[AdmiralStanley]

So I am looking at creating a central media hub for my home. What I want is to have a Raspberry Pi (or other cheap micro computer, with low power usage) at each of 4 televisions in my house hooked up to my wifi and to the screens via HDMI. I then want to put a central server in my downstairs closet that will have several USB drives attached to it, and allow any of the Raspberry Pi in the house to stream the content from that server to them and display on the screen. Will XMBC do this? Where can I find an inexpensive (and low watt) computer/media server to use for my server? is this one any good? My budget is about $300. Any other solutions and ideas would be great. I sadly cannot home build, nor do I know anyone who can, so only out of the box products. Thanks for any help you might have.

[PobjoySpecial]

...

[AdmiralStanley]

Can you explain a bit more why the Wifi isn't a good idea? I already have the Hard Drives so that shouldn't be an issue. I will look into the HP N40L, Thanks for the input! I have an apple TV at my main display but I want to be able to give my kids access to my files (and possibly netflix) in their rooms. Powerline networking? I have never heard of this. Sorry to be so novice. Thanks for any and all help!

[Vertigo]

Wifi tends to be too unreliable and too high latency to support HD video streaming. Of course everything depends on the video's bitrates and wifi reception in your house. As for powerlines, google it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug

Lastly, the Pi does have its limitations. See my sig to find out if there are any that are a problem for your situation.