@Ian, yes, it is quite gratifying.
@Andy, thanks for the link! If my fans were noisy, I'd definitely try that. But this setup is virtually silent out of the box, and never gets too warm. So for now, I'm not going to fix what ain't broke!

Ian and all, I put my rig together a couple of weeks ago, and am in the process of loading my media library into it. It streams wonderfully to everything in the house, runs virtually silently, stays cool, and does what I want it to do. I tried ordering the components on your website's list, and foun...

Just that she likes nice menus to point and click. Maybe PuTTy and VNC will do the trick, as long as I can create an icon for her to just click on.

Very helpful. I'll use your guide to build the back-end, and will research the XBMC and other threads as you suggest. The only reason I need a GUI is for the TVs and my wife's (Windows) computer. I'm comfortable with the terminal. Thanks again!

Hi Ian, Fantastic tutorial! I can't wait to build mine. I have a few very rudimentary questions before I start, though. I have also read about VortexBox, XBMC, MythTV, and Squeezebox. Will your media server do everything those offer to do, or is it compatible? In other words, do I need to get one or...