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I'm still using BB for my huge library of local content. I'm still waiting on alternatives, but I haven't seen any "that just work" like BB did, with very minimal setup. Plus, the BB remote owns.
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May 24, 2013 21:39
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My Boxee died, so I tried a WD TV, and that lasted about a day. Finally just bit the bullet and got a mac mini + Plex. Love it so far.
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May 24, 2013 22:12
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FreakyZoid posted:I went for a Zotac AD10 and XBMC. So much happier with it than the BB. I was wondering about this device, mind posting a longer explanation of how everything fits together? Currently I've got my Boxee setup across a NFS share (SMB is an option too) that just has a share called TV, this is running on a NAS that gets the content. How well does it play everything, you streaming wireless? etc? TIA. Edit: Just checked some reviews, it doesn't do Netflix HD. Nevermind. quote:This PC has a lot going for it, the size is wonderful, it seems solidly built and installing memory and a hard drive was a breeze. The problem I have is that I bought this for HTPC use and it really does not have enough power for this purpose. It is no where nearly as powerful as some of the online reviews would lead you to believe. Yes it can handle some 1080p video streams as indicated but only barely and using a lot more CPU than the reviews indicate (and yes I do have all the latest drivers). Flash Videos at 1080p consume ~80% CPU but do play smoothly - H264 videos (MP4s) play extremely well at around 20% CPU usage. Amazon Prime videos stream without issue at 720p, although the CPU usage is pushing 90%. The real issue I have is with Netflix - the box can only manage SD. With HD video from Netflix one core of the CPU is solidly pegged and the picture only updates maybe once a second at best - completely unwatchable. This is probably the fault of Silverlight, the Microsoft technology that Netflix uses for PC streaming because of its DRM capabilities. The net result is if you want to stream Netflix look somewhere else. ILikeVoltron fucked around with this message at 02:33 on May 25, 2013 |
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May 25, 2013 02:28
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ILikeVoltron posted:Edit: Just checked some reviews, it doesn't do Netflix HD. Nevermind. It will in Windows 8 using the Netflix app, which uses HTML5 I think. The problem with this device using the web interface in Windows 7 is Netflix's use of Silverlight, which doesn't have hardware video acceleration set up properly. Microsoft Silverlight is end-of-life, so Netflix is planning on switching over to HTML5 for everything.
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May 25, 2013 10:14
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MrEnigma posted:My Boxee died, so I tried a WD TV, and that lasted about a day. Finally just bit the bullet and got a mac mini + Plex. Love it so far. I'm intrigued, tell me more please... How easy was it to set up, how do you have it networked, is there anything you feel you're missing out on over boxee? How fast does the Mac mini boot up, or do you just leave it running? I didn't realize Mac minis cost so much now, I thought they were a few hundred cheaper for some reason
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May 25, 2013 19:13
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MrEnigma posted:My Boxee died, so I tried a WD TV, and that lasted about a day. Finally just bit the bullet and got a mac mini + Plex. Love it so far. Damnit, I specifically came into this thread to see if the Boxee Box was a good plex client replacement for a Vizio Co-Star; that's not what I wanted to read...
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May 25, 2013 22:16
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MMD3 posted:I'm intrigued, tell me more please... How easy was it to set up, how do you have it networked, is there anything you feel you're missing out on over boxee? How fast does the Mac mini boot up, or do you just leave it running? Runs all the time, boots up in a minute or two though. Runs plex client and server on the same box. Sabnzbd+ runs on it as well, plus couch potato and sick beard, they both auto update plex. Stuff starts playing in a split second instead of the lag boxee had for larger stuff. It's smooth, and has basically handled everything. The only downside is I had the TV tuner on the boxee, but here I just use eyetv (w/ hdhomerun), and then remote buddy to flip between them just using the remote.
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May 25, 2013 23:14
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MrEnigma posted:Runs all the time, boots up in a minute or two though. Runs plex client and server on the same box. Sabnzbd+ runs on it as well, plus couch potato and sick beard, they both auto update plex. All of my media currently is sitting on a Drobo external drive hooked up to my PC via eSATA. I've been streaming wirelessly to the boxee box which is on another level of my house. How easy/difficult would it be to set up plex to work with my hardware configuration? I'm totally not opposed to getting another external drive for movies/tv to plug into the mac mini in my living room and ideally I'll have it all hardwired when I move in a few months. Ideally I'm looking for something that's as easy to use as the boxee (for my girlfriend's benefit) but loads faster and is more reliable. The boxee box will frequently hang and require restarting if I've left it on for several days. It also has some real issues with buffering 1080p mkv files but I'll chalk that up to trying to stream wirelessly. If I can configure the mac mini to boot straight into plex and work with my logitech harmony remote then it might be my next HTPC.
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May 26, 2013 04:45
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MMD3 why don't you just try a zotac ad10/12 with openelec on a usb drive? might be cheaper and no more difficult than plex.
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May 26, 2013 10:57
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Yeah, I have all my media on a NAS share, then the AD10 just has a SDHC card with openelec on it. Once you initially configure XBMC to get rid of the options you don't need it's as friendly as boxee (the main problem will likely be that the remote that comes with the AD10 has a load of buttons you'll never use in this configuration, so that aspect isn't as straightforward as the boxee remote with its handful of buttons). If you need / want web streaming services I'm told XBMC isn't as good, but I only use it for local media and it's so much better than Boxee for that.
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May 26, 2013 11:18
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I know the Boxee Remote for Windows is discontinued but you might be able to find one somewhere, on eBay or whatever. I have three for my AD10/OE boxes and they work great.
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May 26, 2013 12:51
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FreakyZoid posted:Yeah, I have all my media on a NAS share, then the AD10 just has a SDHC card with openelec on it. Once you initially configure XBMC to get rid of the options you don't need it's as friendly as boxee (the main problem will likely be that the remote that comes with the AD10 has a load of buttons you'll never use in this configuration, so that aspect isn't as straightforward as the boxee remote with its handful of buttons). I do want the ability to do netflix, vudu, etc. Occasionally my girlfriend would rather just watch something on Netflix or Vudu over trying to find it elsewhere. The goal is very much easy easy easy (read, clean and responsive UI) and the ability to play anything I throw at it.
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May 28, 2013 17:34
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MMD3 posted:The goal is very much easy easy easy (read, clean and responsive UI) and the ability to play anything I throw at it.
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May 28, 2013 21:23
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:I hope this isn't console warrior territory, but it kind of sounds like what you want is to just run the Plex server on your PC that's already on and stream to your TV via a Roku box (which has a Plex client in addition to clients for the paid services). would I be seeing any kind of compression/video degradation? I'd certainly consider this if it has all of the benefits of plex. Plex looks very nice and clean from what I've seen of it.
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May 28, 2013 22:22
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MMD3 posted:would I be seeing any kind of compression/video degradation?
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May 28, 2013 23:33
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MMD3 posted:would I be seeing any kind of compression/video degradation? I don't believe Roku can play any filetypes directly from plex, so everything needs to be transcoded. If you feel up for running xbmc that would be the better option vs plex (imo) and then get a Roku. If you get a Roku you can use the plex app for free which would let you test it and see if it would work for you.
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May 29, 2013 01:49
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Samsung just bought Boxee for 30 million bucks: http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/7/3/4490362/boxee-acquired-by-samsung-in-surprise-deal-according-to-report
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Jul 3, 2013 17:02
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Hahaha Jesus. 30 million for inept programmers using branched GNU code.
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Jul 3, 2013 17:27
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Yea, it's a pretty surprising move.
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Jul 3, 2013 17:52
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eightysixed posted:Yea, it's a pretty surprising move. Especially given their move to Boxee TV. What's this company got going for them, anyways? Both products were very disappointing.
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Jul 3, 2013 18:01
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Not to mention the drat thing was discontinued super quick. I moved about three years ago and in that time BB was released and entirely dumped. If I had bought a low spec used PC and remade it as an HTPC at that time instead of the Box, I probably wouldn't even have the problems I'm having since my regular PC actually has a proper web browser that can handle pages with dumb custom scrollbars. But no, I wanted the easy way out 
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Jul 3, 2013 18:19
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I have no idea what inspired Samsung's purchase. I received a free boxee tv as part of their beta program and I felt ripped off. The boxee box had problems, but it could've been a great xbmc alternative if they actually bothered to patch the thing. Boxee TV on the other hand...  What a step in the wrong direction. Maybe Samsung will turn it around.
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Jul 3, 2013 18:39
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Here's to hoping they resurrect Boxee Box and integrate it into their TVs. That would be rad as gently caress.
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Jul 3, 2013 18:41
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Henrik Zetterberg posted:Here's to hoping they resurrect Boxee Box and integrate it into their TVs. That would be rad as gently caress. As awesome as that would be, there's no way it'll ever happen. But drat, I hope they prove me wrong.
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Jul 3, 2013 19:12
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Given their track record, there is no way in hell I would buy a boxes powered TV.
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Jul 3, 2013 20:09
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My only thought is maybe they bought the contracts to all the partners? Doesn't boxee box/tv have a lot of paid services attached? Maybe this bought out all those contracts? I'd love to see xbmc in a boxee like package.. That was my dream.  Although, I'm still mostly happy with my BoxeeBox. But I don't have a huge library, and I don't use streaming services to the thing..
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Jul 3, 2013 20:45
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deong posted:I'd love to see xbmc in a boxee like package.. That was my dream. Rasperry Pi + OpenELEC + XBMC 
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Jul 3, 2013 21:19
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Boxee Cloud DVR shutting down in one week: http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/3/4492160/boxee-cloud-dvr-shutting-down-july-10th-in-wake-of-samsung-acquisition
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Jul 4, 2013 03:36
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Linkletter posted:Boxee Cloud DVR shutting down in one week: http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/3/4492160/boxee-cloud-dvr-shutting-down-july-10th-in-wake-of-samsung-acquisition drat. I don't expect the boxes box patch to show up at this point.
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Jul 4, 2013 04:17
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So I was posting over in SHSC asking what Boxee alternatives exist because I'm in the market for something that will stream all my PC media, regardless of format/codec, that's easier to set up than a XBMC/HTPC box. Instead I find the Boxee thread lamenting the death of their product and suggesting the move to HTPC. With that in mind, this just got announced today: http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-media-receivers/google-chromecast/4505-6739_7-35823617.html Can I get an expert opinion on whether this thing is going to be any good? Edit: The more I pay attention to this article, the more I realize the thing doesn't actually stream content directly from your PC's drive. It has to be able to play in Chrome first. Welp. Hey since I'm here. Any reason why Roku boxes aren't a good Boxee alternative? eightysixed posted:If you just want to stream local content, or content over a network, you really should just go with a rPi and OpenELEC DaveKap fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 24, 2013 20:56
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If you just want to stream local content, or content over a network, you really should just go with a rPi and OpenELEC 
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Jul 24, 2013 21:10
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DaveKap posted:So I was posting over in SHSC asking what Boxee alternatives exist because I'm in the market for something that will stream all my PC media, regardless of format/codec, that's easier to set up than a XBMC/HTPC box. Instead I find the Boxee thread lamenting the death of their product and suggesting the move to HTPC. Pretty much the only reason Roku's aren't quite there is because there isn't a native (as far as I can tell) way to play tons of local content formats. I think you can use the Plex system, but I have no experience with it. Regardless though, Roku's rock. edit: Bought the ChromeCast. Even at $40 (what it costs with shipping) you essentially get a $24 Netflix discount code so it's totally worth it. BonoMan fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 24, 2013 21:24
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As a embedded linux engineer, anybody jumping ship should look at a wandboard quad with the enclosure. It's 150$ish for everything and has full Android support right now. XBMC will hopefully be here within a few months as well. *edit* Looks like there is xbmc support already. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/wandboard/-aFvewchrsk
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Jul 24, 2013 23:54
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okay, I'm back to wanting to build a new dual-purpose XBMC/Steam Box. I've got the budget and have a bunch of extra parts laying around. Does anyone happen to have any links to guides on building a Win8 media box that'll run XBMC & Steam primarily?
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Aug 8, 2013 18:21
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MMD3 posted:okay, I'm back to wanting to build a new dual-purpose XBMC/Steam Box. Build a computer, Install windows 8, install XBMC, install steam. What exactly are you looking for?
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Aug 8, 2013 19:06
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Don Lapre posted:Build a computer, Install windows 8, install XBMC, install steam. What exactly are you looking for? hmmm, guess I'm looking for advice on sweet-spot for CPU, RAM, etc. as well as configuration tips for a fast boot.
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Aug 8, 2013 19:09
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MMD3 posted:hmmm, guess I'm looking for advice on sweet-spot for CPU, RAM, etc. as well as configuration tips for a fast boot. i3/i5, 8gigs, ssd.
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Aug 8, 2013 19:18
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MMD3 posted:hmmm, guess I'm looking for advice on sweet-spot for CPU, RAM, etc. as well as configuration tips for a fast boot. i5-4570 (k if you want to overclock), h87 motherboard (z87 if you want to overclock). 8gb ram. Whatever video card you can afford. For fastest boot you need to make sure the video card you buy supports UEFI. Then in the bios enable fast boot. disable CSM. Install windows 8 in UEFI mode.
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Aug 8, 2013 21:05
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Don Lapre posted:i5-4570 (k if you want to overclock), h87 motherboard (z87 if you want to overclock). 8gb ram. Whatever video card you can afford. so... I'm buying a 240GB SSD and 16GB of RAM to replace my current 120GB SSD and 8GB RAM... I was going to move those over to this new build as well as a radeon 5830 that I just swapped out for a 7950. The hope was that I'd be able to use the 5830 but I'm not opposed to picking up a new video card if necessary. I know the 5830 will do the trick for 90% of the steam games I'd be playing especially at 1920x1080. So what should I be looking for as far as PSU? and if my video card doesn't support UEFI what's a good comparable video card in the ~$150 range. edit: I realize this is more of a question for the HTPC thread but last time I asked most people were trying to tell me to run Linux/OpenELEC and nobody cared about offering advice for Win8 it seemed.
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Aug 8, 2013 21:10
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MMD3 posted:so... I'm buying a 240GB SSD and 16GB of RAM to replace my current 120GB SSD and 8GB RAM... I was going to move those over to this new build as well as a radeon 5830 that I just swapped out for a 7950. If you already have 8gb ddr3 I would just use it. A good 500w 80plus certified should be plenty for an htpc. I run a 670FTW off a 450w 80 plus bronze with no issues.
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Aug 8, 2013 21:15
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