Regrettably, I'm having to give up on XBMC, and stay with Boxee

Even though my livingroom custom built XBMC PC is my favorite of all my XBMC boxes, there is definately a plus with using the Apple TV2's that I have in the bedrooms.
It has a great, easy to use netflix client built in.
So I have xbmc with its great local streaming and beautiful UI and 2 clicks to an easy to use, integrated netflix.

For $99 its hard to beat.....

Regrettably XBMC doesn't wipe my ass, but I am going to stick with it because I think it is brilliant otherwise.

(2012-03-29 19:55)bilbonvidia Wrote:  Regrettably XBMC doesn't wipe my ass, but I am going to stick with it because I think it is brilliant otherwise.

Some one could write an add-on for that

I'm wondering if the OP HAS a Boxee box already or is aware that Boxee Desktop is a dead product...

Meh, I can view NetFlix on my XBMC running Linux easily enough. I have a desktop with PlayOn loaded and it allows me to watch all of the crap DRM protected junk like sports channels and whatnot. Oh yeah, I can watch the Amazon VOD stuff too :-) I have a half dozen other devices that can do Netflix too like Tivo HD. Funny thing is i seldom if EVER watch NetFlix streaming. The selection is limited and I enjoy the movies and TV shows I get from my own server far more.

The DRM issue won't be going away anytime soon, in fact it might get worse. The studios hate NetFlix it seems!

Anyway, i suggest running a relay service like PlayOn. A good thing about it that it can also be used to watch movies when away from home on Android and iPhone devices as well as Netflix and Amazon VOD. So long as you open ports correctly etc. you're good to go! i do find that crap AT&T won't let me see my Verizon IP address half the time but most wireless services work fine....

To quote another dev - thanks for flying Air XBMC - ciao!

Am i the only person that has netflix working fine with xbmc?
I haven't sussed to get it to open full screen in the browser automatically yet with the xbmcflicks addon, but I found a remote that has a mousepad to easily scroll to the fullscreen button. it also has a 'close' button that shuts the browser down when done and the buttons work to control netflix in the browser (albeit different buttons to the main playback ones) and best of all it worked with absolutely no configuring out of the box on my w7 64 set-up.
I'll post a link to the product if requested/allowed.

XBMC does take some configuring to work how you want it to, but that's to be expected as every user has different platforms and needs.
And I actually enjoy doing it, my HTPC is my hobby. If you want out-of-the-box PVR, netflix, hulu, amazon etc I'd go for the PS3.
We have one for when I'm 'fiddling' with the HTPC & it's wife/kids friendly.

I felt the same as the OP at first, but everything you mentioned is (pretty much) possible if you do the work and it's even better if you enjoy that 'work'.

What is this "NetFlix" of which you speak? I get a warning "This is not available in your country". XBMC kicks ass at scraping all my files on my server. It has no problem streaming NZBs if you like streaming. SickBeard takes care of all my TV shows and they're there before I even know the show aired.

Using XBMC just for Netflix/Hulu is like buying a Porsche 911 and using it just to tow stuff from Home Depot. I mean... yeah I guess it works.

Superbly written, and sadly I am coming to the same conclusion. Boxee Box is soooo close, but is underpowered, glitchy, and now the creators have given up on it. But Netflix works. Vudu works. Though you're going to have to tell me how you are getting Hulu through the BB! If XBMC could figure out streaming (ie - no instructions to go deep in the bowels of our PC and rewrite scripts or change the johnson rod [a Seinfeld reference for the attentive] or do other insane stuff that hardcore computer people assume as common, but is about as common to the general population - even the enthusiast population in large part - as performing brain surgery), then they would rule the world. But for now, it is a cool way to customize managing your local content. And even with that limitation, I am considering a mini-ITX build for just that. And continue to use my BB for streaming. Or maybe a PS3 so I can watch the same streaming apps and get NFL Sunday Ticket. XBMC is free. And yet it breaks the rule of "you get what you pay for". It's great, with qualifications. Get streaming figured out and yeehaw, that would be fantastic.

(2012-03-28 21:54)jw15851 Wrote:  XBMC is beautiful, the development teams have done a wonderful job, nothing I write here disputes that. If it were a car, it would be the most customizable, luxurious, vehicle ever made... a vehicle that could drive on virtually any road surface, under a wide range of different conditions... a joy to drive, and handles like a dream... But it has one major flaw.... it's not allowed on public roads. As long as you stay on your property, we guarantee that you will absolutely love it.

I think we can all agree that the world of TV entertainment is moving to internet streaming services, such as Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc. And unfortunately, XBMC does not support those. As a PVR supplement to existing cable/TV services, support is highly experimental at best. I look at the list of new features for EDEN, and the requested features in the forums, and just scratch my head. The new features are nice, and the requested features people are asking for seem to be largly niche features, it seems to me that everyone is overlooking the critical aspects that need to be met (such as reliable streaming service support, reliable and easy BluRay / DVD playback, reliable PVR capabilities, etc.)

I really *really* wanted to use XBMC. I built a Mini-ITX PC, purchased a bluetooth keyboard/dongle, got the IR remote, Installed Linux (no bluetooth, No Netflix) then installed Windows7 (apparently no functional Netflix) and spend 3 full evenings till the wee hours of the morning, trying to get some kind of reliable operation...the whole 9 yards. But without Netflix working reasonably well (about 60% of our viewing) and without XBMC as a whole working reliably once I've taken the time to set it up, I can't expect it to be the center of my living room entertainment center, nor, expect my wife and family to use and understand it.

I'm sure there must be political/legal reasons why the streaming services can't just be built into the software, but this is really driving me crazy. Netflix is a large portion of our viewing experience, and without that functionality, it's really hard to justify building the media center PC (That I just built). I love the appearance, and customization of XBMC, but once I get it setup, I want it to just work and work reliably. (oops Hulu died again, oops the skin you spent hours configuring isn't compatible with the last update, oops Netflix is nowhere to be found (in any repository) and 30% functional when you do hunt it down, so all in all, apart from NAS movie playback, it's largely pointless for our uses.

I can't understand why the developers don't just give up on trying to build in the player, and just make it launch a full screen IE window with the Netflix site already logged in. The XBMC site/silverlight keeps track of your movies, etc. Why even try to integrate it? When the IE window with Netflix is in front, it remaps the keys to work with the standard controls, when you are done, it closes the window returning you to the XBMC experience. If you have to use IE, just use it and quit trying to do some kind of hybrid thing.

The other part is the Netflix/Linux thing. I guess there may be legal issues around obtaining the secrets to building it into linux with an open source project. But clearly Netflix works with Linux (unless it's an x86 cpu thing) Boxee has a functional implementation of it (built on XBMC), Boxeebox (which runs on linux) works fine, Tivo has it (linux), or how about almost any one of the BluRay players on the market (generally flavors of linux) all have it.

Random idea from an outsider: If the issue with Hulu, Netflix, etc. is that XBMC is an open source project, why don't the developers segment off a small group to work alone on those projects. Incorporate as a non-profit if needed, the "employees" of the organization sign the NDAs, and then develop and release locked modules that will then play nice with the overall larger project. This way the deepest darkest secrets of Netflix aren't being released to the general population.

Regardless, I've come to the very disappointing and frustrating (if you can't tell) conclusion that I have to stay with my Boxee box, despite having just built a complete media center PC. Sure the Boxee box skin is butt-ugly compared to XBMC, but, it works. Youtube works, Hulu works, Netflix works, and streaming video from a NAS works (and the scraper works pretty well too). No configuring hidden xml files, no remapping keys or completely different control interface for Netflix. If the twits at Boxee would just allow some custom skins, it would absolutely dominate. Boxee's "car" isn't as pretty and luxurious as XBMC's, but at least I actually get to drive it somewhere.

Just my perspective as an outsider trying to understand and make use of a really cool piece of software.

I wonder with the new windows 8 interface Netflix might be easier. Hulu+ as well. I have win 8 on my laptop. Haven't had the courage yet to upgrade my HTPC yet. However I think on windows 8 XBMC could make an API call to the Meto Netflix and Hulu+ apps in Metro. I think it would be cool fo XBMC installer could do an OS check to see if on windows 8 and install the proper UI access inside XBMC for those APPs. I am not a huge fan of Metro but those APPs look nice.

I think the XBMC folks have mad an amazing product and with windows media center not being included with windows 8 this may be a really good oportunity for XBMC to shine. Yeah Linux and apple tv dont have these things but why not allow XBMC exploit the platform its running on. I am sure there are things linux can do windows cant like being free LOL. Untill the major internet services embrace a technology that is linux friendly I wont be using it.