Technology, video, phone & computer questions

[Angrboda]

I think something got lost in the translation here. The Raspberry Pi is something I might use in place of a full blown HTPC for myself. That's just idle talk about the tech. The main concern is what software / hardware combo to use for a media server for a less than fully tech savvy sister. So far it's shaping up to be Playon on Windows (WHS, Vista, 7, or 8), on a P45 based intel board with an E7400 core 2 duo and an ATI HD5450. The finer details and any changes from that have yet to be determined. I don't have a Nook HD, but I have a Nook color; I figure if I can get reasonable streaming and DLNA capability across to the Nook color and wired / wireless PCs and netbooks, that's about the solution I need. The license will also likely include "PlayLater" which is some sort of DVR shiz that I know nothing about. The only other concerns are streaming / serving Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu from the central server. The ability to stream common video formats, primarily divx based avi, mp4, and DVD, is the main goal. The rest is hoped for but not essential.

Regards the stability problems, I've had the board about 5 years and it's had all sorts of hardware combined with it, and periods of stability followed by periods of instability. I've been building computers for fifteen years and assisting people with troubleshooting hardware problems for close to as long. It's a problem with the board. I just got a lemon that's sufficiently functional that I haven't given up on it.