Please talk to me like I'm stupid. I have a bunch of video files (~5TB...so far) hanging out on a bunch of external hard drives. Right now I just take turns plugging them into whichever laptop I'm going to use to watch the videos. I'd like something a little more convenient and easily accessible from multiple rooms in my small apartment, but I'm not awesome at setting up networky things (I've never successfully gotten two different laptops in my apartment to even "see" each other over the wireless router). What should I do? [more inside]
posted by aswego on Mar 4, 2013 - 9 answers

Just got a free XBox 360 (bundled with another purchase). Can I use it (with an external hard drive) as a standalone (no PC attached) media server for storage and streaming of my music/video library? [more inside]
posted by Alabaster on Jun 25, 2012 - 7 answers

I have long held a fantastic dream of what I want my home theater setup to be. I've tried several times, in several different ways, to realize this dream - but there is always something. There's always something that doesn't work right - that makes my final implementation lacking in some fundamental way. I'm starting to give up hope. So - I'll tell you what I want and what I've tried - and I want you to tell me if there's another way. I can't be alone here. [more inside]
posted by kbanas on Nov 29, 2010 - 10 answers

I want to have a fast capable NAS/file server/upnp device very similar to the QNAP TS-110 TurboNAS. I have an old 12" Powerbook G4 aluminum MAC OS x laptop. Would it be possible to install a barebones linux installation on the Powerbook to have access to many of the same features of the QNAP device? [more inside]
posted by jlowen on Nov 27, 2009 - 2 answers

Multimedia-filter: Looking for help from HDTV, NAS, Media Servers and Network Gurus' in making my first house totaly awesome. Movies, Televsion, Music, Wifi, Streaming Content and 50mgbt broadband within. [more inside]
posted by Cogentesque on Nov 13, 2009 - 4 answers

Going crazy trying to figure out my HTPC/media server options from scratch. Yes, I've been reading other threads but I'm a unique snowflake so there's [more inside]
posted by itesser on Aug 10, 2009 - 11 answers

Windows Media Center + iTunes Library + OCD = suck. [more inside]
posted by robbie01 on Mar 19, 2006 - 2 answers