I’ve been looking for an affordable media center for some time or, at least, some combination of DVD, digital media (ie, mp3, DivX) and, maybe, recorded TV shows. However, I haven’t found a cheap solution for this. Let me show which alternatives I have considered:

1. Mac Mini
About 670 euros, with a ridiculously small 80Gb HD, a DVD+-RW and the basic memory.
It is a great machine, with very low power consumption and practically silent, but with a very small HD and slightly expensive. The catch? The operating system, with a slick interface, and the integration with the rest of my media software (ie, iTunes, iPhoto, etc).

2. AppleTV

About 280 euros, but with a big problem: there is neither DVD playback nor DVR functionality. Apple thinks that DVDs are something from the past, so we have to follow their path or look for alternatives… Good point are, as with the Mac Mini, interface and the integration.

3. AppleTV + Wii/XBox

Ok, as the AppleTV is not enough, maybe we could add a Wii or an XBox for the DVD playback and, at the same time, I could have some fun. This combination looks really sexy to me! Games and DVD, keeping the integration of the AppleTV with my media from my other machines. Maybe a bit expensive: 280 + 240 (Wii) or 450 (XBox360)… I have to check this out, because it looks fine but I would not have a PVR.

4. An XBox
Yes, it is great for just 450 euros, but you need a Windows Media Center for streaming movies, and I’m using Mac. Besides that, the list of media formats is ridiculous…

5. AOpen miniPC

This barebone machine looks great, and it is really small and silent, but it is 250-350 euros and you have to add:

- Microprocessor. Maybe more than 100 euros.
- 2.5″ hard disk. These are expensive: 120 euros for 160Gb).
- Memory: 1Gb (2×512Mb) = 40 euros
- An optional capture card (about 60 euros)
The total could get up to 600 euros.

6. Linksys DP-1600

It loooks really nice: “a networked DiVX and DVD player, able to play DivX-, XviD-, Nero-Digital-, MPEG-1/-2-/4- and WMV9 encoded video, as well as MP3 files and audio CD’s.”. It can receive media streams from a wired or wireless PC or Mac. And the price is great! Just 280 euros. The big “but” is the menu system: cheap and ugly, with the typical feeling of a 30 euros DVD player. I don’t want to spend too much, but I don’t want to be embarrassed every time I switch on my TV…

7.My own system.
Maybe I should build my own PC from scratch. A Mini-ITX machine would be nice, with a very small form factor and lowest power consumption, but best motherboards, those where I could put an Intel Dual Core, are really expensive. So maybe I should go for a Micro-ATX. I would talk about this in my next post.