[Toontje]

Hi all!

I am using XBMC with my own content and with plug-ins in the living room. XBMC runs on a Mac Mini connected to the main TV and to my broadband router using cable. Wifi is available.

Now i am planning to build something that allows me to watch the same content and the same plug-ins in the bedroom. What is the easiest way to do this? I guess i need some kind of device (netbook, Raspberry Pi, Apple TV?) to run XBMC on and hook it up to the Mac Mini storage somehow (SMB, NFS?).

Again, i want to see the same content as i have it on my Mac Mini in the living room. Remote control is a must. I want to stick the device behind the TV and forget about it.

Who had done a setup like this before? What did you use? How did you solve issues like the remote control, remote storage, etc?

Any links to get me started would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ton.

[rocketpants]

You can share media using mysql, uPnP or just share the folders on your mac mini via smb or other protocoal and set the new client to look at the shares containing the media.

Sharing the plugins is a bit different. I think that you can set up the new device and copy the add-on appropriate directory from your mac mini (in the userdata folder) but you may have issues using different platforms. I'm not sure as never tried doing this as it is easy enough to just install the add-on on the new device.

[nickr]

Any of the small media player oriented computers will probably be effective, but look for ION2 (or "Next Generation ION") in the specs. IMHO Rasp pi, although cheap, is a little weak.

Apple TV I have never experienced, but the series 3 have not yet been jailbroken and will not work.

[Toontje]

That was my next question. I installed XBMC on an old Asus EeePC running Windows, but it's WAAAAY too slow to work with. Rasp Pi not too powerful either. I will check out the ION2.

Any other suggestions for small footprint hardware?

[nickr]

Try XBMCbuntu on the EEEpc

[Vertigo]

That was my next question. I installed XBMC on an old Asus EeePC running Windows, but it's WAAAAY too slow to work with. Rasp Pi not too powerful either. I will check out the ION2.

Any other suggestions for small footprint hardware?

I wouldnt judge the raspberry Pi based on experiences with a RAM starved windows netbook powered by a chip (Atom I presume) that lacks almost any form of hardware acceleration known to man. I cant speak from experience yet, as Im still waiting on my own Pi to be delivered, but everything Ive seen suggests that (using OpenELEC) the Pi is quite capable of running XBMC smoothly. Here is a random youtube clip showing it in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DotLpyvKfQ4