D-Link Boxee vs. WD TV vs. Dedicated HTPC??

I

investinwaffles

Limp Gawd
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Apr 26, 2010
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So im looking for a way to stream my media library to 2 TV's in my house.
I was set on building an HTPC/Server but I found out that that isnt gonna work. I want to have a central location for my library (so others can add to it, and stream from it at random whenever they want).

I pretty much know that I need a dedicated WHS computer, but what about for the TV front ends?
Will a BOXEE or WDTV HD be able to stream all (if not 99%) of my questionably obtained media files?? They are mainly .AVI, .MKV, etc files but I can convert the ones that are not compatible if needed.

Does this seem like a good idea? Having a central server and two of these units (gigabit hardwired)? I dont want to deal with the hassles of 2 HTPC's (not to mention cost, im on a limited budget), but I still want to be able to have a nice visual of my library.
Icons/DVD box covers are not 100% necessary but I would LOVE to have something flashy yet simple so anyone can access the content.

What should I do? :(
 
Yes, a WD TV or Boxee will stream most of your content

Is it a good idea? That's up to you to deice. You can get a barebones Atom/Ion box for around $200 new, which just needs memory and an HDD (and a remote). It would be infinitely better than any set top box, as it will be pretty much upgradable forever (when it comes to software). I have a similar box in my living room running XBMC Live
 
For less than $100 bucks you can get a nice media streamer like the WDTVlive or the PBO,

The boxeebox has the flashy interface but its twice the price.

An ION based HTPC can get close to 400 dlls once you put all the pieces.

I was considering getting a PBO for my kid's room, but I ended up building a box from spare parts.

I'd say go with the WDTVLive if you are on a budget.
 
I have a WDTV Live and for the money it's a decent little device. A couple of things that may or may not matter to you, though - the "Media Server" mode - which pairs up with Windows 7 streaming - works very well and is reliable, but you can't play MKVs that way. MP4 works great. The other network method - which is just to use dumb shares - will play MKV but is very flaky and can be difficult to set up. In addition, it won't work AT ALL if you have Windows Live Essentials 2011 installed (still not exactly clear on why this is but there are plenty of discussions if you google it).

Local playback via USB works great and supports MKV, but the WD interface and remote are a bit tedious imo. With network streaming you can use the "play to" feature of WMP12 to push a file directly to the WD and begin playback immediately.

All in all, the device has it's compromises, but if none of them are dealbreakers for you then it's a great bang for the buck.
 
How bout doing it the simply way & use 360's as media center extenders.. Gives extra capabilities over most others incase you ever want to throw a TV tuner in your htpc as well.
 
Stoly said:
I was counting windows 7 as the OS.
Click to expand...

That's a little unfair when comparing to a device that runs a Linux based OS (WD TV). There's no need for Windows on a dedicated HTPC, especially not for what he said he wants to do
 
EGOvoruhk said:
That's a little unfair when comparing to a device that runs a Linux based OS (WD TV). There's no need for Windows on a dedicated HTPC, especially not for what he said he wants to do
Click to expand...

I guess you are right, but I thought windows 7 would let him do more things than just XBMC.
 
Well, I dont realy need it to do "more" things.
Literally all I want it to do is playback different video content from a central media server, with a nice GUI (nice meaning easy to use, doesnt have to be super eye candy).

The only reason I mentioned th Boxee is because it looks like it has a very nice interface, and a decent third party app support.
The only frills I was hoping for is a way to have it pull information about the file (if its a movie - the cover, director, date, etc.), which Boxee claims to be able to do.
I know XBMC can do this, but I still have to build a machine.

The WDTV series doesnt seem to be as fully featured as id like, but if it can also pull DVD covers and TV show icons for my content it would be suitable as well.

So I guess my question is, will XBMC, Boxee, or WD TV download information about a selected video file??

EDIT:
Just found this great article! Im giong to give it a read when im off work and see waht I come up with (hopefully it will shed some light on how I should set up my system) :)
http://lifehacker.com/5505849/how-to-whip-your-movie-and-tv-show-art-into-shape-for-xbmc-and-boxee

Edit;
That article is only for XBMC but it looks so slick. I may have just changed my mind on the necessity of eye candy :(
Will that Barebones Atom config listed be fast enough for XBMC and 1080p .MKV's?? I would like to avoid laginess and judders as much as possible...
 
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investinwaffles said:
So I guess my question is, will XBMC, Boxee, or WD TV download information about a selected video file??
Click to expand...

I don't know about the WD TV, as I don't have one in front of me. When I set up a Live version, I don't remember seeing anything about downloading information though

XBMC (and Boxee) will both do it. It's also fairly easy. Just point it to where the files are, tell it what kind of files (Ie movies, TV, etc), and it will "scrape" a website for file information. Honestly, within a minute of opening the program, you can have it pulling all that information down for you

Try it out. Boxee is downloadable as well, but the 1.0 release (The one the Boxee Box runs on) hasn't been released yet

investinwaffles said:
Will that Barebones Atom config listed be fast enough for XBMC and 1080p .MKV's?? I would like to avoid laginess and judders as much as possible...
Click to expand...

Yes, it will be plenty fast enough. It's all in the Ion chipset. The video is hardware decoded

If you read the XBMC forums (which you should sign up for if you go that direction), you'll see plenty of peope are running Atom/Ion based systems.
 
I think it'd be remiss if someone didn't mention that 7MC can do all this stuff too. If you're going to build something to run XMBC, then it would be capable of doing 7MC with all the fun stuff too. Media Browser + Media Center Master + Media Center Studio = pure awesome
 
Damn, looks like I have some research to do. If XBMC runs standalone (as its own os), then I think I may lean towards that.

Also, i dont think I want to build an ITX box, so what off-the-shelf computers would be optimal??
I saw them mention this one on XBMC forums:
http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-MAG-Int...3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1290564867&sr=1-3

As long as it will handle 1080p flawlessly I think it would be a good option.
 
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If you plan to do TV.. HTPC.. If no tv. media boxes will handle anything fine now.. and are a fraction of the price.

I use Mezzmo Media Software + 2 WDTV Lives in house. Works great.. streams over UPnP and not Samba. And You can customize your navigation folders. Many apps cant do that.
 
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I've been trying to determine which solution to go with, I'm leaning towards ubuntu + flexraid + xbmc. That way I wont have to store any information on my main machine (keeping size, heat, noise and clutter down.

I just fear linux(ubuntu) because I'm not used to it yet. I also fear compatibility/features, may end up with windows front but who knows.
(blu ray player, 3d possibly, 7.1 output over hdmi (via ati))
 
Dion said:
If you plan to do TV.. HTPC.. If no tv. media boxes will handle anything fine now.. and are a fraction of the price.

I use Mezzmo Media Software + 2 WDTV Lives in house. Works great.. streams over UPnP and not Samba. And You can customize your navigation folders. Many apps cant do that.
Click to expand...
I just feel that WDTV is not as "featured" as XBMC or Boxee. I have to have the "scrape" functionality, and I do want eyecandy (especially in the form of DVD and TV box covers, and metadata).
I have no need for TV recording (as I hate commercials, id rather download the episode and watch it a day later).

EGOvoruhk said:
BAM!

$145 - Barebones system with free bonus DVD drive
$30 - 2GB Memory
$45 - 250GB HDD
$13 - Remote control

Total: $233

Boxee whatnow?
Click to expand...

Is that barebones a good deal right now?? Meaning is it usually around $150?
Is the upgrade from a 1.6ghz Dual Core 330 w/ original Ion chipset, to a Atom D525 processor (1.8GHz) and Nvidia ION 2 graphics worth $50?? Would that be a noticable speed boost for 1080p, or are both ION chipsets going to be pretty much equal (and 200mhz increase for the CPU is probably not noticeable.)
Its only $50 and I could save some cash by using XBMX Live from a tiny HDD now (used probably $20 for the HDD), but if the performance with HD movies will be the same than it wouldn't be worth it.

I am completely torn between buying 2 x Segate 2TB HDD's ($70 each right now), a MOBO + CPU combo (probably can hold off on this as there arent any uber amazing deals that will be good for a WHS/NAS box), or buying that Barebones Atom/Ion HTPC
:(
 
investinwaffles said:
I just feel that WDTV is not as "featured" as XBMC or Boxee. I have to have the "scrape" functionality, and I do want eyecandy (especially in the form of DVD and TV box covers, and metadata).
I have no need for TV recording (as I hate commercials, id rather download the episode and watch it a day later).



Is that barebones a good deal right now?? Meaning is it usually around $150?
Is the upgrade from a 1.6ghz Dual Core 330 w/ original Ion chipset, to a Atom D525 processor (1.8GHz) and Nvidia ION 2 graphics worth $50?? Would that be a noticable speed boost for 1080p, or are both ION chipsets going to be pretty much equal (and 200mhz increase for the CPU is probably not noticeable.)
Its only $50 and I could save some cash by using XBMX Live from a tiny HDD now (used probably $20 for the HDD), but if the performance with HD movies will be the same than it wouldn't be worth it.

I am completely torn between buying 2 x Segate 2TB HDD's ($70 each right now), a MOBO + CPU combo (probably can hold off on this as there arent any uber amazing deals that will be good for a WHS/NAS box), or buying that Barebones Atom/Ion HTPC
:(
Click to expand...

Both setups run pretty much the same, The D525 is only marginally faster than the 330 and ION2 is about on par with ION.
 
You should check out mpcclub.com they have reviews for just about every media player/streamer ever made. I went with a PCH A-200, at $160 it's a good deal the only drawback being the cheap ugly plastic case. I ended up getting 3rd party aluminum case from Moovica for about $70, but it's not necessary.
 
I have an htpc and xtreamer and to be quite honest, I am thinking about selling my htpc because its just not necessary anymore. xtreamer uses less power, the interface isn't great but its doable and most if not all of my collection are played with no issues with the xtreamer.
 
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