2011-03-02, 20:33
I currently run xbmc on an AppleTV2, which I LOVE...best toy I have purchased in years...took it out of the box and the first thing I did was jailbreak it!
With all the hulu crap going on I am thinking of building an HTPC or getting something else for the main room where my 50" Panasonic Plasma is so I can do what I want and use the appletv2 upstairs in my work room where I have no cable to the tv hanging on the wall.
So this is what I am thinking...
Option A: Purchase a used MacMini
Option B: Purchase a ZBox
Option C: Build a MiniATX form factor PC myself...might be hard to do and compete with prices of A and B
This is what I think I will be doing...
I have an XBox360 and I doubt I will play PC games on the system. I also have a blue-ray player and can access NetFlix from it if I want to. In addition I have a 50" Panasonic Plasma HDTV that uses AmazonVOD if I want to use that.
I don't want to OVERSPEND...but I don't want to UNDERspend either...as far as money...OBVIOUSLY as little as possible to do what I want with a little buffer....but nothing over 500 bucks...and that stays between you and I...if the wife sees that she will hunt me down and you'll see me on the news!
With all the hulu crap going on I am thinking of building an HTPC or getting something else for the main room where my 50" Panasonic Plasma is so I can do what I want and use the appletv2 upstairs in my work room where I have no cable to the tv hanging on the wall.
So this is what I am thinking...
Option A: Purchase a used MacMini
Option B: Purchase a ZBox
Option C: Build a MiniATX form factor PC myself...might be hard to do and compete with prices of A and B
This is what I think I will be doing...
- Streaming video from the internet and local storage NAS or USB drive
- Emulation using MAME
- Stream audio from the internet
I have an XBox360 and I doubt I will play PC games on the system. I also have a blue-ray player and can access NetFlix from it if I want to. In addition I have a 50" Panasonic Plasma HDTV that uses AmazonVOD if I want to use that.
I don't want to OVERSPEND...but I don't want to UNDERspend either...as far as money...OBVIOUSLY as little as possible to do what I want with a little buffer....but nothing over 500 bucks...and that stays between you and I...if the wife sees that she will hunt me down and you'll see me on the news!