If you're more of a a do-it-your-selfer, or don't have the budget for Solution #1, then follow along. Solution #2 is via my son and our city's recycling policies. Back in 2001, I brought home a surplus Compaq low-profile

desktop PC for my son. His gaming needs soon overwhelmed the graphics capability of this PC and it was replaced by a nice Dell desktop. The ancient Compaq was sent to the curb to be recycled but was not picked up by the city as it was placed on the wrong side of the driveway. I came home from work and saw it sitting there. The idea light bulb went on as I realized I could turn this geezer into a perfectly fine media server ... for both music and video. Here's what I needed:
- VGA video cable. I salvaged this from the recycling bin as well.
- A PC-to-stereo audio cable - it plugs in to the single speaker output of your PC and then into a red & white stereo audio input on your TV (or your A/V Receiver)
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- Wireless keyboard and mouse.
- If your entertainment system has a physical network connection nearby, you're all set. If not, then you will need to add a wireless card to your surplus PC.
- A network file server for all of your music and videos - or a a really big hard disk attached to the surplus PC! I already had an NAS on the network.
- Audio software - iTunes is obvious and free
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- Video software - I highly recommend the freeware VLC player from Videolan. It's quick and runs on both Windows and Mac.
So here's the set-up; my flat screen TV has a VGA input that was just crying out for use. I placed the old Compaq into the entrainment system cabinet and connected it the to the TV using a VGA cable. I then plugged in the network cable and added the wireless mouse and keyboard adapter to the USB port. I set the source on my TV for the PC input and set the resolution in the Displays control panel on the PC to match my TV. Voila! I now have a 67" monitor displaying my Windows desktop. That alone will get you some serious geek points with your friends and family.
I then configured the wireless keyboard and mouse along with the network settings for my in-home network. Now online, I downloaded iTunes and VLC. The final step was to "mount" my Network Attached Storage file share that contained all of my music and videos. The Compaq was running Windows XP so I "Mounted the Network Drive" and selected "Reconnect at Start-up".
iTunes required me to "add" all of my music files on the NAS to my local iTunes library ... but make sure that you do not select in Advanced Settings, "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library". Otherwise, you will fill up the miniscule hard drive on your cheap PC and defeat the concept of having all of you music on a shared server! If you are using an attached large hard drive instead of an NAS, then ignore this.
For viewing videos, you simply start-up VLC, select "Open File" and navigate to the video you want to view. Streaming begins in a few seconds.
Pluses:
- Great recycled use of a surplus PC that was heading to the trash.
- Can stream both music and videos to your entertainment system.
- Gives you an additional, networked computer in your home with a HUGE display. There's nothing like surfing the web on a 67" screen.
Minuses:
- Need to keep the wireless keyboard and mouse nearby for navigating the PC.
- Your universal remote will likely not work with the PC.
- Video performance may be an issue. It all depends on the graphics power of your PC.
- You need entertainment cabinet space for the PC.
- You need to copy all of your music and videos onto the NAS (or the hard drive). You are about to become close friends with the CD/DVD drive.
Cost: $75 - $600. If you already have an NAS and a network connection behind the TV, then this is a cheap project. If you need to add an NAS (or a big external hard drive for the PC) plus a wireless card, then it's a bit more expensive. The cost of the surplus PC must be included if you don't have one as well.
Summary: A fun, inexpensive way to get your audio and video libraries streaming to your entertainment system. Plus, you get to feel good about recycling an old PC.
Notes:
- Two years after I set this up using the surplus Compaq PC, I got my hands on a used Mac Mini. The Mac Mini took up much less space with better performance and was plug-compatible with the wireless mouse & keyboard, VLC and iTunes.
- This solution, plus all of the upcoming solutions, require you to collect your media library on an NAS (or an attached hard drive in this solution). Only the Russound system in Solution #1 does the collecting for you as you feed it CDs and DVDs.