My New "Media Center"

I’ve been racking my brain for months and months trying to decide what I want to do about implementing a “media server” on my HD television. Basically, I want a centralized place for my music, movies and photos.

Using mplayer on my Ubuntu server, I’ve been ripping my DVDs to the server’s hard drive. Since I’m ripping them at full quality, I don’t have to re-encode them, so getting through my whole library of 250 DVDs won’t take all that long. (About 20 mintues per movie.) My music library is also on that server. My photos however are on my MacBook, organized by iPhoto – so that’s a complication.

Using the Ubuntu Server:
I could plug my Ubuntu server into my television, but that would mean that I’d have to transfer my photos off my MacBook, and install a media center-esque windows manager on Ubuntu. I could then remotely control VLC using my iPhone. That idea had promise, but to be honest it sounded like too much work.

Buy an Apple TV:
I could buy an Apple TV, with it’s great interface and ease of use, but it’s basically just a streaming device. It would need to stream from my MacBook, and that’s not where the bulk of my media is stored.

Use MacBook, Front Row:
Eureka! That’s the ticket! Since the MacBook is a fully functioning computer (obviously), with the super handy “Front Row” media center software on it, playing movies, listening to music, and looking at photos will be a breeze! I bought a DVI to HDMI cable to go from my MacBook to the TV. (Adapters and an HDMI switch were also required.) The MacBook’s audio out goes to my surround sound system. Currently, the MacBook is accessing my movies and music on the Ubuntu server via a Samba share (that’s where I pointed my iTunes Library settings to), but in the near future I plan on moving all that stuff to a large external hard drive that can plug right into the MacBook, taking wireless network latency out of the picture. The bonus here is that I came across a great new program called Understudy which is a plugin for Front Row that allows you to access Hulu and Netflix via the Front Row interface. So, last night I watched 3 back-to-back episodes of 30 Rock – Season 1 from Netflix in full screen on my television. It’s pretty bad-ass. Understudy is still a little buggy since it’s still an immature program, but subscribe to their RSS feed, and you’ll get notified every time they cut a new release with bug fixes. I can control Front Row with the IR remote control that came with my MacBook, or I can use my iPhone as a Front Row remote with the help of an app called RowMote or Front Remote.

So basically, for about $45, the price of cables, I’ve turned my MacBook into a media center machine. Not too shabby.

The Pressley Press

My New "Media Center"

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The Pressley Press

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