CpTHOOK Wrote:Here....
DIY!! Save money, headaches and tell these pre-built HTPC makers "thanks but no thanks"!!
Talior made is the way to GO
At this point, I'd have to agree with the above comment if you want it all, 480, 720, 1080, DTS-HD MA, DD TrueHD and perhaps 3D capable. I may be prejudice, but I believe the best media player out there is XBMC.
If you want simple, cheap and are willing for forgo the DTS-HD MA and DD TrueHD, go for the Patriot Box Office. The interface is basic. You can load a 2.5" HD in it, so at the moment 1TB of media max. You can also hook it up to a network. I bought one for each of my Grand Children, they move them from TV to TV, bring them to me from time to time for more Iggle Piggle, Abbey Kadabie, Yo Gabba Gaba or Itchy and Scratchy (yes I know that is the Simpsons Cat and Mouse cartoon, but with the new names, they leave it wide open). One of them had a sticky water ring on them, so I can imagine the torture they go through and they just work and play almost anything you throw at them.
A step up is the WD HD Player. Once again you must forgo DTS-HD MA, which unfortunately is used on a majority of Blu Rays and sounds crisper than Dolby Digital. The picture quality on this box is second to none. Aside from audio support, my main beef with the WD HD Player is its support for VOB files. I have found that DVD rips that played fine with everything else sometimes freeze or skip on the WD HD. VOB files must be in Video_TS folders, and oddly, most irritating to me, you can not press play on the main movie folder, you have to navigate to the Video_TS folder and then press play or it will by default open the thumbnail file. If you have mostly DVD Rips, go with the Patriot Box Office.
I love my AD10 and do not regret the purchase. Is it perfect. No. If it had of had a little more juice, it would have been. I am a programmer by trade. I have built numerous computers for friends, family and myself, but I for the most part stick with default settings and do not optimize Windows. Furthermore I am not all that familiar with video rendering terminology that litters the Catalyst and XBMC settings. I have indeed spent many frustrating hours on the AD10 changing this and that setting trying to get smooth 1080p and DTS-HD MA out with little success. I am confident based on tests on my dual core, Intel video laptop with Ubuntu XBMC Live that with Linux, the AD10 would play 1080p/DHS-HD MA flawlessly, but I don't know Linux and don't have the time or desire to learn it enough to muck with drivers in Linux.
Lastly, the thing I don't understand that really irks me is why are the DTS-HD MA and DD TrueHD options in the XBMC_HD_Audio download not yet available in the nightly compiles of XBMC Eden? If they were then perhaps Ubuntu XBMC Live may be an option for the AD10.
