[iblastoff]

i was hoping on getting the acer revo 3610 machine (ion 330 2 gig ram 160meg hd) to be a seamless media frontend + occasional internet usage/torrenting machine.

first of all, after dabbling in red hat linux in my earlier years and ubuntu a few years ago, i have no intention with going in that headache-inducing direction ever again.

my preferred environment is windows 7. i was told this machine would basically do it all for a great price/small form factor/power consumption etc.

then i do some further reading and am now discovering that i have to use a codec that costs money coupled with an external player (dsplayer or mpc-hd) whenever i want to play hd mkv etc files.

i use my iphone as a remote (i come from using plex and boxee on my macbook) which works just fine. the problem is it seems if mpc-hd is being used to play an hd file, then my remote all of a sudden becomes useless (since the video isn't controlled by xbmc anymore) and my whole experience isn't as seamless as i would like.

is this basically correct? that i have to use an external player with paid codec or buy a broadchip chip etc to play hd files on this machine within windows 7?

[xbs08]

dsplayer doesnt need paid codecs and it can be controled via a remote just like dvdplayer. only thing is the lack of subtitles in dsplayer.

[iblastoff]

dsplayer doesnt need paid codecs and it can be controled via a remote just like dvdplayer. only thing is the lack of subtitles in dsplayer.

you mean if i use xbmc remote app on my iphone to play an hd file via xbmc (which i guess opens up dsplayer), the app can still control dsplayer when its running then?

[xbs08]

Yes, i'm using tiben20's builds and dsplayer works very well with my mce remote. You can select dsplayer to play HD files or set dsplayer to be your default player via advancedsettings.xml. I don't have a iphone but i guess it works like a remote.

[bobo1on1]

Any reason you don't want to go with xbmc live / linux ?

[The_Dogg]

I'm building a similar setup, ordered a revo and a broadcom crystal hd card, so when combining the 2, will I be able to use the internal player of xbmc to play hd content and have subtitle support?

[iblastoff]

Any reason you don't want to go with xbmc live / linux ?

don't want xbmc live because i want to do a little more with the htpc. i realize there are ways to install transmission daemon etc with command line stuff but honestly i am just not that into diving into that area of the computer world anymore.

and i'm just not comfortable enough with linux in general. if something goes wrong in mac/windows i would generally know how to troubleshoot things. in linux i would have absolutely no idea. not saying its not worth learning the ropes of linux, but for htpc purposes i just can't be bothered really.

i suppose i could always dual-boot but the only reason i even want to spend $300 for an htpc thats capable of other minor tasks is for the utter convenience. having to dual-boot doesn't fit into that too well. right now i am currently using my macbook with plex. i have to bring it to the hdtv room and hook it up every time i want to watch something and this is getting annoying. so i want to make sure i spend on something that will be perfect for my needs. unfortunately that means something windows 7 based for me.