So I've been following this sub-forum for awhile along with reading what I can online. I want to build an HTPC box to make things seamless with the different media I watch and what I have connected. I hate gimme-a-solution threads but I've come to point where I should ask for advice to see what my best options are because I have some varied demands.
What I do right now is over the air TV is played via my normal TV. Netflix plays through my Wii and any video files or other streaming services I play via my laptop connected with HDMI.
Here's what I would like to do in my living room:
Have a small device (not a full desktop) that can play the following, controlled by a remote control like a MCE remote.
Play live TV via over the air antenna. I don't have cable TV.
Play media files. Mostly videos but I don't care at all about 1080p or a particular file extension and I don't have a sizable collection. Usually just a folder of at the most 2 week old TV episodes.
Play Netflix and maybe Hulu/whatever. This seems to be the tricky part.
Play Pandora or Spotify, something for streaming music since I don't collect a music library.
I'd like to do this in as much of a seamless environment as I could so I'd like to have everything through one interface with a traditional remote. What I can do, most likely would need to do, is have the actual files running off of my pre-existing file server. I've played around a little with Plex. My file server right now runs Windows XP just because I've never bothered doing anything else with the box.
So it seems like I can have one or two of my main demands (TV, Netflix or video) but not all three in the same OS. Windows Media Center kind of fits the bill so I'll just see what Windows 8 looks like, since MCE in Windows 7 seems dormant. Something open source would be nice cause I like to tinker and would like to save money and support the open source method.
Any ideas?
What I do right now is over the air TV is played via my normal TV. Netflix plays through my Wii and any video files or other streaming services I play via my laptop connected with HDMI.
Here's what I would like to do in my living room:
Have a small device (not a full desktop) that can play the following, controlled by a remote control like a MCE remote.
Play live TV via over the air antenna. I don't have cable TV.
Play media files. Mostly videos but I don't care at all about 1080p or a particular file extension and I don't have a sizable collection. Usually just a folder of at the most 2 week old TV episodes.
Play Netflix and maybe Hulu/whatever. This seems to be the tricky part.
Play Pandora or Spotify, something for streaming music since I don't collect a music library.
I'd like to do this in as much of a seamless environment as I could so I'd like to have everything through one interface with a traditional remote. What I can do, most likely would need to do, is have the actual files running off of my pre-existing file server. I've played around a little with Plex. My file server right now runs Windows XP just because I've never bothered doing anything else with the box.
So it seems like I can have one or two of my main demands (TV, Netflix or video) but not all three in the same OS. Windows Media Center kind of fits the bill so I'll just see what Windows 8 looks like, since MCE in Windows 7 seems dormant. Something open source would be nice cause I like to tinker and would like to save money and support the open source method.
Any ideas?