Advice on a good UK setup

[3xca1ibur]

Hi all,

I have tried LinuxMCE on and off a few times with varying amounts of success.  I am about to do a complete upgrade of my would be media directors and am looking for some advice on what to buy so that it might work with linux MCE and I can have another try!

I was looking to get a mini-ITX setup that would hopefully attach to the back of my tv's.  I am looking to budget at about £300 each which seems possible looking at linitx.com (are there any other good mini-itx suppliers for the uk?).

Also one of the previous problems was getting the tv signal up and running due to badly compatible tv tuners so i am going to get another 2, any suggestions there?

Has anyone successfully worked with the home automation for a couple of power sockets and the lighting system, if so can you recommend a setup and uk distributor?

I know there are a few questions there but I appreciate any thoughts you may have so that i can make sure i am compatible with linuxmce going forward Also if there are any other suggestions of good places to purchase useful bits in the UK it would be great as most of the info i have found i then struggle to find somewhere to actually get the bits!!

Cheers,
Rob

[totallymaxed]

Hi all,

I have tried LinuxMCE on and off a few times with varying amounts of success.  I am about to do a complete upgrade of my would be media directors and am looking for some advice on what to buy so that it might work with linux MCE and I can have another try!

I was looking to get a mini-ITX setup that would hopefully attach to the back of my tv's.  I am looking to budget at about £300 each which seems possible looking at linitx.com (are there any other good mini-itx suppliers for the uk?).

Also one of the previous problems was getting the tv signal up and running due to badly compatible tv tuners so i am going to get another 2, any suggestions there?

Has anyone successfully worked with the home automation for a couple of power sockets and the lighting system, if so can you recommend a setup and uk distributor?

I know there are a few questions there but I appreciate any thoughts you may have so that i can make sure i am compatible with linuxmce going forward Also if there are any other suggestions of good places to purchase useful bits in the UK it would be great as most of the info i have found i then struggle to find somewhere to actually get the bits!!

Cheers,
Rob

Hi Rob,

I would suggest waiting a little (early Oct I would think) for the ASUS Eee Net PC (1.6Ghz ATOM processor, 1Gb RAM, 160Gb HD, 802.11N Wifi, DVI out, VESA Bracket & Desktop Stand, Win XP Inc) as this meets your requirements perfectly for a compact MD that will rear mount on a VESA enabled LCD TV. The ASUS should retail on its won from UK PC suppliers for about 200UKP I would expect if your looking to build your own system.

We currently favour the single tuner Avermedia 771 or Hauppauge Nova-T PCI for DVB.

We would recommend ZWave and the Seluxit Home Controller together with ACT ZWave Remote for including devices into your ZWave network and then you can use either ACT Plugin Dimmer modules or ACT UK compliant wall switches that will fit a UK back box (wall switches can control a direct load or remotely control another load wirelessly). Search the Wiki for ZWave for more info.

All the best

Andrew

[Zaerc]

See also: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Where_to_Buy#United_Kingdom

[3xca1ibur]

Thanks for the swift responses, i think that the ASUS Eee Net PC sounds like a good option for sure (and even below budget woo!). 

I will have a look around at the z-wave info, thanks for the pointers hopefully it will not be such an information overload this time 

I will let you know how i get on in a month or so's time!

Thanks again,
Rob

[adder]

Hi
What recommendations for a remote control?
I've watched the demo video on google and that Fiire thing looked the dogs!
Know of any UK suppliers?
Actually I've just remembered I've got a couple of old ipaqs in the garage! would they be better?
Cheers

[posde]

What recommendations for a remote control?
[..]Actually I've just remembered I've got a couple of old ipaqs in the garage! would they be better?

If you iPAQ's are old enough, and are directly supported, I would prefer those orbiters over a regular IR or BT remote any day.

rgds
Oliver