Xbox Media Center

Several months back, I took a weekend and decided to mod my old xbox (which I never used for Live anyway) and turn into a Media Center machine with the wonderful software XBMC. It took me two days of reading, studying, testing and eventual deployment, but I finally had an original XBOX with a 120GB hard drive inside that ran a custom OS that had XBMC installed plus a program to store XBOX games on the hard drive. All done with a softmod, no soldering required.

I have put that baby to good use. I stuck it in my bedroom and started loading it up with TV seasons and movies on DVD, plus a few XBOX games. That way I could play a game whenever I wanted and not have to look for game discs (never tried online, didn't care to). I did connect it to my network so I could access my other ripped DVD's (all legal) and music on my main HTPC. It runs like a dream, just don't try and get too picky with what it can do. It was slightly buggy.

Well, the crew that made the XBOX version has since expanded their software. It started with a Linux version, then a Mac version, and now they have just announced "Atlantis Beta 1"  Which effectively puts their software out there in every possible OS. I downloaded the Windows version tonight and am extremely happy with it...so far.

I have used practically every decently popular Media Center out there so far. I don't have a TV card because I don't have the resources nor to the hard drive to justify it. I've used MediaPortal which was my choice for a long time because of it's customization. I've moved between that and Media Center, mainly because I used the Media Center extender on my Xbox 360. Mediaportal is slow however (especially when moving between full screen and window mode. Media Center was...welll....media center...it worked as long as they were "common" video files. MP4's and MKV (Matrosky High Def files) need not apply.

I have used SageTv before, but it works mainly as a DVR, the Media center stuff runs second. Plus, it costs. We use it at work anyway for TV distribution systems for our schools. fun stuff!

Either way, XBMC, although buggy is a very nice addition. It plays beautifully on HDTV (720p output through HDMI does play well) and is very easy to add folders for Video, Music, and Photos. A nice Weather Channel and the ability to add scripts (a quick glance at www.xbmcscripts.com shows scripts for Youtube Viewing and Program Guide addition, plus email clients and calendars)

All in all, if you are looking for a HTPC software, you might want to check this out. They also offer a "live cd" option, which lets you install the "OS" to a CD, boot to it, and then install the OS on a thumb drive. That would be a very nice option as well, and one I might try as soon as I can get a thumb drive big enough.

http://xbmc.org/download/