Is it THAT HARD to find a good 1080P XBMC solution?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Is it THAT HARD to find a good 1080P XBMC solution?

1 | ... | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Talkiet

4787 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#787402 26-Mar-2013 19:04

tdgeek: So, is an ultra small PC an option? The Intel NUC doesn't have an audio port s no good there. There are small form factor PC kits I have seen at times, or a Mac Mini? From the comments in the thread, a PC seems the way to go, and you may be able to find one that is small, low power that may meet the end need. A cost though compared to a low cost media player or a rPI

Don't need an audio port. I only have HDMI audio running from my PC (and from the rPi when I used it)...

I looked at the Intel NUC and it's nice but pricey... The server I have spare is sitting in a rack in another room so is effectively silent :-)... I ran a 10M HDMI cable through the ceiling down to the amp and it works great.

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.

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

timmmay

20429 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#787440 26-Mar-2013 19:58

I tried to configure audio passthrough on the Pi but couldn't find it in the audio settings. Does it help at all?

Talkiet

4787 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#787443 26-Mar-2013 20:04

timmmay: I tried to configure audio passthrough on the Pi but couldn't find it in the audio settings. Does it help at all?

I didn't have any experience using anything other that digital passthrough, but I never had any sync issues with the rPI and except for the new (pointless IMO) HD audio, it all worked fine.

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.

reven

3736 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#787455 26-Mar-2013 20:18

richms: The Pi isnt even usable to run a basic webbrowser on so I dont know how anyone expects it to cope with some of the menus that HTPC solutions throw at things

todays web pages contain a lot of elements, a lot to render, a lot of css transformations (shadows, gradients, animations etc). running xbmc menu would be a lot less intensive and is optimised for the pi.

the pi is a good option, i'm using 3 around the house. don't take "the pi isn't good enough" away from this thread. the pi is good, it is "good enough". its just not "amazingly fast" (which is expected and acceptable).

personally I think you are crazy to buy a full htpc these days, theres just too many cheaper options that are smaller and cheaper to run. I expect there to be some killer android clients for xbmc/plex coming out this year. but it's your money buy whatever you want, for $50 I would at least try a pi.

Talkiet

4787 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#787458 26-Mar-2013 20:21

reven:[snip] don't take "the pi isn't good enough" away from this thread. the pi is good, it is "good enough" [for most people - NG] [snip]

There... fixed :-)

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.

reven

3736 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#787541 26-Mar-2013 20:32

Talkiet:
reven:[snip] don't take "the pi isn't good enough" away from this thread. the pi is good, it is "good enough" [for most people - NG] [snip]

There... fixed :-)

Cheers - N

completely agreed. its definitely worth a try. and its better than any roku/wd live etc out there.

Hopefully I'll be able to report back in 2 months about the ouya (mine will ship in April, but probably not until April 30th :))

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#787618 26-Mar-2013 23:01

With this discussion on offloading the database it has reminded me - can anyone steer me in the direction of straight-forward, accurate and relatively simple instructions as to how to do this? I run XBMC on two HTPCs (both Mac Minis) and a laptop (Windows 8), and am finding the lack of a single souce of 'truth' frustrating ("which episode are we up to?"). My first attempt to get the database working unsuccessful, but I'd like to give it another go so would appreciate a steer to some good info. Thanks...

reven

3736 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#787633 26-Mar-2013 23:55

1. install mysql
2. create a mysql user
3. create an advancedsettings.xml file pointing to the database and copy to your user directory in xbmc

see the example advancedsettings.xml in here.

I tried posting one, but the xml was stripped in the forum post.

GrayWolf

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#788003 27-Mar-2013 14:46

Just ordered the RPi should be here tomorrow. Will setup and report back.
Currently using XBMC on a Dell Inspiron Quad Core in my basement bar with output through distribution amp to 6 tv's throughout house and garage with stereo (no surround) sound. I remote in either through VNC or using XBMC Remote on a Nexus tablet. Minimal poblems and HD quality on LED Tv's adequate for my purposes. Was experiencing some BSOD's "Bad Pool Call" errors in the middle of some movies recently so started looking at other options for my main TV, hence the Pi. Have since cleaned up and rescanned the PC for malware (also used as main music player and PC) ansd have had no problems since. So will give the Pi a try and see what happens. If nothing else I will still have a small cheap PC for other home control projects.

GrayWolf

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#789837 31-Mar-2013 08:58

Observations:
512mb model b rasp bi
Openelec + XBMC runs fine on the pi
movies up to 1080i run ok
Menus a little slow and cpu near 100% all the time just siting on a menu
RSS feeds disabled
Not overclocked
1080i video (non DTS audio) (Lord of The Rings) stutters slightly here and there - nothing major just a "bump" that I can see that bugs me a bit during playback
Most 720 I ran through it were fine
Will try this as a backup for another TV maybe but will continue using the quad core as my main HTPC
Didn't expect it to beat my current system by any means but very impressive in what it does do!
I can always repurpose it for another project and it gives me an opportunity to learn linux now! :)

1 | ... | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8