Media Player suggestions

ImARebel

Hi there,

I have been reading all the posts here and I'm a bit confused as to what features are available on what item, so if someone could help me I'd really appreciate it

I'm looking for a media player, which I can download onto directly and completely take my laptop out of the loop.

(at the moment we have a PS3 which we stream onto from the laptop but it's seriously slow and we end up having to copy the file onto the PS3 itself so we can watch it, a pain on a friday night when you've got something you want to watch and forgot to copy it over)

it must be able to download torrents directly onto the player
it must be wireless
it must be relatively simple to use

i would like it to have internal storage but for the right price I would consider an external drive + player (or maybe an item needs a HDD bought again I'd consider this)

I'm trying to cut down on things the baby can throw around the room, so would very much like it to be a self contained unit. But I'd compromise if needs be

we have a HD ready TV

I work in the computer industry so I don't want to have to come home and spend hours twiddling and tweaking something. With a baby there is just no time. I want to click a button and there is item playing on screen...

I was looking at boxee but don't know if it has all the features i need

I will consider all items within a reasonable price. I'm not sure what is high-end in these but 400 to 500eur would be the absolute max I'd pay

and if I can get it for considerably less, I'd appreciate that too

thanks!

degsie

Look no further...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Desktop-Graphics-Wireless-Keyboard/dp/B0056PDKXI

Put an OS on it and install XBMC, done!

liamf

The Revo 3700s are nice, but man, that's very expensive.

I'd seriously consider eBay and one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=er1401&_sacat=See-All-Categories

There are some there for less than £130.

I have both a Revo 3610, and an eMachines 1401.
I took the HDDs out of them and boot them off USB sticks running a full Ubuntu install and with XBMC running.

The eMachines one is even nicer than the Revo 3610 when used in this mode: it's almost completely silent, where the Revo 3610 still runs it's fan.

Both are perfect XBMC media players.

ImARebel

thanks for the suggestions

At the risk of looking like a complete eejit, surely if I take out the HDD, I will have no storage on the player

or am I missing something?

plus will I always have to boot it up using USB keys?

USB Keys & babies don't really mix, lol

and I don't want it too fiddly for my other half to use

in the meantime someone at work recommended a popcorn hour one, would it be any good?

ImARebel

and also (again probably showing my ignorance)

don't they all need a keyboard - again not something I'm looking for

I liked the ones with the qwerty keyboard on the remote (remotes are easily stored on a mantlepiece, keyboards are not so easy, lol)

Voodu Child

You wouldn't take out the HDD unless you had a reason to. I think the guy above just said that he took out the HDD because it suited him.

Get the Linux er1401 wherever you can find it cheapest. Ive seen it for £99-129 range. Also get an IR remote. You don't need a keyboard, I run OpenElec on my Revo and the keyboard is put away.

Install OpenElec onto the HDD - you use a USB stick to do the install but after that it runs off the HDD. This is a stripped-down OS made specifically for XBMC. It is very appliance like with zero setup - you just boot it up and it is straight into XBMC, it updates to the new version automatically, it is the closest thing to an 'XBMC box' and very noob friendly.

If you want torrents, OpenElec has a great Transmission service. You just go into the addons menu in XBMC and install it. It works directly on the player though you add torrents to the queue from another machine via web interface. Same for newsgroup downloads, there is a great package to automate everything.

liamf

You wouldn't take out the HDD unless you had a reason to. I think the guy above just said that he took out the HDD because it suited him.

Right. All my content comes across my network from someplace else (NAS or MythTV backend). So I didn't need any local storage on the media player and taking out the HDD just make it run a little cooler/quieter. And yes, in that case, you always need to boot it from the plugged in USB stick. Which isn't an issue for me since they sit out of the way behind the TV.

Apart from that works just as if the HDD was there. Boot up, straight into XBMC, remote control via IR. Eminently family friendly.

Skerries

I use one of these wireless remotes but I think there is a new version out

http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/2010/12/31/could-the-rii-mini-wireless-keyboard-with-touchpad-be-the-ultimate-htpc-remote/

ImARebel

Ok thanks for the explanations. I think I'm getting a better understanding of it

I'll have a bit of a read tonight (not so easy in work) and if I've any further questions about the install etc I know who to ask

Also meant to say I'm probably being a tad lazy and the popcorn hour option seemed like the easy option, it's just probably not the best option

then also I'm probably blinkered in my full use of a media player. at the moment I only ever view downloads, but if there was an app to stream I'd probably use that (and happily pay) for the improved quality etc

thanks for the feedback - much appreciated!