We all take advantage of local cable providers in our homes to enjoy a good quality show and movie but their digital TV service is not free of cost. We pay for watching and recording programs, (and their fee is getting high continuously, making it costly for us to enjoy the broadcasted programs). What about getting rid of the fee we pay for our enjoyment on TV and thinking to set up a home multimedia center? It is not bad at all. We will be given a lot of variety to play on our TV in this way because we have lots of digital content in our computers. It will be like killing two birds with one stone, i.e watching whatever you want without waiting for the broadcasting transmitter to put on air and chucking out the fee you pay to the local cable providers. Leaning back on your sofa, viewing the family photos, movies, songs, even playing games and all the digital files on your television screen or home multimedia center is one of the excellent experiences of technology with user friendly control.
You can watch and record everything, from HD television to streaming web videos and music, browsing photos, gaming and web surfing without any charges. Yes, it’s free.
All you have to do is to install the components to set home multimedia center. And we are here to guide you in short listing the components you need not crossing your budget.
1. Server
The first thing you need to set up home multimedia center is a dedicated Server. It may be a desktop computer or a laptop. If you don’t already have a suitable server, you can buy one. But don’t worry about the cost, (as I mentioned earlier you will be saving the fee you pay to local cable providers by setting home multimedia center and for this you will have to get a server). There are many options of buying the best gaming laptops spending less than $500. Buying these laptops still saves money compared to the fee you pay every month to the cable providers giving you the best experience. A good quality laptop can run 24/7 for recording and accessing the contents without having a great impact on your electricity bill.2. Tuner Cards
You will need a TV tuner records the programs that your server receives. It is plugged in to the motherboard and lets your computer record the programs. There are cards with two or more tuners to record more than one program and play it. The tuner connects the cable form the antenna to computer or laptop instead of the television.3. Hard Drive
You will need to add extra space to hold the videos and all the digital contents on your home multimedia center. 2 Tera Bytes will be enough to hold a ton of programs.4. Operating System
Windows instead of Linux is the best option for home multimedia center because Linux is more difficult for Netflix and video games. You can use Window 7 or 8 for playing anything experience.5. USB Cord
For playing games controller is paired with a Windows PC, which enables to play the PC games. It also needs a driver to run and a USB cord of enough length to reach your sofa. You can also use headphone jack, without bothering others while playing games.5. Ethernet Cable
setting up a direct Ethernet line to the multimedia center is good because you will be streaming a lot of high definition videos. To transmit the digital information between the media server and the media extender Ethernet cable will be required. (This connection may be done by setting up a wireless network).6. The Software
Any media server software is required to list and operate all the digital content on your computer or the television. You will also need to install a few drivers and add-ons for example for video games.You don’t need a degree in Computer Science to set a home multimedia center for enjoying free videos and all the digital content with your friends and family with louder sound. Just selecting proper hardware, adding it on the motherboard, connecting some cables and finally installing apps and add-ons play whatever you want.