Well, I need some help too with deciding what to use.
I'm thinking of building some home server that will act like a host, I would keep all my movies and music on it, and when I want to, I would connect to it via network, and watch movies from my laptop, HTPC, etc.
It won't be connected to any screen, it will stay in some dark space.
I'm a fan of Linux, even though I'm still new to it.
OP please don't mind.