Looking for decent media server (not AppleTV)

[Cave Man]

Yes, I downloaded Plex yesterday and tried it wirh some local files. And yes, it was quite obviously XBMC.I don't know if there are configuration parameters to make it perform better, but playing some video_ts folders on my Macbook did not work out very well. The movies were slow to launch (like XBMC), dialogue would sometimes drop out entirely,

That's peculiar. I use Plex with Blu-ray rips and all but two play perfectly fine on my 2 gHz Mini. DVDs should be a walk in the park. Do you have other things running that might be causing problems?

and I could never figure out how to ff/rew without going in chapter blocks (learning curve).

Use your Apple remote. The "side" buttons take you forward/backward 30 seconds, and the "top/bottom" buttons take you forward/backward 10 minutes.

So for my first try I was not impressed.

You should give it some time and read the online docs. It does have a bit of a learning curve, but once you set it it's pretty much low maintenance. Library mode is best as it will automatically scrape IMDB for movie art and info. It is substantially better with audio than Front Row on the Mac (or Apple TV). It can even do DTS and extract DTS or AC3 from DTS-HD or True-HD on the fly, as well as transcode digital to analog audio.

 

[beaglenz]

I have apppleTV running XBMC natively (free with easy patchstick install) and it plays any file I throw at it. You can stream all of your content from your MAC, PC and NAS via wired or wireless.

Don't give up on your ATV. You can even boot directly into XBMC if you want to do away with the Frontrow style finder under the latest launcher software, very "wife" friendly.

BB

 

[Cave Man]

The problem with XBMC on the ATV is that it is unable to play 720p content since it does not leverage the gpu like the ATV2 software does. Otherwise, it's not too bad of an implementation.

 

[Donar]

popcorn hour

+1

Popcorn Hour A-110 or if you do not need DTS downmix, the Popcornhour A-100. If you need Wireless, there is an wireless N USB stick at the Popcornhour shop - but i don't know how good it is.

 

[danny_w]

I have apppleTV running XBMC natively (free with easy patchstick install) and it plays any file I throw at it. You can stream all of your content from your MAC, PC and NAS via wired or wireless.

Don't give up on your ATV. You can even boot directly into XBMC if you want to do away with the Frontrow style finder under the latest launcher software, very "wife" friendly.

BB

Do you know if XBMC can run with TV 1.0 firmware? Or alternatively do tou know of a way to set TV 2.x firmware for 4:3 mode (I use displayutil with 1.0 but it doesn't work with 2.x).