Xbox as media center extender

I am considering buying a media center extender and I am very tempted by the Xbox, but:

1) it does not come with blu ray
2) it is very noisy.

If you own an Xbox, do you use it as an extender and what is your opinion? Any chances of new hardware coming out for xmas? Thanks for your comments.

I use it as an extender. I love it, but;

• It has poor codec support
• No DVD play from the media center

I use an Xbox 360, simply because I have one and its far cheaper than dedicated bits of extender hardware, especially in the UK.  Noise isn't that much of a problem, its not as loud as when the DVD drive is spun up playing a game.  Plus it does a whole lot more.

Blu-ray would be nice.  But I'm not about to blow £25 for a film on BD-ROM.  When you can pick up 10 films on HD DVD and the drive for the same price.

Not run into any codec issues, the 360 can play Xvid, Divx, H.264, WMV and everything else I've got.

daSmirnov said:

I use an Xbox 360, simply because I have one and its far cheaper than dedicated bits of extender hardware, especially in the UK.  Noise isn't that much of a problem, its not as loud as when the DVD drive is spun up playing a game.  Plus it does a whole lot more.

Blu-ray would be nice.  But I'm not about to blow £25 for a film on BD-ROM.  When you can pick up 10 films on HD DVD and the drive for the same price.

Not run into any codec issues, the 360 can play Xvid, Divx, H.264, WMV and everything else I've got.

A PS3 can play movies from your computer via wireless (or simmilar magic). It also has HD and Blu-ray, but sadly not Fable 2.

evildictaitor said:

A PS3 can play movies from your computer via wireless (or simmilar magic). It also has HD and Blu-ray, but sadly not Fable 2.

giovanni said:

daSmirnov said:

*snip*

I thought HD DVD died...

daSmirnov said:

giovanni said:

*snip*

It did, that's why its dirt cheap.

giovanni said:

daSmirnov said:

*snip*

And that's why you don't be able to find any HD DVDs in a little while... I am considering going with a Dell Studio Hybrid instead: it is not an extender, it is a whole PC, it come with Blu Ray and does exactly what I want, but it is a little more expensive.

I think you miss the value statement.  I can buy Transformers on BD-ROM for about £25.  Or I can buy the HD DVD drive for about £5, Transformers for about £3 and buy another half dozen films for about £17.  Who cares if there haven't been any new releases when its that cheap.

Considering how well Blu-ray is doing at the moment.... Honestly films 4 times as expensive on DVD?  There's a reason its marketshare hasn't done anything in the last 8 months apart from flatline.  And yes I do have a Blu-ray player at home.  Costs are too high, licencing costs to the BDA are too high.  I wouldn't be surprised to see film studios start dropping it soon.

The Studio Hybrids are nice machines, just make sure to get an IR port and remote for it if its just going to be used for media playback.

daSmirnov said:

giovanni said:

*snip*

I think you miss the value statement.  I can buy Transformers on BD-ROM for about £25.  Or I can buy the HD DVD drive for about £5, Transformers for about £3 and buy another half dozen films for about £17.  Who cares if there haven't been any new releases when its that cheap.

Considering how well Blu-ray is doing at the moment.... Honestly films 4 times as expensive on DVD?  There's a reason its marketshare hasn't done anything in the last 8 months apart from flatline.  And yes I do have a Blu-ray player at home.  Costs are too high, licencing costs to the BDA are too high.  I wouldn't be surprised to see film studios start dropping it soon.

The Studio Hybrids are nice machines, just make sure to get an IR port and remote for it if its just going to be used for media playback.

giovanni said:

daSmirnov said:

*snip*

Thanks, I see your point, but sooner or later I will buy a BD-ROM and I like to minimize the amount of stuff underneath my TV, so it is one or the other...

I have been using my XBOX 360 as an extender for a long time. It works well, although I would make sure if you have a fast enough network to run video. If you have a wired network, you're fine most likely. If you have a wireless network - make sure you're using A or N network. G is ok, but A has less interference (I found..) and N works great if you have a bridge (the Xbox 360 Wireless card is not N compatible).

Also, spend the 20 bucks and get a Xbox 360 Wireless Media remote. It works great and will provide universal remote functionality for your TV.

Let us know how you like it!