Moving from XBMC to a streamer

spudbynight · 3 Apr 2012 at 12:06

I have a HTPC under my TV at the moment connected to my AV receiver.

I was using it for Blu-Ray playback as well as PVR stuff and also using XBMC as a media streamer.

I recently signed up to SKY and as a result don't need my PVR functionality any more.

My wife finds using the HTPC overly complicated if she has to open XBMC or close any other apps running. I was thinking about getting a streamer to replace the HTPC and also a seperate Blu-Ray deck.

One issue I have with the HTPC is the noise of it. Even with a passively cooled Amd E-350 mobo the psu makes a lot of noise.

I have considered the Apple TV2 and sticking XBMC on it but then I lose 1080p playback. I was also considering a Popbox which seems to playback most stuff I have.

Any thoughts from people? Would I regret losing the HTPC?

kidloco · 3 Apr 2012 at 15:29

I ditched my HTPC over a year ago for pretty much the same reason. I currently use a Boxee box. Its hooked up to a MediaSonic drive pay with 4x2TB drives in it. I bought the Samsung Eco drives that are pretty much silent.

The Boxee box plays anything I through at it and the actual picture quality is very good also, streets ahead of most streamers ive used, and ive tried a few.

platypus · 3 Apr 2012 at 17:01

My other half is pretty much retarded when it comes to technology and she can cope with XBMC. I just have it running on auto start so that when my server boots up XBMC is always running, 99% of the time. The other 1% she calls me

.

Can you move the XBMC box? I have it under the stairs with a 10m hdmi cable running under the floor to a point behind the TV.

GinG · 3 Apr 2012 at 17:30

platypus said:
My other half is pretty much retarded when it comes to technology and she can cope with XBMC. I just have it running on auto start so that when my server boots up XBMC is always running, 99% of the time. The other 1% she calls me .

Can you move the XBMC box? I have it under the stairs with a 10m hdmi cable running under the floor to a point behind the TV.

What do you use to control out of interest? Have you a IR receiver or similar running aswell?

Thinking of doing this with my PC, get some electrics running in the understairs cupboard then feed through a HDMI though the walls. I guess something like a USB, then have a USB hub hidden could be an idea...

Hmmmmmm easter weekend is coming...I can see a bit of DIY happening!

spudbynight · 3 Apr 2012 at 17:55

platypus said:
My other half is pretty much retarded when it comes to technology and she can cope with XBMC. I just have it running on auto start so that when my server boots up XBMC is always running, 99% of the time. The other 1% she calls me .

Can you move the XBMC box? I have it under the stairs with a 10m hdmi cable running under the floor to a point behind the TV.

Using XBMC is fine. We do get small issues though when cycling from other sources to the HTPC.

Sometimes the HTPC will mute itself and you have to exit or alt tab XBMC to unmute and then go back in. Sometimes as well if we switch back to the HDMI input that the HTPC is on we get XBMC showing full screen at a lower rez on top of the desktop. That then involves closing XBMC and restarting it.

I just want something as simple as possible. I love the idea of an Apple TV with XBMC on it. Maybe when they jailbreak the new AppleTV it will be the solution?

saitrix · 3 Apr 2012 at 18:15

What spec HTPC have you got? Surely just change for a totally silent picopsu if you are only running an E-350. You can get a 120W setup for £40, even less for an 80W setup. An E-350 at full tilt (both cpu and gpu) consumes only 35W, so you would need a lot of peripherals to require more than 80W. So if you give me the full spec then can see whether you can get yourself a silent setup cheaply.

spudbynight · 3 Apr 2012 at 18:26

I have looked at picopsu setups.

The psu and the power brick both come in at around £70 in total. There is also the noise from the HDD.

saitrix · 3 Apr 2012 at 19:04

Firstly, you can get a 120W setup for £40 (what I use) if you shop round, 80W would be £34, so actually not too much more to give yourself plenty of headroom.

I see you have the Vision Media Case, so where the psu is currently then just get a layer of foam and put the hard drive on that. That will reduce down noise through vibration, and if it is a 5400rpm hard drive you will hardly hear it.

sHo0sH · 3 Apr 2012 at 19:15

Boxee Box

/thread.

Attu90 · 3 Apr 2012 at 19:53

My Wife needs things to be simple (thats why she married me

) otherwise she just wouldnt use some thing but for ease of use a PS3 is pretty good and its got a Blu-Ray built in.
I know some will say it lacks support for some file types but using PS3 media server on my PC which the PS3 is connected to I can play 99% of the files I throw at it.

I also just bought my Farther in Law a Sony BDP-s480 Blu-ray player as he wanted some thing even easier to use, I ended up buying one for my self as well as as with the PS3. using PS3 media server to plays most files I try and its a "real " blu-ray player.

Id seriously have a look at a DLNA media streaming Blu-Ray player, pretty much silent and will play back most stuff ...heck you say your going to get a seperate Blu-Ray deck anyway, try one first and see if it does what you are wanting to do with a media streamer.

DirtyJester · 3 Apr 2012 at 20:46

I feel your pain matey, I still get called to switch the amp from HDMI 5 to HDMI 4 just so she can use the WD TV Live hub, which is what I use to watch movies

phill1978 · 3 Apr 2012 at 21:44

not wanting to stop you getting a streaming or anything but the sources of noise you mention are entirely removable. HDD could be a cheap 30GB SSD for the O/S, PSU could be slient OR only have the fan active at 550W+ load like the new corsair models.

If your interested in making the whole house connected you could invest in those items and keep the box slient, the Mechanical HDD`s could go in a NAS under the stairs and the rest of the house tv`s and laptops can get streams then.

just a thought

spudbynight · 4 Apr 2012 at 09:11

Thinking about getting cheap second hand and slow SSD - or maybe just booting OpenELEC from a USB key.

Going to look around for a cheap PicoPSU as well.

arad85 · 5 Apr 2012 at 04:09

I run a couple of xbmc setups using 30G SSDs and silent power supplies. Entirely possible to do and you have the power of xbmc there when you need it (I use them to stream ALL media from a central server including off-air records via a couple of satellite cards - not Sky records, just BBC HD/Channel 4 HD - it's all we watch).

saitrix · 5 Apr 2012 at 07:07

Out of interest what SSD's do people use? I am tempted by one but I don't want to spend too much.

platypus · 5 Apr 2012 at 11:18

GinG said:
What do you use to control out of interest? Have you a IR receiver or similar running aswell?

Thinking of doing this with my PC, get some electrics running in the understairs cupboard then feed through a HDMI though the walls. I guess something like a USB, then have a USB hub hidden could be an idea...

Hmmmmmm easter weekend is coming...I can see a bit of DIY happening!

Yeah I now have an IR receiver (stuck on top of the tv) via usb extender running under the floor to my server. We used to use the Android Remote over wireless, but I stuck in the usb extender last weekend so will be getting the remote up and running (just some bog standard microsoft remote). I rewired the downstairs of my house and now everything is under the floor, just appearing behind cabinets or what have you as needed. As you can see from my amazing diagram:

Everything is cat6 cabled up, usb extender, speaker wiring also goes under the floor, power cables and what have you for the server rack under the stairs.

spudbynight said:
Sometimes the HTPC will mute itself and you have to exit or alt tab XBMC to unmute and then go back in. Sometimes as well if we switch back to the HDMI input that the HTPC is on we get XBMC showing full screen at a lower rez on top of the desktop. That then involves closing XBMC and restarting it.

Weird, I've never had any of those types of issues. I'm using a Sony Bravia 4th Generation TV and Windows Home Server.

I just want something as simple as possible. I love the idea of an Apple TV with XBMC on it. Maybe when they jailbreak the new AppleTV it will be the solution?

AppleTV doesn't do full 1080p HD does it?

spudbynight · 5 Apr 2012 at 11:29

platypus said:
AppleTV doesn't do full 1080p HD does it?

The new one does but it isn't jailbroken yet.

spudbynight · 5 Apr 2012 at 19:06

Stuck OpenELEC on the HTPC and I am going to see how this works out.

phill1978 · 7 Apr 2012 at 12:35

just thought id add if you read anandtech article on the new watermark in blueray some streamers might not play iso files or copys now!
your best going with an open source media center and pc based NAS / ripping platform

peige · 9 Apr 2012 at 20:29

phill1978 said:
just thought id add if you read anandtech article on the new watermark in blueray some streamers might not play iso files or copys now!
your best going with an open source media center and pc based NAS / ripping platform

.

Yep, I've seen this on PS3 media streaming.. film fell over after a time.

Personlly I have a popcorn A110 and i've set my father up with a A210. The networking is taken care of by homeplugs between the popcorn and the router, the media is stored on a pc. The a210 self indexes the media quite nicely.