Xbmc , windows or linux

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Which OS would be better if xbmc was going to be the prime app for watching ripped movies and internet scraping of media content.

Thinking Win 7 for the microsoft side , and not really settled on what linux distro.

The ps3 almost got the nod, but i am getting indifferent results getting the ps3 server software to actually work, every time i fire it up, am running win 8 if that makes any difference and the ps3 server is being run in admin mode.

So to sum it up, just win/linux , xbmc, and most likely just firefox.

Declan

2

I just installed an old laptop with Xbuntu and XBMC - it lives in my garage and has TV shows for me to watch while turbotraining. With an extra WAP at the back of the house I can wirelessly connect to the DLNA server (Serviio) and I also copy files across to the disk.

Takes less than a minute to boot from cold to running XBMC. Works a charm (even though the laptop is slightly dodgy and sometimes fails to post).

3

Depends what you’re most comfortable with configuring.

In my case I had to use custom timings to get any picture on my TV, I wouldn’t be trying that with linux because I have no expertise with that.

4

I found two things that were easier to configure or more reliable on a Windows XBMC system: wireless networking and SMB shares. If all your stuff is local, then it is a push.

5

My XBMC setup is all Linux (and Android, now). I’ve got a media server and a couple of front ends on Ubuntu, plus a just-added Ouya. It works smoothly and reliably. (Well, the alpha version of XBMC on the Ouya has some libstagefright issues, but works fine with it disabled.)

6

How easy is the Ouya to use - I have a Pi which runs XBMC pretty well, but have been tempted by an Ouya or an Android stick.

7

I found it quite easy. You do have to sideload XBMC, since they don’t have a release version ready yet, but it only took a few minutes. The only serious hitches I hit were having to disable libstagefright (in the XBMC video settings) and activate the setting that makes it treat remote signals as keypresses in the on-screen keyboards. I was concerned about the internal wifi, because I got a slow connection to my network when I first set it up, but when I reconnected later, the speed was good enough to stream movies smoothly.

XBMC aside, I haven’t loaded much yet, but everything has been pretty smooth, and I like the free previews on all the apps. The only grumble I’ve had is the pinball game among the initially available apps has a serious control lag on the flippers. I think it’s in the app, though, not the box.

8

What is ouya ? And where do i buy one.

Declan

9

Ouya is an Android based games console, intended to be sold pretty cheaply. I’m guessing Balance got in on the Kickstarter that launched the whole thing, as I don’t think you can just buy them yet. Preorders in the UK are £99, which is a bit more than I expected (but we do get ripped off in the UK). But with Mame installed and a big screen, I think I would have some fun. Not to mention the internet TV/media player aspects.

10

Cool, I will keep an eye out for it then, on another note, just picked up a two terrabyte external, and in the process of moving movies over to it.

Declan

11

Yep. I figured the worst I’d get out of it is another XBMC frontend, which I wanted anyway, and an Android system to play around with development. Ouya has partnered with the XBMC folks, and I’ve heard that several of the XBMC people are working for them now, so I expect the support to be pretty solid. Even the alpha version is pretty shiny.