My new media player just arrived

[kidloco]

Well after having bought the Boxee Box since launch I've finally retired the thing. It was playing everything fine its just the interface was a bit slow, issues streaming some web channels and with no more firmware updates the makers have left out in the cold.

I installed XBMC on my laptop to have a play and decided that was the way to go. There are loads of android powered mini players on the market, but they all seemed to have issues of one kind or another, plus finding one with Optical out was difficult. In end I stumbled on a solution by Pulse-Eight. I cant link the site for obvious reasons. I bought the premium model as I needed the optical out, stuck 4gb of ram in and im using a 8gb usb thumb drive for the hard drive.

Instalation was a doddle. Pulse-Eight do their own build of openelc you can download. Took 5 mins to install. Scanned all my films which are on a 4 bay external drive casing and away we go.

Have to same im really please with it, the XBMC interface is really snappy and looks fantastic, and the machine its self is a solid piece of kit, all aluminum. So far it hasnt missed a beat whether ive thrown a 500mb divx or a 40gb blu ray iso.

Sorry for the quality of the pics, was in a bit of a rush to get it all working

 

[kidloco]

Hmm....nice gui.
Do you have any experience with the WDTV Live? If so, how does it compare?

I've had a quick play with it. Wasn't to keen on the UI so lost interest fast. It's one of the more stable solutions out there and is well supported.

 

[kidloco]

Seems like a really good solution. Is this passively or fan cooled? What I'm asking is does this make any noise in operation and if so how loud it is.
Enjoy you new bit of kit.

It's got a tiny fan on the CPU. You can hear it if you stand within a metre or 2 of it but its pretty damn quiet. I haven't tried slowing down the fan yet to make it totally silent. Maybe even replacing the fan. But that's just me being OCD. The case acts as a bit of heat sink as well being solid aluminium.

Been playing with this thing all day and I have to say I'm bloody impressed. I have tried so many media players over the years. Only keeping the boxee box for any length of time. For the price it's a steal.

 

[kidloco]

Hi what remote you using with pulsebox been looking at these myself but dont know if to get one of theses got and xtreamer pro and ac ryan hd2 but been playing with xbmc and think its great

im using the rii mini keyboard. I bought it a while ago when the Boxee remote broke. Works just fine on the Pulsebox. There is also a motorolla remote on the pulse eight site.

http://www.riitek.com/

 

[kidloco]

Awesome GUI indeed, does it just pull all that info through based on your library?

Yep, you just add your sources, can be networked drives, atatched drives etc. Mine is 4 x 2tb drives in a 'StarTech 3.5 inch 4 Drive eSATA USB Multi Bay External Hard Drive Enclosure'.

You then just tell it scan your sources and it does the rest.

 

[kidloco]

That is super cool. Does it do the same for TV etc?

If you have tv series yes it does the same. Handles series really nicely.

 

[kidloco]

What keyboard you using ir or bluetooth been trying get a bluetooth mini keyboard work with openelec but cant get it work ok with xbmc on windows must say it does loo a cracking bit of software xbmc

Google 'rii mini wireless keyboard' works really well. I'm also using the iOS app for iPhone and iPad a fair bit.

 

[kidloco]

look like you got yours in time they gone up now lol

Look at the barebones deals. No need to get them to stick the os on. It takes minutes.

 

[kidloco]

Does this have built in wifi like the WDTV or ethernet only?

Yep has built in wifi. Not using it though. Using the good old cable.

 

[kidloco]

does it play 3d iso etc ?

Not sure to be honest mate. Haven't got any 3d iso's.

 

[kidloco]

It's from the Contemporary furniture company. The model is Kentucky large tv unit. Great piece. Solid oak and built so nicely. Arrives pre built. Takes 2 people to move. As well as a proper shop they also have an eBay shop. Which is where I bought it from. They used to put one on auction once a month. I won it for £200. No bad for a brand new item with an rrp of £700

 

[kidloco]

What skin is that? I run XBMC on my pc just as an standalone prog rather than an OS - i use either keyboard or HTC One X as remote.

It's the aeon skin. Pretty much the most popular one around right now. Nice improvement over standard.

 

[kidloco]

this looks pretty great...so does one of the models come preinstalled with xbmc?

also, what ram does this take? I think i'd like to get 4 gigs instead of 2..

The premium takes sodim. Standard takes standard ddr3. I've stuck a single 4gb stick in but another 4gb is on its way just because it was so cheap.

 

[kidloco]

Looks good. What chipset does it use? Would also like to know if it can play back a Bluray ISO as that is something my Dune HD Smart cannot do. This might be a good alternative the Popcorn Hour.

Yep. Plays back blu ray iso just fine. Can't vouch for 3d as I do t have a 3d tv

 

[kidloco]

which software did u d/l of pulse-eight site ?
Quite a few diff versions in packages

I used the openelec pulse version. Installed in under 10 mins and everything just worked.

 

[kidloco]

There is four versions
fusion
Generic
Intel
nVidia
lol sorry for all the questions but cant wait to get it

The current barebones they sell are the fusion models.

 

[kidloco]

Is the premium version not available any more? Can't find it on their website.

Doesn't look like it. I think they have sold old out but the looks of it. I know when I was looking they had limited numbers. The only reason I bought the premium was for optical out. My av amp doesn't do sound over hdmi.

 

[kidloco]

Cheap or not, it's still a waste of money. XBMC, especially Openelec, doesn't run any better on 2gb than it does with 4gb. 8 is certainly overkill.

Oh well. If that's the case Ill stick it in my laptop. It was only a tenner.

 

[kidloco]

Did you think about getting the Rasberry Pi XBMC version?

Did look at at it but the more I read the more I was put off. The initial price seems crazy low. It by the time you have bought a nice case, power supply etc. it's not the super cheap system it once was. Plus so many people struggling to get things to run smooth on it.

Simple fact is there is still no perfect solution yet.

 

[kidloco]

No optical out was the obvious issue for me. Not dissing the pi. It's clearly a clever bit of kit in the right hands. It's just not for me.