[Irishdoom]

I'm looking to replace the Seagate FAT+ I use upstairs for the kids. This player is perfectly functional, but what they really need is to be able to browse by cover art like we do in the living room with the Boxee. If possible, I'd also like something with Netflix and wireless. (Right now I'm using a TrendNET gaming adapter, and that thing flakes out all the time, constantly having to power cycle it to re-establish a connection.)


How is the Popbox nowadays?

 

[sean_w_smith]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishdoom /forum/post/20877112


I'm looking to replace the Seagate FAT+ I use upstairs for the kids. This player is perfectly functional, but what they really need is to be able to browse by cover art like we do in the living room with the Boxee. If possible, I'd also like something with Netflix and wireless. (Right now I'm using a TrendNET gaming adapter, and that thing flakes out all the time, constantly having to power cycle it to re-establish a connection.)


How is the Popbox nowadays?

Popbox now runs YAMJ which you probably know. WDTV Live+ will display cover art (Folder.jpg) but thats it. interface is poor beyond that.

 

[dbone1026]

Curious, if you are happy with the Boxee Box why not get another for the kids? The price isn't that much different from some of the cheaper players

 

[Irishdoom]

Well, I imagine the Boxee still goes for around $200, and that's more than I'd like to spend for a secondary player. I was hoping to find something around $100. But I'm probably out of luck. I'll have to try the local drive with the Seagate again, it can display folder.jpgs as well if set up correctly.


It's funny, before I got the Boxee, the Seagate FAT+ was downstairs, and I used a classic Xbox modded to run XBMC upstairs. It was far superior in many ways. It just couldn't handle full DVD ISOs or anything. It had issues playing any files that weren't compressed all to heck. I got tired of having to have 2 versions of everything, the Handbrake version for the Xbox, and the full ISO for the Boxee. Still, that UI was awesome.

 

[sean_w_smith]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishdoom /forum/post/20878446


Well, I imagine the Boxee still goes for around $200, and that's more than I'd like to spend for a secondary player. I was hoping to find something around $100. But I'm probably out of luck. I'll have to try the local drive with the Seagate again, it can display folder.jpgs as well if set up correctly.


It's funny, before I got the Boxee, the Seagate FAT+ was downstairs, and I used a classic Xbox modded to run XBMC upstairs. It was far superior in many ways. It just couldn't handle full DVD ISOs or anything. It had issues playing any files that weren't compressed all to heck. I got tired of having to have 2 versions of everything, the Handbrake version for the Xbox, and the full ISO for the Boxee. Still, that UI was awesome.

Got to say I own and still use 11 modded xboxes and never had issues playing DVD ISO's. Even way back in 2004 it played vobs just fine. weird.


popbox at $130 seems to be a compromise between the $90 WDTV Live+ and the $200 boxee.


Sean

 

[Brajesh]

Look on eBay for PopBox. I got a used one last week for $59 shipped. It's replacing a WD TV in my kids' room. Only reason I got it again (after being an early adopter & dumping it) is being able to use Eversion/YAMJ on it.

 

[Irishdoom]

Good idea, I'll keep an eye out on Ebay.


Maybe I'll take a look at the AppleTV with XBMC thread.

 

[Irishdoom]

What about Google TV, now that it's much cheaper? It has netflix and a nice UI, right? Will it work with my existing collection of mostly DVD ISOs?


Oh, and I realize my problem with the original Xbox with XBMC may have been related to some 720p rips I couldn't get to work right.

 

[sean_w_smith]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishdoom /forum/post/20879232


What about Google TV, now that it's much cheaper? It has netflix and a nice UI, right? Will it work with my existing collection of mostly DVD ISOs?


Oh, and I realize my problem with the original Xbox with XBMC may have been related to some 720p rips I couldn't get to work right.

720P Rips were not supported and never were. DVD Playback at 720P and 1080i was perfect.


GoogleTV is uselsess for local media playback. way worse than what you have now. way worse.


Sean

 

[pmcd]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishdoom /forum/post/20878860


Good idea, I'll keep an eye out on Ebay.


Maybe I'll take a look at the AppleTV with XBMC thread.

I don't think that's the answer.


philip

 

[Irishdoom]

After looking at both the ATV with XBMC and the Google TV, I'm surprised how lacking both are. I'll keep an eye out on Ebay for a cheap Popbox for now. But that doesn't have Netflix does it?


Which would mean my only real choice is...the Boxee. No way I'm putting an HTPC where the kids can get it.

 

[mayhem13]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishdoom /forum/post/20879745


After looking at both the ATV with XBMC and the Google TV, I'm surprised how lacking both are.

The ATV2 on it's own is a very stable device with a great, user friendly GUI as you already know. What it lacks in functionality as a local media streamer, it makes up for in reliability and stability.....and for $99 it's hard to beat IMO. Easy for me to say as i've been encoding and building the library from the start so i don't have issues with multiple formats or containers. Haven't started a BD library yet as i don't have everything in place to rip/store BD discs BUT i understand Handbrake does an excellent job with Blue Ray.

 

[Brajesh]



Quote:
Maybe I'll take a look at the AppleTV with XBMC thread.

Having just tried this over the weekend, I'm not sure I'd recommend it. First, you need to jailbreak and SSH (remote terminal client) in to download/install packages. Later you can use Filezilla FTP client to copy over add-ons (IceFilms, Navi-X, skins, etc.) I had no idea how to do this at first, so it meant lots of reading on XBMC forums, watching YouTube tutorials people had posted, etc. So, it's time-consuming. Once you get XBMC installed, adding local movie & TV shows sources is easy and the UI is of course nice. But, in my case, XMBC would crash often when browsing movies, there were buffering issues, and several titles stuttered. But, it was nice to have video add-ons like Food Network, IceFilms, Navi-X, etc. Not bad for a $99 box. But, as a local media streamer, it felt lacking. Fine as a secondary streamer however, but with some caveats as I noted.

 

[Irishdoom]

Yeah, it sounds like both the GTV and ATV with XBMC are lacking. I actually found the ATV with XBMC already set up on Ebay for under $100, but did not pull the trigger due to some of the stuff I had heard.

 

[sean_w_smith]

Its just not stable enough yet. Its only been out for 6 months. I suspect 11.0 for IOS will bring some stability to the platform.


Sean