Hackintosh - Part 1: Why?
Over the course of 3 months, I’ve been gathering parts for my very first computer build, a Hackintosh. Here I’ll be outlining the goal of the build and the reasons for starting this endeavor.
Home Media Server
Anna and I each have our own laptops, but we have no solid way to back up our media (family photos, movies, docs, etc.). And when it comes to actually finding a particular photo it always ends in a search through iPhoto then Lightroom rinse and repeat on 2nd machine only to realize that the photos we’re looking for are still on the camera.
To remedy this, the Hackintosh will serve as a central server where all media will reside. There it will be browsable and easily searchable. Through adding a couple of HDDs, Time Machine backups will keep everything archived.
Home Theater PC (HTPC)
Secondly, we love movies & tv, but we hate paying our cable company for it. So we’re ditching cable & using a combination of other, cheaper, services to get our fix.
Netflix ($12/month for Instant Watch and 1 Bluray-at-a-time): The instant streaming is worth the price alone. The HTPC will also have a Bluray drive, so we opted for the extra $2 that Bluray access costs. They have cheaper plans, including a streaming only, but this one was the best fit for us. Plus, it was something we were already paying for in addition to cable, so we’re not adding any additional expense here.
Hulu Plus ($8/month): All the shows we love are on Hulu. We get on demand unlimited access, full seasons, limited commercials, streaming HD, mobile access (iPad) and the desktop application all for $8/month ($96/year = $384 less than our cable)
Boxee (Free): For the more social media outlets (ie Youtube) Boxee is the way to go. Sure I could just fire up the browser, but Boxee has a nice interface and an Application library that is consistently growing. Pandora Radio, Netflix, Youtube, Weather & News just to name a small few.
Plex (Free): For viewing your own photos and video, Plex cannot be beaten. The interface is quick and with many custom themes, it just looks good. Video playback is smooth & plays everything I throw at it (including .mkv and .m2ts HD formats). I’m really not doing it justice, its a slick app. Check it out.
Next Up: The Hardware
As with most HTPCs, this one will be in our living room. So we wanted something that would be sleek, cool, quiet, but powerful enough for 1080p playback. We also needed a case that would be large enough for several hard drives to serve as our media server. In my next post, I’ll outline everything I chose for this build. Until then….
