Home entertainment hub

[diyjoe]

Hi

I'm trying to devise a Mac based home entertainment system. The idea is to use the Mac as a file server for my music and photos, but also act as a DVD player. (I use a PowerBook for 'real' work, so I'm not looking to do much else with this set up.)

The way I see it, there are two options:

1. Mac Mini, A/V adaptor, nice big LCD TV.

2. iMac 20" with a TV tuner (Eye TV Wonder seems to be the one).

The proverbial fly in the ointment is my PS2. Option 1 above just means plugging it into a different input on the TV, but will a TV tuner on the iMac be a good enough display? Will there be a delay in displaying the PS signal, making games unplayable?

If not, does anyone know if it's possible to get a decent sized LCD monitor that will accept a VGA connection and a standard PAL video input?

Any other ideas would be gratefully received...

 

[asif786]

I think something you must remember when deciding is this..

If you spend most of your day looking at a computer screen, when it's time to relax, a computer screen is probably the last thing you want to see..

With option 1, if you're talking about getting a 30/40/50" LCD TV, then that sounds great. Just remember, you *will* get tired of looking at computer screens.. 🙂

/asif

 

[rtdgoldfish]

The proverbial fly in the ointment is my PS2. Option 1 above just means plugging it into a different input on the TV, but will a TV tuner on the iMac be a good enough display? Will there be a delay in displaying the PS signal, making games unplayable?

I have yet to find a TV tuner card for either Mac or PC that will give you no delay in the video for a console. I had my GameCube hooked up to my HP Media Center's TV tuner and there was about a 1-2 second delay. Good luck trying to play anything like that. The only thing I was ever able to find was a converter box that would convert the RCA input into a DVI signal but I think it was expensive and I don't remeber the site that sold it. If I find it, I will let you know.

Good luck with your setup and post some pics when it is done.

 

[diyjoe]

Thanks for the responses - the Eye TV Wonder says it is good with a console because it has 'minimal' lag. Not out 'til the end of the month so I guess I won't hear any reports for a while.

I can imagine even a very 'minimal' lag still being a bit difficult to cope with, which is a shame because the iMac would be a cool TV to have... 🙂

 

[velocityg4]

I would go with the mini and an lcd screen that is useful as a tv. I recently installed a samsung lcd tv and it looks and works great. They accept vga in as well as cable, rca jacks, and super video inputs. Though the imac is faster you have the lag that everyone speak of.

By the way the samsung screens are also compatible with wall mounts.