Well, where can you get any videos legit?
You can rip your own HD-DVDs and Blu-rays under fair use (but breaking the DMCA), and you can record HDTV OTA.
Yea, i wasn’t trying to be snarky, but i’ve never even used a torrent client before…
My experimental XBMC/Linux install convinced me that stusser is right and XBMC/Linux is ready for use if you don’t mind a few hiccups here and there. I’m going to convert my main living room HTPC over now as well.
My remote control issue was simply because my Ubuntu install didn’t install lirc by default, once I apt-get’ed lirc, everything worked. My sound problem was easy to fix too, I just had to go in to the XBMC audio settings screen and change the non-passthrough sound from default to the iec…whatevernumbers device that was the one being used for digital pass-thru, since my receiver accepts pcm stereo audio over optical.
I still think Vista MCE is a good option for people who don’t want to fuck with Linux, but I’m glad to be back on XBMC because it is far more configurable and I like the UI better in general.
If you’re not heavily bittorrenting TV shows and such you probably don’t have any compelling need for a media center. And of course if you stay strictly within the itunes ecosystem the appletv makes a certain amount of sense.
Welcome CCZ!
The problem is, an Xbox with XBMC/Linux on it is going to be cheaper than anything else out there. It really just sounds like you need a DVD-ROM. The Samsung SDG-605 is the best model, as it’s just a replacement Xbox DVD-ROM but can play most medias (except DVD-RAM).
Are you suggesting he try to run XBMC/Linux on an Xbox running Linux? That is not going to work.
No, he’s saying that it’s cheaper to get a replacement Xbox DVD drive than switch to a linux box. Parse better, noob.
Of course, he’s ignoring the codec/HD issue in the OP, but still.
He said…
Xbox with XBMC/Linux
… not “Xbox with XBMC”. So eat a bag of dicks, shitface!
Why are you even using the Xbox dvd drive in the first place? I never even open mine. Everything is done via the network.
My apologies, my reply wasn’t too clear. You can run both XBMC and Linux from an Xbox. I’ve been on the XBMC website before and I never saw the XBMC for Linux project also known as XBMC/Linux.
Again, my apologies for not making myself more clear. You can drop in any size hard drive, granted it’s P/ATA. As far as the codec issue, I haven’t run into an issue playing back h.264 video unless the source is beyond 720p (using XBMC-2.0.1-FINAL-FAT-T3CH).
I personally like to have a video series on as few DVDs as possible. Keeps my hard drives clean.
You can play 720p h.264 on your xbox with XBMC? That’s a neat trick. Did you do the dreamxbox thingie with the 1.4Ghz CPU or something?
2.0.1 is positively ancient. Even if you’re still running on an original Xbox, try a newer build. They added a shitton of stuff.
I’m interested in trying this (XBMC for linux). Any updated thoughts on what hardware to use?
Basically, you want a 2.2Ghz or faster core2duo computer with video that supports opengl2.0. Any random cheapo dell deal would work fine. You can buy a vostro 200 that’ll play 1080p in XBMC for linux today for $330, and that’s not even a deal. Add on a $30 vista MCE remote and IR receiver and you’re good to go. The vostro 200 is a slimline minitower, so it should look pretty good on its side.
If you want to roll your own, well hell, I built mine for $450 almost a year ago, my config is on page 1. Still works great. I use it every day.
As long as I’m asking… what is the legal status of ripping DVDs I own for personal use? On the one hand (bearing in mind that IANAL), it would seem to be fair use. On the other, it would seem to fall afoul of the DMCA (which I detest, but… it’s the law). So where does that leave us?