So it seems the first thing people have been doing with their Raspberry Pi has been media center.
I decided to go with the Raspbmc (http://www.raspbmc.com) distribution for no other reason than when I googled information for the project, it was the first hit I saw. The installation is pretty well documented on the website and easy to follow. You will need an SD card to install the Raspbmc distribution on it. Specs of the card you need are on the Raspbmd website.
After about 5-10 minutes the installer was done!
Initial setup screen.
There are both iOS and Android remotes for XBMC. I loaded the "Official XBMC Remote" app.
To get it working, I had to activate the Raspbmc web server and input the information into the app but it worked pretty flawlessly after that.
Official XBMC Remote
That is basically it. My first Raspberry Pi project. Pretty easy, not much to it, and I expect to be moving on to my next Raspberry Pi project in a few months.
Side note:
Years ago, I tried building a EPIA-M Mini-ITX media center (http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/spearhead/mini-itx/) that ended up being more expensive. I put it in a wooden box, got it working, and never really used it. It was kind of expensive for what it was but it was a fun project.
