Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: tunnie on 28 October 2012, 19:47:24
-
Anyone had any experience of them?
I've got one other PC I'm going to try as a new MediaPC for my TV. It's an IBM box, core duo around 1.8. Ghz I think, 2Gb ram. (TV shows & films) but if that fails to impress looking at budget PCs
http://www.ebuyer.com/395287-zoostorm-sff-desktop-pc-7873-1101 (http://www.ebuyer.com/395287-zoostorm-sff-desktop-pc-7873-1101)
No OS is not a problem, as I could source that from MSDN.
Would the above be ok for Win8? :-\
-
I was looking at the above because you get a lot more power than Atom based unit, for similar money & size is not really an issue.
-
Hmmm few quid more & i5
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoostorm-7877-0095-Premium-i5-2320-Windows/dp/B006ZINMP6/ref=lp_428651031_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351454117&sr=1-1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoostorm-7877-0095-Premium-i5-2320-Windows/dp/B006ZINMP6/ref=lp_428651031_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351454117&sr=1-1)
-
i5 will be better buy imo.. and if budget is ok I would add an ssd.. :y
-
Don't really need SSD, use external drives got a couple of 1Tb drives. Although I plan to move all that to a NAS at some point.
-
Zoomstorm seem to be ebuyer own brand. Expect it to be a bit duff
MSDN is not the right licence for this, no matter how you stretch the rules.
for any media pc, I'd stick with win7, due to codecs
-
Zoomstorm seem to be ebuyer own brand. Expect it to be a bit duff
MSDN is not the right licence for this, no matter how you stretch the rules.
for any media pc, I'd stick with win7, due to codecs
Good point. Considering motherboard bundles now, case, psu I have now are still good.
Something like this i5 bundle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Core-I5-3450-3-1Ghz/dp/B008DFC19M/ref=sr_1_48?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1351460158&sr=1-48 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Core-I5-3450-3-1Ghz/dp/B008DFC19M/ref=sr_1_48?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1351460158&sr=1-48)
-
I lent one of my Raspberry Pis to a mate of mine and he says XBMC runs on it pretty well. When he gives it back I'll let you know. ;D
-
I lent one of my Raspberry Pis to a mate of mine and he says XBMC runs on it pretty well. When he gives it back I'll let you know. ;D
I've got XBMC running on my S2, and it's also available for iPhone.
-
We have a Zoostorm laptop bought from Argos probably 4 years ago used every day , no problems at all.
-
I lent one of my Raspberry Pis to a mate of mine and he says XBMC runs on it pretty well. When he gives it back I'll let you know. ;D
Be interested to see if it could handle 1080p in XBMC :y
-
We have a Zoostorm laptop bought from Argos probably 4 years ago used every day , no problems at all.
Thanks :y
Although looking into it further, I think I will re-build mine as I can get better spec for the same money
-
Zoomstorm seem to be ebuyer own brand. Expect it to be a bit duff
MSDN is not the right licence for this, no matter how you stretch the rules.
for any media pc, I'd stick with win7, due to codecs
Good point. Considering motherboard bundles now, case, psu I have now are still good.
Something like this i5 bundle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Core-I5-3450-3-1Ghz/dp/B008DFC19M/ref=sr_1_48?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1351460158&sr=1-48 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Core-I5-3450-3-1Ghz/dp/B008DFC19M/ref=sr_1_48?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1351460158&sr=1-48)
Anyone recommend any other i5 bundles?
-
I lent one of my Raspberry Pis to a mate of mine and he says XBMC runs on it pretty well. When he gives it back I'll let you know. ;D
Be interested to see if it could handle 1080p in XBMC :y
Reading the specs, it sounds capable enough to me.
The SoC is a Broadcom BCM2835. This contains an ARM1176JZFS, with floating point, running at 700Mhz, and a Videocore 4 GPU. The GPU is capable of BluRay quality playback, using H.264 at 40MBits/s. It has a fast 3D core accessed using the supplied OpenGL ES2.0 and OpenVG libraries.
The GPU provides Open GL ES 2.0, hardware-accelerated OpenVG, and 1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode.
The GPU is capable of 1Gpixel/s, 1.5Gtexel/s or 24 GFLOPs of general purpose compute and features a bunch of texture filtering and DMA infrastructure.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs
-
Zoomstorm seem to be ebuyer own brand. Expect it to be a bit duff
MSDN is not the right licence for this, no matter how you stretch the rules.
for any media pc, I'd stick with win7, due to codecs
Good point. Considering motherboard bundles now, case, psu I have now are still good.
Something like this i5 bundle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Core-I5-3450-3-1Ghz/dp/B008DFC19M/ref=sr_1_48?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1351460158&sr=1-48 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Core-I5-3450-3-1Ghz/dp/B008DFC19M/ref=sr_1_48?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1351460158&sr=1-48)
Anyone recommend any other i5 bundles?
My MCE is made up of a DH67GD mobo, and a DUAL CORE Ivy Bridge i5. Dual core, as the chip is 35W, and it doesn't need Quad Core (for MCE use).
Raspberry Pi, I'm sure, was built for 1080p playback... ...although not aware of any suitable software. If the device meets your needs, at less than 5W at full chat, its a good device... (external storage power requirements are extra).
-
OK, especially for Tunnie...
Running a versin of xbmc on mr RPi, with the media stored either on the MCE (recorded TV/video) or one of the servers here (MP3).
Added a magic packet on the if-up event to wake the MCE every time the RPi comes up. Disappointed the xmbc interface is still so clunky, but its usable as a streaming device.
Pros:
Less than 5W at full chat (no local storage (other than the 32Gb SD card))
Wakes up the MCE (after some trivial scripting at the Linux level)
The Samsung TV remote can control the RPi software, with the TV relaying the commands down HDMI
Cheap
Cons:
xbmc is still clunky, its going to be an uphill struggle to get Mrs TB to be able to use it
Not particularly stable
Quite fussy what it will play
Needs an additional licence to play MPEG2
Occasional aspect ratio issues
Web Interface looks to be on its way out, ruling out using phone etc to control it
Not all TVs seem to be able to relay remote commands down HDMI
No live TV or sceduling
1080p streaming seems to buffer occasionally. MCE is Gb, RPi ia 100FD, so I suspect its not bandwidth.
Conclusion:
OK if you can tolerate xbmc, and all its weaknesses. Pretty essential your TV can relay remote comands down the HDMI, else you'll need a USB keyboard. Needs the MPEG2 licence (£2.40) and possibly the VC1 licence (£1.20). Needs a fairly stable PSU - most iPhone chargers aren't up for the job.
All based on my earlier type RPi/256Mb, with MPEG2/VC1 licences, and the current raspbmc build.
-
OK, especially for Tunnie...
Running a versin of xbmc on mr RPi, with the media stored either on the MCE (recorded TV/video) or one of the servers here (MP3).
Added a magic packet on the if-up event to wake the MCE every time the RPi comes up. Disappointed the xmbc interface is still so clunky, but its usable as a streaming device.
Pros:
Less than 5W at full chat (no local storage (other than the 32Gb SD card))
Wakes up the MCE (after some trivial scripting at the Linux level)
The Samsung TV remote can control the RPi software, with the TV relaying the commands down HDMI
Cheap
Cons:
xbmc is still clunky, its going to be an uphill struggle to get Mrs TB to be able to use it
I don't find it clunky at-all its very clear, far superior to MCE, out of the box maybe, but options view tweaked its excellent.
Not particularly stable
Its not crashed on me yet with 7 year old PC :)
Quite fussy what it will play
Its played everything I've asked it too? Huge range of file formats from torrents
Needs an additional licence to play MPEG2
Trust you on that, but I'll dig through what I have, sure I have some MPEG2 format
Occasional aspect ratio issues
Not had a problem here
Web Interface looks to be on its way out, ruling out using phone etc to control it
I disagree, phone controllers over WiFi here to stay.
Not all TVs seem to be able to relay remote commands down HDMI
Phone controls ok for me, so not a deal breaker.
No live TV or sceduling
Sorry little fatty, quite wrong there. BBC iPlayer plugins allow full access to iPlayer & Live Streaming (same with 4oD & Five) - Although no EPG guide
1080p streaming seems to buffer occasionally. MCE is Gb, RPi ia 100FD, so I suspect its not bandwidth.
Hoping the second edition ones will be better here
Conclusion:
OK if you can tolerate xbmc, and all its weaknesses. Pretty essential your TV can relay remote comands down the HDMI, else you'll need a USB keyboard. Needs the MPEG2 licence (£2.40) and possibly the VC1 licence (£1.20). Needs a fairly stable PSU - most iPhone chargers aren't up for the job.
Buying a dedicated "proper" PSU for it
All based on my earlier type RPi/256Mb, with MPEG2/VC1 licences, and the current raspbmc build.
Thanks :y
I've added some comments in above :)
-
Tunnie, I'm talking about xbmc on the RPi, not on a PC. *sigh*
All comments still stand ;)
But for xbmc in general...
FYI, Web Interface is now being withdrawn (well, deprecated for now), so expect that to go. Phone control uses it, so that will stop working when it does.
Live TV is not selecting one of the few streams available from a scattering of players. Its being able to see anything the telly can see. Live TV is not a deal breaker for me, just means I need to keep the STB on my analogue telly. Shame, but not essential. Not being able to schedule is a deal breaker.
Clunky interface - yes, it is. Its really bad. Even I get frustrated with it. For example, I have to mix MCE Recorded TV and Films into same libraries, which then become unworkable. Even if its just Recorded TV (its most likely use), scrolling through 600 odd recordings file by file is not practical via a remote control. MCE blows xbmc not just out of the water, but into another world in this respect (and most others).
I've not used xbmc since I had an (original) XBOX, and would have hoped the interface would have improved. It has, but still lags 10yrs behind as a 10' interface.
As to the RPi port, well, its still early days, so hopefully they can get some of the glitches out which are (most likely) specific to the RPi version.
A fully specced up RPi, with IR receiver, fast SD and decent PSU is about £70, £80 with wifi... ...about the same as a 2nd hand 360 slim, which gives the far superior MCE Extender I/F, with FULL functionality.
-
iPlayer Plugin, that does work on Pi (all BBC Live Channels)
http://xbmc-iplayerv2.googlecode.com/files/iPlayer-v2.4.15.zip (http://xbmc-iplayerv2.googlecode.com/files/iPlayer-v2.4.15.zip)
EPG?
Here (Windows) - http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=PVR/Backend/MediaPortal (http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=PVR/Backend/MediaPortal)
You can get everything broadcast on Freeview with the addons :)
You might like this:
http://thedigitallifestyle.com/w/index.php/2012/08/27/mediaportal-why-i-switched-from-windows-media-center/ (http://thedigitallifestyle.com/w/index.php/2012/08/27/mediaportal-why-i-switched-from-windows-media-center/)
But your last argument, a 360 is just an extender, it does nothing more. You still have to have a very powerful setup to make it run right, I think the Pi will do an excellent job.
Looking forward to having a good play and getting all Freeview Live channels working ;)
I don't understand your issue with libraries, you just make another source, point it to another folder? Unless you have TV & Films mixed in a single MCE source folder?
Can you show me a link to say Web Interface is being withdrawn? Using iOS/Android mobile device to control XMBC is major part, I've Googled for some time trying to find articles saying its being withdrawn but cannot find any :-\
-
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Add-on:IPlayer (http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Add-on:IPlayer)
For Live TV a Windows or Linux build of at least SVN:21747 (2009-07-18) is required.
-
Mediaportal is one my list of products to try again in a couple of years (when Win7 becomes too dated), but last time I looked, it was still too immature. One of the guys at work uses it, but is always having to frig about.
Currently, MCE + RP (now no longer developed, but has been open sourced) is the best solution I've come across. But its not perfect - anything can be improved upon. But won't run on anything like an RPi ;D. Powerwise, at full chat, my MCE comes in at about 40W, but peaks to 60W in the first few seconds of resume from standby, as disks spin up. RPi comes in at less than 5W, although (serious) storage is not included.
I can see no single advantage of xbmc over MCE at any level. So for now, I'm sticking with my ultra reliable MCE (now I've ripped out that shitty mobo ;D - wanna DG45ID mobo with Core2 Quad CPU? Seems prone to BSOD when resuming from standby if connected to a LAN via onboard RJ45).
One thing with media centres, they should just work, and without frigging about all the time. MCE is kept fully updated as part of the standard MS regime, with the exception of TunerFreeMCE plugin, which needs manual updates :(, and RP which is no longer developed :(. xmbc relying on so many plugins to work usefully will end up being a mare for auto updates at 4am.
Don't worry, I suspect my RPi won't go to waste, I suspect it will still end up as an extender, possibly not running xbmc, possibly running the web I/F from RP, but that will require a mouse :(. And it will still act as a fallback for OOF, as it has before ::)
The web i/f issue with xbmc, further investigation is its the api over http (so the mobile phone apps) thats been removed, presumably as its too large an attack vector
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Web_Server_HTTP_API
-
I can see no single advantage of xbmc over MCE at any level. So for now, I'm sticking with my ultra reliable MCE (now I've ripped out that shitty mobo ;D - wanna DG45ID mobo with Core2 Quad CPU? Seems prone to BSOD when resuming from standby if connected to a LAN via onboard RJ45).
Yup, I'd take it! I don't use standby. Cold boot only, as often just turn it on when I want to watch TV shows or Film while farting around doing other things, then come back to. (I'm used to a 5 minute boot time ;D)
Whats its physical size? I don't know if it will fit my case :-[
-
Thing is about PVR, I find I'm using it less and less.
If its a BBC program say Top Gear or Merlin or Palin type stuff, I just catch up via iPlayer App (on which ever platform, XBMC being the new fun one to use)
There are very, very few programs I like which are not on the beeb to be honest, those I do like are often way ahead in the states (Big Bang Theory for example)
So I torrent 90% of my TV shows as I'm too lazy to even fast forward adverts ;D
So if I can get XBMC working with iPlayer and the other big on-demand services, I'll torrent the rest. No need for recording TV
-
http://ark.intel.com/products/34684/Intel-Desktop-Board-DG45ID
No RAM, shoved that back in my Dell.
I've put the standard Intel stock cooler on it. Cooler had never been used, so its quiet at the moment, but they do have a habit of getting a bit noisy after a year or 2 (but probably still better than most 3rd party, overpriced coolers). You may need to reenable the fan speed control in the Intel ME - think its currently disabled, whilst I was chasing that BSOD problem.
The integrated graphics is HDMI and DVI. For VGA, you need one of those DVI to VGA adapters. Plays 1080p fine with recent drivers (under Windows, dunno about Linux). But most likely hopeless for games ;D
-
Thing is about PVR, I find I'm using it less and less.
If its a BBC program say Top Gear or Merlin or Palin type stuff, I just catch up via iPlayer App (on which ever platform, XBMC being the new fun one to use)
There are very, very few programs I like which are not on the beeb to be honest, those I do like are often way ahead in the states (Big Bang Theory for example)
So I torrent 90% of my TV shows as I'm too lazy to even fast forward adverts ;D
So if I can get XBMC working with iPlayer and the other big on-demand services, I'll torrent the rest. No need for recording TV
I still record no end. Currently sat at 600 recordings, 1.3Tb. Some we've watched and keeping (like the better Top Gears), some were recorded ages ago, and aren't allowed to be viewed with me in the house (eg, Downton Abbey), so official Replay services would time out.
I would imagine that using bittorrent to download a TV show is illegal (forgetting the criminal/civil arguments for a minute), thus you wouldn't catch me doing it.
Oh, MCE has an automatic advert stripper, that actually does work bloody well. I personally haven't reinstalled it after removing it during my BSOD problem, as I'm of an age where an ad break every half hour is quite useful to go for a wazz ;D