How much is it going to cost me ???

[jamie2112]

Well as you might have read,my external HD took a crap.I lost ALL my movies and music.I now have a 500g hd in my Mac and a 1tb external Seagate.I am now thinking I want to have a music server for my stereo setup.I need some suggestions as I am as clueless as a monkey(yeah you) on this.I want to be able to play my collection with a video monitor close to whatever box I end up getting.Is there such a thing?What do I need to get in order for me to be a happy camper?

 

[krzywica]

Well as you might have read,my external HD took a crap.I lost ALL my movies and music.I now have a 500g hd in my Mac and a 1tb external Seagate.I am now thinking I want to have a music server for my stereo setup.I need some suggestions as I am as clueless as a monkey(yeah you) on this.I want to be able to play my collection with a video monitor close to whatever box I end up getting.Is there such a thing?What do I need to get in order for me to be a happy camper?

There are a lot of options for redundant or parity storage.

I would need a little more detail on what you would want and what you currently have.

Do you currently have wired ethernet?
Or would you want a directly connected solution to your workstation?
How much storage are we talking?

 

[jamie2112]

I do not have wired internet at the moment.Just wireless.I want at least 250 gig for my music player.I am thinking Roku or Squeezebox at the moment.Thanks.

 

[jinjuku]

Any Squeeze Box appliance by Logitech has my vote. They are doing a great job currently. Really feature rich product.

 

[krzywica]

Oh ok you want networked media player. When you said server I assumed you wanted something to host the files....

I would agree with jinjuku on this one.

However, when searching make sure to pay special attention to the formats supported and the output capabilities of each unit.

 

[agarwalro]

Popcorn Hour has an interesting product but I have no direct experience with it.

 

[krzywica]

Popcorn Hour has an interesting product but I have no direct experience with it.

While the PCH's are awesome for movies and TV shows they are abysmal for content organization out of the box when it comes to music.

They are capable of being an extremely easy to use and functional with a bit of tweaking. They have quite a steep learning curve and I would not suggest using these units for a music server to anyone that is not a geek or has geekish tendencies.

 

[agarwalro]

While the PCH's are awesome for movies and TV shows they are abysmal for content organization out of the box when it comes to music.

They are capable of being an extremely easy to use and functional with a bit of tweaking. They have quite a steep learning curve and I would not suggest using these units for a music server to anyone that is not a geek or has geekish tendencies.

That is definitely good info to keep in the back pocket!