Hello. Newbie here.

I was considering going the Xbox 360 to Vista route but my money is really tight at the moment and shelling $400+ out is just too much for me. Also, I only have one computer and it will remain in the office.

That said, I'd still like to use my PC to store music and ripped DVD's and view them on an HDTV (42" or 50" plasma) in the living room. Can this be done? And if so, what sort of setup do I need. What I'd like is the following:

Low cost - on the order of $200 or less.
On-screen menus - a nice interface on the TV to select files or playlists to play
Remote control - I would like to be able to use a remote control, universal preferably, to navigate the media.
Able to watch a variety of video media (ripped DVD files, random mgeg, avi, wmv files, etc.

I'll run cables from the PC to the TV if needed, so wireless isn't necessary. Also, would a regular version Xbox (modded) be a good choice?

What's out there that fits this bill? I'm not technologically ignorant, but something stable and with a nice simple interface would be nice for the wife to easily play some music or watch her shows.


All replies appreciated!

You cannot beat the MG35 or MG-350HD for price - Both have their issues , but so do other devices , but for the price they cannot be beaten..

$119 delivered for the MG-35 is a steal...

dstrain,

If you are primarily interested in SD material rather than High Def, then XBMC running on an XBOX (the original, not the 360) is almost unbeatable. You can get a used XBOX from your local Gamestop for under $100 now, plus a little extra to buy the DVD remote kit and a used game disc to do the softmod. Please view the lengthy but extremely informative thread in this forum on XBMC.

In a nutshell..

Advantages: Plays darn near every video and music file format you're going to run into, provided we're not talking high-definition video. Flexible playback/playlist options, completely customizable interface with cover art available. Scripts also allow access to internet video and music streams. Network and local playback possible.

Disadvantages: Cannot play high definition streams well. Remote is not universal and can turn off the XBOX but not turn it on (though there are hardware hacks that allow this). Not exactly a plug-and-play solution, you'll have to do some tinkering to set it up. Some people find the fan noisy (though honestly it doesn't bother me).

Julie

dstrain,

If you are primarily interested in SD material rather than High Def, then XBMC running on an XBOX (the original, not the 360) is almost unbeatable. You can get a used XBOX from your local Gamestop for under $100 now, plus a little extra to buy the DVD remote kit and a used game disc to do the softmod. Please view the lengthy but extremely informative thread in this forum on XBMC.

In a nutshell..

Advantages: Plays darn near every video and music file format you're going to run into, provided we're not talking high-definition video. Flexible playback/playlist options, completely customizable interface with cover art available. Scripts also allow access to internet video and music streams. Network and local playback possible.

Disadvantages: Cannot play high definition streams well. Remote is not universal and can turn off the XBOX but not turn it on (though there are hardware hacks that allow this). Not exactly a plug-and-play solution, you'll have to do some tinkering to set it up. Some people find the fan noisy (though honestly it doesn't bother me).

Julie

Speak of the devil.

I've been reading through that post for the past couple of hours and have just bid on and won an Xbox w/DVD kit. I'll be adding the other items and setting up the XBMC.

My main goal for a media server is to play DVDs, ripped DVD files, music and random videos downloaded from the web, YouTube, etc. For HD I'll stick with the DVR machine from Time Warner. I'm kind of bummed about the remote issue though, but I'll look into the hardware workarounds. But to start out this definitely looks like the lowest cost, feature-rich solution.

And that's to say nothing of the bonus fun of tinkering with it and being able to play games.

Thanks for the reply!