GBPVR Future Plans
Ah, no project is ever truly complete, is it? In the future, I'd like to do the following to the GBPVR:
- Upgrade to wireless G. It uses B right now, which is okay for most things, but streaming video over a network takes a lot out of it. G would give me enough extra speed to stream to a few TVs at once, which would be great.
- Throw on a wireless keyboard/mouse for when I really need to use one. I shouldn't hardly ever see Windows if my plan comes together, but it would be nice to not have to dig out a USB mouse whenever I have some tweaking to do.
- Bigger hard drives, of course. I did get a 250 gig for cheap that is just sitting here right now. I'll throw that in when I get a spare second or 2.
- More customization of the LCD screen. I'd love for it to scroll the name of the show I'm watching.
Anyway, this is a great, fun project. The best part: DRMless content I record myself. That means I can record Lost and throw it on my iPod. I can watch it on any network-connected computer. This is the main benefit that only a homebrew solution can give you. It's no different than recording to a VHS tape or DVD, really (except the automatic commercial skip, but I won't tell if you don't). It gives you a truly portable format that you create yourself and do whatever you choose to with. While buying a Media Center from Dell will be cheaper than building from scratch, its not going to be as versatile or, yeah, I'll say it, fun. Plus, commercial skip! You'll never find that on anything other than a homebrew solution.