[GJones]

I don't think it is a problem anymore with Dharma. That was a Camelot issue.

Correct. And even then it mostly impacted those storing their media on MS server (or MS embedded server) configurations or those trying to share their media library off of an MS desktop or laptop.

[SpectreX]

You need to separate your usage of the system with the goals of XBMC. It is hard to argue that XBMC Live on ION hardware fails to meet expectations of a media center device.
.

You don`t need to to video editing on the sistem to have XBMC Live fail as a media player
There are 3 fundamental things it cannot do as a 2010 media player :
-> Play Blu ray disks (disks, not rips) with the option (not necesary, just an option) to remove crappy trailers/FBI warnings on the fly (Any DVD HD does this)
-> Bitstream HD audio.
-> Have PVR/DVR support by launching 7MC.

All 3 can be achieved outside of Live and ION, with a Nvidia GT430 card or a HD5/6xxx series or (cough, cough) a Intel HD graphics (but with no 24p playback support and lack of support for MPC-HC or XBMC filters, it kinda blows).

[poofyhairguy]

Windows 7
-> Ability to playback Blu ray disks using TMT3 or 5 with HD audio bitstreaming
-> EVR renderer for pristine PQ (DS Player)
-> Ability to launch MPC-HC with the MadVR renderer from doom9 for even better PQ (and HD audio bitstreaming without DS Player.

Two of those rely on outside programs, so I will leave them off. Thanks for the input though.

[GJones]

You don`t need to to video editing on the sistem to have XBMC Live fail as a media player
There are 3 fundamental things it cannot do as a 2010 media player :
-> Play Blu ray disks (disks, not rips) with the option (not necesary, just an option) to remove crappy trailers/FBI warnings on the fly (Any DVD HD does this)
-> Bitstream HD audio.
-> Have PVR/DVR support

All 3 can be achieved outside of Live and ION, with a Nvidia GT430 card or a HD5/6xxx series or (cough, cough) a Intel HD graphics (but with no 24p playback support and lack of support for MPC-HC or XBMC filters, it kinda blows).

Many XBMC boxes do not even have optical drives (DVD or Blu-Ray). Mine does but I never use it to play a disk directly. If I wanted to go find a disk when I wanted to watch something, I would not spend money on a media center.

Bitstream HD Audio is less important to me, but others may want it.

I have a perfectly usable DVR sitting beside the XBMC box. It sucks as a media center but is a great DVR. PVR/DVR support is absolutely something people want, but not all people. This can be overcome by using a minimal Ubuntu install (which should be considered in the same category as Live, since all Windows installations are lumped together in spite of the fact that there are numerous configurations).

My Linux installation can actually transcode my library in the background using all four threads in HandBrake without impacting my video or audio performance in an automated fashion. Windows could never get that done on a Revo 3610. But I won't mention it since we are supposed to be comparing basic functionality, not bells and whistles.

[SpectreX]

Have you see the 7MC Live TV functionality? It Blows out of the water any setop box, even the Tivo. Even Engadget declared it the best PVR impletementation in any device, and that is coming from a pro-Apple biased site. The 7MC interface is leaps and bounds above the Tivo Premier interface + cablecard support.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/05/t...-media-center/

And since you can launch 7MC from withing XBMC, you can have the best of both worlds, with 2 ten foot GUIs. And i fail to see how Handbrake is a Linux only option, since it has had a windows version for as long as i can remember an can be used in the same manner as the Linux version.

As for disk playback, there are situations when you want to watch a movie right when you got it via mail without having to wait for the ripping to be done, that`s were disk playback comes in

As for PVR on Ubuntu, that sould be added to the XBMC on Linux part of the comparision. But isn`t that branch still in pre-alpha stage or smth like that?

PS: You mean number of threads, because the 330 has psychical 2 cores with HiperThreading

[poofyhairguy]

But isn`t that branch i pre-alpha stage or smth like that?

Both Linux and Windows have a PVR branch, but because it was purposefully left out on Dharma I am leaving it off the list till it is added back to the main tree after Dharma's release. Because as soon as I add it I will get PMs asking how to do it, and I don't even know how yet.

[SpectreX]

Both Linux and Windows have a PVR branch, but because it was purposefully left out on Dharma I am leaving it off the list till it is added back to the main tree after Dharma's release. Because as soon as I add it I will get PMs asking how to do it, and I don't even know how yet.

Ok, good to know that both platforms are being worked on.

[DLJones]

I have a question is anyone using the new Apple TV with version 4.1.1? I'm looking at getting a Apple TV to load XBMC on. I like the price vs the cost of a ZBOX and since I have GB-PVR that handles all my recordings I.m all set on the server side. I've been using XBMX for Windows and I really like XBMC interface, I'm trying to get Netflix and XBMC all on one device and so far this is the only way outside of running windows on a PC to get both.

dj

[poofyhairguy]

Basic PVR advantages and disadvantages added.

[waldo22]

1. No hardware playback acceleration outside of Broadcom and very particular Nvidia cards

Do you know which ones?

[idioteque]

Disadvantages

1. No hardware playback acceleration outside of Broadcom and very particular Nvidia cards

All mac mini's starting from 2009 are supported. The 2010 Mac mini is supported running 10.6.3 via downgrading

Early 2009 MB463*/A MB464*/A
Late 2009 MC238*/A MC239*/A MC408*/A
Mid 2010 MC270*/A MC438*/A

Early mac mini's are supported by replacing the Wifi with Crystal HD chip

[poofyhairguy]

Do you know which ones?

Nvidia 9xxx or better.

[GJones]

And i fail to see how Handbrake is a Linux only option, since it has had a windows version for as long as i can remember an can be used in the same manner as the Linux version.

Yes, HandBrake has a windows version. But Windows lacks anything approaching cron functionality for automatically scheduling a series of tasks. Re-read what I wrote. I was talking about the integration of HandBrakeCLI with cron jobs and shell scripting to make transcoding much simpler.

As for disk playback, there are situations when you want to watch a movie right when you got it via mail without having to wait for the ripping to be done, that`s were disk playback comes in

This is why I use MakeMKV to make an MKV, which generally takes about 10 minutes from inserting the DVD into the drive. The much longer transcoding process happens automatically on my machine thanks to cron (see above). By the way, if I happen to be watching the movie while my background job finishes transcoding and moves the original file to the "replaced" folder and puts the new file in the normal library folder, XBMC will continue to show the entire movie because of the way Linux uses file handles. The same cannot be said for Windows.

PS: You mean number of threads, because the 330 has psychical 2 cores with HiperThreading

I was using the terminology that HandBrake uses in its command-line parameters. How many threads can HandBrakeCLI use in Windows without impacting playback performance?

[sdog21]

I was wondering what advantages XBMC Linux has over Windows. I've been trying to use XBMC live on a usb, and tweaking all the settings just right for everything to work is a pain! why not just use XBMC Windows??

Your Thoughts?

[poofyhairguy]

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=72670