a new media storage system . . .

khushy · 8 Oct 2006 at 13:31

can anyone rec a good media storage system . . .

either DIY
off the peg

I would like it for my home to store MP3's etc - NOT video - but it must have on-screen menu and be compatible with iTunes etc - could also be networkable - that would be nice.

Khushy :confused:

burtie · 8 Oct 2006 at 13:44

How much you willing to spend mate?building your own media pc would be the cheaper route(imo)i take it this would be a media pc for your living room tv?

squiffy · 8 Oct 2006 at 13:47

How about a old machine with music stored onto hard drive with a Squeezebox V3 over your LAN? I have a Squeezebox and it's great for music, it can integrate with itunes also.

£165 for wired, £190 for wireless. If you already have a pc/server use that.

khushy · 8 Oct 2006 at 14:09

budget about £500 . . .

would be nice to utilise windows media centre etc

good ideas so far - please keep em coming!

WIRED - not wireless and YES it will be in the living room

Scottland · 8 Oct 2006 at 14:11

I'd go for a small Media PC, with an 8" touchscreen LCD as the interface.

squiffy · 8 Oct 2006 at 14:15

khushy said:
would be nice to utilise windows media centre etc

good ideas so far - please keep em coming!

WIRED - not wireless and YES it will be in the living room

Media Centre is rubbish for music browsing, use Media Portal instead. With a HTPC media centre you'll need to have the TV to browse, it's neater just to use Squeezebox on your racking with ethernet going into your router, then server PC elsewhere.

I use a HTPC that's a music/video server and the Squeezebox and it's the best way really. Music navigation with the PC itself + TV is a bit of a hassle really, it does work fine once you've sorted it but you need the TV on. You could use a VFD onto a HTPC case but you'll still to need configure that into a plugin with your media player software.

squiffy · 8 Oct 2006 at 14:20

Scottland said:
I'd go for a small Media PC, with an 8" touchscreen LCD as the interface.

I hope that LCD screen is placed onto a table and not the PC itself otherwise how would you choose music from your armchair? Or you have a LCD 2 way remote control to navigate menus some of the HIGH end remotes are 2 way (talking thousands of pounds though, Creston etc)

Go for a music server + Squeezebox V3, best method by far. Use existing PC that's lying around, fit one large hard drive, rip music to FLAC, install Squeezebox..sorted.

Scottland · 8 Oct 2006 at 14:27

squiffy said:
I hope that LCD screen is placed onto a table and not the PC itself otherwise how would you choose music from your armchair? Or you have a LCD 2 way remote control to navigate menus some of the HIGH end remotes are 2 way (talking thousands of pounds though, Creston etc)

Go for a music server + Squeezebox V3, best method by far. Use existing PC that's lying around, fit one large hard drive, rip music to FLAC, install Squeezebox..sorted.

Or you could just use a remote to control the front end of whatever media application your using. Some media centre applications allow connection of PDA's etc too.

squiffy · 8 Oct 2006 at 14:32

Yes, that will work, but if you want to see what you're doing you'll need one of the following

1) TV to be on
2) Have a large VFD on your PC
3) Two way remote control with LCD screen

For my HTPC use 1 is straight forward as of course you'll have the TV on. But in a Hi-Fi setup you might not even have a display. Or you don't want to switch the TV on just to navigate.