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1 Solution? Photo -> iPad, film -> TV, mp3 -> HiFi
#1354285
22/06/2012 22:25
22/06/2012 22:25
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,057 Southsea
Gunzi
OP
Club member 189, Former Club President
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OP
Club member 189, Former Club President
Je suis un Coupé
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,057
Southsea
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I know there are some very tech savvy people on here (and some not-so!) and was hoping someone can help me!
Our current set up is 1 laptop and 1 iPad, with our TV linked to our Hi-Fi in the living room, and 1 PC in an upstairs bedroom. The laptop has about 50GB of photos / music, and the PC has about 700GB of photos, music and some films. I want to get rid of the PC, and keep / transfer it's content.
Can anybody tell me if there is something I can purchase that I can put in my living room which will let us listen to MP3's through the Hi-Fi, watch films on the TV, and view photos on the iPad/laptop?
I'm totally lost in all this tech stuff, 'slingboxes', networkable hard drives and media streamers etc. Can anybody help?!
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Re: 1 Solution? Photo -> iPad, film -> TV, mp3 -> HiFi
[Re: Gunzi]
#1354286
22/06/2012 22:28
22/06/2012 22:28
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DanielTheManual
Unregistered
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DanielTheManual
Unregistered
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What TV do you have? Some modern TV's let you plug a USB stick/hard-drive into them and will play movies/films/photos off of them.
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Re: 1 Solution? Photo -> iPad, film -> TV, mp3 -> HiFi
[Re: Gunzi]
#1354296
22/06/2012 23:01
22/06/2012 23:01
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,057 Southsea
Gunzi
OP
Club member 189, Former Club President
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OP
Club member 189, Former Club President
Je suis un Coupé
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,057
Southsea
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Hyper - I do use iTunes across the board, and as far as I know the films are iTunes compatible, although since they're on the PC I haven't watched them in years.
The PC is an old dual core 2GB DDR2 RAM etc from 2006, in a big case. I really don't want to buy another PC if I can avoid it as that then means I will need a separate keyboard & mouse, on top of the laptop and iPad which already reside in the sofa side of the living room.
Is there no box like a NAS but which has a HDMI output to go to the Hi-Fi amp (and onto the TV), and would be controllable from the ipad or laptop?
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Re: 1 Solution? Photo -> iPad, film -> TV, mp3 -> HiFi
[Re: Gunzi]
#1354297
22/06/2012 23:06
22/06/2012 23:06
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,057 Southsea
Gunzi
OP
Club member 189, Former Club President
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OP
Club member 189, Former Club President
Je suis un Coupé
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,057
Southsea
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I have a sky N type router with 4 network cable inputs, with the sky HD box in one, and the laptop, PC and ipad all using the wireless. The NAS would be next to the router which is also in the living room.
So if I went with the NAS & apple TV, could the apple TV use the library from the NAS via the laptop or iPad?
The PC is tempting, but I'm reluctant because of the above!
I'm reading a bit about XMBC, which apparently can be added to an apple TV. Assuming that this can then 'see' the NAS, it sounds like just the ticket!
Last edited by Gunzi; 22/06/2012 23:40. Reason: XMBC
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Re: 1 Solution? Photo -> iPad, film -> TV, mp3 -> HiFi
[Re: Gunzi]
#1354371
23/06/2012 15:05
23/06/2012 15:05
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,057 Southsea
Gunzi
OP
Club member 189, Former Club President
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OP
Club member 189, Former Club President
Je suis un Coupé
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,057
Southsea
|
Chaps, after much searching I think I've found a solution in the 1TB WD TV Live Hub. This plugs in via HDMI, into the router via ethernet, and is also searchable by iPads / iPhones. Cheers for the help chaps
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Re: 1 Solution? Photo -> iPad, film -> TV, mp3 -> HiFi
[Re: Gunzi]
#1356667
02/07/2012 23:26
02/07/2012 23:26
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Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,617 SE Essex
charlie_croker
I need some sleep
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I need some sleep
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,617
SE Essex
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You could try this: AppleTV, connected to TV Controlled by iPad, using Remote App and thanks to airplay you can use iPad as a controller with picture on TV. (Playing games is awesome this way). In regards to a server, look for an apple G4 dual 1GHz you can pick them up for around £50 Either use Mac Leopard as a client OS or if you like tinkering use Leopard Server. Set it as single user/autoboot, (you can use energy saver to detail bootup and shut down times), get it to autostart iTunes and switch on home sharing and Voila, your media served. For music we have 4 airport Expresses, these connect to various powered speakers/ amps etc. You can control music library using remote app on iPad and volumes etc. Its great at parties, loud music in conservatory, quieter in kitchen and lounge and intermediate elsewhere (my neighbours listen to some awesome music, well they do when we have a party LOL).. To get net signal to the expresses either use cat6 (or 5e) wiring or Ethernet over PowerLine adapters these ones are good and less than £32 for 2 and you are sorted. If you set airport express to create a network (5GHz) you will get a stronger wifi signal all around your house too. You can then serve films music and photos to TV, music to airport expresses and in my experience it all works well. Easy to setup and easy to control and it all works very well.
Happy
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Re: 1 Solution? Photo -> iPad, film -> TV, mp3 -> HiFi
[Re: Gunzi]
#1356786
03/07/2012 15:06
03/07/2012 15:06
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Swinny
Unregistered
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Swinny
Unregistered
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I've got an iPhone/iPad and Apple TV - works a treat for sharing all sorts of stuff to the big screen, but as above you need to be heavilly iTunes reliant for it to work smoothly.
Have a look at a Roku 2 box...pretty much an Apple TV (even looks like one) but I think it might be a little more open to connecting to NAS setups etc.
Apple TV prices really are bonkers - I just sold my original gen one for £110 on ebay - more than I paid for the 3rd gen I'd upgraded to! 3rd Gen isn't yet jailbroken (essential for XMBC etc) so it seems the 1st and 2nd are at a premium.
I reckon Apple will open up the Apple TV (3rd gen at least) pretty soon to 3rd party Apps, so it might gain a whole load of new features eventually - but things like the Roku and WD Live boxes do it all already for cheaper...
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