HTPC Build

[Varg]

So I cant wait till we get our new house to start geeking things out. I decided to go ahead and build a HTPC. This needs to be capable of 1080p over hdmi (although most of my movie data is on divx- want to future proof it). I ordered this and should be here Tuesday:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103228 
(keep in mind I am using this as the work horse at first but this will end up being just a front end- it is VERY small and supposedly silent)
$199
Brand Acer
Series Aspire Revo
Model AR1600-U910H

Processor Intel Atom 230 (1.6GHz)
Cache Per Processor 512KB L2 Cache
Memory 1GB DDR2
Hard Drive 160GB 5400RPM SATA
Graphics Integrated NVIDIA ION LE Graphics
Audio High-Definition Audio Support
Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Motherboard Chipset NVIDIA ION LE
CPU Type Intel Atom FSB 533MHz 1.6GHz
L2 Cache Per CPU 512KB
GPU/VPU Type NVIDIA ION LE graphics
Memory 1GB DDR2
Memory Slot (Total) 2
Memory Slot (Available) 1
HDD Capacity 160GB
Audio
Audio Chipset Integrated
Communications
LAN Chipset Integrated
LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
Front Panel Ports
Front USB 2
Card Reader Multi-in-One Digital Media Card Reader
MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital Card, Memory Stick, xD Picture Card
Back Panel Ports
Video Ports 1 VGA, 1 HDMI
Rear USB 4
RJ45 1 port
Expansion
PCI Slots (Available/Total) 1 x Mini PCI Express


I know I am going to need a LOT more storage than this holds, but it has USB ports for external drives. Idealy I will build a server with a RAID for data and hook it up via ethernet.


The OS I am going to with is XBMC. This is extremly lightweight, especially the live version, it is completly skinnable and one feature I find impressive as hell, you can assign "scrapers" to your liberaries to tag the media. I set this up on a laptop to test it and it didnt miss a beat and add covers, splash screens, and movie data to all my film "backups" (hehe). I didnt play with the mp3s yet but is supposed to be the same concept.





Anyone have any experince with this? What do you think of the setup?

[Jim Tressel]

Dude, that looks fucking slick!  I've been toying with the idea of tossing an HTPC (home theater pc, for the uninitiated) together for a little while.  How much moneys is this xmbc?

[Varg]

XBMC = FREE
open source goodness
Runs on linux, Windows, OSX.

http://xbmc.org/  <- check out all the skins and plugins.

I installed it on my desktop to just play with it. It takes a little bit of reading to understand how the liberaries/scrapers work but I was shocked at how easy it was to setup and skin/configure.The only gotcha is you have to have a SEMI clean naming context for the scraper to tag the data correctly and make it all snazy.
Matrix.avi/Thematrix.avi/The_Matrix.avi would all scrap fine and you get all the data and splash screens but THEMATRIX-AXXO-UBBERRELEASE-THEPIRATEBAY.avi prolly wont scrap right, then again it might i dont know cause I clean up the names after i am finished *AHEM* "backing my dvds up"

If you do play with it, the default skin sucks, change to mediastream.

 I am basing my build off this lifehacker post: http://lifehacker.com/5391308/build-a-silent-standalone-xbmc-media-center-on-the-cheap

[Varg]

also, there is an app from apple that i can put on my iphone/ipod to control it. The first time my geeky tinkering ever evoked a "wow thats cool" from my wife.

[ZONK]

So you are using it on 1080p or been working with another build? From what I have heard ATOMs start to have trouble at anything above 720p. Some things it can handle, but some codex and packages take more to decode and cause shutters/jitters in the video. That just comments I have heard, not first hand experience.

[Varg]

Zonk, i am actually going on the things that I have read that the ATOMS have no issue with 1080p at all. This would mean trouble if true. Where did you read this?

[Jim Tressel]

Did you post a Newegg review?  The top one is from "Dan" and he says "Had a bad RAM slot but I forgive Acer and Newegg because I had a 2 gig stick on hand. If that one goes, however, I'm gonna get all angsty and start listening to emo."  Sounds totally like you!

[Jim Tressel]

I know I am going to need a LOT more storage than this holds, but it has USB ports for external drives. Idealy I will build a server with a RAID for data and hook it up via ethernet.

Have you considered a Drobo?  It's a little pricey, but serverless, manageable raid storage is dope.

[Varg]

Lol no that was not me. I should be getting it Tuesday though.
That drobo thing looks cool, cant really network it though and might not work as i am trying to go as small as possible on the front end. Will have to keep it in mind. Would be the perfect way to go if I am not going to build a media server and just plug drives into the little guy.

[Jim Tressel]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822240007&cm_re=drobo-_-22-240-007-_-Product

[Jim Tressel]

There are other, cheaper NAS alternatives but the Drobo has been the sleekest setup I've played with.

[ZONK]

I mostly heard it from netbook problems. I think the Nvidia ION might be more then enough to put it over the top. Think the problem was when the ATOM was paired with a crappy intel integrated graphics it struggled on 1080p. The more I run into different media packages and codex it really just depends on so many things. I can watch the monitor on my computer and .mkv files use 35% more cpu on a certain player over another.

[Varg]

Thanks for the input Zonk.

JT, i see me blowing a lot of money on this Drobo setup. The more i read about it the more attractive it gets. If anyone is interested I will document my setup and post here (pictures and what not).
I am not sure if I am going to install Linux first then the XBMC framework on top or just install the XBMC Live linux flavor, but I wont be running windows for sure.

[Jim Tressel]

Definitely post pics.  I'm curious to see how well xbmc does the job. 

[Varg]

Built this last night. Looks pretty slick, found my network share with all the movies on it easily, plays all formats i have thrown at it. I will post some pics of it this weekend.