XBMC is great but..

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NotSoSimple

[H]F Junkie
Joined
May 17, 2003
Messages
14,618
This is my first HTPC and I am running XBMC. It is great, looks good, so far has been stable, and my wife likes it (Most important). However I am finding it is lacking. We really want a streaming radio app and would prefer Pandora, it does not support. Same thing with Hulu, no support. So we are kind of bummed. I completely understand that XBMC is not a commercial product and the big players (Hulu, Amazon Streaming, etc) discourage the use. I just would like some other 'icing on the cake' items if possible.

Is there another piece of software I should be trying? Pros/Cons of it?
 
Boxee is what you want. It has Pandora and Hulu support.

EDIT:

I think it supports Hulu. I know there was news sometime back about Hulu blocking Boxee for some reason, but I think it got reinstated?
 
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Pandora does work in XBMC: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=70471 There are a ton of add-on scripts that you can access from within XBMC. You just click on the ones you want and it downloads/installs them. There is also a nice NPR add-on as well.

No frontend really supports everything perfectly. Your best bet for the most "icing" is Windows Media Center 7. The Netflix app is excellent, and there are ways of creating custom tiles that launch Hulu, Pandora, etc.
 
Have you tried this?

or

This?

These solutions work for XBMC, but there is a little work required to do so (nothing difficult). You should probably check out the second option for eventghost setup. The first is nice for streaming pandora but I believe PlayOn has a subscription fee??

Then again, there is always this. Which I personally like because you can also launch the netflix app from XBMC.

Do you have the bluecop repos installed for XBMC?
 
It seems that most of these solutions revolve around Linux and what not. If I was running a linux box I would have no problem using git and what not. What about in a Windows based XBMC? Also most of those are fairly old. The last time I tried to follow a guide on XBMC forums that was a year or two old, it was completely different due to a newer version.
 
I have XBMC for Windows 7 installed and the bluecop repos work fine for getting me Hulu content. Haven't tried Pandora yet.

That said, I still prefer the Hulu integration into MC7 better.

My XBMC was the Dharma build (10 or 10.1....can't remember...whatever is the current build)
 
I keep trying XBMC and find it completely lacking when compared to my WMC setup... which does Hulu, Pandora, Netflix and uses Media Browser for my movies. :)
 
NotSoSimple said:
I assume I can switch back and forth as need fit, correct?
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There's even a XBMC plugin for MC7 (that's what I use) that closes down MC7, starts XBMC. When XBMC is closed, it reopens MC7.

CrimandEvil said:
I keep trying XBMC and find it completely lacking when compared to my WMC setup... which does Hulu, Pandora, Netflix and uses Media Browser for my movies.
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Kind of the same for me. There are a couple features for XBMC that really grab my attention though. 1) Native ISO playing....I wish Media Browser did this so I didn't have to use Daemon Tools. 2) The ability to auto-stretch 4:3 content. This is mostly for the WAF, as she doesn't like having to manually zoom or stretch 4:3 content or WS content presented in 4:3.
 
^ XBMC is also FAR superior for nearly anything music-related (which is the primary reason I switched back to it from WMC7). Subtitle support is also better. I think the only thing that will bring me back is if I decide to try out a cablecard setup.
 
I just realized, MediaPortal and WMC7 dont have the awesome 'play anything' capabilities of XBMC :( Also the stock skin of MediaPortal sucks :p Really turned me off. Will have to play with it some more.
 
You should definitely try it all out. With the community for it (*nix/windows alike), someone has had the questions you have had before. Personally, XBMC cannot be beat even if it is just purely for the aesthetic showoff value of the skins (Aeon). There are issues, but nothing that there isn't a "workaround" for.
 
As great as XBMC is, mediaportal with the saf 5 unlocked, and the streamed mediaportal skin may equal it. I just prefer mpc-hc as an integrated player, and saf5 gives me that.
 
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rhouck said:
^ XBMC is also FAR superior for nearly anything music-related (which is the primary reason I switched back to it from WMC7). Subtitle support is also better. I think the only thing that will bring me back is if I decide to try out a cablecard setup.
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Well, considering I want to eventually play my music collection also, not just my movies, I may have to try it more thoroughly.

One thing I don't like (granted I haven't looked that hard), is that I can't seem to have separate libraries. Here is what I mean:

When I go into Media Browser, I have a "Movies" group and a "Kids" group. All of the movies for my children go into the "Kids" group, and everything else into the "Movies" group. If I attempt to replicate this in XBMC by putting it in Library Mode, it combines all of my sources into one group all jumbled together. If I leave XBMC in File Browser Mode, I retain the Movies source and Kids source, but then I lose out on some of the sorting options (Cover Flow, for example).

Also, I need to figure out how to add custom buttons to XBMC...my Harmony works like 99% on everything (once I figured out clear was back), except for one command: Task-List/Right-Click. I just need to figure out how to program that command into my Harmony (like I said, I haven't really looked into it much)
 
NotSoSimple said:
I just realized, MediaPortal and WMC7 dont have the awesome 'play anything' capabilities of XBMC :( Also the stock skin of MediaPortal sucks :p Really turned me off. Will have to play with it some more.
Click to expand...

No idea what you mean by that, my WMC set up plays everything just awesomely. :)
 
Kelvarr said:
Well, considering I want to eventually play my music collection also, not just my movies, I may have to try it more thoroughly.

One thing I don't like (granted I haven't looked that hard), is that I can't seem to have separate libraries.
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I've a similar setup too and I could never get XBMC to display it as well as Media Browser does, that's what really kills it for me. I wish XMBC was better/ on par with WMC and MB. I want a low foot print option for using with client HTPC systems. I've been trying to get a hold of Win7 Embedded but no luck so far.
 
Kelvarr said:
Well, considering I want to eventually play my music collection also, not just my movies, I may have to try it more thoroughly.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong: WMC7 still works plenty fine for music... just not as well. The ability to create smart playlists and "party mode" are two things that really blow away WMC7.

Plus, support for a remote on a smartphone/tablet is a nice feature if you want to listen to music without turning on the TV. It's nice to be able to switch tracks/CDs/etc from your phone anywhere in the house without having to keep the TV on and grabbing the remote.

To some people these are little things they don't care much about... but I spend far more time listening to music via my HTPC than I do watching TV/movies. Then you get into other great features like music artist fanart and XBMC is a real stunner :)

One thing I don't like (granted I haven't looked that hard), is that I can't seem to have separate libraries. Here is what I mean:

When I go into Media Browser, I have a "Movies" group and a "Kids" group. All of the movies for my children go into the "Kids" group, and everything else into the "Movies" group. If I attempt to replicate this in XBMC by putting it in Library Mode, it combines all of my sources into one group all jumbled together. If I leave XBMC in File Browser Mode, I retain the Movies source and Kids source, but then I lose out on some of the sorting options (Cover Flow, for example).
Click to expand...

Your best option to check out would probably be what are called "movie sets". You could make a single set of all your "Kid" movies, and then keep the rest of your movies separate.

The other option would be making all your "Kid" movies be part of a "Kid" genre. You can then make a link to that genre directly off the Home screen (so no hunting around through a series of menus).
 
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