'home media centre'

[5co77ie]

only good for night-time, and the only night-times you're likely to use it are ones where it's not getting dark as late as now, which means the weather will be cooler and you'll be less likely to actually want to do it.

 

This is one of these things which sounds like a great thing to do, but won't work in reality as great as you're thinking, I reckon.

not just nighttime though my local where we used to live would showed the world cup games through one - it wasn't  dark but they rigged a sail canopy over the beer garden and it was good enough to see the footie (in the rain mainly).

 

The problem we've discovered with living in a high rated insulated house is even with all the windows open it's not dropping below 25 degrees indoors - making the garden a haven in the evenings to escape the 'sweat box'.

[The Nal]

The projector fan will add a bit of heat!

 

Ive mine set up at about 70 inches which is perfect for the room. 

 

[t8yman]

I'm interested in looking at Raspberry Pi, any good tutorial resources people could recommend? I'm basically looking at setting up a simple media server, with XBMC functionality (I believe its now called kodi?) and also pointers on the best addons and repositories? 

 

Logic being, if I can get it set up and running how I would like it, I can also set another one up for my daughter to take with her when she goes to Uni.

 

Is the streaming of HD TV and decent quality "new" movies etc decent? or shall i just stick with downloading torrents in HD and watching them on TV via PC?

[The Nal]

I'm interested in looking at Raspberry Pi, any good tutorial resources people could recommend? I'm basically looking at setting up a simple media server, with XBMC functionality (I believe its now called kodi?) and also pointers on the best addons and repositories? 

 

Logic being, if I can get it set up and running how I would like it, I can also set another one up for my daughter to take with her when she goes to Uni.

 

Is the streaming of HD TV and decent quality "new" movies etc decent? or shall i just stick with downloading torrents in HD and watching them on TV via PC?

 

All I use mine for is streaming from my hard drives - which are plugged into the PC in the other room - and they're perfect. No issue playing large 7, 8, 9 + GB - 1080p files. I use XBMC and the app for my phone which is the remote control. 

 

Can't recommend them highly enough.

[eFestivals]

I bought a Pi for that sort of thing, and either my Pi is a bit fucked or it's far from ideal.

 

The main issue is that it won't keep the settings I give it. Each time it auto-updates they get lost and the Pi 'disappears' for the things I've set it up to do - which for me was a right pain in the arse, because I didn't want it hooked up to a screen (was using it as an audio player from data on my NAS).

 

Also, for some things it was mighty mighty slow. I started off using it for streaming footie - I forget what it was I was using now (tho I think what software I used should be in an earlier post of mine in this thread) - and it would take several (sometimes 5+) minutes to connect to a working stream. I put up with it cos i thought that's just how it was.

 

Then one day I tried the same software on my Nexus tablet, and was amazed to see instant connections - which was the moment I gave up with the Pi for video and went back to using a PC for it (an old one running Mint Linux, runs rapid as fuck, works a dream).

 

My Pi cost me about £40 including a case and the like; I recently bought a low-grade tablet for £35 which has a more powerful chip than the PI, more memory, a screen (of course), a native input method (the soft-keyboard), and which has an HDMI output ... I reckon that might be a much better bet.

 

i'm currently having a clear-out of a decade+ of computer(ish) kit and was wondering what I might do with the Pi. You're welcome to it if you like?

[t8yman]

I bought a Pi for that sort of thing, and either my Pi is a bit fucked or it's far from ideal.

 

The main issue is that it won't keep the settings I give it. Each time it auto-updates they get lost and the Pi 'disappears' for the things I've set it up to do - which for me was a right pain in the arse, because I didn't want it hooked up to a screen (was using it as an audio player from data on my NAS).

 

Also, for some things it was mighty mighty slow. I started off using it for streaming footie - I forget what it was I was using now (tho I think what software I used should be in an earlier post of mine in this thread) - and it would take several (sometimes 5+) minutes to connect to a working stream. I put up with it cos i thought that's just how it was.

 

Then one day I tried the same software on my Nexus tablet, and was amazed to see instant connections - which was the moment I gave up with the Pi for video and went back to using a PC for it (an old one running Mint Linux, runs rapid as fuck, works a dream).

 

My Pi cost me about £40 including a case and the like; I recently bought a low-grade tablet for £35 which has a more powerful chip than the PI, more memory, a screen (of course), a native input method (the soft-keyboard), and which has an HDMI output ... I reckon that might be a much better bet.

 

i'm currently having a clear-out of a decade+ of computer(ish) kit and was wondering what I might do with the Pi. You're welcome to it if you like?

 

 

very kind of you Neil, thanks for the offer, but I think it might not be for me. The daughter is reasonably tech savvy, but a settings loss would be impossible for her to deal with. and as far as my home setup goes, I think I will stick with my pc via hdmi out to my 47in tv. 

[The Nal]

and as far as my home setup goes, I think I will stick with my pc via hdmi out to my 47in tv. 

 

Thats what I have in one room, and I've a Pi in the other room that does the exact same thing.

 

I wouldn't use the Pi as a replacement for what you already have though. Only use it if you want to go into another room from your PC.

[eFestivals]

 a settings loss would be impossible for her to deal with

 

They really weren't anything complicated.

 

It was a big issue for me because of the specific task I was using it for, where I didn't have a screen hooked up so putting the settings back was a big deal.

 

Also, as far as I can remember I don't think that was a problem when I used it for video, only when I was using it as a video server.

 

I know i've been negative about it, but for what you've talked about it might well be great. You don't find out unless you try it.

[eFestivals]

Personally never lost any settings.

 

as I've just said, I'm not sure that I did when I used it for video.

 

It was when I using it for audio it was a problem - just about every time I went to stream something to it via uPnP (audio 'casting', if you like) it had disappeared as an available renderer.

[modey]

I've got an Amazon Fire tv stick with kodi on it, add the genesis app and you've got All the films and tv shows you need, they are currently on offer on Amazon today for £19.

A bargain for what you get and very easy to put kodi on it. The stick is very small and just plugs into the hdmi socket on the tv

Stopped downloading anything since I got this, everything just streams really well

Edited July 15, 2015 by modey

[eFestivals]

I've got an Amazon Fire tv stick with kodi on it, add the genesis app and you've got All the films and tv shows you need, they are currently on offer on Amazon today for £19.

A bargain for what you get and very easy to put kodi on it. The stick is very small and just plugs into the hdmi socket on the tv

Stopped downloading anything since I got this, everything just streams really well

 

that's just a cast from another of your machines, tho, isn't it?

[the_hedge]

See the Kindle Fire HD is available for Prime customers at £49. Really nice tablet although the apps are limited.

 

Great if you just want email, facebook, browsing etc

Edited July 15, 2015 by the_hedge

[modey]

that's just a cast from another of your machines, tho, isn't it?

no, kodi (formerly xbmc) streams from various sources online , genesis being one of the best

[eFestivals]

no, kodi (formerly xbmc) streams from various sources online , genesis being one of the best

 

ah, thanks - I'd not worked out that Kodi was xbmc.

 

I've come to the conclusion that it's not a great option for footie, as unless I'm using flash it's too hit and miss as to whether I can get a decent stream &/or the game I want.

 

I know you were footie keen in the past (if not now?), so perhaps you know how useful it might be for that?

[modey]

I've had various sky streams working on kodi but it's still a bit hit and miss so haven't really used it for that so I still use a dreambox for all my football, no HD channels any more but the SD ones work fine

Edited July 15, 2015 by modey

[eFestivals]

I've had various sky streams working on kodi but it's still a bit hit and miss so haven't really used it for that so I still use a dreambox for all my football, no HD channels any more but the SD ones work fine

 

Thanks.

 

I'll stick with my linux PC (into my TV) running Flash then.

[tHomBleached]

Starting to be tempted to replace by revo with a pi. Can it really handle HD though? 1080p DTS-HD ?

[windy_miller]

no, kodi (formerly xbmc) streams from various sources online , genesis being one of the best

I just did a bit of googling and found lots of instructions about how to install Genesis, but not a pukka home page for it.  Is it legal?

[The Nal]

Anyone using Kodi? After a few weeks have filtered out the good and the bad. Keep at it!

Edited September 3, 2015 by The Nal

[t8yman]

Ive just ordered a fully unlocked firestick from ebay. £57.99 with free delivery. Looking forward to faffing with it.

[viberunner]

See the Kindle Fire HD is available for Prime customers at £49. Really nice tablet although the apps are limited.

 

Great if you just want email, facebook, browsing etc

 

Agreed, or to remote-control your Fire TV stick.

 

Note they're simple enough to jailbreak and make into Android platforms (not just the proprietary version of Android that Amazon uses). You obviously will lose the Amazon-specific stuff such as their streaming app and integrated Kindle, but otherwise you can boot it to the mainstream app-wide Android if you wish.

[windy_miller]

I bought myself a Chromecast Audio yesterday, £14 from Curry's.  It's a pretty tidy piece of kit actually, really easy to set up, I can easily stream Spotify into my Hi-Fi and it sounds great (remember to enabled the "Full Dynamic Range Option" though).

I was using a Squeezebox Touch to get Spotify through my Hi-Fi before, but since Logitech abandoned them (why?!) the Spotify plugin has been getting more and more flaky recently.  I could probably get rid of my Squeezebox completely now, as I can use DLNA to stream all the music I have stored on my NAS to the Chromecast.

[eFestivals]

48 minutes ago, windy_miller said:

I bought myself a Chromecast Audio yesterday, £14 from Curry's.  It's a pretty tidy piece of kit actually, really easy to set up, I can easily stream Spotify into my Hi-Fi and it sounds great (remember to enabled the "Full Dynamic Range Option" though).

I was using a Squeezebox Touch to get Spotify through my Hi-Fi before, but since Logitech abandoned them (why?!) the Spotify plugin has been getting more and more flaky recently.  I could probably get rid of my Squeezebox completely now, as I can use DLNA to stream all the music I have stored on my NAS to the Chromecast.

DLNA is great, tho i wish it supported seemlessy playing (no track gaps) by default.

That's a rather big cock-up in the spec for it really.

[windy_miller]

4 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

DLNA is great, tho i wish it supported seemlessy playing (no track gaps) by default.

That's a rather big cock-up in the spec for it really.

Hmmm that's quit annoying.  The squeezebox will do gapless playback.  I can install a plugin into the Squeezebox server that searches for DLNA players and makes them appear as Squeezebox players.  I could then use the Squeezebox server and controller apps, but output to the Chromecast.  I've no idea if gapless would work or not if I tried this.

Edited February 29, 2016 by windy_miller

[eFestivals]

3 minutes ago, windy_miller said:

Hmmm that's quit annoying.  The squeezebox will do gapless playback.  I can install a plugin into the Squeezebox server that searches for DLNA players and makes them appear as Squeezebox players.  I could then use the Squeezebox server and controller apps, but output to the Chromecast.  I've no idea if gapless would work or not if I tried this.

some DNLA devices do support gapless, but it's not an integral part of the technical spec so it's hit and miss depending on the device.

For example, my Marantz MCR-603 doesn't support it, but the updated model (tho with no CD player) does support it.