As HTPC's go the only
real need that you have to provide is the ability to stream HD video.
And contrary to popular belief it does not take an all-powerful piece
of hardware... after all, you are concentrating on doing only one
thing well, not four or five.
I started out putting
together my HTPC by re-purposing my (at the time newer P4 cedarmill)
IBM Thinkcentre for the task. I was all ready running Ubuntu and with
that choice this machine was a screamer. I repartitioned the drive
and installed what I perceived as a good system at the time, Element.
It was a stripped out version of XUbuntu running XBMC. It boasted a
10' interface which I thought was a good idea. I soon realized that a
regular install of
Ubuntu then
installing
XBMC was easier to deal
with.
Storage was now rapidly
becoming an issue as I started ripping my DVD's onto the HDDs. I had
all ready played around with an NAS device so I threw in a couple of
old HDDs and got it up and running. After getting it setup I soon
found out that there were loads of issues with the device and my OS
of choice, I soon opted for a different route that I still use
today. At this point my setup was taking up what seemed like a lot
of room on the entertainment center with no real place to set a
keyboard and mouse... much less a chair during the times you need to
be sitting next to it. I started re-designing.
My first purchase was a
GOOD wireless keyboard. I knew range was key in choosing the keyboard
so I poured through reviews looking for the ones that had the best
range. I bought a Microsoft set... wireless keyboard and mouse...
only to learn that the setup had issues working with systems other
than Windows (go figure Microsoft). I stumbled upon some really
great reviews of a Logitech Pro2000 unit (which was actually quite a
bit cheaper) so I purchased it and have had no regrets since.
I was still in need of a
mouse and figured I would stick with Logitech at this point. I had
been finding out in the mean time that a laser or ball type mouse was
really not very friendly to mujltiple types of surfaces (such as a
couch cushion or armrest) so I opted for the wireless trackball
M570... it was an awesome choice and I would recommend no other.
The range abilities of
these allow me to go anywhere in the living room and even into the
dining room at more than 15 feet from the PC. For both of these the
batteries lasted well over a year before needing to be replaced... a
more than acceptable time I figure.
I next turned my attention to gaining
back some of the space in my entertainment center. Even though the
Thinkcentre was a Small-form-factor PC it was still a monster in the
small confines of the center. I had purchased myself a Netbook that
Christmas that after having dumped Windows XP and loading Ubuntu
Netbook Remix became a real pleasure to use... I was quite impressed
with the new Intel Atom Processor that was in it, especially because
it had hyper-threading. I soon dove into the reviews of the new
Nettop PC's, the possibilities looked great.
I had made a decision
based on the latest available Atom and the available Nvidia Ion
graphics, The Zotac Mini-Mag. It had HDMI output and Optical Link
for audio.
I soon added an external DVD drive to add DVD playback
capability.
I knew I needed the
ability to add storage as I needed it and since NAS was problematic
due to the proprietary nature of the beast, I opted for a USB
alternative and found the perfect fit with Rosewill USB units which
would hold 2 SATA drives each up to 1TB in size. I actually bought 2
of them as the price was right.
Now at this point... I had all the Key
hardware I would end up with in place as far as the actual HTPC was
concerned.
HDMI input capable HDTV
Digital surround capable receiver with
Optical input
Zotac MAGHD-ND01-U MAG Mini-PC - Intel
ATOM 330 Dual Core 1.60GHz, 2GB DDR2, 160GB HDD, Gigabit LAN,
Card Reader, HDMI, 802.11n, Next Gen Nvidia Ion graphics
Rosewill R2-JBOD Aluminum 3.5"
USB 2.0 DUAL-BAY External Enclosure
Logitech Pro2000 wireless keyboard
Logitech M570 wireless trackman
trackball mouse.
Asus SDRW-08D2S-U DVD-RAM writer
The Zotac is really quite
diverse as you can boot from any attached device, even the SD card
which is nice as you can install the OS on that and save all the HDD
space for the Home Directory... this is extremely useful when it
comes time to Upgrade from one distribution to the next, or change
the OS all together, there is absolutely no loss of data whatsoever.
The dual core Atom 330 also has Hyper-threading which in effect gives
it 4 cores, two actual and two virtual. Even at 1.66Ghz this machine
while running Linux is no slouch, and is perfectly capable of
streaming 1080P with no problem what-so-ever.
NOTE:
I would NOT recommend mounting this PC to the vesa mount on the back
of the TV as the TV will only serve to make the PC run warmer than it
all ready does. It is best to keep it away from other heat sources.
The vesa mount that comes with the Zotac can just as easily allow you
to mount it anywhere you like... even on the wall.
USB 2.0 is more than effective to connect storage
devices to the PC, but the Zotac Mini-Mag does offer a +1... it does
have an ESata connector. Which could be used to connect an ESata
drive enclosure if you so wish. While connecting the USB peripherals
is a no-brainer, I did find that using a 7-port USB 2.0 hub to bring
the ports to the front of my entertainment center to be a worthwhile
investment as I mounted this little PC on the back of the
Entertainment center.
XBMC allows a fully
customizable experience and with add-ons from their repositories it
is a very able choice for a Media Center, Streaming Movies, TV, and
even Radio from on-line sources.
Ubuntu12.04 LTS under the hood gives you a Safe, Stable, and Secure
system free of the worry of virus's and malware, that will have
updates and support until 2017.
Additions and tweaks since the initial set-up have been:
Bluetooth dongle and Bluetooth stereo headset for
nighttime use.
Installation of Subsonic,
for the option to connect to my Media over the internet.
I run Rhythmbox 24-7 as DAAP
server to be able to play my entire music collection on any pc or
DAAP client on my LAN.
