How do I media center?

1ddqd

Well, ok here's the thing. I have a TV that I've used for about 6 years through component video out on my (now) file server. Being that I'm downgrading the power hungry-ness of it by replacing the video card with something requiring less than the standard 1.21 jiggawatts of power, I will need some other way of outputting to my TV all my backed up goodness.

I have a gaming machine that is in the same room as my office, so ideally, I'd need a HTPC or 360 to stream my content. Here's what this magical machine must do:

Playback (stream) HD content via gigabit network (or wireless draft-N)
Playback (stream) music - preferrably easy to control remotely.
Offer a pleasing 10-ft GUI
Able to play the following formats: .mkv, .ogg, .flac, .ape, .avi, .divx, etc.
Budget - around $600

Now, I enjoy the consoles quite a bit but I haven't bought a 360 (waited for the Elite, then didn't buy one). I am not opposed to Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo, but I *do* like the selection and XboxLive interface from the bit I've used it at my friend's place.

What should I ultimately get? A new HTPC or a Console (that would probably have to be modded to make these formats play)?

[edit]
Here's a link to a reasonable budget HTPC that is HD-capable - $620 with shipping - CLICK ME
Xbox 360 Elite w/2 games: $449 - CLICK ME

Dunadan019

im not sure about modding the 360 but i have a friend who used a modded xbox for his media center and a modded PS2 for an emulator center. but those wont work with HD.

im going to guess that you can mod a 360 to perform those functions which will most likely void the warranty (ill wait for someone else to confirm). you could also look at a PS3 and see if that would work.

noweat

you don't seem to be asking for enough things to warrant a whole htpc machine. htpcs are great and the right systems provide a sweet interface, dvr functions along with all the other stuff you wanted but maybe thats a bit overkill? if you look around you can get everything but dvr for free using some of the media center programs out there.


for hd playback you just need a good card to output along with a tv/computer on the recieving end to handle it really. thats more of a hardware requirement, console or otherwise


personally i don't have any knowledge of the 360 or ps3's media center functionality first hand as I personally have a myth box. i love it but i understand that linux isn't for everybody or even myth for that matter.

the one caveat is that streaming vids through my wireless(g) isn't very solid. sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. is always buffering related so maybe the new n protocol would handle it better.

1ddqd

The general idea is that priority 1 is watch HD playback - the motherboard's onboard video can do it because my Asus P5E-VM can do it (and is a GMA X3500, not GMA 4500 like the one in the above post).

Priority 2 is the ability to function as an all around media center.

Priority 3 (and this is distant in comparison) is to play games. If I want to play PC games, I have a gaming PC. The main difference here is that the Xbox 360 would be great to play games on, but to watch/access HD content, it would have to be WMV HD. I would rather NOT have to re-convert ALL of my media.

blanknogo

Popcorn Hour?

Pat McRotch

For your needs, I say load your gamer with XP Media Center and get a 360. I got a "used" 360 Elite at Entertainmart for 375. I say "used" because after checking the warranty it was only 3 months old .

Anyway, load XP Media Center, point it your media then install Transcode 360. Then, lets see what next... umm OH! That's right. You're done. No modding is needed. I don't think there was a format I could not play. I have some anime in some weird formats too.

XP MCE + Transcode360 + XBOX 360 Elite = HTPC goodness. For a added bonus add a 360 remote or a Logitech remote (drool).

Now, don't think that a real HTPC is not a good idea. I wish to build one soon, but the method above is by far the easiest!

zanetheinsane

We've had good results around here with TVersity and just using the Xbox360. It's a free transcoder and works with almost any device you could imagine. Plus you don't need Windows MCE 2005.

Apothe0sis

Errr, can'tXBOX360 do non wmv HD content now? Or is there some wrinkle there that I am not seeing?

It can certainly do AVI and Xvid or H 2.364 or whatever the number actually is.

blackranger3d

Pat McRotch wrote: »

For your needs, I say load your gamer with XP Media Center and get a 360. I got a "used" 360 Elite at Entertainmart for 375. I say "used" because after checking the warranty it was only 3 months old .

Anyway, load XP Media Center, point it your media then install Transcode 360. Then, lets see what next... umm OH! That's right. You're done. No modding is needed. I don't think there was a format I could not play. I have some anime in some weird formats too.

XP MCE + Transcode360 + XBOX 360 Elite = HTPC goodness. For a added bonus add a 360 remote or a Logitech remote (drool).

Now, don't think that a real HTPC is not a good idea. I wish to build one soon, but the method above is by far the easiest!

Two Questions
1. How is this better than a stand alone unit like popcorn hour?
2. Can the 360 stream media off a TV that does not of Media Centre Edition installed (I like my PC the way it is

1ddqd

Vista Home Premium does have media center built in, which is the OS on my gaming machine. So that works perfectly. A 360 Elite + Transcode 360 is all I'll have to get.

Also, since I have the Harmony 880, could it be possible that it works just like the Xbox 360 Logitech remote?

Transparent

Just watch your folder of transcoded files, it can fill your hard drive up before you know it.

Burtletoy

Apothe0sis wrote: »

Errr, can'tXBOX360 do non wmv HD content now? Or is there some wrinkle there that I am not seeing?

It can certainly do AVI and Xvid or H 2.364 or whatever the number actually is.

My 360 won't run many videos I have on my computer if I use WMP11 or Zune software to stream it to the consol, but using Winamp Remote/ORB it seems to have much better playback.

Transparent

1ddqd wrote: »

[edit]
Here's a link to a reasonable budget HTPC that is HD-capable - $620 with shipping - CLICK ME
Xbox 360 Elite w/2 games: $449 - CLICK ME

Also, that computer is overkill just to watch videos. I'd switch to an AMD 780G motherboard and a cheaper AMD processor. Also you probably don't need 4 gigs of ram.

1ddqd

I did think about the AMD route, just using that as a baseline (since it's very similar to the gaming rig)

Zilla360

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showpost.php?p=6566462&postcount=562

smokmnky

So here's what I've been doing lately

32in LCD HDTV connected to 360 which is on my home network (via Wireless adapter). I think run TVersity on my main PC which has all my media files. TVersity just "appears" as an option on my 360 and whatever folders I've told TVersity to monitor then show up in a list for my 360 to view.

TVersity is freaking awesome, it will transcode on the fly for you most media files. Pretty much if you can watch it on your PC it'll work on your 360. Also you can subscribe to podcasts directly through the system and it will let you watch the videos on the fly as well.

Dark Shroud

blackranger3d wrote: »

Two Questions
1. How is this better than a stand alone unit like popcorn hour?

It isn't, unless you're a gamer. I use the PS3 instead with either WMP11 or Nero Media Home. My PS3 will at least do Blu-ray and has built in wireless. If you're not interested in Blu-ray and don't care about wireless or have a wireless bridge then Popcorn hour is your best.

blackranger3d wrote: »

2. Can the 360 stream media off a TV that does not of Media Centre Edition installed (I like my PC the way it is

Media Center edition will work automatically with the 360. If you're running a version of XP or Vista that doesn't have MCE you can use WMP11 or the Zune software which has RSS support. There other programs like TV Versity (free open-source) and Nero Media Home if you want streaming & on the fly transcodeing when not running MCE. Just a note, Vista Home Pro & Vista Ultimate both have Media Center built in.

zanetheinsane

Transparent wrote: »

1ddqd wrote: »

[edit]
Here's a link to a reasonable budget HTPC that is HD-capable - $620 with shipping - CLICK ME
Xbox 360 Elite w/2 games: $449 - CLICK ME

Also, that computer is overkill just to watch videos. I'd switch to an AMD 780G motherboard and a cheaper AMD processor. Also you probably don't need 4 gigs of ram.

While it may be "overkill" keep in mind that transcoding requires a lot of processor power, especially for high definition content. TVersity and probably the other programs mentioned are programmed to take advantage of multicore systems in this regard.

Transparent

Did I misunderstand? I'm under the impression that if he buys the HTPC, he'll be using that for playback instead of transcoding to a console. The 780G video chip has sufficient horsepower to decode 1080P AVC, and the CPU should be enough for XVid. Also the AMD processor is 45W and the Intel is 65W.

Pat McRotch

For his situation, I think the best solution is to get a 360 and use transcode360 or TVersity. Since he has Vista with Media Center he might as well use Transcode360 so he can use the 360 as an extender. Plus, he can use the 360 to do that other function. You know, games.

Transparent is right. Keep an eye on that temp folder that is used for transcoding. It can get really big really fast. I believe you can set Transcode360 to limit the number of files it keeps there.