Cheap Multiroom Media Center System with Apple TV and XBMC
Many people look for cheap multiroom media solutions. There are many options. In this article I would like to share what media center system I have built and how reliable it has been so far.
Firstly, I started with my living room. I’ve already had plasma TV and audio amplifier with 5.1 speaker system. All I needed was some sweet media center and storage for my films, music and pictures. As storage I went for NAS Storage Synology DS110j. Honestly, forget NAS systems from WD, LinkStation and Netgear. I have read a lot of comments about NAS products before buying one and a lot of people always had some problems with these.Synology though has good reputation amongst its users and there is no mistake – this product is great!I bought 2TB hard drive and installed it in the NAS. Created shares and uploaded content to it.
What about media center? Well, I’ve always been big fan media center software and I have tried few. At the begging I had PC with Windows Media Centre 2005 hooked up to the TV. Not a good solution. Big case and fan noise. Also, I didn’t like Windows Media Centre. It didn’t support many file formats, subtitles and I got windows errors while watching films too many times. I moved to XBMC and it became my best friend!. I strongly recommend trying it. It has so much to offer!
What most I like about it is:
- haven’t found video or audio format xbmc doesn’t support
- multiple subtitles in various formats
- allows me to add content from various sources : windows and linux shares , UPnP AV ….
- choice of skin
- allows me to stream content directly from internet (youtube, megavideo)
Some months later I took PC out and put first generation of Xbox with XBMC on it. I didn’t have to wait for PC to boot up and shutdown anymore. Xbox was ready in about 5 seconds and I could just shut it down with 1 button click just as DVD player. It served me well until I got Apple TV 2 and installed XBMC on it.
This is what I came up with:
And what you get is this:
Here are links where you can buy this stuff:
Synology DS110j
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Synology-DS110j-Disk-Station-Enclosure/dp/B002U42XD6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297860833&sr=1-1
Seagate 2TB hard drive
Apple TV
Here you can learn how to install XBMC on Apple TV 2
Thanks a lot for taking the time to describe the terminlogy to the newcomers!
Cortez
February 18, 2011 at 9:07 pm
Hi!
Thanks a lot for your comprehensive blog post about ATV2 with XBMC!
I would really really like to get the same setup on my jailbroken ATV2. XMBC works on my ATV2 – but I cannot figure out how to get the “Aeon Hitched” skin work on my XBMC
Where can I find instructions about that?
Where did you download that skin and how did you install it?
Regards, Jan
Jan
February 27, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Thanks for the info, I’m a newbie with XBMC. I successfully jalbroke ATV2 last night and installed XBMC. Question, Does most of your content reside on the Synology? Do you stream movies, tv shows, sports from internet through XBMC? If so is there an add-on for this?
thanks
Eric
Eric
March 2, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Yes, most of my content sits on Synology. Movies in 720p, music and photos. I also stream movies and tv shows and sports through XBMC. They are lower quality but watchable. There are several Add-ons such as Cartoon Network, GameTrailers, YouTube, Hulu and many more. Once you clicked Add-ons in the XBMC menu you will see all available options.
arturito
March 3, 2011 at 8:04 am
Thanks Artuito.
Is there a guide on how to add content and naming convention. I’m struggling with what I should choose when adding a new source. Upnp or smb? Also I don’t get the option for xbmc to scan my new source. Does the library button need to be selected. I added my iTunes library but no album art has been added. What about playlists. Should they import as well? Thanks for any help
Eric
Eric
March 3, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Hey this is a great guide. What type of router do you need for the Synology? Could you recommend any?
Thanks,
Daniel
Daniel Mortimer
March 10, 2011 at 8:12 pm
It can be any router.For example mine is Zyxel that is provided by my ISP and is not gigabit. All works fine.
But if you care about transfer speed and you can have cabled connection to your pc get any router with gigabit. Transfer between Synology and PC through gigabit should be a lot faster.
If you want to access your router through wireless there is no point in buying gigabit router. (as you won’t be using gigabit connection)
Company I used to work for used to buy Draytek models such as Draytek Vigor 2820n and 2820Vn. Very reliable and sophisticated.
arturito
March 11, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Nice! Almost excactly my setup, but i have Qnap server in basement. And the Appletv2 is in my livingroom upstairs, connected via Ethernet, but it still works like a charm!
Jan
March 24, 2011 at 6:54 pm
I did my research on NASes and I selected one through a process of elimination.So I ended up with Synology and Qnap. I think I went with Synology as it was cheaper and had as good reviews as Qnap
…..and yeap it all works like charm.
arturito
March 25, 2011 at 2:46 pm