Old Xbox as a Media Centre

[Erazor786]

Just wondering what people think about ordering this as media centre. As far as i know, the old Xbox's with XBMC are quite good at being a media centre, Also can be used to be play the odd game here and there when the nephews and nieces come down to keep em quite roud:. Supposed to be decent bit of kit for the price.

Just wondering what people think. Only got a couple for sale, which one should i go for

HD ENABLED XBOX BUNDLE, HD BOX, MONSTER HD CABLE, ETHERNET CABLE, CONTROLLER | eBay

or

ULTIMATE HD ENABLED XBOX BUNDLE, HD CABLE, ETHERNET CABLE, CONTROLLER | eBay

Cheers

 

[jamesyboyjim]

As far as I'm aware the original xbox struggles with hd mate

 

[Erazor786]

As far as I'm aware the original xbox struggles with hd mate

Does it mate? It should be okay with streaming .avi's and .mp4's that I have amassed over the year?

 

[Purity]

I don't know how they can sell it as HD enabled, because it doesn't have HD hardware?

 

[daveleebond]

I don't know how they can sell it as HD enabled, because it doesn't have HD hardware?

also one quotes 1080p, thought the xbox was 720p, 1080i max, well mine is.

 

[dickie1968]

bit off a tight arse for not putting in a 500gb harddrive...but top marks for the breakout box for the hd type picture you should get hope it stops at a low price will be worth a punt... alot cheaper than my apple tv2, which is also running xbmc

 

[TheCheekyMonkey]

xbmc on xbox is brilliant mate, boots in 20 seconds or so, and well worth it.

t3ch9 stopped doing the xbmc updates a good while back but his last version is well worth it, however dont expect any of the plugins etc that comes with the latest pc / linux versions, support for xbmc on xbox stopped a couple of years back if i remember rightly.


they will play SOME 720 clips, it depends on how and who encoded them, but i`ll be honest 99.9 % will not play. Anything above 480p and its a no go.

the HD enabled bit that they state (havent really read the ebay auction) will be the actual output resolution , so the menu etc will be displayed in 720p or 1080i

trust me, this is way better than using the old composite connection, specially on a big screen flat panel.

no upscaling either, but what do you expect lol.

yeah it wont play HD, but the lead will give a better resolution and overall better viewing experience.

you can go wrong to watch div-x xvids etc etc and pretty much any other non hd format video / audio / pictures.


get the remote control if it dont come with it, but get the original MS one, the cheapy fakes are shite................


i sue to run a website many years ago just chipping and modding xbox 1`s , and sold 100`s with xbmc setup as dash etc etc, did really well out of it, i still have a crystal in our bedroom now

and before anyone says owt, these where all hand done, not templates, not pcbs, no prebuilt led racks, all hand wired, soldered, glued etc etc way way way before console modding was popular and easy with kits.

the blue and red one got a few write ups in a couple of magazines, xbox world was one, cant remember the other...............

 

[coolnow]

Really nice that monkey, takes me back to when i softmodded my xbox on me own, taking apart my old pc to do it! ahhh

and Erazor, i would recommend you to buy the one with the normal HD cable as i doubt it'll to stable 720p playback so no point paying for a monster cable (which are bollocks). don't forget all the emulators you can put on it mate, i had TOO much fun reliving the old days with the xbox!

 

[jfish]

I have said original xbox running xbmc and really struggles with mkv file from a Windows share - could also be due to the fact the xbox LAN is only 10/mbs and not 100.

 

[oneman]

Just installed one of my old xbox's with xbmc at my parents house. They can handle SD no problem but no change at playback of 720 or above. Ready to use within a few seconds of booting up and can also playback DVD discs.

You see them coming up on freecycle sometimes for free or check local second hand and pawn brokers, you might be able to pick one up for 10 or 20 quid including the remote control. Softmod is pretty easy using the softmod installed DVD but you will need one of the flawed games + xbox to USB adaptor + memory card so get one ready hacked if you can.

If you want to upgrade the IDE hard drive then you either need to fit a modchip like the X2.6 or have access to the chipped console which lock a drive down with HDD key.

I've actually got a couple of units ready modded sitting in the loft, haven't decided what to do with them.

 

[oneman]

I have said original xbox running xbmc and really struggles with mkv file from a Windows share - could also be due to the fact the xbox LAN is only 10/mbs and not 100.

Nah, its not the LAN, even with the files local you can't play them back. You got to remember that xbox is based on 10 year old hardware, PIII with nvidia video chip with 64MB RAM. Nobody had heard of HD back then.

 

[gsmtech]

i've still got 2 x original XBOX with xecuter 2.6CE mod chips. XBMC is ace perfect for streaming xvid etc. But yeah no good for HD unfortunately.
old XBMC on the XBOX is still superior to the media player on my DM800SE. I might look into some newer hardware that can run XBMC as a media player it's top notch.

 

[Erazor786]

Thanks all for the replies. Seems like a good purchase really. Not a bad solution for streaming all the avi's and mp4's I've downloaded over the years. Might be a good idea to start watching them now .

Read up a bit on it and the general consensus is its a good buy. Got all the emulators on there, just need to get some ROMs to have some fun and play the odd game if i feel like it. Relive the old gaming before the 360 and PS3.

 

[TheCheekyMonkey]

its a shame i have nowhere to upload my installer disk to, its about 4 gig in size, it dows a complete auto install with xbmc as dashboard (last latest) and all the emulators etc etc etc and roms, all in one goe.

needs to be chipped.

if anyone has a solution i would be happy to upload it?