If you are considering building a Media Center PC you are probably getting overloaded by the choices of hardware and software available to you. The following how to will hopefully narrow down your direction and help you understand some of the primary concerns you should have when building a device to display Live and Recorded content on your Television.
To work well devices need to be built for this specific task this is why in addition to the number of options you have for a build your own there are a number of companies raking in the buyers with premade solutions.
In reality you really shouldn’t shy away from premade solutions like the Roku, ChromeCast or similar devices. The only problem when buying an out of the box solution is that they are normally pretty locked up as to what you can do.
Although Google is using Android and Roku is using a custom build of Linux they are not easily accessible for normal users. If you were to actually poke around and Jailbreak or Root your Roku or other device you could end up causing yourself more problems than you solve. Additionally because of the way the Hardware is designed you are unlikely to add any features that improve performance.
On the other hand there are a number of ways to build a Linux, Android or Windows based HTPC Media Center using standard Computer components. You will also be able to expand, upgrade and maintain the hardware with the same skills you already have.
Defining your OS based on Software & Hardware
This is a very important part of understanding what direction you should take with your HTCP Media Center. The Applications that you want to use will most likely dictated which Operating System you install.
Installs of Kodi or XMBC really dominate the TV Box world and although all three platforms support Kodi not all features will be available to you.
If you are not cutting the cable and wish to have access to your Cable TV lineup through your Media Center rather than through an additional box you rent from your Cable Company then you have the option of internal card based tuners or Network Tuners. Whichever direction you decide to go these devices are normally best served through a Windows Media Center capable computer.
You can Serve from a Server to any device that supports Kodi but that would mean an additional HTCP computer. You may also find that even if you use the PVR functions of Kodi you will be left with fewer options as to how to process the shows from your Cable Company.
The same is true if you decide to go the Antenna Route and use a Silicon Dust or Simple.TV device to stream your live over the air stations. At this time support is limited or it requires you to jump out of Kodi and into a browser which can be difficult to impossible with your remote control even if it comes with a full keyboard.
Most likely if you want live TV from Cable or Antenna you will want to use a Windows based computer to allocate those tuners to your network and harvest shows for later playing.
There are a few options for Linux like Myth TV there but most likely they will not have full support of the Hardware Developers.
Even if you will be using Kodi for your interface if you expect to use hardware of this type you are best picking Windows. It is just that simple. There will be many people out there saying you can do just as well or better with Linux or Android but the fact is you can’t.
What OS is Best if you will be primarily streaming media from the Internet?
This is where it gets a bit tricky. Although all three Operating Systems do support streaming from a variety of sources from within Media Center software like Kodi there will be times when you can not get to content without dropping out to a Browser.
If Android Devices seem to be a way you want to go then I suggest that you experiment with your Android Phone first.
Some website block Android users even if you are coming in through a standard browser like Firefox or Chrome. Until about just recently Hulu for Android was only available in the Paid Hulu Plus version and that is fine if you have a subscription but if you are looking for free content it would not have been available to you. Hulu is one site that found it was worth their advantage to open up to Android visitors. Unfortunately not everyone has or if they do they offer a different feel and availability to Android Visitors.
Linux and Windows users do not have that problem. Anything that is available is available on either platform whether its in a application’s plugin or through a browser.
Cost Vs Benefit when Choosing a Media Center Operating System
Cost should be a factor whenever you are putting together any system and the cost should not only include the initial out of pocket cost but also the cost of upgrades and the time you spend learning and maintaining your install.
For most people Windows will have the highest initial cost but the overall lowest cost. If you already understand how to use linux and maintain it then Linux will be your lowest initial and highest ongoing cost. If you understand Android from the Administration side and not just as a user then your initial and ongoing costs will be low to moderate.
On Windows the main benefit is that software has normally been written by others to allow you to perform a task. On Linux you really should have a good grasp at coding and the use of applications from the command line. Android is somewhere in between there really are not that many apps written for android and writing complex apps yourself is difficult.
Most Linux users will expect that anyone has the same skill they do when dealing with complex tasks that are easily accomplished with a Windows Program. For instance even just the task of using FFMPEG to convert videos to a different format or compression ratio can require a command line argument longer than a Tweet. On windows you simply open an FFMPEG GUI App and go through the settings selecting with check boxes, drop downs or radio buttons and press start.
When it comes to more complex tasks this is where Linux can really be a drain on your life. You can spend hours learning how to configure your network, manage your files and disks and perform normal tasks that are done for you by Windows.
With Android you won’t have the ability to modify complex parts of the OS unless you want to rewrite the code. Many tools just won’t be available to you. You may find that you need to secure your device at your Router rather than on the device through it’s OS. This may be find for people who live on a farm but if you live in an apartment building opening WiFi on your Android Device 24/7 may tempt that 14yo linux user next door to hack into your system. Unfortunately even with the amazingly widespread use of Android on our phones there really are very few people who understand the Operating System and how to Write applications for it. The applications that are available are normally very basic Games and other programs that are more complex have been ported from Windows to run on Android.
Final Note
As you can see I am probably bias towards using Windows for most projects and this is because development of Windows far outweighs any other operating system.
On the other hand it is very acceptable to use a Android or Linux based device if you understand what you are getting yourself into. You can get full featured devices right out of the box that run on android for about $75 and Roku runs its own version of Linux so there is no reason you can’t emulate or do better than them if you are using a box that has the ability to have its hardware expanded.
Things won’t be the same and if you have never used these operating systems or maintained them then it will be quite a hurdle.
If you are thinking about using an Operating System that you do not know on a personal daily basis you will need to do a lot of research and expect delays and things breaking.
You can however download both Android and Linux for free and test them before you begin building your HTCP Media Center. I would suggest you do this in a Virtual Machine for Linux and simply installing the Android Development Kit Distribution should get you going under Windows.
Finally make sure that you research all of the Hardware you will need to use. Make sure there are drivers and working solutions not just some hack that one person said works but may not work.. Go to manufacturer’s websites and search their drivers, support docs and User Forms.