Re: Freeware Media Centre software

["ianh1000" <ianh1000@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Paul,=20

Not a suggestion for your PC option but I have a media receiver that=20
I bought but never used. Its an HP device that uses the TV scren for=20
its interface, it does what you want with MP3 and can also be used=20
for slide shows of photos stored on the main PC.=20

Its brand new, I never got around to using it, would like to cover=20
what it cost me (=A330) they were about $150 in the US. We never sold=20
them in the UK.=20

Go to www.hp.com and search en5000 for product info.=20

Regards
Ian=20

--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "Paul Gordon" <paul@p...> wrote:
> Hi peeps.
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> I want to try to put together a very basic media access PC for my
> parents... - they already have a main PC, but this is located in=20
the
> kitchen, and it can't really move from there. This PC has their=20
digital
> music collection on its internal 160GB disk. (only about 8GB of
> MP3's...). I want to try to make this available in the living room=20
where
> the main stereo lives, which serves the main speakers in the living
> room, plus the garden speakers. I had thought about one of the=20
various
> streaming devices, such as Netgear MP101, squeezebox etc, but=20
they're
> not to believe it's worth spending any money to achieve this, plus=20
I
> have a loft full of PC's and PC parts so it seems like a good idea=20
to
> try to do it with whatever kit I already have available...
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> I have a surplus Maplin Book PC that a few of us bought a couple of
> years ago. I've upgraded this to a PIII-866 & 256MB RAM, and
I've=20
got XP
> Pro running on it reasonably happily, this is also nice &
small,=20
and
> reasonably quiet, and so could be setup in their lounge without=20
being
> too imposing...
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> What I want to know is what choice of front-end interface I can=20
put on
> this level of hardware... - I am aware of Xlobby and GBPVR and=20
will be
> looking at both of these, - but are there any others?
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> Requirements are:
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> 1)       FREE!
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> 2)       Simple to use
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> 3)       Able to utilise an Evation IRMan (serial port version),=20
which I
> also have lying around, so will just use an IR remote for=20
navigation
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> 4)       Provide a nice interface for playing music - TV PVR=20
functions
> not important, the PC has no internal slots, so adding a TV card=20
isn't
> possible, - although one which is able to work with a USB freeview=20
box
> may be worth exploring, - but this machine only has USB 1.1=20
ports...
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> Cheers
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> Paul G.
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> PS, - please don't suggest switching to LINUX, - that's just not=20
going
> to happen for this project, since I don't have the time to learn=20
LINUX
> to the degree where I'd be able to support this machine as easily=20
as I
> can support a Windows box...
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> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]