[AzJazz]

Hi - I have been using SageTV for many years, and I am looking to move on to newer tech (since SageTV hardware and support is getting pretty rare).

I am hoping XBMC will be my "upgrade". It seems to have a huge and very active user base with support for lots of platforms. Looks like lots of nice features, too.

My biggest concern is that XBMC doesn't seem to support my basic system setup (based on my searching on the forum). I'm hoping that I missed something, though.

Here is my environment:

I have a Win7x64 PC running in my office 24/7, with a WHS file server that contains a lot of my older recordings. I also have an HDHomeRun connected near my office PC that gets OTA DTV broadcasts onto my LAN. (I think I have the HDHomeRun working OK inside XBMC - I was able to watch some of my local channel in XBMC a little while ago). My office PC runs SageTV as a background service.

My TVs are all in other rooms of the house. I currently have SageTV media extenders located at the TVs, but they are beginning to fail.

I have found what looks like XBMC media extenders on Amazon (G-Box Midnight MX2) for about $100/each. I also saw something about a Raspberry Pi running XBMC.

So, here are my n00b questions:

1) Can I run XBMC on my main PC (hopefully as a service), and just have it manage recording my local TV broadcasts and serving files to my media extenders?
2) Can XBMC stream other Internet video services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu Plus?
3) Is the Midnight MX2 a usable XBMC media extender that I can use at my HDTVs?
4) Is the Raspberry Pi a usable XBMC media extender that I can use at my HDTVs?

Thanks!

AzJazz

[Ned Scott]

1) Nope. XBMC is currently just a front-end client to PVR/DVR servers, so what you would want to do is check the PVR (wiki) wiki pages for PVR software for Windows. XBMC can manage recordings, but the PVR server/software will do the actual recording work.

2) Netflix and Amazon Prime, no, not through XBMC directly. Hulu, maybe, if the add-on is still working (I haven't checked in a while). However, if you get an android-based box, such as the Amazon Fire TV, you can just switch between XBMC and the native clients for those services.

3) Yes, but if you're not afraid to tinker I would suggest looking at something like the Amazon Fire TV (wiki), which can currently have XBMC sideloaded onto it. Despite the needed tinkering, I think you'd end up with a better box over all, and a less frustrating experience for actual usage.

4) Yes, and while it can be a little sluggish in some areas, depending on the feature, the Raspberry Pi makes for a surprisingly awesome XBMC box. It's hard to go wrong for the price.

I'd also take a look at the hardware sub-forum for additional ideas: http://forum.xbmc.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=112

[AzJazz]

Thanks for the info, Ned!

I guess my hunt isn't quite over yet. :-)