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Ask HN: What is your entertainment setup?

1 points by shiloa ↗ HN
Designing & maintaining systems, building interfaces, implementing algorithms or just writing code for no particular reason are lots of fun - we all know that. But every now and then it feels great to just relax on the couch while watching a good movie or catching up on your favourite TV show.

Some of the best hardware/software people read this forum, so I was wondering - what is your entertainment setup like? HD streamers, TV + Audio gear, costs/benefits, recommendations, tips and anything else you can think of.

1 comment

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meub
My setup is relatively simple but I'm happy with it. All my content is stored on a Synology DiskStation DS213 NAS with 2x3TB RAID 0 configured drives. This is hands down the best NAS I've ever used. It's super easy to set up and the interface is awesome (all linux-based). I've set it up with Dynamic DNS/Port Forwarding so it's accessible from anywhere. The DS213 supports torrenting via the "Download Station" and I use various RSS feeds to automatically download the shows I like right on the NAS itself.

I stream content from the NAS to a little Pivos XIOS DS device running XBMC on the local network. This little streamer handles HD content easily and it's also officially supported by the XBMC team. I spray-painted it black so it looks very similar to an AppleTV2. The Pivos is connected to my Samsung TV and I use an MX-500 Universal Remote to control both the Pivos and my TV. It's a great remote with amazing IR range, you don't even need to aim it. Pretty regularly I will start a download on the NAS from work(or my phone) so it's done and waiting to be watched when I get home.

All in all I really like this setup - virtually no maintenance and it works perfectly for what I want. I went the whole custom LAMP + NAS Server route a few years back. It worked ok but eventually proved to be too difficult to use and maintain.