XBMC Media center is awesome

[GQgeek]

I've been using Windows Media Center forever. I briefly tried other options way back when but I'd always been content with it. It was never perfect, but it was no fuss and it did the job. People that came over could easily figure it out.

I'm ripping blu-rays to my hard drive right now and I was getting irritated by WMC7 not wanting to play blu-ray files, even though they're handled by my computer, so I started looking for a solution. There isn't currently a perfect solution. Without getting into the different ways to rip and playback a blu-ray, I originally saw XBMC in a fellow member's (Roy) photos of his home theater setup. I thought it looked nice and since it had the necessary functionality I decided to try it.

I will say that XBMC combined with Ember Media Manager makes managing a large video library a lot easier. EMM will download all the cover art, plots, cast, etc. I've used other programs to attempt this and they have sucked in comparison. The really nice thing about EMM is how well it handles conflicts. When multiple results are returned you get a pop-up with the full info and art for each of the hits so that you can pick the right one. And the nice thing is you have have it grab hi-res art. The last program I used just grabbed whatever. Those low-res .jpgs looked horribly on my 106" screen.

XBMC itself has nice handling for Movies and TV shows. It will keep your TV shows separated not only by show, but by season, so that it doesn't get all mixed together. It also handles separate subtitle (.srt) files, which is good for people that download xvid/divx.

I haven't played around with the music parts yet, but that's next. It'll be interesting to see how it handles classical, which is typically a pain to handle.

I'm not close to being finished yet, but so far though, I have to say it's a very capable software package.

 

[DNW]

wot? I don't understand g33ktalk.

 

[turboman808]

For home use I have gone solely with popcorn hours thruout my place. Newest one works as a server so I could finally ditch the computers all together.

At the office I just use VLC media player. I got to say the XMBC interface looks pretty slick though. I can setup something like that on the popcorn hour but am to lazy to do that.

If you go to AV forums they ramble on about hour XMBC is the best interface and Popcorn hour is the best player. Guys are working on combining them. Problem is XMBC is based on software playback and Popcorn hour is hardware based.

 

[Roy]

XBMC is awesome. But prepare for several hours, maybe days of configuring it to your taste.

 

[javyn]

For several years I have been toying with the idea of modding an old Xbox and turning into a media center with XBMC. The hassle, and fact that the Xbox hardware wasn't really built to last always kept me from getting started on the project.

Now, I just have a WD TV and I love it.

For media on the computer, I like Totem and Audacious (Linux's Winamp clone).

Never understood the need for these "media center" apps though. Is it really better than using say, an explorer window to manage your stuff? I've always done it that way. Seems simpler, faster, and far less of a setup hassle.

 

[Nahmeanz]

Boxee Box ftw

 

[Trompe le Monde]

Originally Posted by javyn

Never understood the need for these "media center" apps though. Is it really better than using say, an explorer window to manage your stuff? I've always done it that way. Seems simpler, faster, and far less of a setup hassle.

I suppose it's for those who want a complete seamless experience....after efforts spent in initial setup

I have a mac hooked up to tv and brosw them manually in simple traditional fashion

 

[sonick]

Doesn't play the newfangled HD stuff though

 

[javyn]

Originally Posted by Trompe le Monde

I suppose it's for those who want a complete seamless experience....after efforts spent in initial setup

I have a mac hooked up to tv and brosw them manually in simple traditional fashion

Yeah. I hate initial setups. I do enough of them for enough other software packages and operating systems already. I didn't even start tagging my mp3s until very recently.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by Roy

XBMC is awesome. But prepare for several hours, maybe days of configuring it to your taste.

well, i've got about 500 movies cataloged already. I'm reorganizing my music right now. Gonna have to tinker with it to figure out the best way to deal with classical music. Thankfully the painful work of tagging it all was done long ago.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by sonick

Doesn't play the newfangled HD stuff though

What are you talking about? You can play the blu-ray movies, just not the whole ripped disc. Or are you talking about dolby TrueHD and DTS MA?

 

[sonick]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

What are you talking about? You can play the blu-ray movies, just not the whole ripped disc. Or are you talking about dolby TrueHD and DTS MA?
I was thinking XBMC on the original Xbox, but it's probably quite a few versions old. What hardware are you running XBMC off of?

 

[Pezzaturra]

Originally Posted by Trompe le Monde

I have a mac hooked up to tv and brosw them manually in simple traditional fashion

+100

How "Pop corn hour" is better than a regular computer that everyone already has at home?

 

[javyn]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

well, i've got about 500 movies cataloged already. I'm reorganizing my music right now. Gonna have to tinker with it to figure out the best way to deal with classical music. Thankfully the painful work of tagging it all was done long ago.

FWIW, mp3tag lets you batch edit your tags. Only tagging app I know of that can do that. And it runs well in Wine.

 

[javyn]

Originally Posted by Pezzaturra

+100

How "Pop corn hour" is better than a regular computer that everyone already has at home?

It isn't, but I don't want to have to either A) keep my PC right next to my home theatre setup; or B) run cables and cords across a room to connect them, or C) end up realizing I have to upgrade my sound, video, etc cards or my receiver to get them all to mesh.

For a hundred bucks the WD TV is just what I needed. Popcorn hour is too pricey. Maybe if it CAME with a hard drive instead of an empty slot for that kinda money I'd go for it...