Hi,
I'm moving away from my TViX to the more flexible and much nicer xbmc interface. I just can't decide on the hardware....and would really appreciate your advice.
I want to use xbmc to stream to my lounge TV and main bedroom TV. Does this mean I have to buy 2 HTPC's? Could I install 1 HTPC downstairs and use an HDMI over CAT5/6 converter to get the signal upstairs. I would then need to connect it to a 2x1 HDMI switch as well. It's unlikely I'd want to watch separate movies in each of the rooms.
And finally on the hardware. I can justify £649 on a MAC Mini and wondered if this is as good as some of the custom built HTPC's out there for circa the same amount of money.
Thanks for your help,
M
certainly nothing wrong with a mac mini but you could easily pick up two ion nettops for the same money which are ideal for xbmc.
Whether they're the right choice depends on what else you want your system to do.
decide if you want gaming, hd website streaming (hulu etc), dvd/bluray playback, etc. and people will be able to give good recommendations.
generally though zotac's or revos are becoming the standard if all you're looking for is xbmc, I've got 2 revo's and love them.
Thanks for the advice. I really only want it for streaming of movies and want to make it as easy as possible to set up and use.
I've had a look on the Web and can get a Zotac Zbox with a SSD and 4GB RAM running Ubantu for circa £300 which sounds fantastic. Would you recommend this set-up for movie streaming of .iso's and mkv's using xbmc?
Although have to say, I've never used Ubantu before so setting that up could be fun....
I already have a similar setup with what you wish to do. Initially, I wanted to pull wires from recroom upstairs but was too complicated and long distance.
The best, reliable and cheapest way is to use one HTPC, set the XBMC (from settings) to share its library over UPNP. Buy a media player with WiFi like O!Play by Asus or WDLive by Western Digital and install them anywhere in the house. You will be able to attach anytime a drive or flash to it with any media you wish but most importantly you will be able to have access to the XBMC library over WiFi and play the htpc content with no problem in HD if you are using an "N" and not "G" wifi. Also, someone could watch htpc and on media player could play something else.
I tried both media players and I preferred WDLive (I had to use a WifI usb stick) but I found it more versatile since I used a custom (hacked) firmware from wdtvforum.com.
My HTPC is set in dual boot, Windows7 and Linux Lucid. While I hate Windows for few inconveniences and inefficiencies I could share the XBMC library over network much easier while in Linux I couldn't (yet). Sharing XBMC library over network works easy with MAC too.
Good luck!
I currently have a mac mini and would certainly not buy a new one if I had the choice again. It's a pretty little box but OSX is filled with small annoyances when it comes to being used as a media appliance. It's small stuff like the mouse cursor reappearing, not being able to sync display refresh rate to media and so on that takes away from the experience.
The zotac should be fine, I personally use 2
revo 3610's in a couple of rooms and they play back all media perfectly so far up to 1080p. A lot of people say an ssd zips uo the gui a bit but I have no real issues using my preferred skin of alaska.
I just use 200mbps homeplugs to link them all and streaming 1080p movies all over the house no problem.
Thanks craigd.
I've been looking on the web for the Revo's and it appears to be discontinued now. Where did you buy yours?
How does the remote control work with the Zoltac/Revo's? Do they support IR or do I need to connect another way, oh and does a Harmony remote work with them? (sorry for so many questions)
Thanks again,
M
link was in my post above got it at ebuyer currently £199
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225754
they have some nice zotac barebones starting at £145 that just need memory and an hd, ideal if you have any spare parts
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?q=zotac+ion&x=0&y=0
I just plugged a generic usb mce remote, mine was the shitty cyberlink one that was like £6 but you're probably better off with an official mce remote, and just programmed my harmony 550 to mimic it. as long as you have a remote your chosen os is happy with the harmony will always work, just set up the remote first so your happy with how it works then set your harmony to clone the remote.
oh on my second revo I use a nano bluetooth adaptor with a ps3 remote as I don't need control my reciever, ps3 and loads of other stuff in the bedroom so single remote was fine, also does the job grand.
works like a dream
Oh yes, should have looked at them first.
Not sure what to go for now, I can find the Zotac Mag HD on line for £237 and it comes with wi-fi 'n'. Is 'n' good enough to stream from my NAS? If so, it saves me buying the powerline kit for the upstairs HTPC.
Also, struggling to get my head around the remote control element (sorry new to this). Does the Revo/Zotac have an IR input, so works just like any other device or do I need to buy a USB dongle device to accept the IR which in-turn relays it to Revo/Zotac speak? If so, is their a special USB IR receiver/converter?
Cheers,
M
n should be fine but wireless has to many variables to guarantee anything.
there's no built in ir on the zotac or revo's some the asrocks I think have it but any usb media centre remote will work which has the benefits of being cheap and it means you don't need to worry about line of sight to the pc.
look around for an "mce remote", if you're planning on using a harmony just get a cheap one on ebay is usually easiest as you'll only need the receiver, if you're on windows you can easily get any to work by using eventghost if you go the linux/live route may be worth searching here for recommendations as I don't know how simplw they are in that.
there' a lot of good threads discussing remotes and there's plenty around so I wouldn't worry to much.
Thanks for all you help.
Finally, do you use Windows on your Revo or Linux?
Cheers,
M
I keep meaning to try out live but I'm so used to windows that I just bunged windows 7 on mine. It's easy to put windows on as the acer bios is slic2.1
Lots of people have them going on live and the setup is meant to be getting easier and easier and I think it's slightly better performance but for me ease of setup won out and with win7 they perform really well, the developers have done a great job getting the windows build in line on performance.
they both work though so just opt for whatever your happiest with, if you've not used xbmc at all may be worth trying live first as there will be a bit of a learning curve anyway and I believe it's still the primary focus. Just know you're getting rid of that lupus thing if you get a revo cause that was seriously fugly.
Last question then (I hope)...
Does XBMC Live negate the need for an OS of anykind? E.G I could order the Revos with the basic LINUX O/S, download XBMC Live onto a USB stick, plug into the Revo and away I go?
Cheers,
M
yeah it includes a minimal ubuntu version, just download the live iso and use unetbootin to create a bootable usb of it. then get advice elsewhere
as I know zero about linux, keep meaning to get in to it but just another one of those chores that's never become quite important enough to put something else off for.