PC, or standalone Media Streamer?

[oneman]

can I just download xbmc and install it on my laptop and I will have a media player? surely it isnt that simple? excuse my ignorance but I dont know much about this and xbmc seems cheap in simple.
are there any online tuts? I have a duel core lap top and an lg 32lh7000

Yep, it really is that simple.

There is a wiki available for extra instructions but you really don't need it except maybe to setup network drives but even that is pretty intuative.

 

[safehands]

Yep, it really is that simple.

There is a wiki available for extra instructions but you really don't need it except maybe to setup network drives but even that is pretty intuative.

so how do I connect it to my tv? and can I now download HD movies and watch them on my TV

 

[oneman]

What inputs do you have on your TV and what outputs do you have on your laptop.

If you TV is HD I presume that it has either HDMI and/or VGA connections. Your laptop should have one of these, just get the matching cable.

You can download HD movies, expect each download to be at least 15GB in size to get decent quality.

 

[Auldtam]

What inputs do you have on your TV and what outputs do you have on your laptop.

If you TV is HD I presume that it has either HDMI and/or VGA connections. Your laptop should have one of these, just get the matching cable.

You can download HD movies, expect each download to be at least 15GB in size to get decent quality.

I read this thread earlier tonight and D/L xbmc had a play with it and its very good..I have a hdmi on laptop and tv so thats straightforward..but how do I D/L and play hd movies?

 

[oneman]

You can use XBMC for the playback of HD movies.

As for getting hold of the movies, rip them yourself, buy them down the market, usenet, torrents, etc take your pick.

 

[charlie senator]

I use a Wdtv live media player and it does everything i want without having to worry about about anything. Thats the way a media player should work. Just click on it and play your film etc

 

[zad]

I use a Wdtv live media player and it does everything i want without having to worry about about anything. Thats the way a media player should work. Just click on it and play your film etc

Ahh but at the moment unless you can afford to go get some thing like a PCH they are too slow for fw updates and not all of them have media info etc like XBMC does.

I have one here an Icybox yes its a great little machine but just well boring tbh..

Most of them wont do HD audio so kinda sucks for ripped BR films etc..

 

[oneman]

I use a Wdtv live media player and it does everything i want without having to worry about about anything. Thats the way a media player should work. Just click on it and play your film etc

media player is great in that its a low maintenance device for playback of files. But a PC does SO much more, access to online services such as player, 4oD, youtube, etc. web browsing, potential for PVR, better support for newer formats, ipod and digital camera connectivity, storage of media, etc As a personal choice its a no brainier which one I prefer.

I know price wise the media player is going to win and if you really don't want any of the other stuff then great go for a media player but I think the extra cost of something like a acer revo is definately worth it.

 

[the_dvd_guru]

the acer revo is a steal tbvh, fecking great piece of kit when running xbmc on it. mines setup perfect now even the wife can use it. it downloads all the content i want automatically sorts them out and scrapes the info for each and plays 1080p with full surround perfectly.

keep ya media player for the kiddies - real men go for toys with balls!!!!

 

[rp3X]

Been considering which route to go myself theres 3 top on my list atm....

1) xbmc and custom pc

2) Mede8er- awesome little player for about £140
can take a 2tb hdd

3) Boxee box from dlink due this summer I belive


boxee box is awesome but its not out yet and u cannot install any hdd in it but it has xbmc plugin , Mede8er is out and its a lovely piece of kit ran Avatar 1080p mkv sample perfectly.

But Xbmc just looks so darn nice only thing is electricity wise its gonna be like 2-3x more then a boxeebox or mede8er player

 

[oneman]

Power usage is going to be dependant on your PC. Something like a revo consumes around 30 watts playback and 20 watts idle. My AMD 245 based PC, 2GB ram with 500GB Samsung F2 HDD draws around 45 watts idle and 100 watts under load.

Of course you can easily set your PC to sleep after 20 minutes of non-usage or something if you want and power draw will be less then a watt.

 

[daveleebond]

I still think mediaportal looks better than XBMC, with the streamedMP skin.

I have tried both, but just like mediaportal, it works for me

 

[rp3X]

Im still half tempted too build a server and stack it up with 2tb WDs, and a Boxee box to compliment it all

But yeah a seperate small pc would be quite handy for a Xbmc build.

May look into media portal again been a while since I seen that.

 

[Raven24]

I don't see the point in stand alone media streamers personally. Not when your PC and a multitude of consoles etc on you are more than capable of doing the job. I just never understood what the standalone sets offer over the PC or whatever.....but I suppose it depends on the person. I can't justify spending money on standalone kits though because to me they do the exact same thing as what a PC or games console does where streaming is concerned.

 

[oneman]

I don't see the point in stand alone media streamers personally. Not when your PC and a multitude of consoles etc on you are more than capable of doing the job. I just never understood what the standalone sets offer over the PC or whatever.....but I suppose it depends on the person. I can't justify spending money on standalone kits though because to me they do the exact same thing as what a PC or games console does where streaming is concerned.

I agree that the standalone have limited functionality but they are cheaper and less to go wrong. PC still need a fair bit of knowledge to setup and maintain. Plus boot up time is seconds vs minutes.

Personally I run a pair of media PC plus a couple of orginal xbox but I can see the advantages of a standalone streamer for some people.

 

[Raven24]

I agree that the standalone have limited functionality but they are cheaper and less to go wrong. PC still need a fair bit of knowledge to setup and maintain. Plus boot up time is seconds vs minutes.

Personally I run a pair of media PC plus a couple of orginal xbox but I can see the advantages of a standalone streamer for some people.

Yeah those are all fair points especially that part. That's a good reason for standalone kits. Also some standalone kits have auto resume as well. And will play most any file you chuck at it. But at the end of the day it's still streaming and it's still streaming the same content. I can sort of see why people pay for these things especially people who are big on hacking but I just wasn't sure what the main benefits of them were considering the free alternative can be just as good. Personally I'm not sure they're worth £80 or whatever for what they do. But then others can just as easy say the same thing about other items before they've used a good one, say for example headphones.

 

[rp3X]

Sometimes I use feel its nice too have a tiny box which looks the part, you can switch it on and off with remote and simply scroll down and play your mp3/divx or mkv.

You cant do it that easy with a pc It takes time too boot and consumes more watts depending on your setup, u gotta configure and more prone to hardware failures etc

What I dont like is the fact one cant just buy the mobo off a medi8ter or popcorn motherboard and just build your own killer htcp.

I know theres a popcorn board already out there but 2 satas dont cut it, not for me anyhow id like to be future proof and at least 6 satas. If 4tb hdds existed wouldnt be much of an issue!

For now it does seem these media players are a quick and easy too use system, but i still cant device which route to take media player or htpc

 

[Dazza]

I just wasn't sure what the main benefits of them were considering the free alternative can be just as good. Personally I'm not sure they're worth £80 or whatever for what they do.

It's a god send m8. The wife and nipper can use it, easily, without having to bug me, or wait for me to set anything up. That, IMHO, is a massive plus point in it's favour. The missus has even taken it to her Mums and plugged it in to her TV, so the kids don't have to put up with Murder She Wrote.

Before I bought it, I used to stream to the nippers PC, which ended up being a PITA.

I love it, and will be buying another soon for the bedroom.

 

[daveleebond]

Sometimes I use feel its nice too have a tiny box which looks the part, you can switch it on and off with remote and simply scroll down and play your mp3/divx or mkv.

You cant do it that easy with a pc It takes time too boot and consumes more watts depending on your setup, u gotta configure and more prone to hardware failures etc

My HTPC has a remote, it runs like all my AV stuff, off a Harmony (using a cheap £6 cyberlink IR dongle on HTPC) and integrates seamlessly into MediaPortal.

The actual tower is hidden from view behind my AV stand, and is quiet as a mouse, since swapped out all the fans with noctua's (thanks to Pob), just the cyberlink and logitech kb/mouse dongle visible.

Boots up in about 25-30 seconds since always put it into hibernate (Win7 seems rock solid with hibernate on a desktop, never had a problem yet)

 

[ManofScience]

yeah, i've built a bookcase with cupboards in the bottom, holds my PC, Media Centre, printer, Wii and if i wanted my PS3 - all completely hidden. i use a media centre remote and it's spot on. i prefer the flexibility of the media centre - not to mention the fact it's also my DVD player.

W7 Media Centre + Media Browser + Media Centre Studio : Media Center Studio and it's class.