Search for the PERFECT media player under $200

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Search for the PERFECT media player under $200

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#628662 21-May-2012 23:23

For me silence and size trumps 1080p... I still use an ATV2 / XBMC and love it...

Having all the spinning disks the other end of the house is nice.

Plus, it's ridiculously cheap - and I used to be a 1080 snob.... But you know what? 720p is great (and my projector is only 720p - I only watch movies on the projector too)

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

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trig42

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#628758 22-May-2012 09:51

The AppleTV way is the best way IMHO. I just wish Apple hadn't been so clever and stopped the Jailbreakers. You can't buy ATV2's anymore.

The other good thing about the ATV is the Remote App. Just works.

I am looking at converting all my MKVs to MP4. What a PITA.

Talkiet

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#628770 22-May-2012 09:58

trig42: The AppleTV way is the best way IMHO. I just wish Apple hadn't been so clever and stopped the Jailbreakers. You can't buy ATV2's anymore.

The other good thing about the ATV is the Remote App. Just works.

I am looking at converting all my MKVs to MP4. What a PITA.

Why bother? Are you using the vanilla ATV2 capability or are you using XBMC on it? I have never found an MKV that CBMC on teh ATV2 couldn't play.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

trig42

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#628811 22-May-2012 10:45

I don't have an ATV.
If I could buy an ATV2, I would and then JB it, but since the ATV3 cannot yet be broken, I am tempted to get it anyway and convert my MKVs, but really really don't want to.
A $150 XBMC piece of kit would be my ideal. RPi looks good, if someone can add some value to it.

Talkiet

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#628813 22-May-2012 10:47

trig42: I don't have an ATV.
If I could buy an ATV2, I would and then JB it [snip]

Trademe - one sold yesterday for $134

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

gehenna

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#628842 22-May-2012 11:17

trig42: I don't have an ATV.
If I could buy an ATV2, I would and then JB it, but since the ATV3 cannot yet be broken, I am tempted to get it anyway and convert my MKVs, but really really don't want to.
A $150 XBMC piece of kit would be my ideal. RPi looks good, if someone can add some value to it.

Even if you did go the conversion route, you'd probably only need to remux the audio into an mp4 file, the video won't be converted at all. The audio remux only takes about 5 minutes tops so it's not like you have to spend an hour re-encoding the whole thing file by file. Just use Quicktime to convert the audio and save the file as an mp4...job done.

That said, it won't be long until aTV3 is jailbroken I'm sure.

trig42

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#628854 22-May-2012 11:26

That said, it won't be long until aTV3 is jailbroken I'm sure.

I hope not. It does seem to be stumping them though.

JayTaicho

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#629018 22-May-2012 15:27

trig42:

That said, it won't be long until aTV3 is jailbroken I'm sure.

I hope not. It does seem to be stumping them though.

I was running a jailbroken ATV with Plex for about 6 months, and loved it. It's probably the ideal setup if you aren't a '1080P snob' (which I think I might be).

All my 720p shows I would watch via ATV, and 1080p movies I would plug into my WDTV. I probably wouldn't mind just sticking to 720p content if I had to.

If the jailbreak for the new ATV comes out soon, I think I'll just pick one up.

driller2000

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#630111 24-May-2012 23:20

re the xtreamer jukebox video linked before - that's the old one - there is a new one on the sw3 (and prodigy) and I understand it is a lot quicker / slicker etc

the sw3 would appear to meet most of your needs + some others eg. in-built jukebox/scraper, hdmi 1.4, android, full 7.1 hd audio, bluray and 3d iso playback, passive cooling, usb 3.0 slave port, int hdd option etc (it doesn't have built in wifi though - you can however get an optional dongle - that said for 1080p content i wouldn't bet on any media streamer doing this flawlessly - unless you had a pretty flash (read expensive) wireless network)

i have the original xtreamer mk1, etrayz and ultra (running xbmc eden very well) and have been very happy with all of them - and on this basis will likely be buying a sw 3 sometime soon

the atv2 (jb + xbmc) seems to be a popular choice for some but it doesn't have half the capabilities of devices like the sw3 and its peers e.g. no iso, no hd audio, 720p limit - it would however get you xbmc at a pretty low price point...

one last word - there is no such thing as a PERFECT media streamer - they all have their limitations/issues

good luck with you decision :)

timmmay

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#630140 25-May-2012 08:27

That Xtreamer 3 looks pretty nice. I use a PS3 but it's a massive overkill, it doesn't play everything, the only thing I use other than DLNA playback is singstar twice a year. What's a used (but perfect condition) PS3 worth?

Does the X3 do DLNA properly? Could it connect to the PS3 media server, which is a DLNA server? Does it play back most commonly used video file formats?

driller2000

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#630518 25-May-2012 19:37

q: Does the X3 do DLNA properly?

yeah streamers like this are far better than dlna devices in that they connect to almost anything and have very wide format support - removing the need for transcoding

q: Could it connect to the PS3 media server, which is a DLNA server?

haven't tried myself with sw3 as i don't have one (yet) - but my mk1 xt could see all of my networked devices no problem

q: Does it play back most commonly used video file formats?

very much so

this gives you an idea of its capabilities:

http://www.xtreamer.net/xtreamer-sidewinder3.aspx

prob worthwhile joining their forums as then you can see other peoples thoughts about it as well - both the good and the not yet "perfect" : )

timmmay

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#630529 25-May-2012 20:29

I did a bit of a search for reviews about it, on the AV forums the general sentiment seems to be that they're poorly built and shame on whoever buys them. The amazon reviews only give it 3/5, but one really poor review drags that down there's always one bugger who complains. Still, it looks good in theory, but apparently in the real world it's only ok.

driller2000

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#630538 25-May-2012 20:54

re amazon: yeah 3 reviews aint many - 2 of which were ok and one who had a pretty poor exp

the issue he refers to is a known bug and they are working on it right now - hopefully they sort it

they have had a pretty good record of fw releases in the past for both sorting bugs and adding features, so i am hopeful

as i said i have had 3 xt products - oldest nearly 3 years old - all going and in nearly daily use - and i am as happy as larry

up to you :)

timmmay

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#630549 25-May-2012 21:49

Ah that's good to know. They're pretty cheap, probably NZ$230 if you can get one landed in NZ.

The only reason I'm considering it is the PS3 is a bit annoying at times, it won't play everything. If I get rid of my PS3 I'd need to get some kind of a disk player. I could put a blu ray player in my PC for about $130 and mount that, but it seems more trouble, and it's not very girlfriend friendly, she still uses physical DVDs.

mgnz

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#632155 29-May-2012 18:49

numfarr:
chevrolux: Apple TV2 jail broken with XBMC.

No 1080p output with the ATV2 though, and no sign of a jailbreak for the ATV3.

Personally I have had it with media players and their PITA closed firmware that never quite does what you want. I would (and indeed just did) stretch the budget and get an HTPC: you can get a case, i3, motherboard and RAM for about $375 now that will play anything with no firmware and codec worries and a wide choice of user interfaces, operating systems, and accessories. Add an 802.11n USB for $25. OK, it won't be as compact, but does it really matter?

I'm dubious you can build a decent htpc this cheap.

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