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best way to turn out of date multiroom media centre into *something* better

  • 17-12-2012 4:55pm
    #1
    vibe666
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭


    okay, so I just moved into a new rented house with the following already in place:

    comms room:
    magnet 100mbps FTTH termination point
    magnet (motorola) hd recording tv box thingy
    router (mine)
    amp for living room speakers
    radio/CD player for kitchen speakers
    Win7 HTPC
    Xbox360 used as media centre extender for living room

    living room: 42" LG Plasma TV inc. recessed ceiling mounted 5.1 speakers, power sockets behind the TV and an ethernet port.

    kitchen: 32" LG LCD TV inc. recessed ceiling mounted stereo speakers, power sockets behind the TV and an ethernet port.

    master bedroom: 32" LG LCD TV inc. recessed ceiling mounted stereo speakers, power sockets behind the TV and an ethernet port and another xbox360 used as a media centre extender (which for some reason is currently missing entirely and i'll need to replace).

    it's currently set up so that the magnet TV box sends the TV directly to the HTPC and there's a magic eye type thing that allows you to change the channel on the magnet TV box via Windows Media Centre but it really doesn't work very well (barely 30% of the time), regardless of where you have the eye thing positioned.

    there also seems to be a problem with the EPG on it (i.e. there currently isn't one) which i've been told is a problem with the EPG provider and there should be a fix in a couple of weeks whilst MS find a new EPG provider (or something like that).

    so, how can i make this set up better?

    i was thinking maybe raspberry pi's connected to all the TV's and just have a central server serving up recorded content to all 3 TV's but i'm wondering if i can remove the magnet TV box from the equation altogether and get a TV card (or two) to replace it?

    is the magnet signal encrypted or locked down by MAC address (ala UPC) or something like that or is it possible to just use your own TV card to record TV instead of their box?

    i'm also thinking it would be a good time to make the most of the built in speakers and get some kind of zoned audio thing going on as it seems a waste to have it all integrated like that and not have zoned audio that i can control easily via my phone or whatever.

    thanks in advance for any help/tips advice etc. :)


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