Media Streamer - Help Me!

[dosteridge]

Hey people,

What I want is something that can sit under my tv and play my videos (in all kinds of formats) on the tele, preferably directly from an eternal TB hard drive.

I have been using an archos 504 to do this through a docking station for the last 18 months, but it has a really weird problem which archos could not help with and it does not appear anybody else in the world has suffered this problem (I have researched thoroughly!)

So I bought a second hand 504 and its worked fine for three weeks and, guess what, same problem has occurred as the previous one.

Due to the fact that archos have been so utterly unhelpful, and the fact that I have had to buy the plug-ins twice (you can not use the plug-ins on different devices) I want to avoid archos. Besides which the reviews for archos tv+ have been bad.

So, do any of you have experience with any such device and can you recommend one to me?

Also, before you say it, I know that the pandora will be able to do this, but it will not be practical for me. For instance, I often play my gp32/2x/psp whilst the kids are watching something on the archos, and I will sometimes take my pandora to work with me and the kids will freak if they can't watch postman pat!!

Thanks in advance.

 

[atomicthumbs]

Get a Neuros OSD. It runs on Linux and does everything you need.

 

[Vimacs]

popcorn hour
http://www.popcornhour.com/

 

[dosteridge]

Get a Neuros OSD. It runs on Linux and does everything you need.


Thanks, that looks nice, do you have one?

It doesn't seem to say that I can playback directly from an external harddrive?

How big is it's internal storage?

Does anybody have experiance of the cheap 1tb media streamers on ebay?

 

[nickspoon]

Get a original Xbox, add XBMC and either install a 1TB HDD (tricky) or connect to 1TB network storage.

 

[fade]

Get a original Xbox, add XBMC and either install a 1TB HDD (tricky) or connect to 1TB network storage.

I was going to suggest a hacked Xbox with xbox media center myself too, i use this and it works great!

 

[Chip]

I've been using a modded Xbox with XBMC for years, and it works great. The only down side is that it doesn't have the stones to handle h.264 playback. As long as you can live with that one limitation, an Xbox is the best way to go.

 

[dosteridge]

Tell me more about this xbox thing. The most recent console I have is my son's ps2, so im a bit behind with this stuff

For instance, my son wants a 360, will this XBMC thing work with it?

My apologies for my ignorance :rolleyes:

 

[nickspoon]

XBMC is an unofficial media centre for the original Xbox (also Windows, Mac, Linux). It will not work on the Xbox 360. However, you can buy a 2nd-hand Xbox for £20 now, so that really should not be much of an issue. You will need a copy of an exploitable game (you can get the original Splinter Cell for 99p) and a way of getting a hacked gamesave on to your Xbox (I recommend a USB stick plus Xbox port->USB adaptor). You can then install an exploit and XBMC. There are plenty of very comprehensive guides on the internet.

 

[Chip]

I've installed mod chips in about a dozen Xboxes, which is my preferred method for modding. However, if you're not big on cracking the thing open and soldering, soft-modding is a pretty painless solution. Xbox-scene has several guides on soft-modding, this being one of the best.

 

[dosteridge]

Thanks for the replies guys, I was very interested in the xbox, but the wife says "you spend too long messing around with stuff, I just want something to plug in and watch"

So, having my orders, I have purchased a couple of THESE (one for us and one for one of our kids for Christmas) and I will let you know if they are any good.

Now i'm off to see if I can scrub the thumb print off my forehead!

 

[tim0391]

http://tversity.com/ would be a free and easiest option works great with my 360

 

[icurafu]

popcorn hour
http://www.popcornhour.com/


Agreed. I've tried a lot of mediastreamers and this is the best! Read the reviews to atleast give it a chance.