I just need simple, user-friendly software

F

flipz

n00b
Joined
Jan 31, 2006
Messages
38
Hey all,

So I have dabbled a lot in HTPC but always end up with a half-a**ed kind of thing. lol. Well my g/f is starting to use it and the way I have it setup is just too complicated for her, so here's what I'm looking for.

I basically want it to function like AppleTV. I won't have any tv/cable inputs to it since I have DVR from my cable company and don't need it on my htpc. I want her to just be able to turn it on and do everything from the remote. I plan on having only a very small harddrive in it, so really I just need it to act more like a client that just checks my server on the network and streams everything from there.

My only two restrictions are that it has to be Windows based as my server is Windows and it needs to stay that way for other applications, and it has to be able to stream h264. My biggest request though is for it to be freeware / open source (read: free. ;) ) And finally, I will currently be using it with a 3ghz comp but in the future I will probably be building one using a mini itx with only a 1ghz comp or so. So one that uses little resources would be a bonus.

So my question is... what software would be capable of doing what I am seeking? Would it be easier for me to just get an xbox + xbmc or appletv? lol. Thanks in advance!!
 
I'm just curious as to why everyone feels the need to be able to play H.264 stuff? Is this stuff you're downloading or are you creating your own H.264 videos?
 
cbass98 said:
I'm just curious as to why everyone feels the need to be able to play H.264 stuff? Is this stuff you're downloading or are you creating your own H.264 videos?
Click to expand...

H.264 is quickly becoming a solid standard for downloaded content. For me...almost 80% of the anime I get straight from Japan is H.264. It might be because their society has actually adopted HD. ;)
 
I will never deny that I download stuff, but all of my h264 stuff is content I created.

Why feel the need to play it? Because HD 264 looks excellent and is a small file size! :)
 
Strange cuz it seems the HDDVD and BD movie rips are being ripped into X264 these days. Seems like H264 has declined in popularity among the movies and TV scene for the past 3 months. the x264 newsgroup went from a wasteland to now getting a handful of movies daily.
 
This is probably splitting hairs, but it is my understanding that x264 is a codec that follows the h264 standard, ala divx follows mpeg-4, part 2. Everything that is referred to as h.264 (e.g., European HDTV) still used some specific codec to achieve h.264 spec video, correct? Could one of the viedo guys clarify this for me.
 
x264 is to h264 as xvid is to divx from my understanding. It's an open source version.
 
cbass98 said:
I'm just curious as to why everyone feels the need to be able to play H.264 stuff? Is this stuff you're downloading or are you creating your own H.264 videos?
Click to expand...

I watch h.264 videos downloaded with Democracy player on my 37"
http://www.getdemocracy.com/

Rocketboom, diggnation, geekbrief, and all of the revision3 channels in Hi-Def. Lots of indie music and art content.
 
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