Also the mini he linked has a Core Duo with shit Intel card so no hardware video decoding in the GPU, which means 1080P playback will probably suck.
Might look into the mac mini idea. Would be pretty sweet if I can find a newer one that has the GPU for better 1080p output
Look at a ION PC too, running XBMC on linux or windows.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173004&cm_re=ion_2--56-173-004--Product
And have a lot more capabilities, a lot more storage space available and a lot more freedom to do what you want, plus complete control from your iPhone/iPod touch. Like its a remote, mouse and keyboard.
I’ve been there and done that. I couldn’t be happier with the setup I have now.
It’s seriously a major PITA to deal with all of the BS of the full-blown PC/Mac hooked to the TV.
I took the machine I was running everything on and tossed it in my laundry closet. It just sits there as a headless file server now running OS X 10.5. I use OS X screen sharing to hop on it and download all of my shit and organise my collection. Then I just flick on my wdtv live when I want to consume some content.
Bump for any cheaper solutions that can play Hulu too. I subscribe to Hulu Plus so one that can play off that too is a must. Boxee on a Mac Mini would be nice but for consistent 1080p output, I really don’t want to drop $600 on a new Mac Mini
Popcorn Hour can do Hulu with PlayON
Found the solution. Going to pick one up after I get back from Texas.
XBMC?
I wish they built the cheap one with an Intel processor (even a pentium D or something) so that I could hackintosh it easilly…I looked into them when I decided on what I have now.
Are you planning to put a remote on it or just go with a keyboard mouse?
I have a keyboard and mouse under my TV from my old PS3 which I will have plugged into it for any big administration. Grabbing the cheaper one from dell, a USB wireless card and
HDMI cable. After that, installing Ubuntu with Boxee to index my shows and access Hulu and have the iPhone app as the remote.
i have a pioneer dvd player i bought off of new egg over a year ago that has a usb in, and plays all kinds of codecs, divx, avi ect. i like it a lot, and it was only like $60