2011-03-04, 17:35
Hi guys
Having spent more time than I care to admit to trying to find a lounge media player that would do exactly what I needed, I decided at long last to check out this XBMC thing that keeps cropping up in various forums. As a trial I installed Dharma over my Windows 7 desktop and needless to say it has totally blown me away. Why, oh why have I spent countless hours B*%%ӣing around with the likes of A.C. Ruin etc. when the final solution was out there all along?
As a result I now have a Zotac ZBOXHD-ID40 on order to go under/behind the TV. I propose to use this with a 2GB stick of ram and a WD Scorpion blue that I have lying around. Yes I know that an SSD would be faster and totally silent but we pay a lot for our gear in the UK, so I have to save a few quid from somewhere and my old ears are probably no longer good enough to hear a 2.5” drive from more than a few feet away!
Anyway I have a question or two that are real noobie stuff and I am sure if I read every relevant thread on this board the answers are probably already out there. I did find one particular thread about similar hardware that may have held the answers but after page 40 of 80 odd quite frankly I was in danger of losing the will to live. So, at the risk of being put firmly in my place, I’m gonna ask them anyway.
1. Am I correct in thinking that Dharma already incorporates all the drivers that I need for this ION2 hardware? ( No slipstreaming of other drivers needed )
2. I am inclined to go for a lean, mean pure installation of XBMC live. However I could install over Windows as I have a spare license for XP and also one for Vista (yuk) lying around doing nothing. Other than the flexibility of being able to drop into Windows for internet surfing etc would this bring any other advantages?
3. Given the hardware I propose, would an installation over Windows be a noticeable performance hit?
By way of background all my media is held on a 2 x 4 TB NAS running Freenas 0.7. She who must be obeyed is a technophobe so the WAF needs to be extremely high. I have decent experience with windows, virtually none with anything else. Video will be via hdmi, audio via SPDIF.
Any crumbs of wisdom would be gratefully received.
Having spent more time than I care to admit to trying to find a lounge media player that would do exactly what I needed, I decided at long last to check out this XBMC thing that keeps cropping up in various forums. As a trial I installed Dharma over my Windows 7 desktop and needless to say it has totally blown me away. Why, oh why have I spent countless hours B*%%ӣing around with the likes of A.C. Ruin etc. when the final solution was out there all along?
As a result I now have a Zotac ZBOXHD-ID40 on order to go under/behind the TV. I propose to use this with a 2GB stick of ram and a WD Scorpion blue that I have lying around. Yes I know that an SSD would be faster and totally silent but we pay a lot for our gear in the UK, so I have to save a few quid from somewhere and my old ears are probably no longer good enough to hear a 2.5” drive from more than a few feet away!
Anyway I have a question or two that are real noobie stuff and I am sure if I read every relevant thread on this board the answers are probably already out there. I did find one particular thread about similar hardware that may have held the answers but after page 40 of 80 odd quite frankly I was in danger of losing the will to live. So, at the risk of being put firmly in my place, I’m gonna ask them anyway.
1. Am I correct in thinking that Dharma already incorporates all the drivers that I need for this ION2 hardware? ( No slipstreaming of other drivers needed )
2. I am inclined to go for a lean, mean pure installation of XBMC live. However I could install over Windows as I have a spare license for XP and also one for Vista (yuk) lying around doing nothing. Other than the flexibility of being able to drop into Windows for internet surfing etc would this bring any other advantages?
3. Given the hardware I propose, would an installation over Windows be a noticeable performance hit?
By way of background all my media is held on a 2 x 4 TB NAS running Freenas 0.7. She who must be obeyed is a technophobe so the WAF needs to be extremely high. I have decent experience with windows, virtually none with anything else. Video will be via hdmi, audio via SPDIF.
Any crumbs of wisdom would be gratefully received.