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Is XBMC mature enough to consider replacing Popcorn Hour players?
PeterB:
I currently us two older generation Popcorn Hour players, a C200 and an A200. Since these have been superseded by the C/A300 range, I'd been wondering about replacing my units. However, it has come to my attention that XBMC has matured considerably since I made the decision to buy the Popcorn Hours and, perhaps, I should consider moving in that direction.
I ask the question here because it seems that there are a number of XBMC users here, serving media content from unRAID.
Being a long-term Ubuntu user, I initially was attracted by the XBMCbuntu option. Then I came across the OpenELEC project, and found the concept of this minimalist dedicated build very attractive.
I have trialled OpenELEC on my desktop machine (Intel DH55TC/i650) and, apart from the DNS problem in the latest two betas, it seems to be very attractive.
So, how many XBMC users do we have here, and which build do you all use? What hardware are you running it on?
If possible, I'd like to opt for a very simple build, using on-board video, if possible (I didn't find any objections with the video built in to the H55 chipset video and audio are passed throubh the built-in HDMI port without any apparent problems or limitations).
I would want to centralise the video catalogue/database on the unRAID server - does this work okay with mySQL?
Do any of you have any advice/recommendations - software and hardware-wise?
zirconi:
Xbmc user here and former popcorn one.
I'm glad i made the switch,xbmc is so superior in organizing my movie info,posters,banners etc etc. I have a an amd fusion e-350 build,4 gb ram, 60 gb ssd and a simple mce remote. Using windows 64bit + xbmc. All is working great once you disabled all those catalyst control center "improvements" settings that ruin the picture quality. I did a test yesterday between a bluray played on my ps3 and the same movie in mkv untouched played with my xbmc and i cannot spot the differences on my 42" lcd.
Best of all : xbmc is "wife ready" ! :)
Unraid is working great too, i leave my server always in sleep sending a wake on lan packet from my xbmc when i want to watch a movie.
My popcorn is in my garage now ehehehe
lainie:
I think XBMC is great. There are only 2 things I wish it had that it does not have:
1) Slow motion. Slow motion is not something I use often & when I want it, I end up opening whatever video I am watching in VLC. People have asked for slow motion in XBMC forums & been told it has to do with the player that is used.
2) PVR functionality: watch & record live TV. This can be achieved through extra programs, details to be found at http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW-TO:Watch_TV_in_XBMC. A lot of extra steps, but something I plan to setup for myself soon.
eroz:
I have the C-200 and while it was great at its time, it has gotten a bit sluggish and constantly needing a reboot. I ended up seeing a deal posted here for a zotac ID33BR, it has an Intel Atom D525, onboard graphics and built-in Blu-ray drive. I installed win7pro on it tho, as I heard there were more drivers available for windows to get everything playing nicely. I like the zotac it has been able to stream 1080P mkv's wirelessly with no stutter, unlike the c-200. I've also found that the movies are scanned correctly on xbmc where on the pch/yamj I always get incorrect movie scans.
I'm waiting for the c-200 to completely breakdown before replacing it with an xbmc machine.
*edit*
I also installed xbmc on my main computer and have mysql running on unraid. It links xbmc machines nicely. I start a movie or tvshow on my computer and once the tv with xbmc is available (kids need to watch their shows :D ), I can switch to that tv and it picks up the show/movie right where I left off. And it correctly keeps a record of watched tvshows/movies.
Meteorite:
I used both Popcorn hours and XBMC. both are great.
But now i'm using http://www.team-mediaportal.com een branch off of the XBMC project.
and liking it more and more, my advice is test them all and then put all de pros and con next to each other and make a choice.
btw i'm using an Atom D510 mini-itx board with laptop psu for this setup.
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