Stuck - ideas needed

[Knobby]

I'm running a dedicated GB-PVR computer which will be connected to a 50" plasma in the living room. What I want to do is distribute music (and maybe recorded tv shows) from this computer to 4 other rooms in the house. "Fairly simple" I hear you say, but I have a few constraints:

1. It needs to be a neat solution, i.e. wall mounted, with as much of the wiring/components as possible hidden from view. Could be in a cabinet in a different room if necessary.
2. I don't want to have a keyboard/mouse to control it.
3. Each room needs to be controlled individually, but not from a central point
4. WAF must be high!
5. Can't cost the earth!!

My house is currently under construction so I can do pretty much anything I like with regards to wiring, etc. The plan is to have a wired 100mbp network throughout the house feeding back to a cabinet in one room (not one of the rooms I need to distribute to).

Any ideas gratefully received!

[sixgun]

Have you considered using MVPs?

I have a similar setup, only difference is that i have a central server rather than a media pc next to the main TV.

Each MVP can independantly view different music/recordings/videos. They can also view live TV via the tuners in the main machine.

[daphatty]

An MVP is probably your only solution. I can say from experience that the MVP is high on WAF, low on cost, and also low on tech. The last feature can be a double edge sword since the MVP is quite picky about what it can and cannot do. One thing it doesn't do very well is playback TV/Videos that aren't native MPEG2 recordings. Playback of Divx/xvid media is hit or miss, with most of the results being a miss.

As long as your needs and expectations are low then the MVP will suit your needs just fine.

[Smoker]

An MVP is probably your only solution. I can say from experience that the MVP is high on WAF, low on cost, and also low on tech.

I would disagree with you on the cost aspect. Knobby wants to distribute to 4 rooms (i.e. mvp's) and from what I can find here in the US (I know he is in the UK) would cost him $100 each ($400 total) for wired and I imagine that would be more than his htpc.

[sixgun]

Well MVPs currently retail over here at £40[SIZE="1"]ish[/SIZE]. So that's £160 for 4, so your figure isn't too far off. But i have yet to see a PC or other media playback device that is as cheap as that.

HTPCs cost somewhere around the £300 mark, so for 4 rooms, that would come to £1200. So in relative terms £160 is pretty cheap.

I may be missing something here. Do you know of an alternative to an MVP or HTPC, and would be cheaper than £160 for 4 rooms?


I am actually doing something very similar for my girlfriend's brother at the moment. A central PC for storage / recording. An MVP in 3 bedrooms and another in the lounge, although that might turn into a HTPC for hi-def viewing. But i'd probably recommend an MVP in there too, just for the sake of simplicity.

The main criteria i see here is the individually controlled part. If that wasn't there, then a simple RF distribution with a modulator would have done the trick. But my understanding is that Knobby wants each room to be able to view different content from the other rooms.

[Smoker]

I may be missing something here. Do you know of an alternative to an MVP or HTPC, and would be cheaper than £160 for 4 rooms?

no no no lol not saying there is a better solution just that I disagree with it be cheap.

[sixgun]

no no no lol not saying there is a better solution just that I disagree with it be cheap.

Well, cost is all relative!

Usually to how much money you have

[pz1]

Each MVP can independantly view different music/recordings/videos.

How did you manage that? I have been thinking about that, but did not find it here. What should I search for?

[sixgun]

How did you manage that? I have been thinking about that, but did not find it here. What should I search for?

AFAIK that's just the way it works with MVP devices. Each one can view whatever you want it to. I've even had it where 2 people have been watching different bits of the same recording.

I certainly didn't do anything specific to enable it.

[pz1]

AFAIK that's just the way it works with MVP devices. Each one can view whatever you want it to. I've even had it where 2 people have been watching different bits of the same recording.

I certainly didn't do anything specific to enable it.

Ah, I think I misunderstood. What I was looking for is a way to have for example different video-collections for different MVP's. It would be nice to have a selection for guests in our B&B.