[Harry deluxe]

I am looking for a all-in-one solution for playing media.

I have all my media on a Windows Home Server streaming via WLAN. In addition my HTPC should be able to play (and rip) blu rays. I had a eye on the Asrock 330 HT with blu ray but i am not sure if this is the right system for me. The size of the HTPC does not matter as long as it is silent and does not need to much power.

Are there any recommendations?

I am thinking about upgrading a blu-ray drive later, because it seems that they are still quite expensive at the moment.

[Laundro]

I have the Asrock with the BluRay drive, and a NAS with all media content on it. I rarely use the BD drive, except to rip movies to the NAS (and yes, those are my own movies). Initially, I was using Win7, because there was some nice (commercial) BluRay playback software available. Now, I've switched to XBMCLive, and the BluRay script (using MakeMKV) helps me out for those few occasions that I want to watch a disk instead of a stream. Had I known what I know now, I would simply have added a BluRay drive to my desktop PC in order to rip all of my disks.

Noise can be an issue with the ASrock, some people have complained about high-pitched fan sounds. I've replace the fan (a simple email to their support does the trick), and although I can hear the HTPC during the more quiet spells of a movie, it hasn't really bothered me. Tastes differ, of course...

Watch out with WLAN though - streaming HD content has proven to be cumbersome for me (even with a good connection, the stability is not always enough to provide perfect streaming). I finally opted for a Powerline solution (ethernet over the power grid), and that hasn't failed me (yet).

(If you're going for XBMCLive, be sure to sharpen up you Linux skills )

[Harry deluxe]

Many thanks for your answers. I am expecting the same situation that you have, that i will use the bluray drive very seldom. Is it possible to upgrate the drive of the asrock later?

Any recommendations for a cheaper/ more powerful alternative (which is larger)?

[poofyhairguy]

Had I known what I know now, I would simply have added a BluRay drive to my desktop PC in order to rip all of my disks.

That is what I think. A Blu Ray drive in an XBMC box is a waste.

You need the Blu Ray drive in your desktop so you can rip the Blu Rays to put on a NAS.

If you want you and your family to be able to play Blu Rays directly then just get a separate and dedicated Blu Ray player to go along with your XBMC box.

It works much better, and is much easier to use that way...

[Laundro]

Many thanks for your answers. I am expecting the same situation that you have, that i will use the bluray drive very seldom. Is it possible to upgrate the drive of the asrock later?

It's all based on stock components, so I don't see why not. On the other hand, as poofyhairguy says, it would probably be more interesting to get a standalone player should you want to watch disks (probably costs you about as much anyway).

Any recommendations for a cheaper/ more powerful alternative (which is larger)?

No, sorry, I only have experience with the Asrock. Now, I do believe it is powerful enough; it plays back full 1080/24p without any problem.

[mross22]

Many thanks for your answers. I am expecting the same situation that you have, that i will use the bluray drive very seldom. Is it possible to upgrate the drive of the asrock later?

Any recommendations for a cheaper/ more powerful alternative (which is larger)?

my experience:

I went with the Asrock Ion 330 pro, the cheapest version they offer. I paired it with a basic MCE remote - it works like a charm with XBMC live. Check out XBMCfreak's optimized live version, which includes many associated drivers and tweaks.

I thought long and hard about getting the Asrock with the bluray drive built in, and I am very glad I didn't. I stream bluray content from my desktop bluray player in my office via the MakeMKV plugin - it works well, but there certainly isn't any eye candy. I also rip MKVs from the blurays - these are played directly by XBMC player, and look great. No stuttering/skipping/etc.

I agree with the concerns about wireless streaming of HD - Probably not going to happen reliably.

Not sure about upgrading a BD drive within the asrock itself, but they are dropping like a rock in price. Probably won't be a problem in the future to add-on. You could try dropping Asrock's technical support folks an email.

I'm not sure you are going to be able to get an elegant, all-in-one solution to meet your needs; XBMC can play mkv files, but I tend to rip them using the windows version of Makemkv. It looks like there is a Linux version of makemkv (http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=224), but you need to be comfortable with linux to install this on your asrock. As a linux nOOb, this looks like a hassle to me.

My suggestions:
-Buy the basic asrock device
-Install XBMC live
-Buy a Bluray drive for your desktop/server to rip/stream Blurays

good luck!

[Laundro]

Just for the record, I'm far from a Linux expert, and the installation of makeMKV on Linux went very smoothly. Ofcourse, nothing beats simply downloading and running the executable as in Windows; compiling is always riskier.

[Flomaster]

quoted from another thread anyone ripping their blu's to MKV and playing via XBMC on an atom 330 1.6gig processor?

so now the wife wants t get rid of our bluRay player and the 50 some odd moveis we have.

is my zotac ion atom 330 with 4GB of powerful enough to use the swiss army knife addon to turn my blurays into mkv files ?
http://code.google.com/p/swiss-army-knife/

I'd have to buy a bluray burner and that can be had for about $110 on newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6827136181

-=Jason=-

[poofyhairguy]

I wouldn't want to rip it on the Atom. That is what your desktop computer is for. Here is the guide I use to do that:

http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17002

[Flomaster]

I wouldn't want to rip it on the Atom. That is what your desktop computer is for. Here is the guide I use to do that:

http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17002

cool maybe my old desktop that wasn't good for playing HD content will be just fine for ripping Blu's

xp athlon 3000 cpu with 1GB of DDR ram on a Asus a7n8x-deluxe mobo

-=Jason=-

[poofyhairguy]

cool maybe my old desktop that wasn't good for playing HD content will be just fine for ripping Blu's

xp athlon 3000 cpu with 1GB of DDR ram on a Asus a7n8x-deluxe mobo

-=Jason=-

Looks good!