Network media players...

[Ed_McCarron]

Like the Popcorn Hour, or (* Insert random oriental name here *) flavor.  Something to hang on the network to let me stream video. 

What's folks current favorite? 

Heres the catch:  I'm replacing a media center PC, and it needs to have ethernet AND VGA output.  Those two don't always seem to go hand-in-hand unless you're shelling out $300+

[stace]

Not sure which side of the pond you are but this may help....

http://www.digitalera.co.uk/catalog/Media_Players-119-1.html

I don't think there is alot out there with VGA tbh, you may need to add in a convertor.

[HaRuMaN]

Xbox 360

[saint]

I believe the idea is to find one in the $100 or less range...

[Ed_McCarron]

I believe the idea is to find one in the $100 or less range...

Yup.  I figured something that I couldn't read the instruction manual for would exist in some foreign land that would fit the bill.

I can find 'em for VGA with no ethernet for $50, or ethernet with no VGA for $100, but nothing with both.  I thought of getting one with an HDMI port and getting the HDMI-VGA cable, but I -highly- doubt the HDMI ports on those things are analog compliant.

[HaRuMaN]

I believe the idea is to find one in the $100 or less range...

Where did he say that originally?  Lol...

I saw 300+, and a 360 is definitely less than that.

[Ed_McCarron]

I believe the idea is to find one in the $100 or less range...

Where did he say that originally?  Lol...

I saw 300+, and a 360 is definitely less than that.

What, you don't read minds as well as Saint does?

[stace]

The problem with the 360 is, it can't stream DVD over the network without 'on the fly' conversion tools like tversity.  Obviously you can convert your collection to Xvid/Divx but its long winded and very noticeable on projection sizes.

Gordian Knot will give you good results in conversion, if you know how to configure it properly but its still not as good as native on a 50+ screen.

Something like the Xtreamer, Play-On or equivelant in your region would give you most compatibility with regard to codecs but I don't think you're going to get VGA in the package.

[Raitsa]

Iam very very happy with my Tvix 6500A, it plays everything i throw at it without problems.

http://www.kjglobal.co.uk/acatalog/TVIX_M-6500A.html

[Ed_McCarron]

Halfway there, but no VGA.

Still torn between buying another small form factor PC and redoing the whole thing with XBMC, or ditching the touch screen, installing a VESA mount LCD tv and getting a network player with HDMI output.

[stace]

A PC with XBMC is going to offer the best solution right now in my opinion.

The NMT's currently on the market are getting alot better and should soon ship with YAMJB software.  Until that happens, you aren't going to find a GUI like XBMC anywhere.


Incidentally, what are you streaming?  I appreciate its video but in what capacity?

[Ed_McCarron]

Nothing exciting.  MP3s, DivX kids movies, the occasional cartoon.  Its a player in the kitchen that the kids use.  I had Meedio on it, but it crashed, and I didn't feel like reinstalling it all.  The ITX machine I had in there keeps randomly crashing, so I figured it was time to update.

[Malenko]

then a 360 is a good choice (new $200)almost zero start up time, if you couple it with TVersity you can stream almost anything. It'll stream MP3s and a lot of video formats right out of the box but Tversity takes care of the rest

[HaRuMaN]

then a 360 is a good choice (new $200)almost zero start up time, if you couple it with TVersity you can stream almost anything. It'll stream MP3s and a lot of video formats right out of the box but Tversity takes care of the rest

^ I'm with stupid ^

[Silas (son of Silas)]

A PC with XBMC is going to offer the best solution right now in my opinion.

+1 (it rocks)

[protokatie]

I have XBMC for the PC, but I dont use it, mainly because for the life of me, I can't find the option to change what key on the keyboard does. I have a small remote that has built in keys for use with powerpoint (up arrow, down arrow, f5, b, and esc) and I would like to be able to remap these to work in XBMC.
I have thought of using autohotkey, but I don't know how to have single key remapping in it (IE without having to hold a modifier).

Other than that, XBMC looks great and will play any video file I throw at it.

[Ed_McCarron]

I use XBMC on (wait for it...) an XBOX but never played with the PC version.  Loaded the livecd on my desktop, looks nice.  I think this'll be the way to go.

[DrumAnBass]

+1 for XBMC; I have it on both a windows HTPC and the original XBOX modded to run it. Recently upgraded my HTPC to an AMD X2 running at 2.8 ghz I think to playback HD content. But a cheap Celeron box should be able to do SD media no problem.

Keymapping in XBMC - http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Keymap.xml

[NiN^_^NiN]

I was looking at some of these in store a few days ago in australia and they had the HD media player with vga and network streaming plus it can play mkv bluray rips too it was $120AUD.

I don't remember the name but it was a brand name tho the make adsl routers too

Maybe check some australian sites or ebay australia for these players

[Samstag]

If you're willing to spend $200, check out this article.  It's a cheap, tiny, and quiet box that has VGA, gigabit ethernet, and a video chipset that can handle 1080p. 

[Ed_McCarron]

If you're willing to spend $200, check out this article.  It's a cheap, tiny, and quiet box that has VGA, gigabit ethernet, and a video chipset that can handle 1080p. 

Thats actually one of the PCs I was looking at.  This is starting to become the way to go, methinks.

[Edgedamage]

I miss my xbox 1 with XBMC the psu died. But I got the Asus Oplay! and it plays everything I have thrown at it also it plays:
Uncompressed DVD rips with full menu support
720p MKV's
my buddy said he uses his with 1080p BD rips.

The latest update to the firmware added internet radio & internet TV playback.

[lcddream]

The SageTV HD200 has hdmi, maybe you can find a converter?

http://sagetv.com/hd_theater.html

[BobA]

I have a WD HD TV Live for about 120  US.    It plays HD but thru component not HDMI. It's main feature is that it is cheap.   Some software glitches made it hard to connect via network but that is easily fixed by using the standard group name of WORKGOUP.  It shows itube videos but not in HD due to some new agreement. It also connects to fliker. It can also play via a USB connected drive and via wireless adapter (separate)l.

[Negativecreep0]

nothing wrong with popcornhour i have 3 in my house and 1 in my shore house........plays all formats, as well as most subtitles..... does 1080p.... hdmi, optical ports etc....


also I am able to connect to my home pc and stream movies from it to my shore house using the popcornhour

[Ed_McCarron]

HDMI -> VGA seems to be a potshot - the 'standard' for HDMI calls for analog video to be included on the plug also - but I'm guessing a lot of the cheapo devices are digital only.

Think I'm gonna go with the Aspire Revo and XBMC.  Just gotta wait for a few auctions to end and a deadbeat auction to pay up.

[Ed_McCarron]

Well, the Revo came in today.  Took all of 3 minutes to wipe the drive and install XBMC off the live disk.

First thoughts.

Theres a problem with this release - the audio goes garbled on internet audio after a bit.  Unfortunately, XBMC's site and forums are down - server crash.  Will have to live with it for now.

Still no web browser.  I need to do an actual Ubuntu install, install XBMC, and set up Firefox as an external program, I guess.

Slick little package for $200.