Advice on my Home Media Distribution - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

QuickSilver · 2009-06-30, 09:18 AM

First off please excuse this longish post.

Currently I have 2 Mac's in the house:
iMac G5
Macbook Pro Core Duo - Connected to Westinghouse 32" LCD

TV's:
Pioneer 5080HD
Samsung 42" Plasma
Westinghouse 32" LCD

Lately I have been struggling with the best way to start serving my media to my tv's in the house. Currently I use the PS3 hooked up to the Pioneer to watch media housed on a WD external HD hooked up to the MBP. I use PS3 media server and usually copy the files to my PS3 unless they are mkv files. I find i get tons of network issues when I try to stream avi's or mkv's from the drive.

I downloaded Plex 2 days ago and started to investigate it as a front end for media serving. I am enjoying it so far and it has led me to this crossroads. We just had a child about 4 months ago and I see the need for some educational dvd's in his future and as he grows the ability for him to watch things I want him to watch.

I have nothing connected to the Samsung and this will be his play area. I have toyed with the idea of a Mac Mini but they are kind of expensive. I have a Core 2 Duo 6400, 2gb of Ram and an Nvidia card laying around. Those parts are making me think of building a Hackintosh as a front end for Plex on the Samsung. I would then buy a couple of 1tb external USB drives and hook them up to the MBP (Intel) and serve my media through it. Does anyone have a hackintosh in this manner? Are you happy with it? Will those components play back 720p mkv files ok?

I am also going to attempt to rip my (70+) DVD's over the next couple of weeks using handbrake. Since I will be getting a couple of largish TB HD do you have any recommendations on rip settings through handbrake? I am not to concerned with quality since my sets are only 768p.

My final plan is to have everything available on all the tv's in the house. I know I will still have to use the PS3 or Xbox 360 on the Pioneer to get to my media but really I will be the only one using that system for the most part.

Once again sorry for the long post but being at this crossroads has my head spinning a bit.

hugh · 2009-06-30, 09:29 AM

Quote:

I am also going to attempt to rip my (70+) DVD's over the next couple of weeks using handbrake. Since I will be getting a couple of largish TB HD do you have any recommendations on rip settings through handbrake? I am not to concerned with quality since my sets are only 768p.

A couple of notes: Handbrake won't rip your DVD's, it just transcodes. I don't need to worry thought because with a PS3 and PS3 media server, I can play DVD's directly so no need for transcoding.

Finally, Why have you not considered Apple TV?

QuickSilver · 2009-06-30, 10:09 AM

So do you play your dvd's through your PS3 using PS3 media server fully ripped? I was under the assumption Handbrake rips the DVD's and transcodes the file to the user specified settings? I was thinking 1.5 to 2gb's for DVD's would be fine for me.

I did toy with the idea of an Apple TV but I have really fell in love with the Plex interface and find it much superior to FR. Plex will not run on the Apple tv.

hugh · 2009-06-30, 10:37 AM

Quote:

So do you play your dvd's through your PS3 using PS3 media server fully ripped

Yeah, I don't do it much but I can!

I find transcoding to a new format is a pain and takes a lot of time. More importantly, it typically doesn't look as good as the original rip so why bother when an GB of space costs next to nothing? In fact, I used to keep the original and the transcoded version so it actually used up more space!

I have PS3 side by side with my ATV. Both have strengths and weakness but I find I use the ATV a lot more. I use ATV exclusively for music and YouTube. PS3 with PS3 media server for photos. Video is a mixed bag.

Wayne · 2009-06-30, 12:02 PM

Do you want a centralized PVR solution as well? You don't mention it but that is hugely useful when you can record all the TV that you want in one spot and then serve it up throughout the house.

QuickSilver · 2009-06-30, 12:09 PM

Yes I would love that but I think I am out of luck with what I have currently from Bell.

Bell 6100 - no PVR function ability
Bell 9242 - hooked to Pioneer main tv

Would like to make the 6100 have PVR functions with the ability to record HD for my wife. I own the 6100 so was thinking of selling it and upgrading to the 6131.

2009-06-30, 09:18 AM	#1
QuickSilver Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 3,132	Advice on my Home Media Distribution First off please excuse this longish post. Currently I have 2 Mac's in the house: iMac G5 Macbook Pro Core Duo - Connected to Westinghouse 32" LCD TV's: Pioneer 5080HD Samsung 42" Plasma Westinghouse 32" LCD Lately I have been struggling with the best way to start serving my media to my tv's in the house. Currently I use the PS3 hooked up to the Pioneer to watch media housed on a WD external HD hooked up to the MBP. I use PS3 media server and usually copy the files to my PS3 unless they are mkv files. I find i get tons of network issues when I try to stream avi's or mkv's from the drive. I downloaded Plex 2 days ago and started to investigate it as a front end for media serving. I am enjoying it so far and it has led me to this crossroads. We just had a child about 4 months ago and I see the need for some educational dvd's in his future and as he grows the ability for him to watch things I want him to watch. I have nothing connected to the Samsung and this will be his play area. I have toyed with the idea of a Mac Mini but they are kind of expensive. I have a Core 2 Duo 6400, 2gb of Ram and an Nvidia card laying around. Those parts are making me think of building a Hackintosh as a front end for Plex on the Samsung. I would then buy a couple of 1tb external USB drives and hook them up to the MBP (Intel) and serve my media through it. Does anyone have a hackintosh in this manner? Are you happy with it? Will those components play back 720p mkv files ok? I am also going to attempt to rip my (70+) DVD's over the next couple of weeks using handbrake. Since I will be getting a couple of largish TB HD do you have any recommendations on rip settings through handbrake? I am not to concerned with quality since my sets are only 768p. My final plan is to have everything available on all the tv's in the house. I know I will still have to use the PS3 or Xbox 360 on the Pioneer to get to my media but really I will be the only one using that system for the most part. Once again sorry for the long post but being at this crossroads has my head spinning a bit.

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2009-06-30, 10:09 AM	#3
QuickSilver Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 3,132	So do you play your dvd's through your PS3 using PS3 media server fully ripped? I was under the assumption Handbrake rips the DVD's and transcodes the file to the user specified settings? I was thinking 1.5 to 2gb's for DVD's would be fine for me. I did toy with the idea of an Apple TV but I have really fell in love with the Plex interface and find it much superior to FR. Plex will not run on the Apple tv.

2009-06-30, 12:02 PM	#5
Wayne Veteran Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Scarboro Posts: 5,568	Do you want a centralized PVR solution as well? You don't mention it but that is hugely useful when you can record all the TV that you want in one spot and then serve it up throughout the house.

2009-06-30, 12:09 PM	#6
QuickSilver Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 3,132	Yes I would love that but I think I am out of luck with what I have currently from Bell. Bell 6100 - no PVR function ability Bell 9242 - hooked to Pioneer main tv Would like to make the 6100 have PVR functions with the ability to record HD for my wife. I own the 6100 so was thinking of selling it and upgrading to the 6131.