Do you like watching movies on your computer monitor or do you prefer to watch them on your television ? I think most people who answer this question prefer to watch the movies on tv which has many advantages: Bigger Screen, you can watch with more people without feeling crowded around a pc monitor and it has that certain tv feeling that watching on a pc monitor has not.
We all know that one solution would be to buy an expensive barebone or multimedia computer that is simply a small computer next to your tv which outputs the signal to the tv instead of a pc monitor. Another option would be to buy a multimedia adapter which is a device that makes it possible to stream media from a computer to your hifi or dvd player. This is indeed a possible solution but it would still mean that your pc has to be running to stream the contents.
The solution that I installed at my home is simple, relativly cheap and offers extra values. I’am speaking of a xbox with a replaced hard drive and modchip installed. I’am talking about a first generation xbox but with the first mod chips appearing for the xbox 360 this will most likely soon be possible with the new system as well. You should check your local laws before you think about buying the parts that you need for this operation, it should be legal in most countries though.
The price of a xbox, a mod chip and a larger hard drive (160+ GB) should be no more than 400$, most likely less than that. It also depends on the type of mod chip that you want to install and if you are doing the changes yourself or let someone do them for you.
It really does not matter which mod chip you choose, I would choose a solder less one if you are not that tech savy and want to do it yourself. There are ways to buy a pre modded xbox on the net and replace the hard drive with a bigger one. All you need is a special partition tool that converts the bigger hd to xbox format. (Slayer) You burn this tool to dvd and run the dvd when the hd has been replaced. Really easy, I was able to do it..
You can setup an ftp server from within your xbox afterwards and connect the xbox to your pc network. Use an ftp tool to transfer files to the xbox. One that you definatly need is XBMC (Xbox Media Center) This is a free media player that plays many formats, this will be your multimedia player. XBMC is only available as a source file, you could try IRC or Usenet for binary versions.
You transfer movies, music and pictures using ftp as well. The xbox has a 100 mbit network card which means transfers are really fast. You are also able to play region free dvd movies on the xbox and play xbox games. (of course).
If you want to enjoy online play I suggest a xbox with a modchip that you can turn off when you want to play online. Microsoft may detect modchips when you connect to them and could ban you.
My Xbox has a Xecuter modchip installed, this was some years ago, think it was three years ago. I never had to replace the hard drive, it is still working and I can watch all sorts of divx, xvid, avi, wmv and the like movies. Never used it for music or pictures but this should be running fine as well.
I think I replace my old Xbox with a new Xbox 360 once stable modchips come out for this system and the complete system will be a bit cheaper. This will most likely happen before christmas because Nintendo Wii and Sonys PS3 come out before christmas as well.
Let me know if you want me to go into detail somewhere or if you are using a different multimedia device.
Related posts:
- Xbox 360 finally supporting Divx and Xvid
- How to easily save multimedia streams
- Geexbox Linux Distribution to play multimedia
- Video Game Systems Modchip Hysteria
- Xbox Media Center Cross Platform Alpha
- Wii Modchip Comparision (Wiinja, Cyclowiz, Wiikey)
- Multimedia Collection Software
- Upgrading to a bigger computer monitor
I also have an Xbox with XBMC (latest T3CH build) installed. I can’t say that it’s the perfect multimedia player since there are some videos it can’t play perfectly particularly some anime videos released by fansub groups like K-F who sub “One Piece” episodes. They use x264 (h264 variant) which any current XMBC has hiccups in playing.
I’ve been running XBMC on 2 Xboxs for about a year now, and I can’t fault it apart from the fact that the Xbox doesn’t have enough power to play native HD content. I keep praying that they’ll hurry up and hack the 360 soon, otherwise I’ll have to get one of the new Netgear EVA700’s when they come out next month I think.
Here’s some screenshots of my setup
http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk/2006/03/21/838/
XBMC rocks! I’ve been using it for almost 3 years now. It just keeps getting better. Any limations it has is simply due to the lower processing power of Xbox.