important to get something with quiet fans. If you have ever watched a DVD on a PS2 and not been annoyed by the noise it made, then obviously you can ignore my advice.

 

[Dink]

i've just finished building my media centre pc but spent far too much lol

this is the case i used but in black.

i've got a mobo for sale that should be good in a htpc for £50 it's a gigabyte GA-EG45M-DS2H (as long as you don't want a graphics card that is)

 

[lewisredfern001]

is this a good price? for what you get?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=140293410362&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004

 

[riz]

isnt it easier to get a ps3? and stream to it from your desktop?

 

[The Boosh!]

isnt it easier to get a ps3? and stream to it from your desktop?

my thoughts exactly

 

[lewisredfern001]

i did want to do that but i want something upgradeable and dedicated to audio and video, i had a ps3 and it never got played. plus i got a few hundred gig of media

 

[riz]

yeah but it does everything, just download Tversity

 

[The Boosh!]

is tversity any good riz? have you got a PSNID?

 

[riz]

beastriz

tveristy is good but i dont have latest WMplayer

 

[rory182]

just get a western digital media player and plug a usb hard drive into it and plug it into the hdmi port - sorted, under £100

 

[Adams_16v]

Depend what you want! what does the WD box do? record tv?

media centre is a full blown media center, u can have all ur HD and Bluray movies on it, downloaded stuff, i-player and all the others, internet on a massive screen which is always handy, all your photographs, mp3's, gaming on a big telly, crysis on a 42" plasma in full HD isnt bad! etc, etc. possibilities are endless!

 

[McBunny]

ps3/360 vs media pc is a difficult one as each do things better than others really

 

[Rob Clark]

360 + xbmc would kick arse if it ever happens

 

[edryn80]

I have one of these, used for surfing on TV, had HD resolution off HD, records TV, good for watching iplayer, works a treat.

I have upgraded the RAM and thinking of doing the HD but its good and compact.