5punk

OK, I have a projector with 15 pin DIN and HDMI input, a decent hifi and a big white wall. All good for TV and video but I want to stream interweb video (iplayer, netflix and that) through it so I figures I'd get one of those Atom nettop PC things

thing is, I have a lappy that uses a 1.6 Ghz Atom chip with 1 G of RAM and when I connected that up and put some BBC through it (not streaming but downloaded to I-player first) and the result was ... disappointing. no freezing but the frame rate didn't seem as high as on my desktop downstairs and certainly wouldn't be any good for watching movies

soo..... would one of these EEEEEEEEEPC or similar nettop things be better (some have dual core Atom chips) or should I just buy a simple office box/ something else? Basically all I want it to do is;

be always on
be quiet
stream / output video to my projector
Output stereo sound (no 7.1 bollox) to my HiFi

also, is there a simple control system (say a small wireless touchscreen etc that could be used to remote control it and browse the odd <s>Pr0n site</s> wholesome family website? say 10" and wireless (although could be mains powered)

Budget is ... flexible but not bottomless

don't want much, do I?

I've just sorted out myself with something very similar actually, and am rather chuffed with the results. (albeit with an LCD rather than projector, but same idea).

After experimenting with anything Atom powered i have also been disappointed. I don't want to constrain myself, so made sure the hardware was capable of doing nice 1080p content.

Setup is as follows:
Mac mini, running windows 7 using boot camp.
The main media playback software i use is XBMC, which is great for media playback of all types really.

Mac output to the TV using a mini-dvi to HDMI cable.
TV audio output via TOS-link optical into mac input.
Mac audio output into speakers again using optical toslink. (if your stereo only does analogue, you may need extras to get full 5.1 etc hookup).
The PC passes audio from the TV through to the speakers, mixed with the PC sound, stereo signal. (It can do passthru but then you loose PC sounds). Anything with digital 5.1 etc played in XBMC is passed through to the speakers directly, so stereo automatically turns into 5.1.
XBMC does decent upscaling, so dvds and standard def divx etc still looks pretty nice.

Controlling is done with a Logitech Dinovo mini controller (hand-held bluetooth keyboard mouse) and a Microsoft windows MCE remote kit.

The pc is running IR server suite software, with translator add on. This takes the IR signal from the MCE remote control, and turns it into more custom functions. It also blasts IR signals to the speaker system and the TV, so the remote can control the volume and tv controls as well.
I'm also using something called Uber to also remap more controls for the dinovo mini.

Hardware:
Mac Mini £510
Logitech dinovo mini £80
MCE remote Tricky to buy new, ebay prob best bet.
Mini TOS-Link cables x 2 = £12
Mini Displayport to HDMI = £9

Total = £611

Software:
Windows 7
XBMC
Logitech UberOptions (install setpoint first)
IR Server (Install with Translator)

If you do go with this, do let me know if you need a hand or config files to customise the remote functions.

Thanks for that Prof

it does look a bit intimidatingly in depth for a pretend geek like me, but the main message is clear, Atom won't cut it ... which is what I figured

I like the idea of using a Mac Mini,

cue my sister-in-law (a real mac-nazi) coming round and noting with smug approval that we're finally switching to mac

"ah yeah, it's not been a problem though, it's running Windows ... beer?"

Is the W7 any trouble to install or is all mac hardware pretty much all generic PC hardware/OS compatible these days?
Does the mac mini run without a fan? Otherwise, I suppose any small box PC with a similar spec will be up to the job?

will have a think about the remote, maybe I will splash a bit and get one of the shiny logitec ones

Its easy peasey squeezey to install w7 on it. Should work fine with any of the latest versions of the mac mini.

First, turn on and set up the mac.
Then go to its control panel and find the boot camp icon. Run through the wizard and set windows to have a large enough chunk of HDD. Stick your win7 dvd in the drive, and let it reboot.
When it boots up you'll see the standard windows install procedure, run through it as normal.
When done with that, eject the win7 dvd and put in the Mac OSX dvd. It will run a setup file to install all the drivers. Let it do its thing.
Tada - Your mac will now behave pretty much like a pc. When you turn it on, it should boot into windows.

Yep any PC box with enough poke would do the trick. I chose the mac mini because:
A) More grunt than anything else its size
B) small enough to fit by the tv/behind the tv even
B) Pretty much silent - does have a fan but you really cant tell
C) Impressive power usage, something like 14 watts idle it says...
D) No extra hardware required. Not many netops have dual optical in and out audio for example, and most do not have good enough built in graphics to do anything useful other than web. They even have trouble with youtube hd and iplayer.

Stick it to the nazis!

Although if you really wanted to switch to being a mactard, you can use OSX and plex. A while back some of the mac based XBMC developers had a hissy fit and split off their own version of XBMC. Typical Mac users? you decide. Anyway, its basically the same thing as XBMC but specific for macs.