2013-12-14, 10:57
Okay, so I can only imagine how often this topic is discussed. However, I'm relatively new to the area of media sharing through the household via xbmc, and I am extremely appreciative of anyone willing to take a few minutes to share their thoughts regarding my personal situation.
Allow me to begin by giving you the current environment I am in and then proceed to explain what I'm hoping to achieve.
Currently, my main TV connects via HDMI to a HTPC below it with Windows 7 and 3TB of locally stored movies/tv shows. I use a wireless rechargable logitech keyboard and mouse pad to navigate xbmc currently (a little much given the simplicity of XBMC navigation). This computer runs XBMC on startup, and is the only instance of XBMC in my household (for now). However, this HTPC hardware will soon be moved away from this TV and flashed with actual server hardware, because it will be fulfilling other needs elsewhere in my home. My media will stay with it and be shared across the network to my future STB's discussed below.
This is what I would like to be able to accomplish:
I would like to find a STB device that will allow me to stream full 1080p content stored on my server (my household has fully wired gigabit ethernet), and ALSO be controlled by a universal remote (mx-900). I have a USB to IR device that works, but I haven't messed with configuring that for Windows 7 with my specific remote. I imagine devices like the AT2 would be great and widely supported for custom remotes, however I am quite insistent upon getting full 1080p content, since most of my movies are personally ripped and re-compressed blurays. This way, I'll be able to turn on my tv, see XBMC instantly, and use the same remote to find the content I want to watch. Boxes that support services like Netflix are a huge plus to me. I figure using an android device or a barebones machine or a full PC will make programming the universal remote more difficult? I don't know anyone personally who has tried this. Hence why I am here
This is my second question...
I have a second TV in another room that I would also love to have XBMC access to my server. Is there a way to store the XBMC settings/library/program as a whole (so to speak) on the server side? Or just two XBMC machines configured identically to give off that result? So that I may have 2 separate STB's that have XBMC libraries that stay in tandem? All I would need to do is add a new movie to the network-shared location on the server and the STB's would automatically update. I am willing to spend a little more on the hardware to get these results. If I can find a solution I like that performs well I would love to be able to port the solution over to the next room as well. I would like the devices to be able to locally store artwork information and the likes (I believe this is a common thing to do, no?...for performance's sake?) as well.
Anyways, if you're still reading I'd like to thank you for your time and I hope this situation makes sense. Please let me know what your thoughts are on the issue and how you think you would proceed in my shoes. /endrant *deep breath*
Allow me to begin by giving you the current environment I am in and then proceed to explain what I'm hoping to achieve.
Currently, my main TV connects via HDMI to a HTPC below it with Windows 7 and 3TB of locally stored movies/tv shows. I use a wireless rechargable logitech keyboard and mouse pad to navigate xbmc currently (a little much given the simplicity of XBMC navigation). This computer runs XBMC on startup, and is the only instance of XBMC in my household (for now). However, this HTPC hardware will soon be moved away from this TV and flashed with actual server hardware, because it will be fulfilling other needs elsewhere in my home. My media will stay with it and be shared across the network to my future STB's discussed below.
This is what I would like to be able to accomplish:
I would like to find a STB device that will allow me to stream full 1080p content stored on my server (my household has fully wired gigabit ethernet), and ALSO be controlled by a universal remote (mx-900). I have a USB to IR device that works, but I haven't messed with configuring that for Windows 7 with my specific remote. I imagine devices like the AT2 would be great and widely supported for custom remotes, however I am quite insistent upon getting full 1080p content, since most of my movies are personally ripped and re-compressed blurays. This way, I'll be able to turn on my tv, see XBMC instantly, and use the same remote to find the content I want to watch. Boxes that support services like Netflix are a huge plus to me. I figure using an android device or a barebones machine or a full PC will make programming the universal remote more difficult? I don't know anyone personally who has tried this. Hence why I am here
This is my second question...
I have a second TV in another room that I would also love to have XBMC access to my server. Is there a way to store the XBMC settings/library/program as a whole (so to speak) on the server side? Or just two XBMC machines configured identically to give off that result? So that I may have 2 separate STB's that have XBMC libraries that stay in tandem? All I would need to do is add a new movie to the network-shared location on the server and the STB's would automatically update. I am willing to spend a little more on the hardware to get these results. If I can find a solution I like that performs well I would love to be able to port the solution over to the next room as well. I would like the devices to be able to locally store artwork information and the likes (I believe this is a common thing to do, no?...for performance's sake?) as well.
Anyways, if you're still reading I'd like to thank you for your time and I hope this situation makes sense. Please let me know what your thoughts are on the issue and how you think you would proceed in my shoes. /endrant *deep breath*
