Should I buy a Raspberry Pi?

I am super tempted to get a Raspberry Pi and run XBMC I like the fact its so small and compact but im worried I have been slow of the mark and maybe wait for a newer version or is the 512mb one still the latest and best one to get? If anyone is selling one and bored with theres I might be interested in buying. I want something I can stick behind the TV seeing as my LG LX6900 smart TV is shit and has the old software so I cant install PLEX.

Could a USB MCE remote be added?

hi, im umming and rrrring at minute aswell mate, would love to know if it can be used with openelec to use as a media player, main movies i go for are mkv bluray rips, around 3 to 6 gig id say, plug external hard drive to it and see how it is, anybody use one for same thing ? be greast to get some opinions off people using them ? thanks

hi, just been doing a little reading up on it all and found some ppeople are using the following remote for xbmc etc

Play.com - Buy Trixes USB PC Computer Remote Control Media Center Controller online at Play.com and read reviews. Free delivery to UK and Europe!

Click to expand...

so would imagine theres lots of remotes can be used, theres ios and androids apps so you can use your tablets or phones as a remote also, looking pretty good so far,

I had a RPi on preorder, once it arrived I was so impressed I bought another. I've since bought another (512mb version).
I use the 512mb version as a XBMC + SMART TV client and the other two I play around with, one of which is a dedicated retro game emulator, the other I use to test various Linux builds on.

The Pi is a great device if you like to fiddle with computer electronics.

I've been thinking of getting this Media Center Kit for the Raspberry Pi | The Pi Hut | Raspberry Pi Accessories
Is it all pretty simple to set up?

I was bought one for christmas. Mainly used as XBMC, So far it's played everything I've thrown at it. Added Iplayer itv 4od and 5 plugins for catch up tv. It even streams from my media server. If you are wanting a remote , you could try xbmc remote for your smartphone if you have one.

I did try connecting my xbox 360 HD-dvd drive to it. It can read data disks but wont play dvd's. I can recommend the RS cheapo case at 4.79 fits ok. I've used a phone charger rated at 250mA and i can have a radio keyboard & mouse plus usb key. I tried 100mA and it would let me use the usb key drive.

The Linux distro I am having problems with, not a fan of apt, but still learning.

i have mine connected to my samsung smart tv and the tv control ,controls the raspberry pi

I wish I could get mine stable with openELEC, it keeps freezing. The Pi (or me) has trashed a couple of sd cards too, rendering them totally unreadable and useless, it's starting to cost too much, so I might put it up for sale and save myself the headaches.
Who has time to sit and tinker with this toy anyway?

I have a 256meg version and also the newer 512meg version. I run XBMC on them and it plays most formats fine. But it wont play MPEG2 files (.vob) , you need to purchase a license for this from the Raspberry PI store..only costs £2.40 then they send you a license code which enables hardware accelaerated decoding via the GPU. I get some stuttering on 720p and 1080p rips, but if you run the PI at a slight overclock it solves this issue, overclock is very easy you do it via the XBMC menu in RaspXBMC. I use them for streaming from my HP Microserver NAS.
The question is for a media player it better than a similarly priced plug in Android USB media player stick ??

Is there anything out there for obtaining the code if a person decides not to obey the MPEG2 LA (i.e. how to test before buying...)

gsmtech said:

I have a 256meg version and also the newer 512meg version. I run XBMC on them and it plays most formats fine. But it wont play MPEG2 files (.vob) , you need to purchase a license for this from the Raspberry PI store..only costs £2.40 then they send you a license code which enables hardware accelaerated decoding via the GPU. I get some stuttering on 720p and 1080p rips, but if you run the PI at a slight overclock it solves this issue, overclock is very easy you do it via the XBMC menu in RaspXBMC. I use them for streaming from my HP Microserver NAS.
The question is for a media player it better than a similarly priced plug in Android USB media player stick ??

Click to expand...