[bigdog66]

Hopefully this is in the right area....lol

Basically I started looking at setting up XBMC which led me to starting to now build an unraid server and such

I have a lot going on at work so time is very short right now.....it didn't seem to me that I could build/buy the hardware to run XBMC for under $300.....right now thats an issue with building a server also and saving up to replace my TV so it put me off a bit.....I have been leaning towards a Boxee Box mainly because you can get into it with a remote for $200

Now I understand that it will prob be more of a closed system despite earlier quotes from Avner i think his name is.....and with being delayed so much and still not really confirming as much online content as it was originally meant to have has made me leery of them.....lol

Now I can get some hardware right now that in the end would put me at or a little over the cost of Boxee I am seriously looking at XBMC again and i would have to act kinda fast

I really love the options that i know about XBMC...really love the skins but I don't know much else as far as options

XBMC is really the way I want to go but in the end I really have to weigh out what it can really do

Sorry to be long winded but I really need you guy's help

other than serving up your local files better than anyone else can what else can it do?

Thanks for you time!!!!

[thethirdnut]

Howdy.

In a word its the best media server. Period.

If you want to consolidate all your videos, pics, music, etc for total home AV it can't be beat.

It's not clear to me if you have your big honking server up and running yet. If not I'd recommend that doing that first since you can start sorting out all your media and add then start adding 'front-end' devices like XBMC within your house as needed.

The route I personally followed is server, Asus Oplay, XBMC. The Oplay is *cheap* and can play almost anything...doesn't hold a candle to XBMC though. Once XBMC HTPC was up and running I moved Oplay to another room...it might get bumped again if/when I get a 2nd XBMC PC. ;-)

So basically if you are time-constrained like me I'd add the server / backend first and then add XBMC and other frontends to the mix as time permits...you can also of course use big server -- or even a cheaper NAS device -- to backup all your important bits too.

[bigdog66]

Thanks for the reply....

my unraid server isnt up yet...today in fact i have a mobo-proc-power supply being delivered by my good friends at UPS...lol

still leaves me with a case and memory and hard drives to still get (been catching stuff on sale lately so i have been ordering as they come up)

but i have the opportunity to get a revo 1600 but i know it wont be around long

I think my biggest issue as a new person coming in is it def doesnt take long to see that it will deliver all my local content to my tv better than anyone else

but also looking at the competition you see there is also a ton of web content out there to get up on your tv also so its hard to ignore that

but also coming in as a noobie to XBMC is i see a lot of things you can add to enhance XBMC

but unfortunately there isn't a master list of this....so when looking around I would think there are prob a lot of add ons still in the forums that prob wouldn't work anymore

now i know it would require work and upkeep for for a new person coming in to be able to see all the other cool things xbmc can do would be priceless

and please excuse my ignorance if said thing exists and I don't see it....lol

so if anyone would like to share the extra things you do with XBMC i would greatly greatly appreciate it

Thanks

[darkscout]

Used 1G AppleTV with CrystalHD should do everything you want it to and be cheaper.

[poofyhairguy]

Used 1G AppleTV with CrystalHD should do everything you want it to and be cheaper.

No way you can get a Crystal HD and an AppleTV for significantly less than a refurbished AR1600 Revo.

At worst, they cost about the same, and the ION box will literally blow the AppleTV out of the water for that money.

[thethirdnut]

So main reasons I am using XBMC are:

a) very polished, smooth UI ... lots of options for skins ... this one looks particularly nice Have a look here too at one of the nicer XBMC skins... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP7oQova9cA ...decide for yourself.

b) I can take my bluray rips and play them back with 100% quality; or so close to 100% you can't tell the difference. Meaning I can transode the video; shrink it using handbrake; transcode the lossless DTS-HD or Dolby TrueHD to lossless FLAC; add subtitles back in and voila I have a super high-quality BR rip at 1/3 the original size. XBMC can be configured to support this...other media players may or may not.

c) all the said media above like video, CD audio in FLAC, pictures, etc can also then be presented with full coverart, artist info, etc. in a variety of view modes. I personally use an external media manager Ember Media Manager for the movie and TV show metadata, fanart, etc.

I have not been using this as long as most other people but main reason is that XBMC allows you to have full control over all the aesthetic and technical aspects of home audio video.

There are a lot of other media players that can handle most of the technical aspects, BUT they don't often let you exactly tweak everything to your own liking...You are dealing with a PC behind the XBMC app so as long as hardware supports what you need its just a matter of sorting things out.

For me web content is NOT a huge draw; to be honest I'd rather have high-quality local content I have control and owership over...I of course use a lot of streaming audio...what I'm referring to are the Hulu, Netflix, etc options.

If your use-case differs than mine then of course our plans will deviate. I prefer to buy, rent, dload highest quality content possible and make available on the media server permanently.

[bigdog66]

Wow....i really appreciate you taking the time for the post

all that content would be nice but i guess the really important things is accessing my local media and Netflix....which if it came down to it I could play through my xbox 360

So if others would like to share how you what and what you use with XBMC i would love to hear it....

Thanks