We’ve discussed many times the possibility of having a media center. First, we had a Mac-based media center; and in second, the recently-released Apple TV. Today, I submit a third option for a media center setup: an iPod. Since many of you may have not considered it, keep on reading for the details on what to expect from one.
The setup. Perhaps the simplest one yet — all you have to do is sync your video iPod with the desired computer, and then plug it in on the TV via a media dock. The biggest part of the media center is the media dock — you definitely have to get one with a remote and TV navigational menus, otherwise the media center purpose is lost. The TuneCenter from Griffin, and the HomeDock Deluxe from DLO are the two best options, so far.
The performance. Once the iPod is plugged into the media dock and into the TV, it’s as good as navigating to the desired content to be played. The catch is the content limit. You can only load up to the iPod’s capacity worth of media, and you can only play iPod-compatible media that’s been properly synced through iTunes. The quality’s not so bad, since the iPod can play h.264 videos up to a 640×480 resolution (full-screen TV quality). In the end, you’ll have your 80gigs worth of videos, music, photos, and podcasts quickly used up — but ready to play on the TV.
The optimization. Since the iPod is quite picky as to which videos it will play, you will want to grab a copy of the free iSquint. That way, you’ll be able to convert almost any kind of videos into an iPod format. Just be sure to check the TV and h.264 options to take advantage of the best resolution possible. And as for any TV shows, movies, or music videos you’ve downloaded from the iTunes store — you’re practically ready to go.
Conclusions. While it may be the most limited media center option, it’s adequate enough for those who already own a video iPod and want to enjoy their content on the big screen. But if you’ve got the choice, get either a Mac-based media center or an Apple TV.
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[tags]Apple,Mac,iPod,iTunes,Media,TV[/tags]
Andre on March 30th, 2007 at 4:04 pm says:
I have both the iMac as a media center, and DLO Homecenter. The DLO option has limitations (I got it before the video viewing firmware update- although it stills shows videos with a little bit of tweaking.) The iMac media option is definitely a lot slicker.