[Martijn]

@ned do you feel we should open some section for something like that in the wiki? Still unsure if we should jump on the train for HW recommendations though - i don't want to waste users money.

It's also hard to tell as many things have to do with the software setup plus the requirements a users has. Is the Raspberry Pi good enough for XBMC? Many think not, many think it does. Every month there is a new release improving the performance. What is the bargain?

What could be done is some sort of categorization for skins. Light, Moderate, Heavy for example.

Personally i would never use a pi becaus i will find it too slow to my liking.

@skins
defining what is light,moderate and heavy is a very gray area and where to draw the lines isn't that easy.

[vicbitter]

@snowjim, if XBMC didn't move to multi-platform then I guess it would still be ONLY running on the original Xbox...

[DavidT99]

I think the OP is looking at XBMC as a consumer type product when in fact it is really only for hobbyists who enjoy tinkering with different hardware to get an optimal setup and then when done they look for something else to tinker with. I have been lucky in that I have built four different XBMC setups, all Windows7, that work very well in my opinion with virtually no issues. There will always be issues with any software product, you just have to either look for an acceptable workaround or accept the issue.

David

[vicbitter]

@DavidT99, I have seen consumer products with more issues. As an example, Tvix media players spring to mind...

[snowjim]

I think the OP is looking at XBMC as a consumer type product when in fact it is really only for hobbyists who enjoy tinkering with different hardware to get an optimal setup and then when done they look for something else to tinker with. I have been lucky in that I have built four different XBMC setups, all Windows7, that work very well in my opinion with virtually no issues. There will always be issues with any software product, you just have to either look for an acceptable workaround or accept the issue.

David

I think you are right! I use to like "tinkering" and I still do but when I need to invest so many hours to get it running and even then there is problems you will become tired of it. Also note that some problems may not show its self until after a while, for example the update of library worked great at startup the first period but then it began to not find any new videos (runed at startup). Instead I have to go in to Videos > Files and find the share and choose update share manually, this do work most of the time but some time I will just have to go manually in to video to start the movie and then after a couple of reboots later it will find the video and add it. Of course I have asked about the problem and I was not alone with it but there was no solution for it. And no, yet again I'm not blaming the XBMC team (just to be clear).

Its is possible that I expects to much from a opensource project, but it is still the best available solution.

[BartOtten]

I think XBMC is so good that it is seen as a consumer product. Well done There are not that many OSS projects that are so good there are seen products for the masses

[DarkManta]

agreed. xbmc frodo is really really stable compared to previous versions.

[DavidT99]

@DavidT99, I have seen consumer products with more issues. As an example, Tvix media players spring to mind...

Me too, before I found XBMC I used media players and they were no where near as good. XBMC works really well for me with very, very few issues.

David

---

I think XBMC is so good that it is seen as a consumer product. Well done There are not that many OSS projects that are so good there are seen products for the masses

I agree but XBMC and other products like it will never be something you buy off the shelf, turn it on and it works straight out of the box. Not in my lifetime anyway

I do think I have been either very fortunate or my usage is very simple as I have experienced very few problems with XBMC which is testament to the great work Team XBMC have done, even when I have had a rare issue it has always been with either skins or addons.

David

[WeirdH]

I suppose I could find alot of setups that users says that it works flawless but some of these users may not care about litte lag or audio sync. What I would like is a rock solid recommendation page on XBMC website that states setups that will for sure work with XBMC even if im picky about lag or audio sync.

So, you actually acknowledge there's a huge subjectivity to the mere concept of 'flawlessness', yet you still ask for a collective recommendation of what would be flawless for you personally?? That's just weird man.

All in all, I can't even grasp what you were initially hoping to achieve by starting this thread: you start by (covertly) criticizing XBMC, but when people call you on that, you get SUPER defensive. You ask why people give you the "preach" card? Maybe it's because of your condescending tone of voice and the seemingly coinciding lack of respect for what's being done here with XBMC.

Furthermore, you immediately start doubting and refuting any and all suggestions that come your way, because it's not what YOU want. If you are so damn knowledgeable, why not just do it yourself??

/rant

OT: My XBMC runs flawlessly on an AsRock Vision 3D (137B) with Win7-64 and a Harmony One.

Flaw! Less! Ly!

[youngman]

The majority of xbmc users are in fact windows users.

...Doesn't mean they're right though, does it?!

If this really is a serious comment, then you suggest that XBMC is working with out a doubt better on other platforms? Is that true? There is no way for me as user to know information like this beside test it my self or read A LOT of threads.

Yes, toungue in cheek but in truth I'm fairly serious. As much as a large majority of 'casual' users may be on Windows/OSX or Full Linux Distros, if you want a dedicated XBMC box I'd strongly suggest a complete solution such as the XBMCbuntu or OpenELEC distros (OS & XBMC in one bootable installable hit - often no messing about with additional drivers or whatever (& assuming your choice of hardware is Linux friendly)).

The number of variables when running the alternatives i.e. A normal Windows/OSX/full Linux Distro is simply staggering. Often the issues you'd face are not in fact XBMC issues but rather underlying OS issues that are simply uncovered when trying to perform the specific tasks done so well by XBMC.

[PatrickVogeli]

I think that for lots of things, XBMC will never be quite smooth.. because of the users. There is way too much people who think they're the boss, yet they have the TV configured wrong or have a server but don't have a clue about networking, not to speak of their XBMC settings and/or htpc general configuration. Spending thousans of dollar on an über cool system doesn't you know how to use, configure or mantakin it.

Sure enough, not Xbmc's faults and nothing they can fix, but people will look at the first thing they and blame xbmc for lots of things.

Of course, the availability of cheap HW makes this worse. Those who bought a WDTV may now buy some crappy ARM device or a cheap nettop and run xbmc, and many of them.won't bother on learning how the ecosystem works.

[snowjim]

...

Angry? Really? Its just a discussion. If you don't like it ignore it like I will do with your post.

[snowjim]

I think that for lots of things, XBMC will never be quite smooth.. because of the users. There is way too much people who think they're the boss, yet they have the TV configured wrong or have a server but don't have a clue about networking, not to speak of their XBMC settings and/or htpc general configuration. Spending thousans of dollar on an über cool system doesn't you know how to use, configure or mantakin it.

Yes, you are probably right, but when I run in to problems that I do not manage to fix my self I turn to internet/forums and because the wide range of hardware and platforms it is far from easy to find help even there.

Of course, the availability of cheap HW makes this worse. Those who bought a WDTV may now buy some crappy ARM device or a cheap nettop and run xbmc, and many of them.won't bother on learning how the ecosystem works.

Yes, right again and If it was possible to help the "casual" users a bit on the way for example recommended setup that would work great in most cases a lot would we won. But after the response in this thread I see that this is more or less impossible today, I was really not aware of the complexity even on one platform.

There is simple not much more to say, Its not possible to do public recommendations of fully working setups. And the multiplatform do not really add that much complexity that the core would gain much from being a single platform solution.

[nickr]

Which platforms would you have dropped?

Windows?
Android?
OS/X?
Linux X86?
Linux ARM?

[awp0]

I think the OP is looking at XBMC as a consumer type product when in fact it is really only for hobbyists who enjoy tinkering with different hardware to get an optimal setup and then when done they look for something else to tinker with....

I read this and immediately thought "but, but but....XBMC is so much better than that!"

Then I realized I am exactly that kind of tinkerer.