[telheiras]

Hi guys, i'm totally new to this and don't really know the best for me so i need your advice.

Sidenote: I use Windows Vista, and will change to Windows 7 in the future. Have bought a Screenplay PRO HD but i gave it back already because didn't read some mkv files.

- I would like to have XBMC with AEON configured on my PC (i'm working on that)
- I would then like to see on the tv all the content on the hard drive, through XBMC configured on the PC.

My questions:
1- Would it be possible to the media center to work, when the PC is not working? What would it transmit to the tv?
2- What's the best media center to do this (be able to work with/without pc on)

i don't mind having an external hard-drive connected to the media player permanently. I've read about WDTV and Pophour but i'm not sure if they're right for me.

thank you sooooooo much for your help.

[spiff]

uhrr. xbmc is a program that runs on your pc. if that pc is off, how do you expect things to work?
sounds like you want to get yourself a dedicated box, popcorn hour or wdtv seems like better choices. or even better, get yourself a ion based box and run xbmc for linux.

[AnalogKid]

Hi guys, i'm totally new to this and don't really know the best for me so i need your advice.

Sidenote: I use Windows Vista, and will change to Windows 7 in the future. Have bought a Screenplay PRO HD but i gave it back already because didn't read some mkv files.

- I would like to have XBMC with AEON configured on my PC (i'm working on that)
- I would then like to see on the tv all the content on the hard drive, through XBMC configured on the PC.

My questions:
1- Would it be possible to the media center to work, when the PC is not working? What would it transmit to the tv?
2- What's the best media center to do this (be able to work with/without pc on)

i don't mind having an external hard-drive connected to the media player permanently. I've read about WDTV and Pophour but i'm not sure if they're right for me.

thank you sooooooo much for your help.

-XBMC runs on your PC

-It gathers all of your media (music, tv shows, music, picture) and builds a database of your media.

-It helps you gather covers / fanart / additional information about your media so that it looks really nice on screen

-It lets you choose a 'skin' (the look and feel of how your media can be represented on screen... Aeon is one of the most popular skins)

-It then lets you choose and playback your media via your TV / Decoder / Audio System.



At ALL times, the PC is acting as your media center. You can still use your PC for games / applications as normal... installing XBMC will work along side them.. but once you start XBMC, the real idea is that the PC acts ONLY as a media center device. So you need your PC on all the time, and using the TV as it's display device.

Now... XBMC can also gather media files from external drives, network drives and even the internet.... but the same rule applies... XBMC runs on the PC and the PC is connected to the TV.

There is no need to buy any external media player etc.

Hope this helps... you have a lot of reading to do, but for a newcomer, it's not actually so obvious how it all works!

[telheiras]

of course iT helped! everything helps as i am

regarding what i want to do (Wifi streaming from Pc to TV) what do you think should be better? What do i have to take in consideration between all these? because tehy all seem to do the same!

WDTV
AC RYAN
Popcorn Hour
Lacie
others?

[AnalogKid]

of course iT helped! everything helps as i am

regarding what i want to do (Wifi streaming from Pc to TV) what do you think should be better? What do i have to take in consideration between all these? because tehy all seem to do the same!

WDTV
AC RYAN
Popcorn Hour
Lacie
others?

I can't do the research on them all... but I'm sure none will be as flexible as XBMC.

You cannot WiFi stream to your TV per se...
You can stream FROM a PC (server) to a client (an xbmc PC, or one of your proposed little boxes.. which is then hooked up via cable to your screen).

There following should be born in mind

XBMC Pros:
Highly configurable
Can playback almost all types of content
Very sexy UI with certain skins
Well supported
Needs a PC (but you can buy very sexy small PCs (HTPC))
Lots of onboard storage space
Can be upgraded for better WiFi technology in the future

Cons:
No (or little) hardware accelerated playback (depends on your system)
Expensive when you consider the cost of a PC



Some little black box Pros:
Inexpensive (usually)
Some have a nice UI (but most don't)
Hardware accelerated playback (for some)


Cons:
Little onboard storage space
Not very customisable UI
usually not well supported
Usually fixed WiFi technology


I would stick with XBMC for the moment... because it's free and you can run it on your PC right now... and get used to how all this stuff works.

[telheiras]

Ah i didnt' explain myself enough..

I'm considering using XBMC from my PC, no doubt about that!

My question would be, how to take XBMC configuration from the PC to the TV, and that's where i face the problem of how to do this:

- buy a small box (wdtv, ac ryan, popcorn hour), but stream XBMC from the pc wifi (not sure how this will work, and not sure if it works like this)
- buy the htpc (i know even less on this subject, than the small boxes)

[AnalogKid]

Ah i didnt' explain myself enough..

I'm considering using XBMC from my PC, no doubt about that!

My question would be, how to take XBMC configuration from the PC to the TV, and that's where i face the problem of how to do this:

- buy a small box (wdtv, ac ryan, popcorn hour), but stream XBMC from the pc wifi (not sure how this will work, and not sure if it works like this)
- buy the htpc (i know even less on this subject, than the small boxes)

Many ways to do this:

1) Connect your PC to the TV via a cable :-)
2) Connect your PC to a wireless TV transmitter, and then have the wireless TV receiver at your PC (only really good for basic playback... not HiDef, or multichannel audio)
3) Resort to using the blackbox, but accept that it will expect you to store your media in certain formats, and in certain folders etc (which may, or may not conflict with XBMC)
4) pretty basic tiny PC (about 8 inches by 6 inches by 3 inches) and that does the job of a 'black box'. It's a regular PC running Vista and XBMC with HDMI out and digital audio out. (THIS IS THE SETUP I USE WITH THE SMALL PC COSTING ABOUT 300 DOLLARS)


This allows me to have the following system:

Code:

Central File Server       wifi      |--- Laptop 1
(Holding ALL media) --------------- |--- Lounge PC (small PC) hooked up to 42"
                                    |--- Laptop 2
                                    |--- Mac
                                    |--- Kid's PC
                                    |--- Games Room PC

I have the same library on ALL machines (except the Mac) by sharing the same database (but don't ask me about this, it's complicated)... it's easier for you to just copy one master database to any additional PCs you have

[telheiras]

I have asked for a budget for a HTPC, which came out for 404,20€:

- Nox Box Black (with controller) - 72€
- Motherboard Asus P5QL/EPU S775 - 60€
- Intel Core 2 Duo E5300 Box - 55€
- Powercolour HD4350 1GB DDR2 HDMI - 33,25€
- Team Group Elite DDR2 PC6400 2x2GB CAS5 - 45€
- Seagate Disk 500GB - 40€
- Samsung DVD-RW - 16,58€
- Energy 2Hix DNA 500W - 15€