XBox 360 vs. NMT

[tuckster]

Wow, after 105 views and no replies I am going to alter my question and see if I can get some kind of discussion going on this subject.

Has anyone used an Xbox 360 as a media center extender? How did it work and what did you like or dislike about it? Does the XBox allow for viewing of live tv? Are there sound quality/surround sound issues? How is the WAF?

For those that are using Popcorn Hour or other NMT devices with GBPVR, what do you like or dislike about the setup? Is it slow, does it crash much? How is the WAF?

[DuncanCW]

Hi Tuckster.

I purchased an XBox when the current generation came out last year, my dvd player in the living room died, and I was hoping for more control and responsiveness than the MVP allows.

Whenever I streamed music or video from the computer or used it as a Media Center extender, my cpu usage would hit 100% on both cores, making it difficult to do other things. Video would play fine sometimes, choppy others, and mpg files that worked everywhere else did not always play. I also had to turn off my firewall for the computer and Xbox to see each other on the XP computer I use for serving files. A Vista computer on the network had no problem seeing the Xbox, but kept asking me if I wanted to connect to it even after I told it NO, don't ask me again. I tried for 13 days to resolve the problems, The Green Button forums said each was a known issue. I returned the Xbox and kept using my 3 MediaMVPs with GBPVR.

With this setup, I can play 3 movies in 3 different rooms, and use the computer, not that I do this... but I can

I'm not familiar with the newer NMT devices.

[tuckster]

Thanks for the reply. I think I am actually leaning toward the Xbox 360. For me, the main functionality that I want is playback of OTA HD recordings. The MVP can't play back the HD recordings so it is out.

Admittedly, I am not the ideal GBPVR user. I do not use all of its incredible functionality and I am somewhere in the middle between wanting to buy something that works out of the box and wanting to spend hours tinkering to get the desired results. Based on the research that I have done I think the Xbox360 will meet my needs (basic as they are) with some tinkering required, but not a lot of tinkering required.

I like the direction the NMT/GBPVR project is heading and I will stay tuned, but I think I will probably watch from a distance for now.

[mvallevand]

I like the direction the NMT/GBPVR project is heading and I will stay tuned, but I think I will probably watch from a distance for now.

I've pretty much finished with mvpmcx2, it doesn't really seem to be a product that many GB-PVR users want anyway, but at the same time there's not a lot that needs to be done and I find it a pretty nice solution.

Martin

[Jaggy]

it doesn't really seem to be a product that many GB-PVR users want anyway,

I suspect many users are like me & are (in my case were) waiting for slightly better integration into GB-PVR (now done thanks to you & sub) & a slightly cheaper price for the NMT. I bit the bullet & ordered an EGreat before you posted your message about egreats lack of support supplying you a remote, I just hope it will work with the Hauppauge remote I have from my dead MVP :confused:

[mvallevand]

I suspect many users are like me & are (in my case were) waiting for slightly better integration into GB-PVR (now done thanks to you & sub) & a slightly cheaper price for the NMT. I bit the bullet & ordered an EGreat before you posted your message about egreats lack of support supplying you a remote, I just hope it will work with the Hauppauge remote I have from my dead MVP :confused:

Don't be confused, I really think the EGreat can work, and I will try and support it the best I can. I'd like to figure out their remote though, it probably wouldn't be too hard to swap the hot keys for the colour keys, I just have to figure out a workable solution. Too bad the company doesn't agree.

Right now I am very pleased with the overall GBPVR/mvpmcx2 integration and stability, and how superior the solution is to the MVP, I am a bit surprised more NMT users don't feel the same way, I just don't have a reason to try and make major code changes. Basically there isn't a lot more I plan on doing to improve things. At the same time I am not going away.

Martin.

[tuckster]

Martin,

I appreciate the work you have done and I think eventually there will be many more users. I think GBPVR users will eventually transition from MVP's to NMT's especially as they want more HD content. I'm surprised there are not more NMT users that are using GBPVR since it's really one of the only ways (if not the only) to add live tv to the NMT device. Seems like a slam dunk if you already have a NMT.

Out of curiosity, how is the fast forward and rewind feature on recorded tv streams? I have always preferred .dvr-ms over .ts due to problems with fast forward and rewind... this is one of my hesitations to using a NMT device instead of an Xbox 360. Can you tell me that FFWD and RWD are butter smooth on the NMT with GBPVR? I found some youtube clips viewing live tv on the PCH, but none that were fast forwarding or rewinding the content.

[dalabera]

Right now I am very pleased with the overall GBPVR/mvpmcx2 integration and stability, and how superior the solution is to the MVP, I am a bit surprised more NMT users don't feel the same way
Martin.

OK, please give me your best recommendation about which one is the best to interact with!
So I can have it as a reference....

[pcostanza]

I borrowed my sons XBOX to try as an extender in Vista and had so many problems I gave up. If you read the Green Button forums you'll see problems with W7 as well. I ended up with the NMT and like it very much though I haven't gotten very fancy with it. I have an HD monitor connected to my cable card system and watch most HD shows there but don't yet have an HD set connected to my NMT (a shame!) to really take advantage of it. Other than it getting hot with my 500GB drive installed, it works great. Personally, I rarely use the hard drive but do expect each successive generation of the NMT to only get better.

[tuckster]

pcostanza,

What kinds of problems did you have with the Xbox? Networking or file playback?

I'm not sure I understand your current set up. Are you using GBPVR on the NMT? Are you using the NMT to watch live or recorded tv from your pc? If so, are you pleased with how well things work?