From which Group do you belong!?

Quote:and to load XBMC onto the XBOX1 you have to chip the machine. I seriously doubt most people are going to go to those lengths.

This is not true. (And even if it was, difficulty or having to buy used parts does not change the group you are in)

I have 4 XBOXes at my house all running XBMC. only 1 of these has a modchip.
You can softmod an XBOX pretty easily using 1 of 3 hacked save games and an installer disk.
At that point you can play all of your SD and maybe some 720p right off your network or files loaded on dvds.

You can also install a larger hard drive but this does require a modchip or at least access to an XBOX that is already chipped.

Great thread. Much appreciated.

I'm in group 2.5. Mostly I play TV and Movies in either SD or 720, which the very occasional 1080p. I don't care about netflix or skins. Basic XBMC is great for me. I have a linux server that handles all the media, so I don't even need local storage.

I have one ATV2 and it works well, but yu can't get them anymore and there' no jailbreak for the ATV3. I'm keeping my eyes open for another ATV2 on the used/refurb market, and if I see one for $100 or less, I will probably get it.

That all said, what's one step up from the ATV2? Seems like an ION based system is it. Seems like there is a pretty big jump in price from an ATV2 to the next level.

Can anyone recommend a complete build (linux is preferred over windows) for under $300, or even better, $200?

1080p
HDMI
Remote
Silent

Thanks,

Allan

I use an Apple TV 1 with crystal HD in the bedroom. I had a Acer Revo 3610 in my living room for over a year. I just upgraded to a ASROCK A75 & A6-3500 in a mini ITX case. I like the new setup, but really for xbmc, the Revo was fine.

The gap between the ATV and Revo is MUCH greater than the gap between the Revo and my custom build.

For someone on a budget, I still recommend the atom/ion combo. Most who own it have been pretty happy with them overall.

Here's a used one on Ebay, if you're interested.

(2012-04-15 00:06)maddog808 Wrote:  I use an Apple TV 1 with crystal HD in the bedroom. I had a Acer Revo 3610 in my living room for over a year. I just upgraded to a ASROCK A75 & A6-3500 in a mini ITX case. I like the new setup, but really for xbmc, the Revo was fine.

The gap between the ATV and Revo is MUCH greater than the gap between the Revo and my custom build.

For someone on a budget, I still recommend the atom/ion combo. Most who own it have been pretty happy with them overall.

Here's a used one on Ebay, if you're interested.

Very nice. What would I use for a remote?

(2012-04-15 00:26)AllanMarcus Wrote:  

(2012-04-15 00:06)maddog808 Wrote:  I use an Apple TV 1 with crystal HD in the bedroom. I had a Acer Revo 3610 in my living room for over a year. I just upgraded to a ASROCK A75 & A6-3500 in a mini ITX case. I like the new setup, but really for xbmc, the Revo was fine.

The gap between the ATV and Revo is MUCH greater than the gap between the Revo and my custom build.

For someone on a budget, I still recommend the atom/ion combo. Most who own it have been pretty happy with them overall.

Here's a used one on Ebay, if you're interested.

Very nice. What would I use for a remote?

If you have no need for RF, or universal to control multiple components, this $15 one works great.

If you want to hide the HTPC out of sight, and want to control the TV, AV receiver, etc, I use and like this $70 kit a lot. I'm not much of a Harmony fan, when it comes to RF remotes. I've never had problems with URC.

Maddog808,

thanks for the pointers. Wow, those are busy remotes! I guess I'm used to the WDTV Live or Apple remotes; very simple.

Anyone know of a simple remote to use with the acer?

Lol. Usually, people are trying to figure out how to use a different remote for the apple TV because it doesn't have enough buttons. You actually want to use it on a acer Revo? Check out the wiki:

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Rem...ple_remote

Thanks! I can't imagine what you would need all those extra buttons for with xbmc. The boxes box remote looks great.

The buttons I wish my apple TV remote had:

Stop
Fast forward
Rewind
Info
Track forward
Track back
Mute
Page up
Page down

Also the numeric buttons come in handy when watching live TV on the HTPC.

I guess if all you've had for xbmc is the Apple TV, you wouldn't know what you're missing. I had the MCE remote first, so to me the ATV remote is super annoying. Having to press and hold buttons to get to the stop, rewind, etc isn't cool. Although it doesn't bother me enough to do anything about it. You get used to it I guess.

I remapped up to skip, down to skip back, left and right to rewind/ff. I changed the skip forward to 15 seconds and the skip back to 7 seconds. works great.

For volume I just use my TV or receiver remote. I have a harmony, but I never liked it. The more remotes you have, the more manly you are! :-)