bhadams Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 So I like so many others have been waiting so patiently for the Media Player. Of all the C4 releases in the last couple of years, I’ve been most excited about this since seeing the prototype at the ‘08 Cedia. So why am I doubting my next purchase?Over the weekend I noticed the new Dell Zino HD, a compact little computer with a $229 price tag. I’ve never considered going the Windows Media Center route up to now but wow is it getting attractive. Photo management, Netfix plugin, online streaming, and oh wait, a full functioning computer. I imagine controlling Google Earth with an SR250 could get pretty fun. I know that using two interfaces isn’t the sexiest solution, but as soon as one of us writes a network driver, C4 could manage movies for that as well. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 So I like so many others have been waiting so patiently for the Media Player. Of all the C4 releases in the last couple of years, I’ve been most excited about this since seeing the prototype at the ‘08 Cedia. So why am I doubting my next purchase?Over the weekend I noticed the new Dell Zino HD, a compact little computer with a $229 price tag. I’ve never considered going the Windows Media Center route up to now but wow is it getting attractive. Photo management, Netfix plugin, online streaming, and oh wait, a full functioning computer. I imagine controlling Google Earth with an SR250 could get pretty fun. I know that using two interfaces isn’t the sexiest solution, but as soon as one of us writes a network driver, C4 could manage movies for that as well. Any thoughts?You could run XBMC on the Dell Zino HD and have a working media player for $229, with two communication and everything right out of the box.The XBMC driver is also free, you just need to get your dealer to get you/install the driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tebery Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I personally would not do that. I don't feel comfortable with a windows based system, which is why LifeWare was never an option for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgbrown Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 ^ I'll second Dan. It's real, it works, and you can have it today for the cost of the software and what ever you pay your dealer for the install of the driver, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I personally would not do that. I don't feel comfortable with a windows based system, which is why LifeWare was never an option for me.You could run xbmc on apple or a linux box as well FYI http://xbmc.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgbrown Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 You know I didn't give that a second thought since I don't run Windows. The Dell Zino HD can run Linux, specifically Ubuntu. At one point back on Oct there was an Ubuntu manual floating around for that hardware platform from Dell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhadams Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 Knowing of the 2-way driver that has been written, I looked in to XBMC about a month ago. I'll probably take some fire for this, but I was less impressed. I just think that WMC is a slicker interface. I seemed to run smoother on my computer as well. Plus WMC has a great Netflix plugin. XBMC doesn't seem to have that natively (without some added software workaround I'm sure). I guess I hoped for more out of the gate from the Media Player. I think I'm happy to wait until they fully develop their video distribution plan with this piece before I jump in. Maybe I expected too much. Netflix, more audio formats, and photo viewing would have been nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Knowing of the 2-way driver that has been written, I looked in to XBMC about a month ago. I'll probably take some fire for this, but I was less impressed. I just think that WMC is a slicker interface. I seemed to run smoother on my computer as well. Plus WMC has a great Netflix plugin. XBMC doesn't seem to have that natively (without some added software workaround I'm sure). I guess I hoped for more out of the gate from the Media Player. I think I'm happy to wait until they fully develop their video distribution plan with this piece before I jump in. Maybe I expected too much. Netflix, more audio formats, and photo viewing would have been nice.WMC is nice, however the IP control is only one way and doesn't offer coverart selection, Internet Radio, or Internet TV like XBMC does, which is why a lot of people chose it. I for one would love a two-way IP driver of WMC that provides coverart selection, as well as DVR & live tv viewing functionality built into one. A TiVo on steroids, if you will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 WMC is nice, however the IP control is only one way and doesn't offer coverart selection, Internet Radio, or Internet TV like XBMC does, which is why a lot of people chose it. I for one would love a two-way IP driver of WMC that provides coverart selection, as well as DVR & live tv viewing functionality built into one. A TiVo on steroids, if you will.That would definately be cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3fingerbrown Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Folks, please help a newbie out here on what this all means. I've heard of XBMC, and understand it to be an open source media aggregation/player software you install and use on a computer. But I'm not sure how this works with control4. As I understand it, to make this work you need to:1. Connect a home computer (PC/Mac/appleTV) (or even just a NAS?) to the network and install XBMC.2. Connect the HDMI or component output of the computer to your TV, AV receiver, or distributed video system (JAP or component switcher).3. Install XBMC 2-way driver in composer and program C4 system accordingly.How it works: Control4 will pull all the media info and integrate it into the C4 GUI. So for example, all the cover art for movies, music titles, etc., appear in the c4 GUI, and this is done through XBMC. And when you push play on a movie, music file, etc., c4 directs XBMC to play it. So you don't actually ever see the XBMC GUI on your TV screen, but this driver allows you the c4 GUI to coordinate with the XBMC GUI in playing content from your computer.At least that is what I understand from Alanchow's demo video ( If this is a free driver, and the media player is $400, what advantage does the new C4 media player have over this? I guess the media player can stream content directly from anywhere in the house, wherever it is located. Without the media player, you have to have the computer have a component/hdmi output directly connected to the TV (or through a distributed video system and to the TV).Do I have this right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 If this is a free driver, and the media player is $400, what advantage does the new C4 media player have over this? I guess the media player can stream content directly from anywhere in the house, wherever it is located. Without the media player, you have to have the computer have a component/hdmi output directly connected to the TV (or through a distributed video system and to the TV).Do I have this right?You still need a NAS for the media player.The media player is the software (xbmc if you will) and hardware (pc) in one box.For XBMC, you have to have an XBOX, AppleTV, PC, for it to run on. This alone can easily cost $400.So, it's really about ease of use. Buy the Control4 piece, and it works. You dont have to think about it, worry about the pc being on all the time, the XBMC app running, or someone got a virus on it, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3fingerbrown Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 You still need a NAS for the media player.The media player is the software (xbmc if you will) and hardware (pc) in one box.For XBMC, you have to have an XBOX, AppleTV, PC, for it to run on. This alone can easily cost $400.So, it's really about ease of use. Buy the Control4 piece, and it works. You dont have to think about it, worry about the pc being on all the time, the XBMC app running, or someone got a virus on it, etc.Can the media player stream off of any desktop computer in the house that is on? It has to stream off a NAS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 You still need a NAS for the media player.The media player is the software (xbmc if you will) and hardware (pc) in one box.For XBMC' date=' you have to have an XBOX, AppleTV, PC, for it to run on. This alone can easily cost $400.So, it's really about ease of use. Buy the Control4 piece, and it works. You dont have to think about it, worry about the pc being on all the time, the XBMC app running, or someone got a virus on it, etc.[/quote']Can the media player stream off of any desktop computer in the house that is on? It has to stream off a NAS?A NAS is recommended, but a desktop pc can be used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 A NAS is recommended, but a desktop pc can be used.So long as said PC isn't running Windows 7. I used to stream from my XP PC but once I got a Windows 7 PC, Windows 7 wouldn't allow other components to stream video files. I was forced to buy a NAS, but I am glad I did.I can shut my PC off once in a while now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 A NAS is recommended' date=' but a desktop pc can be used.[/quote']So long as said PC isn't running Windows 7. I used to stream from my XP PC but once I got a Windows 7 PC, Windows 7 wouldn't allow other components to stream video files. I was forced to buy a NAS, but I am glad I did.I can shut my PC off once in a while now.I broke my windows 7 by attempting to extend the partion I guess it’s a known bug that jacks with the boot manager when you extend your partion if running windows 7 and it being active. Sorry had to vent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.