Occasional Observations

For years I've pondered the benefits of setting up a multimedia PC in our living room - but never found a compelling-enough package to provide the impetus to actually go out and buy it. For a while I thought a hacked X-Box running Linux would be the answer, but the idea of coming home with an X-Box and trying to explain the repurposing (and the prospects of anyone actually believing that) was a step too far!

Almost two years ago I documented a poor living room PC substitute - the Netgear EVA, which went back after a few days. And its support for only a restricted number of formats, plus its super-hot operating temperature, has ruled out Apple TV.

Finally, I found a working alternative, the KISS 1600 media player. It's not exactly new to market but after a couple of months, I'm pretty happy - especially after upgrading my wifi. A sleek new N-standard Linksys has replaced the old D-Link, which had started playing up by randomly refusing to work until the power was cycled ... N is also fast enough for video streaming.

The source for this streaming: my trusty NAS drive, as the (minimalistic to say the least) KISS media sharing application just worked. I love it when that happens.

Labels: multimedia