Media Center

[AutootuA]

I looking at building my first media center. What OS are you guys using for yours? And spec out your system also? Please.... :D

[SirBC]

Check out XBMC (http://xbmc.org), you can run it on linux, windows, mac and even Apple TV.

[impmonkey]

Unfortunately the best one I have found is vista with and app called mymovies.
I have a storage server/media center acting as the mymovies server down in the theater along with two clients that pull their movies/mymovies list from the theater server.
If you are really interested I would head over to avsforum.com to their HTPC center.

[sky-knight]

They can have it... the mymovies mess is a resource hog and a giant waste of time. "Contribution" points just to rip a DVD? Give me a break...

This thing found it's way on and off my media center so quick I'm not sure the drive made a full rotation...

[dhtc]

XBMC on an old xbox with FreeNAS as my storage. the xbox is small, quiet and can be had quite cheeply on eBay. The interface is awesome to boot.

[mdh]

But how about when you're done booting?

[dmorris]

we've tried xbmc here and are still using it...
i think we've also tried mythbuntu
and even just plain itunes

[dhtc]

But how about when you're done booting?

hardyharhar. ;)

[Lee Sharp]

I am running mine on Ubuntu with various front ends that have left me hallow. Myth is as intuitive as rocket science... But, get the Gyration Go wireless mouse and keyboard. Whatever you use, that just flat out rocks!

[impmonkey]

They can have it... the mymovies mess is a resource hog and a giant waste of time. "Contribution" points just to rip a DVD? Give me a break...

This thing found it's way on and off my media center so quick I'm not sure the drive made a full rotation...

Contribution points what??
You can get contribution points if you rip a dvd that they don't have info for already.
The contribution points are mostly used for notoriety in their forums, if you don't care about that like me they don't matter at all.
You don't need anything to rip and add a dvd.
Anyway I have not had any issues with speed and MyMovies has done a great job of organizing my movies. Plays and organizes everything from DVD's to Avi's to HD MKV's.

[sky-knight]

Incorrect, I tried to add Men In Black to my library and the second I clicked the copy button it promptly informed me I needed 1500 contribution points to complete this action and redirected me to their donations page.

No thanks, I'm now using DVD Shrink to move my DVD movies myself, eliminate all the fluff so I'm not wasting space into my OWN directory structure. And all I had to do was tell Media Center to stare at that directory... Point, Click, Rip, Play....

And no loser company whining for donations either.

The only thing I DONT have is automatic delivery of CoverArt so you can see the pretty pictures.. meh, don't need it.

[mdh]

I would feel a lot more comfortable if a conversation that was of primary interest to RIAA, MPAA, FBI and Interpol were not occurring here. I wouldn't want to be forced to turn over records.

[impmonkey]

I use anydvd (no contrib. points needed) for that but of course only on movies I am archiving.
In fact the guys over there collaborate with slysoft so they work hand in hand.
I do however use dvdshrink to re-author but still use anydvd for the encryption
as dvdshrinks decoding is working on less and less disks.

I also really enjoy the "Pretty Pictures" and the descriptions that mymovies provides. As far as speed it takes <10 Seconds to load all 525 movies I have in the database.

I have used mythbuntu, linuxmce or any many others but they all lack h264 hardware acceleration and mymovies has been the best thing I have found so far for a windows mediacenter add-on that will support the multiple file types. (avi, vob, h264, mkv, bluray,etc..)
If anyone knows of an alternative method that will allow for the server/client environment, hardware acceleration, and multiple format support please let me know as I am always looking to get away from windows.

sky-knight are you using the media center reg edit to get it to recognize your dvd files?

[sky-knight]

Yeah, the DVD Library hack.

And mdh it isn't a violation of law to but your own movies into a media center and play them. I have 200 or so Disney titles I'm trying to massage into my media center and get them to project into the TV in the living room. That way I can put the DVD's away, I'm tired of my kids destroying them.

Granted I'm sure the RIAA zealots would love to force me to buy new copies everytime but the law is very plain in this case. I can make all the copies I want... for my "own" use. I'm not allowing 3rd parties to get into my library. And I own all the Disks in "mostly" original packaging... I say mostly because a good number of them have been used as teething rings.....

[mdh]

You're right. I'm just saying it because "those people" can read this forum too. If you're legal, you're fine.

[sky-knight]

Oh, I forgot one other legal cootie..

The license agreement on most movies stipulates non-commercial showing only. (Read you can't make money on the show's display.)
And, you aren't allowed to watch it on more than one screen at a time.

Movies are just like software, per seat. ;)

I think that should absolve us around here, if the RIAA raids the place on my little config just send them over and they can stare at my 6' DVD case full of Disney movies...

Oh, and I'm not employed by Untangle, and my beliefs aren't theirs.

And, I'm no lawyer so I make no guarantees about the correctness of my information. :eek:

[pirateghost]

i use xp pro with media portal as the front end. coreavc+haali media splitter handle my hd content, and i have it linked up to my 3.2tb openfiler nas. im really lazy when i want to watch a movie. i hate having to browse through the hundreds of dvds to pick a movie...i want to select them from a list and just hit play. outputs beautifully to my 56" samsung DLP via HDMI

[Rick@BBM]

My HTPC at home is a ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus with a CD2 E8400. 4gb ram, BFG 9600GT SLI (2 cards), AverMedia PCIx1 HDTV QAM dual tuner, Vista x64 Ult, 250gb OS drive, 1tb media drive. Harmony remote, wireless keyboard/mouse, and a few usb controllers of various kinds. Plays Crysis awesome! lol. I also have around 100+ 720p and 1080p HD movies from www.hd-bits.ro I don't mess with anything standard quality, unless it's an old movie. Since my tuner can't decode digital cable (when will that ever be released??, I want a cablecard pcie tuner!!!!), I just download Dexter :)

This is all hooked to my 57" Mitsu 1080p DLP in my bedroom. It's my PC/TV. I can't wait for the new nvidia drivers to be released so I can have dual monitors on SLI. It gets to be a pain in the butt writing papers and playing some games laying in bed or in the layzboy. I would like to have a desk nearby with a 19 or 22" widescreen so I can sit at.

[gotkimchi]

Its not a media center, but I like HDhomerun. It is a dual tuner with ethernet port so anyone in the network can view the HD TV.

[gotkimchi]

Also, i like orb. It is free.

[Rick@BBM]

I'm just waiting for a cablecard feature for PC's. They've been saying they are coming out with it for yearrrrrrs. Some kind of legal BS.

Vista Ult 64bit does a great job as a media center. I also play Crysis and other games on my 57", so i need the full power of a PC with SLI.

[sky-knight]

I too have been waiting on the cable cards. I was under the impression there was some kind of legal requirement to begin their support...

[Lee Sharp]

You're right. I'm just saying it because "those people" can read this forum too. If you're legal, you're fine.
I so wish that was true... But a lot of legal people have been falsely accused to the tune of a few grand. And chances of getting caught if you are actually downloading on a grand scale are very slim. A recipe for disaster. Obeying the law is no guarantee of safety, and breaking the law is no guarantee of punishment. And now we have domestic seizure laws that mean if a customers PC has limewire installed and hidden, and is full of pirated software while I am servicing it, the government can take all my computers!

Moral: Be afraid, even if you are legal. And don't' support restrictive media.

[sky-knight]

Moral: Be afraid, even if you are legal. And don't' support restrictive media.

Or any other programs that enlarge our useless government for that matter...

[goplaycheckers]

I've got two Xboxes running XBMC and love it. They stream all my movies/tvshows/concerts from my Linksys NAS box and all of my music comes from my Windows server. I'm also slowly getting a DVR box set up with GB-PVR and my HDHomeRun, which is a very fine piece of hardware.