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+---- Thread: Mass-production of pre-built set-top-box with XBMC for Linux to sell as retail? (/showthread.php?tid=36788)
- Gamester17 - 2008-09-09
First time I heard anything about it
- althekiller - 2008-09-09
Seems they aren't officially done analyzing the results of their survey. They're due out mid-September sometime. Hopefully they bother to contact us...
- ShortySco - 2008-09-09
Is it even possible to get all that hardware for 250 euros? Or am i just being too skeptical?
Especially with a 2000GB (2TB) Hard drive, wi-fi, blutooth, tv-tuner and fancy remote.
Could be some sort of part ownership/rental deal, but it doesn't seem the sort of thing they stand for?
Shorty
- jacobstoner - 2008-09-09
I'm putting together a set top box for my living room using the GIGABYTE GA-73PVM-S2H motherboard. It's all working except IR support and the keyboard isn't working, but I'll get both of those sorted out soon. You could put together a similar system and can sell you a hard drive with a copy of my system preloaded. It's a minimalist system based on Debian Lenny, you just turn it on and XMBC loads right up. It would be an easy way to get things up and running without much effort. Let me know if you're interested.
- falc410 - 2008-09-09
Well for me the choice of the graphics card is important since I need one with HDMI output which also transfers sound - I don't know if the mainboards with onboard HDMI can do this!
And I don't even need a HD in this box, if I can boot the system off a USB stick it would be fine. And the system needs to be able to run without keyboard / mouse attached, has to autoboot into XBMC and be completly controlable via a remote control. And if I want to update XBMC (maybe they will include an online update option at some point which would be good) I would just pull the USB stick (or thumb drive I think it's called in the US) and update the software on another PC.
Oh and it would be great if one could switch on and off the system via the Remote Control but I think that's not possible.
- jacobstoner - 2008-09-10
Upgrading xbmc is actually quite easy, just a few commands. A patchstick is a good idea. That would work great. Audio over HDMI is a concern, but I'm sure there is a workaround.
Jacob
- Gamester17 - 2008-09-10
ShortySco Wrote:Is it even possible to get all that hardware for 250 euros? Or am i just being too skeptical?Yeah it does not seem like they thought that part through. Two 1TB drives will probably add at least $200 to the price of the hardware, and a TV-tuner almost another $50, so both harddrives and TV-tuner would have to be made optional to keep cost down.
Especially with a 2000GB (2TB) Hard drive, wi-fi, blutooth, tv-tuner and fancy remote.
IMHO best would be only to sell a box with a 8GB solid-state flash memory (for example, integrated USB-stick, Compact Flash, or NAND), as that should be enough storage for the operating-system, software, and cache for databases and coverart, fanart and thumbnails. All audio/video media files would have to be streamed of a local network or the internet by default, then maybe also have the box offer a easy slot-in for an optional harddrive (5400RPM 2,5" or 3,5" as 7200RPM drives run too hot and requires a fan for active cooling).
Maybe do what Popcorn Hour does and offer one model with an internal harddrive and one without, and the user can still slot-in a 2,5" harddrive on their own on the model that comes without, (and upgrade the harddrive to a larger one in the model that comes with a harddrive).
- icekiller - 2008-09-10
Gamester17 Wrote:Yeah it does not seem like they thought that part through. Two 1TB drives will probably add at least $200 to the price of the hardware, and a TV-tuner almost another $50, so both harddrives and TV-tuner would have to be made optional to keep cost down.
IMHO best would be only to sell a box with a 8GB solid-state flash memory (for example, integrated USB-stick, Compact Flash, or NAND), as that should be enough storage for the operating-system, software, and cache for databases and coverart, fanart and thumbnails. All audio/video media files would have to be streamed of a local network or the internet by default, then maybe also have the box offer a easy slot-in for an optional harddrive (5400RPM 2,5" or 3,5" as 7200RPM drives run too hot and requires a fan for active cooling).
Maybe do what Popcorn Hour does and offer one model with an internal harddrive and one without, and the user can still slot-in a 2,5" harddrive on their own on the model that comes without, (and upgrade the harddrive to a larger one in the model that comes with a harddrive).
hmm there are some motherboard with optional embedded linux, have'n't had any of them yet, going to look thro them and see if there is any nices in the list
example: http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=572&l4=0&model=1872&modelmenu=1
down side is ofcourse that i haven't found one thats matx & has hdmi (yet)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splashtop
Quote:Splashtop seems to work with a 512MB flash memory embedded on the PC motherboard.[6] A proprietary core engine starts at the BIOS boot and loads a specialized Linux distribution called a "Virtual Appliance Environment" (VAE). While running this VAE, the user can launch "Virtual Appliances" (VA). Skype is a VA, for instance.[7]
No matter what you heard elsewhere, Splashtop is still a closed proprietary system - Gamester17 - 2008-09-10
@icekiller, there is a separate discussion thread about Splashtop (a.k.a. ExpressGate) here:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=30679
PS! As long as Splashtop (a.k.a. ExpressGate) is a closed system that discussion is moot.
It you are interested in an open alternative then checkout CoreBoot (formerly LinuxBIOS)
- althekiller - 2008-09-10
My speculation is that their base unit will be 250EURO, with much more modest hardware specs. Then you'll be able to add on crap like a tv tuner and two 1TB HDD's. It's just marketing.
- ShortySco - 2008-09-10
I think you folks are right.
They must have a range of options, and they are advertising the best one... but displaying the lowest price.
It'd be pretty cool to see XBMC systems for sale one day.
FWIW, cheapest XBMC system i ever saw was £25 (Xbox, gamestation UK
)Shorty
- falc410 - 2008-09-10
Yeah but that one doesn't play HD content
- ultrabrutal - 2008-09-10
This system sounds like crap.
It would be nice if we could gather our own hardware requirements and make a commitment to a hardware vendor who would build the unit at an agreed price if for example we could get a certain number of persons committed to buying this unit.
Features I require as a minimum for killer mediacenter:
* Small Form Factor
* Silent
* HDMI 1.3a
* Capable of playing 1920x1080p content at 24 fps via HDMI
* Outputting HD sound formats via HDMI
* USB Port
* Gigabit NIC
* Optical drive. Possibly a blu-ray drive for future support
* (Optinal harddrive possible for those who don't stream)
Skrew SD outputs to keep cost down. No composite, s-video or scart outputs, but I think we need component output and optical/coax for some users to be interrested.
Skrew tuners. Software can be written to make other boxes record and stream live TV like done with the Tuxbox code by Geminiserver.
I think a realistic price would be $700-800
My Tvix 6500 actually cover most of these requirements, but it lacks an important feature... XBMC!
Pre-built box - Mike34 - 2008-09-15
If anyone is interested in a pre-built box it is something i could help with.
I have access to a number of suppliers and could get discount if numbers are decent enough. I also have the facility to build and install.
I'm thinking if we could sort a decent spec out, complete with options for later upgrades then i could start getting prices.
If enough people were interested I could then supply some boxes to the XMBC team to optimise a install.
I think the simpler it is with auto upgrade scripts and multiple remote configs etc the more range of people might be interested.
Worth thinking about?
- Gamester17 - 2008-09-15
XBMC for Linux or XBMC Live (which is what would be used) have today as I see it two or four target audience brackets.
1. Box capable of 720p native h.264 video (and up-scaling to 1080p) without internal storage drive*
- Would ship only with a 4GB or 8GB internal flash memory (USB, SD, or Compact Flash).
2. Same as Box "1" but shipping with a 2,5" harddrive (preferably slot-in and easy to replace/swap)
3. Box capable of 1080p native h.264 video (maybe with DVD-ROM?) without internal storage drive*
- Just like above would ship only with a 4GB or 8GB internal flash memory (USB, SD, or Compact Flash).
4. Same as Box "3" but shipping with a 2,5" harddrive (preferably slot-in and easy to replace/swap)
@Mike34, e-mail me if you are serious about putting something together and want some help.