media streaming with good interface

koushikp

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Joined
Apr 16, 2008
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268
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Hi all,

Have been using my trusted Xtreamer sidewinder for the last two years...but have grown tired of its rather unpolished interface..which media players have that among the ones available in India? I am particularly looking for a good library function and automatic scraping of movie info and cover art from imdb or elsewhere..

I know that Boxee box has it, but find the price too high, specially considering the fact that it cannot hold a hard drive inside.

popcorn hour is another one, but its not available in india.

I saw that the new WDTV live hub interface is quite nice, and the price is also fine given it already has 1TB storage, but does it have a nice jukebox/library like the boxee?

Something else that has caught my eye is the Zotak zbox, any feedbacks on the same? The only thing that's bothering me with that is the fact it will take a long time to boot, and ultimately u will need a keyboard to navigate and start boxee/xbmc, post which I can use my ipod touch as a remote..

5-6 years ago, I would have simply built a HTPC, but now I neither have the time or the enthusiasm to do it..so would definitely prefer a readymade solution..
 
Hi

WD Live hub is also very slow in responding for all your requirement, so, building a HTPC is a nice solution and it takes maximum 2 days only to built it.

Regards

sub
 
Try the ebay.com route and search for the 1st Generation Apple TV with built in storage. Now take a look at Home | FireCore and hack the Apple TV to play all format file with XBMC and BOXEE installed. Its the most fantastic GUI with support for all the apps you require.

Believe me when I say so as I have also been using Xtreamer since their 1st Generation player and also has a Xtreamer Pro with me but at the price point of 100$ nothing comes close to an Apple TV experience and I happen to use the stream route wherein all my Media library is stored on to my Networked attached storage.

Or if you can look at spending beyond 15K then Tvix has all the ticks that you desire.
 
Something else that has caught my eye is the Zotak zbox, any feedbacks on the same? The only thing that's bothering me with that is the fact it will take a long time to boot, and ultimately u will need a keyboard to navigate and start boxee/xbmc, post which I can use my ipod touch as a remote..

5-6 years ago, I would have simply built a HTPC, but now I neither have the time or the enthusiasm to do it..so would definitely prefer a readymade solution..

If you want good UI, automatic scraping etc. HTPC with XBMC is the way to go. You can consider zotak zbox for HTPC. It is not true that HTPC will take long time to boot. My HTPC boots in just 30 seconds from cold start. With hibernation, it starts in less than 15 seconds. You can use SSD to decrease the boot time even considerably. Also there is no need for keyboard/mouse to start XBMC once it is set to start before explorer loads. IIRC, zotac comes with a remote control or you can buy one for as cheap as Rs.500/- from ebay. But you will need to do a little tinkering with the htpc, but the results are worth the pain. If you buy zbox, then you just need to install windows 7, drivers and XBMC.
 
excellent inputs...getting interested about the idea of a HTPC...what would u guys suggest? going for a readymade solution like Zotac or building one? To put things into perspective I will do zero gaming in this HTPC, it will just be for watching movies..also I was planning to have a separate blu-ray player, but I saw that Zotac has a version with a blu-ray player and even if I build one I can easily fit one there...

What is mentally putting me off about the idea of building a HTPC is the fact given I would want to put it in the bedroom, I don't want something large, there is a space constraint, and the maximum depth I can offer to the device is 6-7 inches..

lastly, if you guys can point me to any article/thread about how start about building a small form factor HTPC...would be great..

@ashishkesarwani...that sounds fantastic...will explore the option of apple tv hacking...but why do you mention only 1st gen? the subsequent gens cannot be hacked is it?
 
I have WDLive that I use for the TV in the lounge room. It works OK, but there are no scraping feature that I am aware of.

However, one of the best media players I have used is http://www.boxee.tv/buy. Its based on XBMC and I use it with my primary home theater as a media streamer from my NAS server.

I am not sure if it is available in India, but has excellent scraping capabilities and plays all video and audio codecs/formats. I would suggest using Boxee Box just for its excellent media scraping capabilities, if nothing else.

Cheers

daZoy
 
I have WDLive that I use for the TV in the lounge room. It works OK, but there are no scraping feature that I am aware of.

However, one of the best media players I have used is http://www.boxee.tv/buy. Its based on XBMC and I use it with my primary home theater as a media streamer from my NAS server.

I am not sure if it is available in India, but has excellent scraping capabilities and plays all video and audio codecs/formats. I would suggest using Boxee Box just for its excellent media scraping capabilities, if nothing else.

Cheers

daZoy
Hmmm..had practically forgotten about the boxee box..reason was I thought the hardware was too underpowered to be future proof for 2-3 years of boxee updates..and also too expensive at almost 14k in india...but I could be wrong..after you mentioned it I checked it online..let'sbuy.com is selling it online t 9.6k with COD...looks like a pretty good deal..
 
@ashishkesarwani...that sounds fantastic...will explore the option of apple tv hacking...but why do you mention only 1st gen? the subsequent gens cannot be hacked is it?

They can be but the 2nd Generation doesn't support USB Playback and it also don't support Boxee. I happen to have both with me and I would prefer the older version to the Newer one. There is one more factor with the older version of Apple TV i.e it does full HD whereas the 2nd Generation is only capable of doing upto 720P so if you play a full HD content on it then it will downscale the same. What a waste of resource isn't it?
 
They can be but the 2nd Generation doesn't support USB Playback and it also don't support Boxee. I happen to have both with me and I would prefer the older version to the Newer one. There is one more factor with the older version of Apple TV i.e it does full HD whereas the 2nd Generation is only capable of doing upto 720P so if you play a full HD content on it then it will downscale the same. What a waste of resource isn't it?


Hi how is the performance of the the apple tv 1 with 1080p content and in general navigation? Does it stutter or is it a smooth playback of 1080p?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk
 
Hi guys,

just wondering why nobody mentioned AC Ryan Play on!HD here, seems to have a pretty good interface with YAMJ...I have personally never seen or operated this player, are there any performance issues for it to have never been mentioned by anyone?
 
Hi guys,

just wondering why nobody mentioned AC Ryan Play on!HD here, seems to have a pretty good interface with YAMJ...I have personally never seen or operated this player, are there any performance issues for it to have never been mentioned by anyone?

Hi

I have both AC Ryan Play on HD as well as XBMC integrated HTPC,regarding ease of operation, interface and every other aspects XBMC stands way ahead.

Regards

sub
 
Hi

I have both AC Ryan Play on HD as well as XBMC integrated HTPC,regarding ease of operation, interface and every other aspects XBMC stands way ahead.

Regards

sub

Hi sub, which remote are you using with your Xbmc powered htpc?
 
See how you like it...I like BoxeeBox because of its versatility. It can pretty much play any media you throw at it. Uses an atom processor, which most other players use too, and has excellent scraping capabilities. In case you find something that can not be scrapped, you can create your own .nfo file and poster.

There are also quite a few apps for Boxee and a fair few repositories that can be used as well, if you are into it.

Cheers,

daZoy



Hmmm..had practically forgotten about the boxee box..reason was I thought the hardware was too underpowered to be future proof for 2-3 years of boxee updates..and also too expensive at almost 14k in india...but I could be wrong..after you mentioned it I checked it online..let'sbuy.com is selling it online t 9.6k with COD...looks like a pretty good deal..
 
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