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  • Best turnkey media center?

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  • I have a metric buttload of DVDs and I would love to just rip them all so I can get rid of the clutter.  The web (Lifehacker, etc.) seems to have a lot of options to build your own media center but I would like to just, you know, pay for one.  Streaming or even just something that would plug in to the TV would be fine.  Any suggestions?

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    Question by bigtalker
    03/05/2015

An aging mac mini (that still has a DVD drive built-in) would be a good solution

  • there is software called ”rip it” for Mac that is about the easiest I’ve ever used for ripping DVDs
  • an older mac might support ”front-row” which is a media front end (this support left with newer macs) 
  • there is a mac remote control (older models had infrared remotes, i think you can now get one that is bluetooth) or plenty of 3rd party models that would connect via USB
  • Most mac minis have either HDMI or DVI (which can be easily converted to HDMI)

 

Answer by rbhm
03/06/2015
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