Media Center Software Vs Xtremer

B

bejay

Disciple
Hey Guys,

Been doing a lot of research on Media Centers these days and have a few common and basic questions.

1. Why need PORTABLE Media Center like Xtreamer when you have a HTPC with good MC Software?? Of Course the obvious answer being Portability, but I can't think of any other reason, Can you guys think of more reasons??

2. If MC Softwares like XBMC can run platform independent (Like LIVE CD), then what is the difference in Power Consumption of PC, CPU Load and other Cost implying factors?? What is such factors in comparison as in case of Xtreamer or WDTV or whatever thats out now?? Why should I buy Xtreamer if my HTPC can do the same job and lot more with much less cost??

3. And Which is the best MC Software Available out there, I have been doing a lot of reading on this and everyone seems to differ with everyone (as always), but I stumbled upon this group on google and they have been doing some extraordinary research on the same, they are Telematics freedom foundations, I thought it would be great to share it with you guys, I have attached their comparison report on MC softwares which I thought was awesome effort.

So what do you guys think??
 

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A true htpc is never finished, it is always a work in progress :) It is suitable only for a geek's living room, where people wouldn't mind waiting for the movie to start while the geek fiddles around with codecs and ffdshow and whatnot.

A media player like xtremer or wdtv is like a dvd player, where you just press a couple of buttons and the movie starts. (whats the fun in that? :no: )
 
^ Not really, I think once a HTPC is properly set up (which in itself is not a huge task, there are some good guides that simply need to be followed, may take about 2 hours) they can run great and be easily used by non geeks. That is until the geek of the house decides the HTPC requires some obscure functionality and ends up breaking the whole set-up.

@OP some of the advantages of an HTPC apart from cost are:

1. Almost infinite configuration flexibility

2. Integration of TV (including pausing and resuming live TV etc.)

3. Run other functionallity. For instance my HTPC which is on 24/7 also acts as a web server, caching proxy server, torrent downloader, NAS etc.

About the best media center my vote goes to MediaPortal. It's a little complex to set up but the possibilities are endless and support is brilliant. Wouldn't change it for anything.
 
In my opinion, you can make your HTPC to play any kind of video/audio files just by installing the required codecs(future proof). Also can be used to play PC games. I have built my custom HTPC on my old (infact very very old) P3. But, powerful HTPC requires good mobo and proc. I am using media portal. It's excellent and with some tweaks, i made it to work with my old remote (it's actually the remote for my old TV tuner care PCTV).
//Thangam
 
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