Xbox as a DiVX player

[sarahjh69]

Everyone goes on and on about a standalone DiVX player
Well, I just got an Xbox..put in A mod chip and XBMP
and it plays all my divx files perfectly.

Divx 3,4,5, 5.02,Xvid, TMD all work flawlessly.
It does have some problems playing Divx files off some
types of DVD-r/rw media (after about 2 gig)
but that is easily sorted but copying from dvd-r to HD
on the xbox. It plays from cd and cdr with no problems.

and all for £182 (inc vat post and mod chip)

it also plays MP3 plus loads of other media formats
and DVDs region free (and you don't have to pay extra
for the dongle if you have it chipped)

[Neo Neko]

Yes plus you have the added benefit of not being able to access Xbox live which is the biggest of the few reasons one would want to buy an Xbox IIRC. Plus I hear there is the possibility for anti-mod games coming out sometime soon. For my money I would buy a cheap POS 600~700Mhz PIII for about $200 or less and run movix, freevo, or Video Lan. It should be able to run the same stuff and more with much less hassle.

[int 21h]

A) You can switch off the modchip for use with XBox live.

B) All of the decent chips are programmable, anti-mod games? Fine, new BIOS for the chip.

C) I totally agree with your statement about a computer though. The majority of this is for novelty.

[downloaders]

Originally posted by Neo Neko
Yes plus you have the added benefit of not being able to access Xbox live which is the biggest of the few reasons one would want to buy an Xbox IIRC. Plus I hear there is the possibility for anti-mod games coming out sometime soon. For my money I would buy a cheap POS 600~700Mhz PIII for about $200 or less and run movix, freevo, or Video Lan. It should be able to run the same stuff and more with much less hassle.

The big problem of the Xbox is not the price... Just the GPU of the XboX for a elf mounted 'divx player' costs almost as much as the Xbox console...
The real problem of the Xbox is that it only plays cdr's from PRINCO, and VERBATIN :(

This is the BIGGEST problem i can see, and this is the reason why more that 10 friends of mine dind't buy the xbox for divx-use...

(or is there a solution to play other cdr's?)

[sarahjh69]

How strange...my xbox plays all the
media i have tried in it.
(but I have the new v1.1 xbox)

FWS cdr (burnt at 24x)
Liteon cdrw (10x)
Datasafe ritek dvd-r (1x)
datasafe dvd-rw
bulkcrap purpletop
Datawrite Yellow

I suspect you are talking about the V1.0 xbox
made prior to September 2002 with Thompson/phillips
dvd roms......The Samsung drives on the v1.1 xbox
read anything at all!

or if you have an old xbox, all you need is a Liteon dvd rom
and a PC power splitter cable. Make Liteon a slave and plug
into the xbox IDE cable...put power splitter into HD power
cable and plug other end into Liteon and HD. You can read
all your media then! (OK so it looks a bit ugly but it works)

Its not as ugly as a PC in your living room
and its not as noisy as a PC in your living room.

[int 21h]

Pentium 4 1.7 ghz CPU + Mobo = $144.99 (http://www.econopc.com/applications/search/itemdetails.asp?sku=MCPCP4217&sc=pr)

256 MB DDR RAM = ~$30 (all over)

40 GB 7200RPM HD = $49.94 (Staples.com, search for 428386, with rebate)

Case + 500W Powersupply = $49.95

Radeon 7500 128MB LE, with TVOut = $67.50

Total = $340.49


So for a little more than an Xbox + chip, you can have a machine that will not only watch DivX, but encode DivX, and do many things an Xbox will not. Granted, this PC can't play Xbox games, but anyone buying an Xbox to use it as a cheap PC is clearly not considering all of their options. It all depends on what your primary use of the device would be. I definitely don't recommend anyone looking to dedicate a PC to multi-media to go buy an Xbox... for instance, an Xbox will never be a good PVR, the box above on the other hand could easily be expanded to handle PVR.


**(Obviously some cost for shipping and a dvd/cd burner drive would need to be added, this could be alot cheaper and faster in an AMD flavor.)

[Neo Neko]

If you are gonna buy a console get it for the games. That's my motto. Which rules out my ever getting an Xbox. Outside of Halo I could not think of a single one I want. I do however own a Dreamcast, PS2, and Game Cube. Anyone who says an Xbox is not as ugly as a PC in the living room has never really looked at their Xbox. You don't get much uglier than an Xbox. Saying it is the ugly duckling of consoles would be an understatement. Many of those micro AT PC setups on the other hand look worlds better than the Xbox case. I would take a beige, black, or bushed metal micro AT case over that of an Xbox any day. As to the Xbox being quieter than a PC, that is also quite a bit of bunk. I will give you this. A stock PC "does" tend to be a bit louder. Not to say that it can not be fixed or muffled rather cheaply. Channeled air flow, filtration, and insulation should silence it quite effectively. The only reason I could guess as to why people think a PC can not be as quiet as an Xbox is that case modders and computer tweakers never mod for silence. All they touch on is looks and speed. Remember folks, an Xbox is a 700Mhz PIII system and not really a console. So how hard could it be to make any other PC just as quiet. The answer is it is not.

So if you gotta have Halo or you are obsessed with the massive overly bouncy breasts of DOA then the Xbox is probably for you. For me I like story line and good game play. PS2 and GC give me more of that than the Xbox. That's just me. As a set top player though the Xbox will never really cut it.

Concerning the Xbox mod chip it is not possible to "tun it off" AFAIK. You can flash the BIOS and then restart it so it behaves like a stock Xbox. But that is still more work than I or the average person wanting a set top box want to do.

Another thing. Even though I have a PS2 and it can play DVD fairly well out of the box(Unlike the Xbox) I am still looking to get an actual DVD player to hook to the same TV. A DVD player is just the right tool for the job and will allow me to simply do DVD, VCD, SVCD, XVCD, and quite possibly MPEG4 on any CD-R or CD-RW. No moddification or flashing nescessary.

___________________________________________________
Keep in mind I am not really knocking this. I am simply for the benefit of the average Joe playing devils advocate and a voice of common sense or reason. I myself have run homebrew software on some consoles. Enough to know it is for very few people and not to be pushed to the masses as it is.

[int 21h]

Originally posted by Neo Neko
Concerning the Xbox mod chip it is not possible to "tun it off" AFAIK.

http://www.dssforyou.com/adaptor/kill_switch.htm

:D

That is just one example among MANY.

[RMCF]

Neo Neko, I did not expect a fanboy on these boards trying to argue against xbox games. But if it makes your day, do ahead, nobody cares.

As for divx playback, it is perfect, 720x576 with ac3 and postprocessing, does not drop a frame.

Regards

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by int 21h
http://www.dssforyou.com/adaptor/kill_switch.htm

:D

That is just one example among MANY.

Interesting. Best I had heard or seen so far was flash and re-boot. which is more than I would want to deal with. Still all in all it is not a good idea.

It is just stupid that console makers do this sort of thing. It is completely innefective to put in copy protections and simply equates to money lost on R&D. If they did not and things were different then perhaps I would not feel this way.

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by RMCF
Neo Neko, I did not expect a fanboy on these boards trying to argue against xbox games.

I am not arguing against it's games. I said I personally do not like the vast majority of them. I can think of about 1 or 2 that I would be willing to purchase. And for me that equates to a no-sale for the Xbox. And I am not alone. You would be suprised.

Originally posted by RMCF
But if it makes your day, do ahead, nobody cares.

Nobody you know personally. But outside that I am afraid you are wrong.

Anywhoo I am not afraid to learn new things or admit/give up when I am wrong. But this is not the case. I do this everywhere I go so it is nothing against any of you personally. It's just that for how much you all go on and on about how well it works pretty much all of you fail to mention or point out any pitfalls. Of which there are copious amounts. So sue me for pointing some out. For instance if someone goes out and gets an Xbox tonight from a local retail outlett everything you are talking about will not work and they will be SOL for a good while unless they bought the system for games. And if I am wrong and you can correct me then everyone learns something. And vice versa.

Please pardone me for expressing an oppinion or two. Everyone else was and so I thought a descenting one might be tollerated. No venom was honestly intended.

[sarahjh69]

when was the last time you went to PC world
and had 'everything' working out of the box??

dvd, divx etc.........

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by sarahjh69
when was the last time you went to PC world

Never.

Originally posted by sarahjh69
and had 'everything' working out of the box??

dvd, divx etc.........

All the time. Though I am not afraid to get my hands dirty setting something up from scratch. The only things I have not been able to get going is configuring sendmail/qmail and compiling icecas2/Ices2 for Linux or Windows.

[downloaders]

Only to get the quality tv-out a xbox has, you have to sepnd a lot of money, plus you dont have to build yourself a ir reciver...

A bought myself a 2nd hand xbox for 133 euros (~133$) and since the case looks ugly as hell, doesn't metter if its used or nut, I will build a new one myself...
Plus, you cannot get anything so small, with normal 'pc parts' think of the soudcard you have to put in there to have 5.1.. its much to big (in terms of height) if you want to have the MOBO horizontaly...

I have spent many months thinking about the perfect solution for performace and style (i want the case to look like a dvd player)

There is no better solution that the xbox believe me!!

[RMCF]

I think someone buying an Xbox to be used just as DivX player is not right since, you have to mod it first, then install the software as needed which is not easy.

However for someone who has already bought an Xbox for other reasons, the DivX playback is an amazing bonus especially if you have a 120gb drive inside.

The latest version of Xbox Media Player even allows to query IMDB for movie info and poster.

Regards

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by downloaders
Only to get the quality tv-out a xbox has, you have to sepnd a lot of money,

Actually you can get it six ways to sunday even without the Xbox. The Xbox has nothing that specacular.

Originally posted by downloaders
plus you dont have to build yourself a ir reciver...

Yes you can buy them at many stores including Best Buy and Circut City. I have even seen them at Office Max.

Originally posted by downloaders
A bought myself a 2nd hand xbox for 133 euros (~133$) and since the case looks ugly as hell, doesn't metter if its used or nut, I will build a new one myself...
Plus, you cannot get anything so small, with normal 'pc parts' think of the soudcard you have to put in there to have 5.1.. its much to big (in terms of height) if you want to have the MOBO horizontaly...

Well it is an integrated PC system. But just so you know. http://us.shuttle.com/specs2.asp?pro_id=76

Originally posted by downloaders
There is no better solution that the xbox believe me!!

Sorry I can't. I know better. Or at least think differently.

[deanx0r]

I have been watching divx movies on my xbox for a while and I believe the image rendered on my TV looks much more better than on a computer screen. Even some shitty videos (mpg) get a much better output on the TV. I previous had a radeon to output my file on tv but the quality display of the xbox just blows it away.

One more thing going in favor of the xbox is XSN (xbox stream network) which allows you to play video available on the network, and the browsing of network file on xbox is transparent, as if you were browsing file locally in folders... just amazing imo. And for 200 bucks, nothing beats it value and all the fun you have doing it.


There are several modchips available and one doesn't require anything to be soldered (Matrix Xodus). You can even mod an xbox without (almost) modchip, there is a way to flash bios of the xbox with the Xodus chip, sold a few wires and remove the Xodus chip afterwards, and the console will be able all kind of application made for xbox.

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by deanx0r
I have been watching divx movies on my xbox for a while and I believe the image rendered on my TV looks much more better than on a computer screen.

What do you expect from a device with inferior pixel control. TV at it's best NTSC wise is generally 640 collums by 480 rows with the remaning space used for closed captioning etc. You can't help but notice flaws in the videos on a PC screen or hi-def TV. They simply show much more detail.

Originally posted by ^^-+I4004+-^^
I previous had a radeon to output my file on tv but the quality display of the xbox just blows it away.

I have seen an Xbox playing videos with the XBMP. I am not getting rid of my Radeon any time soon. Neither am I getting an Xbox. Why? Because the Radeon can output just as good or better than an Xbox. You player, decoder, and output setting used all make a difference.

Originally posted by ^^-+I4004+-^^
One more thing going in favor of the xbox is XSN (xbox stream network) which allows you to play video available on the network, and the browsing of network file on xbox is transparent, as if you were browsing file locally in folders...

You are the first to admit it. I can't believe all the others truly knew nothing about that when even myself who does not own an Xbox nor ever want to, knew about it. It is proof positive that even though the Xbox may be masquarading as a console for now, Microsoft's true intentions were never as a console. But rather a springboard for their codecs, their file format, and their system as the monopoly standard for VOD. But as far as what you speak of. Well the exact same thing can be done on the PC via a variety of software. Software like Video Lan etc.

Oh I have seen XSN as well. They have no content I would want to watch and it is not all that impressive. It's ok. Nothing to special though. With Microsoft the Xbox was never about games nor providing a better gaming experience. Possible monopolisation of the games market may be a side benefit. But it was always about getting a PC in the family room first. More importantly a Microsoft PC before anyone else can rise up to compete with them. A glorrious new empire for Microsoft to conqure and monopolise now that they have milked Operating Systems and software packages in general to the maximum.

Originally posted by ^^-+I4004+-^^
There are several modchips available and one doesn't require anything to be soldered (Matrix Xodus).

None of which work on current Xbox systems IIRC.

I have also heard you can run most Xbox applications on the PC as well. Not surprising since after all that is really all the Xbox is. All that is required is compiling.

[deanx0r]

Originally posted by Neo Neko
What do you expect from a device with inferior pixel control. TV at it's best NTSC wise is generally 640 collums by 480 rows with the remaning space used for closed captioning etc. You can't help but notice flaws in the videos on a PC screen or hi-def TV. They simply show much more detail. I have seen an Xbox playing videos with the XBMP. I am not getting rid of my Radeon any time soon. Neither am I getting an Xbox. Why? Because the Radeon can output just as good or better than an Xbox. You player, decoder, and output setting used all make a difference.

Well, I probably know jackshit about pixel control and other technical stuff, so I’ll just go with what I noticed or experienced.

First I don’t understand why would I see flaws on hi-def TV. I understand it is the case on PC screen, but not on HDTV. I own a Samsung HDTV and it is in every way superior to a regular TV, no matter of the input used. I have used my Radeon with a myriad of settings to dislay games, windows and movied on my HDTV, and in every case its display was inferior to the PC screen except for movies where it was a match, maybe a little bit better, it’s hard to say.

On the other hand, the display on the xbox was flawless. I have encoded a bunch of videos that look so so like a vhs on PC screen (640x xxx, 2mbits/s bitrate xvid/divx5) and which display looked much sharper on the HDTV, much more close to the original DVD. In fact a whole bunch of bad quality videos I downloaded from the net got an enhanced rendering on the xbox.

If you are saying that your radeon can output as well as an xbox, then maybe:
1-my radeon (9700Pro) is a piece of shite compared to an AIW
2-my display settings (I’ve tried everything I could) were screwed
3-you are a liar who have never seen an xbox displaying video (compared to PC screen).


You are the first to admit it. I can't believe all the others truly knew nothing about that when even myself who does not own an Xbox nor ever want to, knew about it. It is proof positive that even though the Xbox may be masquarading as a console for now, Microsoft's true intentions were never as a console. But rather a springboard for their codecs, their file format, and their system as the monopoly standard for VOD. But as far as what you speak of. Well the exact same thing can be done on the PC via a variety of software. Software like Video Lan etc.


Umm, what did I admit again? that you can watch file over the network? How is all that MS crap related to the xbox as an economical and quality media center? Microsoft although designing its console with a PC foundation did not intend to turn the system into a media center that can read divx, xvid, mp3 files and etc, the ability to read DVDs was merely a bonus. It was the hacker/hardware enthousiast that added the media center utility side to the xbox.

Oh I have seen XSN as well. They have no content I would want to watch and it is not all that impressive. It's ok. Nothing to special though. With Microsoft the Xbox was never about games nor providing a better gaming experience. Possible monopolisation of the games market may be a side benefit. But it was always about getting a PC in the family room first. More importantly a Microsoft PC before anyone else can rise up to compete with them. A glorrious new empire for Microsoft to conqure and monopolise now that they have milked Operating Systems and software packages in general to the maximum.

You have seen XSN, it has no content, and it not impressive… In case you were yourself confused, XSN (or SMB) is the ability of XBMP to play streaming files available on your network as if they were present locally on your hdd (transparent use).

Again, I don’t see your point about getting a PC in the family with the xbox and build a whatever new empire…? The stock xbox is just a console running games and dvds, nothing else. Go buy a stock xbox and try to run emulators for mame, genesis or snes… well you can’t unless you mod it, and I doubt MS is sponsoring modchips.



[There are several modchips available and one doesn't require anything to be soldered (Matrix Xodus).]
None of which work on current Xbox systems IIRC.
Modchips work every xbox systems. There are several generation of modchips and the latest ones sure with the latest version of the xbox (1.1)


I have also heard you can run most Xbox applications on the PC as well. Not surprising since after all that is really all the Xbox is. All that is required is compiling.
Not really, there aren’t that many home made appz for xbox (beside games), and none that I know run on PC, why would they since they are utility specifically coded for the xbox as utilities…

Well the whole discussion was about using the xbox as a media center, but you seem to be quite a die hard fanboy waging war against MS evil empire :) For me or any hardware enthusiast, it is just a great system with which you can tons of experimental shit with great fun. Why can’t you see it that way instead of refuting every aspect of it... kool?

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by deanx0r
First I don’t understand why would I see flaws on hi-def TV. I understand it is the case on PC screen, but not on HDTV.

HDTV provides a much sharper picture due to much better pixel control and many more pixels to begin with. It is not going to give you the exact same picture as on a PC screen. In fact it can depend on the TV. Some provide hardware filtering routiens that can improve the picture further.

Originally posted by deanx0r
On the other hand, the display on the xbox was flawless. I have encoded a bunch of videos that look so so like a vhs on PC screen (640x xxx, 2mbits/s bitrate xvid/divx5)

VHS quality can varry. But aproximatly 300-400 rows and 300 collumns of pixels are generally considdered as being able to duplicate "VHS" quality. Not "S-VHS" but VHS. So your numbers are already making me wonder. Are you doing a bad job encoding your DVD or are they actually VHS captures that were not propperly filtered? I can make VHS captures look better than VHS on my PC screen even.

Originally posted by deanx0r
and which display looked much sharper on the HDTV, much more close to the original DVD. In fact a whole bunch of bad quality videos I downloaded from the net got an enhanced rendering on the xbox.

Yes the Xbox is some magic box that makes everything magically better. Or could there be the posssibility it is due more to the display device. The cables connecting the devices. Or different filtering at the decoding level which could be duplicated anywhere and are not that special or specific to the Xbox.


Originally posted by deanx0r
If you are saying that your radeon can output as well as an xbox, then maybe:
1-my radeon (9700Pro) is a piece of shite compared to an AIW

My previous Radeon had some major problems. So I am not gonna go and say that Radeons are the best video card ever made. If there were such a thing they are pretty damned close. But even the Radeons suffer from having bad units shipped. I know I had one. My 8500 though has been great. Much better than the old one. It's output abilities rival and surpass that of the AIW card I have. It is not the newest AIW card mind you. But they did not change that much.

Originally posted by deanx0r
2-my display settings (I’ve tried everything I could) were screwed

What decoder did you use on your videos? The MSMPEG4 decoder for Divx3? The Divx 4 decoder? The Divx5 decoder? Or FFDSHOW? IF it was FFDSHO which it generally should be what were all the filtering settings you used?

Originally posted by deanx0r
Microsoft although designing its console with a PC foundation did not intend to turn the system into a media center that can read divx, xvid, mp3 files and etc, the ability to read DVDs was merely a bonus.

You are right. Microsoft would have never supported those formats. Beside DVD Microsoft would only support WMA and WMV period.

Originally posted by deanx0r
In case you were yourself confused, XSN (or SMB) is the ability of XBMP to play streaming files available on your network as if they were present locally on your hdd (transparent use).

And what constitutes a network and or network devices? I have a digital cable box that decodes MPEG2 streams and can and has done VOD MPEG2 streams. All delivered on a nationwide network inplemented over a cable tv network. Would it be much of a stretch to put an Xbox or something similar in that position?

Originally posted by deanx0r
Again, I don’t see your point about getting a PC in the family with the xbox and build a whatever new empire…?

You are not alone. But that does not make you right. Have you ever sat down and looked at the big picture and tried to figure it out? It is quite interesting. The "Microsoft Homestation" was only a rumor. But to think that the exact same thing is not in the cards is ignorant. The reason it spread like wildfire is because such a thing is not at all far fetched. Look what Microsoft has been up to lately. TCPA, Palladium, DRM, Windows Media. They are courting entertainment companies to position themselves, their technology, their software as the succesor and replacement to DVD. Why is Microsoft taking the largest loss per unit sold in console history(if you choose to call the Xbox a console) to come in second? Why the massively more expensive hardware to produce graphics that are at best only slightly more dazzling than what the competitors can push at half the HZ and quite a bit less cost. What will become of the industry if the Microsoft method of pushing a console becomes the norm. A method which only Microsoft could continue btw. Even Sony does not have enough free capital generated by their entire enterprise to push a system as poorly made as Microsoft's. Why would Microsoft a "software" company who has tried it's hand at writing games an at best achieved semi-notariety on a sim version or two and a golf game push a platform that is supposedly totally game based? If Microsoft is a software company and wanted to write games could they have not written games for any other console? Was Microsoft so bad at writing games and suffering from their typical coporate lack of real creativity that no one would let them play?

There is no dout that there is money to be made in the games market. And the first thing any console maker will tell you is that there is no money to be made in the hardware. It is in the games/software. Which is why you see so many games produced and released by Sony, Nintendo, and back in the day Sega. Why has Microsoft spent more money licensing games from Sega than they have spent on developing games of their own? It makes it look like Microsoft is hemmoraging cash from both ends. And while there is money to be made in the games market there is more to be made in the music and movie industry. An industry which Microsoft has spent much more time and money courting. Some day soon a disk or upgrade is going to be released that will officially enable such things if it is not already there waiting to be switched on. And if not for the Xbox then the Xbox2 for sure. You aught to use those wasted Mhz for something after all. Something more CPU intensive like decoding compressed digital media. It will be a big boon for Microsoft while pushing for their technology as the standard for future digital media when they can say "And you will not have to wait for or develope new hardware to use our technology. Everyone who owns our Xbox already has a playback device.". What company want's to spend time and money to develop software, codecs, and hardware to peddle their media when they are offered one that exists. Why build a customer base from scratch when you are offered a pre-existing one. I could go on. Perhaps I have spent to much time thinking out of the (X)Box. What do you think? Am I totally nutz? Are my observations way off base. Is Microsoft a kinder gentler company concerned with nurturing your and everyone elses creaativity and personal growth? Or is there something more insidious. A simple elegant plan to coalesce all their software and technology into a single platform pre-deployed. The key piece in Microsoft's desired new digital media monopoly.

Originally posted by deanx0r
Modchips work every xbox systems. There are several generation of modchips and the latest ones sure with the latest version of the xbox (1.1)

That is what I thought myself. But I was recently told rather fervently by Xbox enthusiasts elsewhere that I was most definatly wrong and must be on crack. With finals in the chute I did not have time to research it. Baka baka baka! Never trust Xbox fans. I have learned my lesson. ;)


Originally posted by deanx0r
Not really, there aren’t that many home made appz for xbox (beside games), and none that I know run on PC, why would they since they are utility specifically coded for the xbox as utilities…

How utility specific is specific? It uses a custom version of directX but not a custom API. If Microsoft wishis the Xbox to be an offshoot of the Microsoft based PC game market an API change would be fatal. It uses a custom stripped down version of Windows. But again the API should be standard. If assembly code is used it is after all an x86 PC CPU and 100% compatable with the desktop. The API's make the coding fairly abstract and ubiquitous so that for the most part PC Windows code should be portable to the Xbox PC Windows and vice versa. The only thing I can see specialised or utility like might be application signing schemes since everything else should be accessable through the API which should be fairly common. I know people with the XDK perhaps I should pester them for more info on this.

Originally posted by deanx0r
Well the whole discussion was about using the xbox as a media center, but you seem to be quite a die hard fanboy waging war against MS evil empire :)

Yet all the while remaning on topic. Booya! And you ain't seen fanboy yet if that is what you think I am. There are guys who go out and do this sort of thing in futile attempts to be cool and have no info or well supported reasonable arguments for their position. Those are anti-MS fanboys. One jabb and they go down. I am clearly not here to earn browny points. Not my thing daddy-o. And while it is quite clear I dislike Microsoft there are many things that they have done which I love them for. Albeit done indirectly. Only an adversay as bad as Microsoft could inspire so many to take on projects like Linux, Jabber, Mozilla, and the like. And in Jabber's case I also have AOL to thank. Those companies have prooven inspirations, though not role moddels. Microsoft alone has driven the boom in opensource GPL and BSD licensing of software. Isn't it ironic? Don'tcha think? A little too ironic?

Originally posted by deanx0r
For me or any hardware enthusiast, it is just a great system with which you can tons of experimental shit with great fun.

Swap "hardware" with "console" and I am with you. There is after all much better hardware to be enthused over IMO.

Originally posted by deanx0r
Why can’t you see it that way instead of refuting every aspect of it... kool?

I can see it. That does not mean that I have to agree with it or not condecend it. Standalones are here and more/better ones are on the way. Patience grasshopper.

[downloaders]

Originally posted by Neo Neko
Actually you can get it six ways to sunday even without the Xbox. The Xbox has nothing that specacular.

Yes you can buy them at many stores including Best Buy and Circut City. I have even seen them at Office Max.



Well it is an integrated PC system. But just so you know. http://us.shuttle.com/specs2.asp?pro_id=76



Sorry I can't. I know better. Or at least think differently.

1st: Not everybody has time to read your long posts, so if you want people to answer you, just post your arguments, nice and clean...
People loose the interest of answering you if they have to read '2 screens' before they can answer...

So, in case you didn't notice, i'm from Portugal (my sig), so Best buy and Circuit city, doesn't mean anything to me, I don't want my divx player to cost more on shipping costs than on hardware...

I KNOW THE XBOX IS A PC!!!! Thats not what we are arguing about, is it??? We are talking about prices and quality of the tv-out!!

I know better

What do you know better?? Where are your arguments?? Write down the prices for the same components that are in the Xbox (or equivalent) and tyhen compare it... It's so easy!!!

PS: and please don't post this Actually you can get it six ways to sunday even without the Xbox.

There are non native speakers here, that don't understand this expressions.

[int 21h]

Originally posted by Neo Neko

The "Microsoft Homestation" was only a rumor.

AFAIK, this was/is XP Media Center edition. The PCs that contain the PVR stuff and the remote, etc, with the strict set of guidelines of what can be in a MediaCenterPC, etc. is all what started the Homestation thing...

[deanx0r]

I agree with downloaders here, Neko Neko... I am not sure what you want to convince us as your argumentation is very poor. You are contradicting yourself several times and go off topic whenever you can't argue back instead of doing a concession. I have the feeling you know very little in this expertise and just want to refute anything that will sound "good" to MS.

There is probably no reason for me or anyone else to argue back to you if you are going to spit it back with such niaiseries.

[sarahjh69]

can a mod please delete all the replies from Neo niko
he's bored the pants off us all...............

[int 21h]

Show some respect to the staff.

[sillKotscha]

Originally posted by sarahjh69
can a mod please delete all the replies from Neo niko
he's bored the pants off us all...............

I know int 21h already answered but please...

#4) Be nice to each other and respect the moderator. Profanity and insults will not be tolerated. If you have a problem with another member turn to the respective moderator and if the moderator can't help you send a private message to Doom9.


cheers Sill

[Neo Neko]

I don't mind what he wrote. Perhaps I have been a bit overbearing on this topic. I still would have preffered he actually take the time to respond to some of the genuine observations I put down. Rather than type out such a childish and ingenuine reply.

I suppose I will let you all get back to isolated happy happy Xbox land and not bother unless someone wishes to reply. Opponsing oppinions are not well recieved in this thread it seems.

I will however continue to wonder why some people go out and get an Xbox and why those that do feal a need to evangelise it. It was not really apparent in this thread. But in many others I had seen it was often the result that the thing most espoused in them is that the Xbox is somehow more "powerful" and blows everyone else out of the water. And then procede to brow beat anyone who owns something other than an Xbox. In all honesty the Xbox power wise for games is really on par or no better than the PS2 or Game Cube. And that is why games are crucial. I won't go into that.


In the end I don't care what system it is. I would never condone chiping or moding them. Especially to do things they were not designed for. And no matter what anyone says there are "ALWAYS" problems that arise from chipping the system. ALWAYS.

[downloaders]

I still don't see prices etc... But I think thats because you maybe thought about it, and seen that i'm right!

BUT, there is a VERY GOOD argument that you could have brought and I mentioned before... that it can only read 1 or 2 brands of cdr's... There may be a solution for this, but right now i'm not in the 'mood' to experience with 133euros ;)

I sold it for 175euros...and will forget about the stand-alone divx player (for now)

In the future, when some brilliant mind has foud a solution for this, I will maybe buy a new one :D

[Micro@Dee]

@Neo Neko: You guy really have no clue! The XBox was the best investment I've done in the past 2 years.

[rjgn]

Hmm I see this old thread has been brought back up :)

Personally I bought an xbox the other week pretty much solely to use as a media player. Xbox Media Player has come along in leaps and bounds and while still pretty buggy is incredibly handy as a media player for the living room.

It's pretty cheap, £119.99 for the xbox, £30 for mod chip and £15 for remote. That's £165 for an extremely easy way to play divx,xvid,mpegs and any other codec that ffmpeg can handle. It's simply impossible to find a cheaper way to do it with a computer, and while a computer may be more flexible it's also impossible to find a more seamless and easy way to play files in the living room.

Oh and by the way it can handle matroska files now too :)

[thalastrockstar]

in 10 years there wont even be a console video game system you'll just by mini gamer pcs especiallty with linux becoming so much more popular

i hate consoles because they lock you out from so many possibilites

[sarahjh69]

£ 120 for an xbox is far too much

£85 + 70 free mars bars for an xbox at

http://www.chocollect.com/

buy the 70 mars bars with choccollect serials (£16)
enter the codes at choccollect
buy the xbox for £69 from argos online using the link
they give you........

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by Micro@Dee
@Neo Neko: You guy really have no clue! The XBox was the best investment I've done in the past 2 years.

Be careful what you say. I am a nice guy and this thread is not that important so I wont strike. I know it's hard to remain polite some times. But rest assured I have much more of a clue than you could imagine. I am not going to claim to know everything. But I know enough to know that the Xbox is not for me. Way to much work and still way to restrictive. I picked up a cheap Abit Nforce2 MOBO with built in audio video and lan plus case and PS.128Mb DDR RAM. Not to mention the Athlon XP 1600+ CPU for it. Throw in 2 second hand 12X CD-R drives and it all comes in well under $200. Throw in an old ATI with good TV out, some cheap silenced fans and a tweaked Linux system with scripted Mplayer run completely from CD-R that reads data off the other CD-R or any smb/ftp/http/rstp/mmp/tftp source on the network or Internet. Be it OGM, Avi, ASF, MPEG, MOV, or MKV!! With any number of codecs I desire. All controlled by wireless KB that I had laying around.

The thing sits in a cabinet running 24/7 not that you could tell by just listening to it. Eeeet's quiet. Next time I am fealing ambitious I am going to see if I can get the setup to boot off the network so I can use the 2 CD-R drives to strore video. perhaps I should splurge and get a $20 HD for it some day. ;)

[Cyberace]

FYI (thread link): XboxMediaPlayer 2.4 released - Coolest thing since ice cubs! (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=54523&highlight=xbox) :cool: