A Minimalist dream

[admin_exported]

Is the idea of everything in one box still a dream or are the claims of a growing number of manufacturers to be believed? When I approach a product maker with a question; any question regarding their product, the answer is invariably YES! “Can this DVD recorder really store and play my music collection at high quality?” “Yes of course”. OK! “Can I stream from and to all my devices without problems?” “Yes yes! Not a problem” “Right! Can my grand dad use it without getting confused?” “How old is your Grand dad?” “ He's 98 years old”. Then Yes yes yes There are now media streamers with on-board storage, Blue ray players that double as streamers and so on and so forth. It's hard enough even to locate a category in which to place this dream product. Deciding amongst the new and not so new array of products out there is near on impossible unless you are a true 100% Up-to-date technophile. 'Up-to-date' being the operative word here. So often information gathered in forums is years out of date, inaccurate and full of overly fearful comments of worst case scenarios. With all this in mind, I direct you to the following question and hope that you can regard this request as a personal challenge.

1: If an All-in-one product/s does indeed exist that can handle all the following demands. Please name it or them in order of most suitable and functional.

2: If Not, then what would be the fewest products that once paired together would effectively do the same job. Again please list these products and give opinions based on functionality.

3: Please try to bring me up to date by providing considered opinions regarding issues that are, as yet, unknown to me.

My requirements

On the face of it, it doesn't seem to much to ask, that something the size of, say, an average DVD recorder could in principle eliminate the need for all those racks and racks of so-called dedicated equipment and “Praise the lord”, all those cables.After all, we expect this of our pc's everyday. Admittedly the phrase All-in-one has come to mean far more than it once did so I will state very specifically what I could call an All-in one product.
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communicates / streams to and from all my current devices.
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Functionaly good quality internet radio and paid for services
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Should be able to store my entire music collection so that I can quickly retrieve and play at a good quality.
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Also store my HD and blue ray collection
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hd+blue ray recorder and live music recording from internet radio etc
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Store and show photographs
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Internet surfing access and/or built in torrent down-loader would be good
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Controllable via an i-phone of similar device so that I can browse and select music without the use of a TV/pc screen.
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Most up to date connectivity for other hard drives, Nas, etc. etc.
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Multi-file compatibility
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Ethernet and wifi

So what do you think...anything else you need to know?...just ask

And Hey! Thanks

 

[Big Chris]

I think Panasonic's DMR-BW880 (I think I've got the model number right) is about as close as you're gonna get right now to an all-in-one with most of the functionality you require.

 

[d4v3pum4]

Just build a decent HCPC but the necessary tuner cards etc. I would look at external storage or else it will be noisy. If you don't want to build it, speak to a HCPC company that offer custom builds e.g. http://www.my-htpc.co.uk/

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys for the good advice. I have some doubts about hcpc's though. It feels like things are getting more difficult instead of less.

I've also read a few articles that claim the hcpc idea never really took off and is pretty much dead. They suggest embedded software in stand alone products...

Maybe what I want is just plain unrealistic and there are other easier and most probably better ways of achieving this. The point about external storage and noise is well taken. I guess that would mean a NAS and a streamer/recorder set-up ???

Most important to me are three main facts.

1: That I can store and retrieve everything from one place in a fast, qualitative, convenient and non-frustrating fashion

2: That I can record TV/film, download torrents and youtube maybe

3: Good free and paid for internet radio service

For me, everything else is just semantics and I'm trying to concentrate on the simple and purist view of a listener/viewer and the quality of that experience.

All advice is gratefully accepted

 

[noogle]

Yes, I think you're talking about a PC. Not sure you can rip BluRays though.

 

[d4v3pum4]

I hate love it when people say, "I read somewhere....".

Home Cinema PC's are a niche product that put everything in one box, or at least most of it in on box with network connectivity to central storage. How many people do you know that rip blurays etc.? Most people are happy to just bung a disc in and be done with it. Of course, they never took off, they're for AV hobbyists! If you go to any of the audio visual forums such as this one and elsewhere you will find lots of users of HCPC. Have a read of your post, you are describing a home Cinema PC to a tee.

Have a look at xbmc, mediaportal, mediabrowser for front ends. They are all free. Mediaportal has livetv feature. I'm not sure about mediabrowser. I know that XBMC are working on it. There are guides around the web that will tell you what are the latest PC components etc. to use as processors etc. change every 3-4 months. I have just built a small form factor mini-itx based HCPC in a Wesena case using the AMD Zacate platform APU. I use Windows 7 with XBMC as the front end. It is a joy to use. I don't have tuners etc. for TV as I have sky+HD but you could incorporate this into a larger case (M-ATX) with no problems. Google "assassin's guide" for ideas.