Media Servers…
June 28th, 2008 Posted in GadgetsI was rooting around online and i came across this article at iTWire, mentioning that Google Media Server is now available in Beta form for all your media server needs. The reason it made me post here is that I just didn’t think that it wasn’t a normal thing for many people. There are possibly a lot of people that are interested in this topic, and there will probably be many more to come… So you wanna know if it’s worth setting up a media server?
Well, it all comes down to how you manage your stuff. If all your movies are on DVD and all your music is on CD, a media server won’t impress you. If a lot of your stuff is stored on your PC, however, that’s a different story. And it’s easy to do, too. Microsoft may go on and on about its Media Center, but the truth is you don’t need it. Look up Orb and you will be set, whether you have an Xbox 360, a PS3, or a Wii (yep, tried it on all three, no worries). Then there’s Winamp, which now comes with Winamp Remote — also works with all three and is easy to set up. Now there’s the Google one… apparently with ads… Fair enough.
It’s not hard to do, but I have a couple of recommendations. Try a couple, see which one works best for you. You might find that certain programs work faster on certain PCs. For me Winamp was best, but even so, it ate a lot of resources. Make sure your ‘puter can handle it, otherwise you will find that you have access to your videos, but you can’t stream them because your computer’s crap. Trust me, such is the case for me. Once you have a good computer and you’ve chosen the program you want to use, delete the others, they can conflict. Then, unless you have an awesome PC, don’t use your PC when you are using it as a media server. Like I said, it uses a lot of resources.
But is it worth it? For me… yes and no. I have about 70 or 80 gb of music, and a 60-gb iPod. I also have a Bose SoundDock. No need to stream music as my needs are sorted there (although I do have to pick and choose what goes on my iPod, which is a pain in the ass). For videos and for access to Youtube vids (not that the PS3 doesn’t have a browser…), it’s pretty good. If you have digital media on your PC, and you would rather watch it on your PC, it’s definitely worth it. Plus, if you have a million photos, it is helpful to have access to the lot on your PC.
This said, I haven’t used it much myself. Mostly because I have a shit computer, but also because I don’t have much digital media. I have the odd movie and TV show, but not enough to make me use my PC as a media center even once in the last 3 months. But times are changing, and I think it will become quite useful in the future. And it doesn’t hurt to try. Go on. Listen to breakfast.
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