RE: best HD media player to replace xbmc

["Paul Gordon" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Whilst this thread is ongoing, I'll chime in with a related question
that I=
'm grapling with currently, - also regarding choosing a media player, but
f=
or a somewhat different set of circumstances...
=20
We have a family holiday home in Spain, - it is empty 95% of the time, and
=
used only for maybe 10 weeks a year by various family members. Because of
t=
his ocupancy pattern, it has never been deemed "worthwhile" to
install any =
kind of TV services that require continuous subscription, (so no Sky etc.)
=
- it doesn't even have a permanent land-line phone connection, since the
lo=
cal telco line rental costs are about 20Euro/month...
The media kit in the house is therefore pretty basic, - just a fairly aged
=
CRT TV, and supermarket special VHS VCR & DVD player. There's also an
origi=
nal Sony Playstation. Over the years the family has accumulated a fair
sele=
ction of VHS tapes which now occupy a disproportionate amount of shelf
spac=
e, - given the (in)frequency that they get used.
=20
I want to improve on this, firstly by getting rid of all the VHS tapes,
and=
the VCR, and replace it with some kind of media tank. - My initial plan wa=
s to put in a modded XBOX running XBMC, - however my attempts to date at
pe=
rforming a modchip upgrade have been frustratingly unsuccessful, - and if
I=
understand correctly, the softmod method doesn't allow for (easy) upgrade =
of the XBOX hard disk does it? - so I'd still need some other box to host
t=
he media files.. - I guess this would either be a simple NAS box, - or
poss=
ibly even just a USB disk... - My 1st question is thus: Does the XBOX work
=
with locally attached USB disks? - the controller ports are just USB
aren't=
they, - and I've seen mods online for adding standard USB ports etc. - If =
I were to plug in an external USB drive, could XBMC just use it seamlessly?
=20
My second idea was to use one of the various dedicated media player boxes
t=
hat are available, but as ever, the hard part is which to choose! - the
pri=
mary requirement is that it has to be cheap (ideally less than =A3100) -
an=
d preferably supplied without disk, since I have loads of spare HDDs in my
=
parts bin... The only other requirements really are that it be *really*
sim=
ple to operate, since it will  be used by all the family, including my 60+
=
parents, right through to my 5 year old nephews... It absolutely does not
n=
eed to be HD capable! - quite the reverse actually, since it will be used
f=
or quantity over quality in the content. Id like it to be able to video,
up=
to DVD quality, - the ability to play ripped DVDs either as VOB files or a=
s ISO files would be great. I'd also like to have audio on it, with either
=
a seperate audio out or the ability to stream it to some other device...
=20
I know this is a somewhat ambiguous question, so I'm hoping some of you
mig=
ht have direct experience of something that could be recommended.. - I did
=
purchase one sample unit of a really cheap box (about =A340) from Maplins
t=
o play with, but it falls short in the UI  - specifically, whilst it does
s=
upport VOB files, it doesn't do it in a user-friendly way, - the UI just
al=
lows the folder structure to be browsed, and then it shows all the VOB
& IF=
O files within... the user has to select the *right* file to play the
movie=
, - select the wrong one, and it just plays the individual VOB, and thus
ju=
st a short chunk of the film for example. I'd like something akin to XBMC
(=
or My Movies on MCE), that shows a screen of movie title images that can
be=
browsed & selected very simply.
=20
Any ideas or recommendations?
=20
Cheers.
=20
Paul G.
=20
=20

________________________________

From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx on behalf of Mark McCall
Sent: Sun 21/09/2008 17:07
To: UKHA Group
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] best HD media player to replace xbmc



>it sounds like the mini has to do that on the CPU as well.

It seems capable of it all OK though.

The attraction of the mini is that it's available off the shelf, and it's
very small and quiet.

The recently released "Atlantis" beta of XBMC is available for
Windows,
Mac, Linux and XBox so you can still roll your own hardware on the other
platforms...

http://tinyurl.com/499rjd

M.




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