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The cost of a Raspberry Pi2
Pi2 = $40
Case= $10
USB PSU = $10
SDCard = $ 20
MCE/FLIRC remote = $20
Total = $100
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(2016-01-06, 02:10)hdmkv Wrote: (2016-01-06, 01:58)Dave the Minion Wrote: What is the reason or perceived advantage of ripping 3D Bluray to ISO files over MKV? I think I'm missing something here.
Simply because 3D ISO support is wider among media players than MVC MKV. Only Pi2 and the flawed Zidoo X6 & HiMedia H8 support MKV MKV w/Kodi.
Sounds like there are more issues with playback though?
I'm quite happy with the MKV container, just not it's lack of MVC support. And it won't be too much longer until I need HD audio passthrough
(2016-01-06, 02:11)movie78 Wrote: The cost of a Raspberry Pi2
Pi2 = $40
Case= $10
USB PSU = $10
SDCard = $ 20
MCE/FLIRC remote = $20
Total = $100
Why are we arguing the cost of the Pi vs other devices? It's a good little unit and it's cheap. I could make one that costs hundreds of dollars if I trick it out with all sorts of crazy stuff. But I bought 2 whichc cost me under $100 with IR remote and SD card and that's in CAD.
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Are you getting full menus with previews, language and sub options and most importantly, original quality, especially 3D, after ripping to mkv?
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(2016-01-06, 02:52)brazen1 Wrote: Are you getting full menus with previews, language and sub options and most importantly, original quality, especially 3D, after ripping to mkv?
Why would I want menus and previews when I rip a movie to MKV?
MVC MKV is 100% lossless video and audio. I can have every audio language and subtitle option available on the disc. Further, I can easily remove all the unwanted bloat. I can also rip every video on the disc with all options if I want to have the special features as well. I can also set default audio and subtitle tracks to be forced over other options. And I can flag the header to designate the type of 3D without needing to use all sorts of different ugly cluttered naming conventions.
As a container I keep seeing people discussing 3D ISO over MKV and not because they want a clone of the Blu-ray. Seems there are more playback issues regardless of what media player you are using with ISO when MKV is simply will it play MVC or not. Kodi plays MVC MKV just fine but only in 2D which for 3 of 5 applications I have is fine. For 2 I'm looking for the best MKV option that also gives me true 3D and HD audio.
If you want to simply clone your Blu-ray in full then great, but that's not the discussion I see here daily. And who wants to clone the restrictive nature of many Blu-ray's anyways and take up storage space to do so?
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Ok, I understand you PREFER to rip to mkv BECAUSE you want to strip the original disc. I thought you were trying to accomadate the boxes for their shortcomings. When I was a kid, I saw another kid eat an oreo by cracking open the cookie, lick out the frosting, and throw the cookie parts away. I thought it was a waste but that's just me. No harm intended, just my way of being light hearted!
I see the cost of these boxes come up. RPI and it's needed accessories, the latest at $70 bucks or so, more for the other boxes. Then I see posts about how none of these boxes do it all, and they don't, including the RPI. It has come a long way though thanks to some very talented folks. Then I've read stuff about how people just want one little box to plant next to or behind their TV for aesthetic reasons or space limitations. Maybe they forgot they also have a bulky AVR and if they don't well then they don't. That's beside the point but I bring it up for those that mention bit streaming etc, and assume they have AVR's hidden or not.
Then I start thinking. Everyone is playing rips of some sort based on what plays and what doesn't depending on the box. Rips require a computer for this tailoring so it's not an extra expense and I know of no one that doesn't own a PC? Those little boxes can't rip? So that little box is nothing without a PC added to the equation unless you're just streaming internet buffering junk I suppose. Then there's the data storage and if you're using high quality rips, a stick or a card isn't anywhere near appropriate for more than a few titles. But let's assume you have terabytes of data on a server to your little box. You still need that PC to rip the data to your server if your PC isn't the server. Why it wouldn't be, I dunno?
So, that PC is either the server or another unnecessary piece of equipment is imo. I've always felt if one piece of equipment replaces a few others.... why on earth would you need anything more (or less literally)? Some say noise. It's pretty simple to make a PC quiet and doesn't require a nickel. I can understand the aesthetic and space thing but let's get real. I suppose the actual difference is ease of installation. Those less savy want to plug it in the wall, fumble with the HDMI cable, and call it done. Imo, you're going to get as much out of it as you put into it but that's just me. Is the ease of installation worth giving up a few things? That's your choice.
Now, I'm not dissing any of the testing and comps in this hardware thread and it's really very handy for many I'm sure. Posters here go out of their way to provide professional info so that others don't have to do any of the trial and error and can make educated decisions based on real world testing and not misleading labels on a box. This kind of sharing is invaluable. All of you folks deserve well earned THANK YOU's. I sincerely mean that simply because you go out of your way for others.
So finally, my point.
I think folks making decisions should know they don't have to purchase any of these equipment(s) if they are willing to program their Windows computer themselves. It does not require you have a computer science degree. All the info you need is in these forums, all legal, all legit, all confirmed working perfectly, etc. If you want 1 box that does everything, it is possible. On a degree of difficulty..... how good are you at following intructions? If you're the person that puts the kids bike together and has some extra parts left over, this isn't for you. If you just want to plug and play, this isn't for you. If you're an enthusiast, (I see you techy folks writing techy stuff in here) this is the way to go imo. Windows itself is not without it's one flaw, apart from these little boxes. It can't do 3D MVC without an external player. PDVD cost is $44.95 to have EVERYTHING doing it all in 1 box compared to about $70 for the cheapest device that cannot do it all. I'm not pumping external players, have zero affiliation and recieve no free gifts for testing and write up purposes. I'm just a frugal user and thought I'd pass on my thoughts. I think it's relevant in a hardware thread titled Media Player Choices with Kodi + Full 3D + HD Audio since a PC is hardware too and have not seen it mentioned once. Great thread btw!
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nickr
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@braxen1 some people can't stand windows. Some people want to separate their server (be it windows or something else) from their playback device. That's a real good thing to do, if the latest kodi out other software on the frontend needs a reinstall then your data is safe.
Personally I have a PC server that has been running non stop since I last moved house and kodi machines that get updated frequently and sometimes to alphas or betas or experimental builds. My data is always safe from the experiments.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
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Yes nickr, I understand some folks dislike windows for what ever reason(s). I do assume most users are on windows though, not to say apple, android and Linux don't have a large following. Perhaps windows is not the most popular platform? I really don't know considering all the 6" screen cell users? I just know it works and without it, I don't think it's possible to have one device that does it all on any other platform except windows. It would take multiple devices in order to get everything to work like windows does. That just seems clumsy, and an invitation to problems imo. If that's the price some folks are willing to pay for their dislike of windows, more power to em', literally.
I never understood the server aspect needing to be separate? I did a simple mod on my Silverstone and added (10) 3.5" data drives and an ssd, all internal. Yep, silent. I experiment constantly on the ssd. I install a new nightly daily. I revert back and forth with builds to no end it seems. I do all my other computing outside of home theatre on it as well. That includes work, ripping, serving, browsing, editing, etc. On the rare occasion I manage to break it so bad that fixing it is out of the question, I just rebuild from the latest image and in 10 mins I'm back in business where I left off. The point is, the data is so separate from the c:, it might as well be on another continent. It is never, ever affected by what goes on in the O/S. Same if 1 drive is partitioned. In the event something happened to the pc itself with those data drives (Like stolen or run over by a Mack truck), all the data and the c: images are backed up on other drives. There is nothing to fear...... but fear itself. Been doing it this way for 15 years, safely.
This is fringing on off topic now. The real topic is for minds that want to know who come here looking for kodi playback devices. There are charts and such, lots of nit picking cans and can't do's, workarounds, wishes and so on. I just think windows deserves a B+ mention or two so that folks understand they are not limited to little boxes only. I think just about anyone could install Kodi in minutes very simply and not pay a company to do it for them. On top of that, why pay for the hardware when you already have it and it's going to perform better than any little box? Why add another piece of clutter?
The topic of this thread says choices. What choices? As far as I can tell, there is only one choice. The others listed all lack something and can't be made to work no matter how much money you're willing to throw at it. Where as windows can be managed with $50 and your done. And that's just to achieve perfect 3D. Don't need 3D? Great, now it doesn't cost a dime. I don't know? Maybe my logic is way off from the norm? Maybe folks love gadgets so much they figure the latest one must leave everything else at the curb when that couldn't be further from the truth. Ok, I'm done : )
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(2016-01-06, 03:02)hdmkv Wrote: @Dave the Minion, I'd choose MVC MKV in a heartbeat if all 3D players supported it. MKV is a more efficient container than ISO, but my preferred 3D player for now (HiMedia Q5) doesn't support MVC MKV's. As RPi2 supports both, ISO's for 3D seemed more practical. All my 2D rips are MKV.
Cool. I was just curious because way back when I first discovered XBMC and MKV and the like I learnt about 3D ISO's and had no real ability to get them working half-decently.
Even now I'm trying to get my buddy's 108" home theater to work smoothly with Kodi having a 3D option but the Pi just keeps hanging after playing 1 3D MKV movie and can't operate Cinema Vision because of this, which sucks.
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