On Wed, 7 Jan 2009 06:35:02 pm Ben Donohue wrote: > Hi all, > > I'm looking to setup a pc with an output to a tv (big flatscreen) to > play video files. Sort of like home theatre. > > or video files over a lan connection from a server. > > recording tv is not necessary but may be good. > > Is there a Linux distro that does this or do people go for a hardware > appliance? > > Thanks > Ben
Hi Ben, No matter what you do, make sure you get a working remote control. Otherwise, don't bother with a TV specific setup and just go for your favourite linux distro, as after you go to all the hastle of getting a keyboard and mouse out to watch the TV, it's lost the appeal. This happened to me, I couldn't get the remote on my leadtek winfast DTV2000H TV card to work, so I just got a 5m VGA cable, a spare flat screen monitor (yes I know, how luxurious just to so happen to have a LCD monitor with speaker kicking around) and set up a computer in the lounge area, which can go into the TV when we want. If you have gone to the expense of getting a big flat screen tv, why not spend the extra $80 for a TV tuner so you can at least record programmes to watch later. Trust me, if you have a wife, it saves arguments (agreed to by fellow married friends with a tv card) Cheers Jon -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
