Messy Newbuild Batchelor pad....

zag2me · 20-01-2008, 9:14 PM

First of all, I'm not going to win any interior design competitions with this install, you have been warned

Just the stuff any gadget freak needs, A big TV, Projector, home bar, 5.1 sound.

Equipment
Samsung LE46M87BDX
Acer H5360 projector
Pioneer VSX520 Amplifier
D-Line trunking
Lenvo HTPC, Intel 40gb SSD drive + 2tb WD Green disk
4 x 1tb Mybook hard disks
MCE remote
Vibe Monolith speakers & sub
Running MeediOS ultimate
Custom Media server 6 x 2tb drives

sbowler · 20-01-2008, 9:45 PM

Nice setup mate.

I see from the specs the HTPC is running a SSD, whats your experience with this. Its the way forward for HDDs, boot up time is supposed to be very fast?
Just need to get the capacity upto around the 300Gb.

zag2me · 20-01-2008, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbowler

Nice setup mate.

I see from the specs the HTPC is running a SSD, whats your experience with this. Its the way forward for HDDs, boot up time is supposed to be very fast?
Just need to get the capacity upto around the 300Gb.

SSD drives are the single biggest advance in computing in a decade I reckon. I store all my media on a seperate server so only use about 8gb on the actual htpc itself. I have no need for large SSD drives, infact I wish I had bought the 16gb one now!

You are correct about the performance gains. It boots in about 22 seconds and goes into standby and out much faster. Another advantage is the response time for apps. things load instantly which is a huge plus on a home theatre pc. Also it takes less power and is dead silent, I can't recomend them enough if a little pricey.

Franco50 · 21-01-2008, 2:53 PM

Love the optics on the window sill!

jolly · 21-01-2008, 9:56 PM

Best use of a window sill ever !

Steve

zag2me · 24-10-2010, 7:46 PM

Little update to mine with some new equipment

- Gale aria AR50 center speaker
- Pioneer VSX520 Home cinema receiver
- Vibe Monolith Standup speakers
- Vibe Subwoofer
- New Lenvo core i5 htpc
- New MeediOS Ultimate frontend software
- New Xbox 360 piano black case

Oh and the bar got expanded a "little" as well

mooro1973 · 24-10-2010, 7:50 PM

Love the bar!

*maocul* · 26-10-2010, 10:11 AM

Zag2Me, How's MeediOS treating you? I'm itching to come back from XBMC but its got to be ok for the wife to use!

Sanders79 · 26-10-2010, 10:38 AM

Nice looking bar! Don't those optics drip on the floor? I would be tempted to put in some sort of a small floating shelf underneath that could catch the drips and then wipe clean easily. Having worked in pubs for about ten years in a former life, I remember what a mess they could get, especially with sweeter drinks (Archers and Baileys spring to mind as particular culprits!). This was best avoided by regular (weekly at least) cleaning of the optic.

And where's the Aftershock?

zag2me · 26-10-2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maocul

Zag2Me, How's MeediOS treating you? I'm itching to come back from XBMC but its got to be ok for the wife to use!

Well I run the meedios site these days so probably a very good person to ask

We've made lots of progress in the last couple of months with xbmc like imports, web browser, coverflow, GUI searching for details + fanart, animated backgrounds, actor cross referencing. Too much stuff to list really.

I'm not sure its wife friendly yet but check this video. Its still the only htpc software that lets you have separate libraries for kids movies ect.

Meedios Demo on Vimeo

Oh and can a mod move this to the gallery section please?

danb123 · 26-10-2010, 5:36 PM

Cracking little pad mate, that bar is ridiculous! Love it!

Surely that wall is crying out for a nice fixed PJ screen though is it on the wish list?

Greg Zepplin · 26-10-2010, 5:50 PM

That bar is awesome!

Can't decide whether I'm keen on the speakers or not, but like that they look different

POSTal6 · 26-10-2010, 5:59 PM

nice sound system

markiedee · 26-10-2010, 6:35 PM

that setup looks nice man.

Le_BeC · 26-10-2010, 9:14 PM

VEry nice setup dude, really nice, and the bar, just awesome!

Bizness · 27-10-2010, 9:55 AM

Oh yes, single man heaven.

I Spiritus I · 27-10-2010, 1:49 PM

Nice set up and cracking bar! :o lol.

zag2me · 27-10-2010, 6:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danb123

Cracking little pad mate, that bar is ridiculous! Love it!

Surely that wall is crying out for a nice fixed PJ screen though is it on the wish list?

Yep problem is the projector is too far back and 206cm is the smallest it will go.

I've only seen electric projector screens that are 200cm and don't really want to go too much bigger

I guess I will have to remount the projector somewhere closer.

Oh and I'm looking at these wall mounted speakers from Vibe as well, they should look pretty cool when installed flush in the dry wall.

http://www.avjungle.co.uk/bmz_cache/...ge.175x175.jpg

cfoster · 27-10-2010, 8:40 PM

Superb mate, how are you getting on with the Vibe speakers? That sub would look awesome in my lounge! Where did you buy that bar from - awesome!!

zag2me · 27-10-2010, 9:18 PM

Loving the vibe speakers, they sound and more importantly(for me anyway) look really good. The sub isn't as good but it suits my needs in a flat where I need a front firing speaker.

You can buy the bar on ebay, just search for "black glass bar", its not expensive either and looks amazing.

SuZee · 28-10-2010, 5:58 AM

love your set -up, but the bar area wins!!!!!

phil5366 · 28-10-2010, 3:26 PM

Great gaff especially the bar area, I bet that is very popular with the mates around.

mooperman · 28-10-2010, 7:01 PM

i see the man likes a drink...

nacmacfeegle · 02-11-2010, 4:22 PM

"Oh and the bar got expanded a "little" as well "

Aye, just a little, you don't want to overdo things!

I reckon there's room for another optic on the far right hand side of the window sill....
I like this set up a lot, very cool.

zag2me · 08-11-2010, 6:15 PM

Just a small update with some in wall speakers at the back and the projector

zag2me · 12-01-2011, 8:55 PM

Another update, this time of the media server.

Old capacity 1.91b
New capacity 11tb

OS - Windows 7

I'm amazed it actually works with most of the original hardware intact that I bought 5 years ago.

- Coolermaster stacker case
- Samsung SSD value 30gb
- 3Ware 9500s 8 port RAID card
- AMD 1.3Ghz cpu
- 1gb 2300 ram
- 6 x WD Green 2tb Hard disks in RAID 5

Not bad for a 300 quid upgrade

Tempted to buy another 2 WD drives now!!

Bizness · 13-01-2011, 12:12 PM

Any chance of a link to that awesome roller girl wall paper?

Richie1967 · 13-01-2011, 12:34 PM

Not bad at all

, I like it

And the bar too

Greetz Richie

zag2me · 16-06-2011, 9:31 PM

Quick pic of the Projector up on screen.

Was a nightmare setting up with the HTPC only having a displayport output and VGA had to try all kinds of different combinations to get it working. Worst thing is I find out displayport doesn't do Audio!! Anyway I managed to get it working at 720p on both screens at the same time with no tearing now.

Going to invest in a displayport >> hdmi converter then a HDMI splitter to get 2 digital outputs soon.

Oh and I added some new gadgets to my setup as well.

- 2 x Qnap 419+ 6TB NAS devices
- Harmony one remote
- PS3

So now I have 26tb storage in total hehe

Looking to the future I would like to get a motorized projector screen or at the very least paint he wall white. Then its onto home automation stuff and security cameras.

Ewan154 · 17-06-2011, 12:35 PM

Hi,
Very nice set up you have there. Can you not turn the projector over?

P.S love the bar