[Canuckde]

Hi All,

I'm new to XBMC but I've used it for quite a while in a Ubuntu installation to stream HD (720 or 1080p) movies from my file server as everything else seems to stutter.

I'll be moving to a new apartment soon and will now have a living room seperate from the bedroom and therefore will need a new way to stream music/video, etc.

We're both very interested in a low power box for environmental reasons, rather than electricity bill reasons.

I've been trying to locate an ideal hardware platform and found plenty of interesting things I'd never heard of (GuruPlug, Beagleboard, fit-PC) and am interesting in playing around with regardless if they fit into a current need.

I've already read that Beagleboard and Fit-PC won't fit the requirements for an HTPC (basically just a media streamer that can support a usb-tuner for live TV). Although they would be ideal...

Current forerunners in my search are the Revo 3610 and the Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11...

Are there any even lower power-consuming options that can still support HD video? Size and noise are less of the issue for us. What are the opinions of the above? Are there better options=

I'm grateful for any suggestions, I believe I'm still somewhat of a niche market: the eco-nerd (I want big toys that don't gobble power... I'm currently also hunting around for bargains on the new low-power Opteron processors/motherboards).

Thanks,
Andrew

[misterpink]

IF you want to run XBMC, the ions you listed are probably the lowest you are going to find, power wise.

If you want to just stream 1080p video, Any of the cheapo dedicated sigma based boxes like the wdtv, etc will do it fine and suck very little power, but you won't have the fancy xbmc interface.

[Canuckde]

Hi Misterpink,

From what I understand the WDTV was basically just a harddrive with media output, and didn't have any option to display live TV (TV Tuner), or to stream video from a central server or to play music... Or am I wrong?

Cheers,
Andrew

[vampire666]

Hi Misterpink,

From what I understand the WDTV was basically just a harddrive with media output, and didn't have any option to display live TV (TV Tuner), or to stream video from a central server or to play music... Or am I wrong?

Cheers,
Andrew

You are partially correct.
The device you are referring to doesn't have a tv tuner, and it cannot officially stream content.

You can stream content (among the other new things you could do) with this device if you use it with a modified firmware (you'll be transforming it to a NAS ---> you'll also need a compatible USB to Ethernet adapter).

Modified firmware improve the WDTV a lot with a new set of functions:
http://root.unknown.sk/wdtv/wiki/doku.ph...ware_hacks

Have a good day.

[Starstream]

An Arm version of XBMC is in development and making progress but will still be a ways off before it would be suitable for end users. Arm is more low power than x86 so in the long run you could see something suitable to your needs. The Boxee Box if it ever launches sometime this year is Arm based and will eventually run XBMC.

Anyway as misterpink stated currently x86 Intel Atom/Nvidia Ion setups are the lowest power XBMC setups you probably can get & still play HD video.

However a Broadcom Crystal HD may draw less power than a GPU like Nvidia's Ion if so and you can find an Intel Atom system you can pair it with the Crystal HD, XBMC will use the Crystal HD to decode video, but it would only cut the power draw by a small amount. The Intel Z510 is a lower power version of the Atom if you can find one of those with a mini PCi-e slot for the Crystal HD thats about the lowest I think you could go.

The Z510 is for industrial purposes so it might be unlikely you'd find one with HDMI only VGA or if your lucky DVI. There's also the question of whether the GMA500 GPU in it is up to the task on rendering XBMC's GUI.

[misterpink]

You are partially correct.
The device you are referring to doesn't have a tv tuner, and it cannot officially stream content.

You can stream content (among the other new things you could do) with this device if you use it with a modified firmware (you'll be transforming it to a NAS ---> you'll also need a compatible USB to Ethernet adapter).

Modified firmware improve the WDTV a lot with a new set of functions:
http://root.unknown.sk/wdtv/wiki/doku.ph...ware_hacks

Have a good day.

Yes, the old, original wdtv units can be hacked to allow streaming over a usb ethernet adapter - but the current model, the wdtv live, has network streaming built in - no upgrades / hacks required.

As far as live tv - there may be some sigma based media players that support streaming live tv from hdhomerun boxes, I'm not sure though .. (popcorn, etc.) I know currently the wdtv's can't.

I say get the ion and just put up a bigger windmill ..

[Canuckde]

Hi All,

Thanks for the answers. I'm quite happy with the existing Atom/Ion box my girlfrend uses and the Atom server I have, I'll stick along these lines for now then. I was merely curious if there were better options that I had missed in my search.

From what I've read the Zotac box has issues, I take it the Revo 3610 is probably the most recommended box then?

Thanks again for your answers!

Andrew

[osli]

I don't know the numbers, but I would take a close look at a core i3 system in the lowest power configuration you can find. No match for the atom in power consumption but from what I understand it is capable of 1080 playback with no video hardware acceleration. Which means you might be able to get rid of any kind of video card with muscle entirely. I'm not sure how the i3 plus minimal video would stack up against the atom/ion combo but it's worth a look as it is the only other viable option I can think of.