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Want to build one PC to rule all your living room media needs? Meet Kodi! In part one of this series we show you how to set up the media player software formerly known as XBMC.

Kodi

Setting up your own media center PC is a highly personal, quite in-depth task. For this How To, we'll give a basic introduction to Kodi, and talk about how the software provides a simple solution for your media center PC's player needs.

Kodi (formerly known as XBMC) is media player software that can play most video and music file types and other digital media both saved locally and found on the Internet. It's a one-stop-shop for all your entertainment needs once you get it set up right. It takes a little tinkering to get it running, but once you do it'll be smarter than any smart TV on the market.

The software is highly customisable to suit your particular media center needs, and it works with Windows, Linux, OS X, Android, iOS, Raspberry Pi and more, making it flexible no matter what computer you're basing your media center on.

We'll be using the Windows version of the install in this article, although much of the advice is universal once the Kodi software itself is loaded.

What's a media center without hardware? Kodi scales surprisingly well, and what you intend to do with it will greatly influence what hardware you'll need.

You're free to use pretty much any computer you choose, from an old, re-purposed beige tower to an off-the-shelf Mac Mini.

No matter what base you build up from, you should keep an eye out for the following:

Regardless of which path you choose, try to run your operating system off a Solid State Drive. It makes a world of difference in making your media center feel like a responsive appliance rather than a PC pretending to be something else.

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Build your own home media center: Get started with Kodi