[romi7519]

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/7977460/We...oduct.html

review: http://maddhat.com/

[Geeba]

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/7977460/We...oduct.html

review: http://maddhat.com/

No ethernet, No XBMC... kinda nips that one in the bud...

[romi7519]

^ its cheap. £80 + another £80 for 1TB external HDD.

[al-x]

Hi,

looking around for Small form Factor PC's I found the following:

http://www.cappuccinopc.com/

I've been looking at the Pandora....the specs look good...

and with a PCI Express slot, looks like the graphics could be upgraded nicely for use with XBMC.

Take a look....

I think it's a pretty cool site....

Al-X

[nowisn]

I've been after the same solution and other than my old xbox which is true it works better than the extenders, ah I don't know i'm stuck I'd hate running several pc's in the house

wish someone could hardware mod a xbox to increase it life span

[perchrc]

i'm running XBMC on my modded xbox since a few years and am nearly absolutely happy with it. the only thing i miss is more performance to playback 720p + content as *.mkv files.
now that xbmc is ported to different platforms i think it could be the right time to switch to another system.
which would be a cheap replacement running xbmc nearly as stable as my old xbox with full hd support?

I have the exact same problem, along with thousands of other people, I suppose. I really like XBMC, and would like to continue using it. The perfect platform has:

- Good enough hardware to play 1080p h.264 content flawlessly.
- A HDMI-connector.
- Boot-up time comparable to the XBOX.
- A couple of USB-connectors for external storage.
- A small form factor.

Apple TV currently strikes me as the most interesting alternative to my old XBOX, but I'm a bit concerned that it can't play 1080p-content. I'm also unsure how well the external hard drive mods work.

[ashlar]

I think Popcorn Hour and similar is what you are looking for.
Bearing in mind that the interface sucks big time when compared to XBMC.

[eriksmith200]

I'm looking for a cheap, small, quiet, 720p capable htpc with DVI or HDMI video output and S/PDIF audio output.

This is what I'm thinking of buying:

Motherboard: Jetway NC62K (mini-ITX, Nvidia GeForce 8200 chipset, DVI and S/PDIF) ~100 euro
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 5050e (45W tdp) ~60 euro
Memory: 1x 2GB PC2-6400 (DDR2-800) ~20 euro
CPU cooler: Zalman CNPS8700 LED ~40 euro
DVD drive: Samsung SN-S083A (slimline, SATA) ~35 euro
HDD: I still have a 2.5" 60GB SATA HDD left over from my macbook

I plan to put this in a black Procase Noah CRS3988B-80 case (~85 euro), this case has a passive 90W DC-DC board, 80W AC/DC adapter, 1x 80mm fan. Dimensions are (WxHxD): 202 x 97 x 273mm:




A major issue though is whether the power supply is strong enough, I *think* it's enough but it's very close.

According to kross on the mp3car forum, using the Jetway NC62K motherboard, an AMD 4850e, M2-ATX 160W DC-DC PSU, and a Mo-Co-So mini-ITX case:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/review-p...iew-2.html

I measured the current on the 12V input to the M2-ATX. This will be slightly higher than the amount of current output by the M2, since it isn't 100% efficient.

During bootup, it fluctuated between 5 and 6 Amps, with a peak at 7 A. After bootup, with the computer relatively idle, it was drawing about 3.5 - 3.9 A. Playing music with vis enabled, it fluctuated between 3.6 and 4.2 A. With a virus scan also running, which used about 70% CPU, the power consumption went up to between 5 and 6 A.

To convert those measurements to Watts, multiply by 12.

Items attached to the PSU during test:

Mobo w/4850e CPU, 2GB RAM, 2 mobo fans
1 case fan
160 GB 2.5" SATA HD
USB keyboard and mouse
Wired LAN connection (no Wi-Fi)

The monitor was using external power supply.

Also, I'm not 100% sure whether the Zalman CNPS8700 LED will fit (not only the height but also (quote) "No motherboard components such as the PSU, disk drives, VGA card, and RAM with a height greater than 39mm should be present within a 61.5mm radius from the center of the CPU").

Any thoughts? Does anyone have experience with using these kinds of PSU's?

[pender]

I am hoping that as xbmc live progresses more I will be able to use my PS3 running ubuntu for this.

Ubuntu PS3 runs in a VM Hypervisor. Video Playback of even Divx3 (SD Content) is not possible. Sony deliberately restricted access to any type of hardware accelerated decoding. Consider another option for 720p because it won't play. You can transcode on the fly for PS3's native Media Player with PlayON or Twonky (or XBMC UPNP server) if you have a beefy Machine somewhere on your LAN.

Does not play 720p mkv video floating around the web perfectly. In 8.04 it played EZTV 720p fine at 23-24fps with a few dropped frames here and there if using PMIII skin (CAVLC H.264 3Mbps Base profile 3 give or take). 9.04.1 can not play these files anymore at acceptable frame rates.

For XBMC, a HTPC - Linux/Windows or Mac Mini is your best option. Don't blame the ATV or XBMC devs, but Apple should have made the device a bit more future proof. Boxee is great for the ATV with integrated Netflix and Hulu - these play well and well worth the ~$200 for the 40GB ATV.

For Non XBMC, Try a Popcorn Hour, though it is a device who's software won't be as well supported as XBMC.

[richie178]

I'v thinking about replacing my xbox with DeLL Studio Hybrid, for XBMC.

Features
* Small form factor, Looks good
* Five USB 2.0 compliant ports
IEEE1394a port (4-pin)
HDMI video connector
DVI video connector
Integrated network connector 10/100/1000 LAN (RJ45)
AC adapter connector
Digital Audio: S/P DIF Out
Analog Audio: Headphone (front); Line-in / Line-out (back) Link

* Plus u can customize it, ie more ram, better CPU ect

The only thing holding me bk is that i don't have HDTV yet lol
Wat u guys think?

[richie178]

I'v thinking about replacing my xbox with DeLL Studio Hybrid, for XBMC.

Features
* Small form factor, Looks good
* Five USB 2.0 compliant ports
IEEE1394a port (4-pin)
HDMI video connector
DVI video connector
Integrated network connector 10/100/1000 LAN (RJ45)
AC adapter connector
Digital Audio: S/P DIF Out
Analog Audio: Headphone (front); Line-in / Line-out (back) Link

* Plus u can customize it, ie more ram, better CPU ect

The only thing holding me bk is that i don't have HDTV yet lol
Wat u guys think?

Soz for the double post

[bidossessi]

No Ion box where you live? I hear the Zotac is a winner for xbmc users