Starting from scratch...

[tcrouch]

Not sure if this is the right place or not, but here goes. I am building a brand new house and want to set up a centralized media server, primarily for movies, for all 4 of my TV's. The plan would be to rip/store all my DVD's, so that they can be watched anytime, form any of the tv's. Cost is not a major concern, however I am trying to watch my overall budget, otherwise I would just go out and get one of those crazy expensive systems that does everything.

If you had the chance to start from scratch and set this thing up, how would you do it? Just looking for opinions, thoughts, suggestions. I have browsed through the PCH forums and these forums, and there seems to be alot of ways to do things.

[stustunz]

the main thing is putting cables in the walls
i would run cat6 x2 to each room and at least one coax
some also run av cables but these can add alot of cost and if you are going to use client pcs or popcorn hours then these are not needed
theater room i would run 50-80mm pvc pipe(biggest i could fit) so i could pull extra cables through in case of upgrading later if new stuff comes on the market

[tcrouch]

The pvc pipe is a great suggestion, thanks!

[Etacovda]

yes, pvc pipe is how ive done mine, but if i had to do it again id get some slightly flexible pipe, makes it a bit easier routing it in if the holes you drill arent completely lined up!

I would personally use popcorn hours if i was going to be doing this as well, as client pc's etc are not as polished a solution at this stage. Pretty much what Stunz said is bang on, cat6 can be used for multiple things (phone, network, audio) - and run 2-3 RG6 cables to each room as well for sat/cable connections. If you're handy with soldering RG6 can be used for AV etc as well, and ive heard stories from some of our technicians using cat6 successfully for even AV.