Topic: Why a 100usd Xbox can be better than the Apple TV (Read 341 times)

Xbox-Scene · « **on:** March 26, 2007, 01:52:00 PM »

Why a 100usd Xbox can be better than the Apple TV
Posted by XanTium | March 26 14:45 EST | News Category: Xbox

(IMG:http://www.burstnet.com/cgi-bin/ads/ad9520b.cgi/ns/v=2.1S/sz=300x250A/

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In these days of PS3s and Xbox 360s, it's easy to forget the consoles that came before them. But they're still there, and with the prices falling by the day and huge libraries of games that you know will work without emulation issues, there's still life in them. Just buying the XBox for a disposable weekend of Forza might be seen as wasteful, but Microsoft's first foray into the games console market has more uses than just gaming. In fact, in the following ways it may even be a better media investment than competing products. What does it do better than the much hyped-AppleTV, for instance?
1. Lower price: $99 sure is cheap compared to $300
2. Open standards for types of files: Being able to play DivX or WMV content is good
3. It also plays games: It's still a games console, after all

The arrival of our XBox 360 meant that our first XBox could be repurposed as the living-room media server. Now I don't need to keep plugging my PowerBook into the bedroom TV set, and Elle can pipe her music collection from her PC to her heart's content. It's not the sort of thing I'd suggest for my parents or anyone else of a technophobic nature, but if the AppleTV won't do what you want or if you prefer rolling your own, pop down to your local used video game emporium and see what's lurking in their stockroom. Apple TV certainly has its uses, but the original Xbox is easier to hack, cheaper, and has much more support from the hacking community right now than Apple TV. If you've not looked into XBMC, it's absolutely worth it. Depending on your needs, it may be a far superior option to Apple TV, or any of the other PC-to-TV devices out there today.

Full Story: arstechnica.com

FrostyTheSnowman · « **Reply #1 on:** March 26, 2007, 01:04:00 PM »

XBMC FTW!

IMO, it's even better than most upscaling DVD players too!

Original (modded) XBOXes just kick ass. Simply put.

The Zep Man · « **Reply #2 on:** March 26, 2007, 01:19:00 PM »

QUOTE(FrostyTheSnowman @ Mar 26 2007, 08:11 PM)

XBMC FTW!

IMO, it's even better than most upscaling DVD players too!

Original (modded) XBOXes just kick ass. Simply put.

You said it.

Combine the now forgotten child of Microsoft with the power of the open-source community and you still have a kick-ass device which can play almost all types of music and movies. In my opinion, HD movies are overrated anyway. And Digital Restriction Management is just 'not my thing'...

And it's better for the environment when you re-use older hardware. Also, compared to most game consoles and PC's, it doesn't even use that much power.

cloudyimpulse · « **Reply #3 on:** March 26, 2007, 01:33:00 PM »

Yeah I was gonna setup something for my parents at their house to do streaming audio and video from their computers. But unfortunately the xbox is a little loud... So, the thing is, do I love my dad enough to take it apart and make it quieter.... Hmmmm.

TeamDevil · « **Reply #4 on:** March 26, 2007, 01:46:00 PM »

This is so obvious it hurts. Can you guys believe that there are some people that think the appletv is the best thing since sliced bread? There is nothing currently that can beat XBMC (maybe the ps3 running linux and mplayer or mythtv comes close but that is yet to be streamlined I think). XBMC is the shit and microsoft missed out on a chance to really give us, the consumer, what we really wanted with the xbox360 as far as being a real multi-media system.

The Zep Man · « **Reply #5 on:** March 26, 2007, 01:39:00 PM »

QUOTE(cloudyimpulse @ Mar 26 2007, 08:33 PM)

Yeah I was gonna setup something for my parents at their house to do streaming audio and video from their computers. But unfortunately the xbox is a little loud... So, the thing is, do I love my dad enough to take it apart and make it quieter.... Hmmmm.

A good 80mm fan and a 2.5" 4200RPM laptop HDD would be a good start to show some love for your parents.

QUOTE(TeamDevil @ Mar 26 2007, 08:46 PM)

This is so obvious it hurts. Can you guys believe that there are some people that think the appletv is the best thing since sliced bread? There is nothing currently that can beat XBMC (maybe the ps3 running linux and mplayer or mythtv comes close but that is yet to be streamlined I think). XBMC is the shit and microsoft missed out on a chance to really give us, the consumer, what we really wanted with the xbox360 as far as being a real multi-media system.

The iPod isn't the best MP3 player either. According to the commercials, you must have long hair and be an artist, in a band or unemployed (see the former two) in order to buy one.

Microsoft's mistake isn't that they crippled the Xbox 360 for only their own media formats. They don't want to pay the needed royalties for other video/audio formats. The mistake they did make was not allowing the Xbox 360 to run unsigned code. Xbox Media Center 360 will be a fact, in time...

eklynx · « **Reply #6 on:** March 26, 2007, 02:09:00 PM »

The problem is that there is still not a 'legal' way to get xmbc on an xbox for most people. A regular joe cannot just go to a shop in the US, bring in their xbox, and have it modded with XBMC put on it. The regular joe audience is what the AppleTV/Media Center Extenders are made for. I'm happy with my XBox 360 extender, and have been using it a lot. I still use my XBOX with XMBC as a media center as well on my other TV.

It all comes down to:

a) ease of obtaining the solution
B) ease of using the solution and
c) cost of solution.

For us geeks, we're happy to throw a to the wind, partially ignore b, and thrive on c, and for us, XBMC is
perfect. For Harry Homeowner and Kathy Kidfactory, if they want it, they're gonna focus on most likely b,a,c.

This post has been edited by eklynx: Mar 26 2007, 09:10 PM

Blue_Dawg · « **Reply #7 on:** March 26, 2007, 02:58:00 PM »

My thoughts exactly. It is being billed and advertised to a specific audience and they will eat it up.

juan_2006 · « **Reply #8 on:** March 26, 2007, 03:42:00 PM »

thats the #1 reason i use my xbox (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) so i can watch movies, listen to music, play games gotta love my xbox

EliTe.Modder · « **Reply #9 on:** March 26, 2007, 03:52:00 PM »

XBMC is indeed sweet as hell for the price/performance ratio. i know as well as everyone else here that the xbox is underpowered as hell and it hinders XBMC development.
With the news of the recently found vulnerability in the 360 and linux to follow, we need to participate in maturing the 360 homebrew scene. Then we need to set up MASSIVE donations to the team XBMC to encourage development of XBMC360.

alexh · « **Reply #10 on:** March 26, 2007, 04:06:00 PM »

I like my XBOX-1 XBMC setup but it has some issues the Apple TV doesnt have:

1) No 1080i support
2) No hardware video decoder / DSP

The Apple TV is better at decoding H264 in 720p than the XBOX-1 ever will be.

Other benefits of the Apple TV is that it is silent and has built in 802.11n wireless.

Is it worth £199... perhaps if it supports more formats in time. That will depend on the flexibility of it's hardware decoder and the power of it's CPU

This post has been edited by alexh: Mar 26 2007, 11:06 PM

biga55 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 26, 2007, 04:19:00 PM »

QUOTE(alexh @ Mar 26 2007, 05:06 PM)

I like my XBOX-1 XBMC setup but it has some issues the Apple TV doesnt have:

1) No 1080i support
2) No hardware video decoder / DSP

The Apple TV is better at decoding H264 in 720p than the XBOX-1 ever will be.

Other benefits of the Apple TV is that it is silent and has built in 802.11n wireless.

Is it worth £199... perhaps if it supports more formats in time. That will depend on the flexibility of it's hardware decoder and the power of it's CPU

Yeah, I agree. I can't playback 720p/1080i material with xbmc which is a must for HDTV output. I thought it was much more useful when I only had a SD television. Also, I think XBMC output sucks.

For the general population, who want a HD solution with no hassle when it comes to setting it up and buying/managing content, Apple TV beats xbmc hands down. The 360 would obviously make a better comparison but video output sucks on it too.

symbols · « **Reply #12 on:** March 26, 2007, 04:38:00 PM »

I have my XBMC outputting to a TV in 1080i fine. You can instantly tell the difference when using XBMC to switch to a HDTV output from SD. What type of problems do you have? The latest XBMC even includes video switched from SD -> HD (before you had to use the MS Dash). Are you using the XBox High Definition Video HDTV AV Pack component connectors? Of course your regular DVDs won't be unconverted or even progressively played back.

On the other hand, the xbox is limited by its processing power to playback a lot of HD content. So far I have played ~2gb 720p 5.1DD features without problem. I have also played 1080i 5.1 transport stream files (they get quite large however) easily. What is does have a problem with is the latest 4.5gb and greater x264 encodes that are available online. Also it won't even come close to playing ANY HD WMV files. These are hardware related short comings which XBMC can't overcome.

colt45joe · « **Reply #13 on:** March 26, 2007, 04:44:00 PM »

QUOTE(The Zep Man @ Mar 26 2007, 08:26 PM)

In my opinion, HD movies are overrated anyway.

you have no soul.

jcaspar1 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 26, 2007, 04:59:00 PM »

"and has much more support from the hacking community right now than Apple TV."

Really?

Apple TV has been out for what, one week?

Why not melt the two together and port XBMC to run on Apple TV. Other than the games, that would be the best of both worlds....

Author Topic: Why a 100usd Xbox can be better than the Apple TV (Read 341 times)