Xbox Dashboard

[Harlowe]

Damn, I hate this new dashboard. I loved the old one and this one is less appealing than PS3's. Also it totally fucked up Hulu plus and Netflix. They are really clunky to use now.

Also lots more ads or at least they were easier to ignore before.

[Taxious]

Have yet to update mine... and was just reading through this. Seems pretty shitty of MS.. I guess they are preparing everyone for Windows8, and added some facebook integration.

[Harlowe]

I'm thinking about getting a Roku XD box - then we have access to Netflix, Huluplus and Amazon without the bs. Anyone here use or have exerience with these? Cnet review rated it "excellent" and it seems to have decent reviews on Amazon as well.

[Taxious]

I'm thinking about getting a Roku XD box

I know there are a bunch of options for media PCs out there. I was particularly fond of Boxee for a while, however Roku is much cheaper! I'm reading more about Roku now, but I just noticed it supports streaming *.mkv files (the standard for downloaded HD movies/shows) so it's looking pretty sure I may just order one for myself for xmas!

These days I'm primarily using my xbox to stream movies to my TV from my comp, however it doesn't have *.mkv support. My roommate's PS3 is even worse with all the Cinavia crap on there (yet another reason to hate Sony). I just got an email that my xbox live subscription is up in a month so it's looking likely I'll just not renew, especially since I'm paying to see more advertisements with this new update...

[Taxious]

I can't even find if Roku supports media streaming from windows 7 or if it's all just through the USB port. Hmm..

[Harlowe]

CNET says "The Roku 2 XS doesn't currently support DLNA access (streaming media from networked PCs)"

Right now, I mostly use my xbox for streaming Netflix and Huluplus, so that's pretty much all I need from it. Seems stupid to keep paying for a gold account I'm not using. I'd rather have a piece of equip that does it for me, I already pay for the subscriptions to Netflix and Huluplus.

[xilly]

Damn, I hate this new dashboard. I loved the old one and this one is less appealing than PS3's. Also it totally fucked up Hulu plus and Netflix. They are really clunky to use now.

Also lots more ads or at least they were easier to ignore before.

I've had this dashboard for a little over a month now and I'm used to it. The placement of a lot of things is damn annoying though, and the ads are much more in your face. Of course, the PS3's interface isn't for everyone, but it's still pretty much the same as it ever was, and it's still awesome. Being a hater gets you nowhere.

I can't even find if Roku supports media streaming from windows 7 or if it's all just through the USB port. Hmm..

It doesn't really apply, but fyi PS3 streams fine from Windows 7 media server, and it has native apps for Netflix and Hulu as well.

Seems stupid to keep paying for a gold account I'm not using. I'd rather have a piece of equip that does it for me, I already pay for the subscriptions to Netflix and Huluplus.

Couldn't agree more. The PS3 offers both of these services and PSN is free.

[Taxious]

I can't even find if Roku supports media streaming from windows 7 or if it's all just through the USB port. Hmm..

It doesn't really apply, but fyi PS3 streams fine from Windows 7 media server, and it has native apps for Netflix and Hulu as well.

Like I said earlier in this thread, Sony puts Cinavia on the PS3 though which blocks a few of my movies I've tried to watch. Fuck that. Also, I found the interface on the PS3 for browsing through a folder of movies on your hard drive to be impossible to use. (think in terms of I have one giant folder containing hundreds of files)

The xbox handles UPnP and file browsing MUCH better.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

If you hit the sales right you can buy or build a dual core PC for not much more than a Roku box. More horsepower than even the consoles and nothing is locked down. It can run anything and do anything and there's no big company trying to tell you what you can do with it. Or worse, a big company to decide one day to cripple it, since you are only technically licensing the hardware. They can brick any of those devices at any time.

But having said that, seems like you would be happy with Roku if all you want to do is watch the few streaming services that it supports. It's priced great and gets great reviews. Internet goes in one end, TV goes in the other end. Pretty basic.

[Taxious]

Yeah Roku definitely not going to work for me. I think I'll be putting together a media comp of some sorts and put Boxee OS over that so I don't ever have to worry about compatibility again (although I suppose I could just get a windows media PC and put VLC on there).

Free, I know you said you have a media box next to your TV. What should I be looking for in terms of hardware? I'm assuming a beefy video card with HDMI output is the most important component?

[Freecare Spiritwise]

I'd say dual core (min) with 3 or 4 gigs of RAM. Pretty much any PCI-E video card is going to play HD movies. My movie PC currently only has a $30 GeForce 8400 GS in it! The decent card I had in it fried, I had this one in a drawer and it plays 99.9% of our media collection. It slightly hitches on a few 1080p movies but these are huge movies, like 15 GB.

I use just a plain VGA cable to the TV for mine since I don't use the TV for sound and don't care about the HDMI. In fact, it seems like every setup I work on with an HDMI connection I have to fuck around with it a lot more.

So just for media it doesn't need much of a video card. Pretty much anything you can plug into a PCI-E slot is going to be able to render most HD movies. Even the integrated video on some of the newer mobos is more than fine. But the current $50 range on newegg should do fine. Now if you'll be gaming with it, that's a different story lol.

[Harlowe]

the PS3's interface isn't for everyone, but it's still pretty much the same as it ever was, and it's still awesome. Being a hater gets you nowhere.

Being a hater gets you nowhere? /boggle What is that supposed to mean?

I didn't hate on PS3's interface, I just insinuated it was unappealing. I loved Xbox's clean interface right before this one and do not like the current one. The current one is less appealing to me than PS3's, how is that hating on anything...it's annoyance. This is actually the first time a dashboard has changed and it's bothered me.

PS3 is free and streams Netflix fine, but has a lot of trouble streaming Huluplus consistently. The Xbox worked like a charm for everything and I liked the Zune marketplace.

[Taxious]

My movie PC currently only has a $30 GeForce 8400 GS in it!

Aww my old video card! I actually have one of those lying around in one of my computer junk drawers. That thing got me through some good years of gaming.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

I forgot to mention that they're starting to make media player boxes with the Android OS on them. I assume that means you can install whatever netflix, hulu, etc. apps on it.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/1080p-full ... cal-102958

And of course you can get the generic players for nothin' these days too:

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/1080p-full ... lver-48656

[Freecare Spiritwise]

My movie PC currently only has a $30 GeForce 8400 GS in it!

Aww my old video card! I actually have one of those lying around in one of my computer junk drawers. That thing got me through some good years of gaming.

It's the second time this one's been un-retired. It must be a good card. If it didn't hitch on a couple movies I'd almost leave it there. It's small and passively cooled so it's perfect for a low power and quiet media PC.

My current media player is an AMD Athlon 5200+ dual core chip with 3 gigs of G.Skill DDR2 800 RAM (4th stick was bad) and Windows 7 Ultimate x64. It has just a 1TB drive in it since it gets its mojo from the network.

Even mine is almost overkill. I built a budget HTPC for my mother in law and it's a bottom of the line Celeron dual core. I got the chip and motherboard for $29 shipped and I think it has 2 gigs of extra cheap no-name DDR2 800 memory. I put one of those PCI Wi-Fi cards in it where the little antenna sticks out the back and she loves it. It's nice and perky with Windows 7.

[Ddrak]

I've heard a rooted AppleTV is pretty awesome as a media player...

Dd

[Freecare Spiritwise]

You can also flash some of those cheap Chinese media players to Linux.