As some may know, I’m a geek who loves his gadgets. Nowhere is this more evident than in the living room where I currently have a HDTV, A/V receiver, Xbox 360, Mac Mini and a Drobo. Having backed up a large collection of DVDs and Blu-Rays to hard-disk I needed to find the best way of playing them in the comfort of a nice sofa. I’ve been through a range of boxes, OSs and systems but have found my perfect match in Plex/Nine. Continue reading »

Apple today announced the new Apple TV, 1/4 the size and just $99 to boot (which means £99 in the UK). This thing is going to sell, it will exceed every market expectation and will become as ubiquitous as a Sky box. And I don’t want one. Instead I just bought myself a new Mac Mini, specced out and seated very comfortably beneath my HDTV. Why? Because, despite what Jobs may say, some people do want a TV that’s also a computer. Continue reading »

I have a confession to make. I’m a gadget geek, through and through. In the main living room I have a Mac Mini running the awesome Plex hooked up to a Drobo and HDTV, along with an Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and various other audio/visual toys. Unfortunately this meant the only way I could watch my media in bed was via apps such as StreamToMe on my iPad. Seeing as how I was using my PS3 less and less for gaming, I decided to move it upstairs and hook it up to my (ancient) CRT TV. And thus my frustrations began. Continue reading »