[WTB] A successful recommendation for a media player that suits my needs (1 BTC) - page 2.

Sp0tter

sr. member

Activity: 285

Merit: 250

Quote from: evlew on October 25, 2012, 10:43:24 PM

You are being down right silly by dismissing Windows Media Center.... that is all.
Why can't you just hook the speakers up to your tv?

Quote

37" TV with reasonable amount of inputs, but no sound out capability other than the built in speakers which I am not going to use.

evlew

sr. member

Activity: 406

Merit: 250

You are being down right silly by dismissing Windows Media Center.... that is all. (I use a TV tuner, so that is why I like it so much more than the rest, aside from the fact that it's really nice to begin with... one thing Microsoft did right)

Why can't you just hook the speakers up to your tv?

I've also used the western digital media streamer. It works nice and has the features you're looking for.

Red Emerald

hero member

Activity: 742

Merit: 500

Quote from: ?? on ??

Edit: This little bugger should fit your needs. Minimal tweaking, and native support for Netflix. Hulu would require "Plus" subscription, I assume.

That thing does look pretty awesome! Only does 720p though.

Any requirements for resolution or file formats, Sp0tter?

EDIT: Also, this doesn't fit your request, but it might be something you haven't considered. There are a lot of TVs coming out now that have web-apps built right in. I know Visio has some with Netflix and I'm pretty sure they have Hulu, too. You could use this as an excuse to get a new TV and keep using the linux system for local content.

Red Emerald

hero member

Activity: 742

Merit: 500

Well as you said, Linux and Silverlight don't play together. I'm assuming you won't install Windows in a VM either. I don't blame you.

How about an Apple TV? It's $99 and can play netflix and hulu plus. You can leave your linux setup for playing things from your file share. This means you have to use two devices, but that isn't too big a deal since I'm assuming your remote can change the TV's input.

The AppleTV has HDMI and optical audio out. Since you don't want to use the TV speakers, I believe you can get an optical to 3.55mm converter.

This is similar to my personal setup with a Jailbroken Apple TV running Netflix and the Plex Client and a small ubuntu server running the plex media server. My server was originally a high-end firewall, so it doesn't have any graphics capability otherwise it would be plugged into the TV like yours is.

There is also the roku which starts at $49. It does hulu and netflix.

It's really hard to get a non-windows system that can do both netflix streaming and play all the different codecs off network storage.

Sp0tter

sr. member

Activity: 285

Merit: 250

Quote from: Rinnosuke on October 25, 2012, 10:01:44 PM

Just install windows and stick with XBMC.

I shall not use Windows under any circumstance. I guess I should change the bullet points to numbers so they can be referenced Sad

Rinnosuke

newbie

Activity: 9

Merit: 0

Just install windows and stick with XBMC.

Sp0tter

sr. member

Activity: 285

Merit: 250

I'm offering 1 BTC to the first person who thoughtfully and successfully (subjective to my opinion) recommends a media player which meets my needs and that I end up buying.

Background:
I currently use Arch Linux + XBMC on a mini itx atom+ion system with a rosewell remote control. This has worked perfectly for a couple years for me but now my wife want's Netflix and Hulu Plus. Hulu is acceptable wtih an XBMC plugin but netflix is a no go in linux because of silverlight. Therefore I need a new setup.

I have:

37" TV with reasonable amount of inputs, but no sound out capability other than the built in speakers which I am not going to use.
Creative 2.1 Speaker setup with a 3.5mm stereo jack connector.

Requirments:

Play network shares (samba/cifs from my solaris file server)
Play Hulu Plus.
Play Netflix.
Use the creative labs 2.1 speakers.
No 3rd party apps/addons required for the previous needs (No streaming servers required to play media from the network shares, etc..).

Constraints:

I must be able to adjust the volume from the device because the creative speakers do not have a remote control.
I will not use Microsoft Windows.
I have a $180 price limit, but Ideally I would like to spend under $130.
For under < $50 720p is fine. For >= $50 it must be 1080p.
Price tag must include remote, any cables or adapters, etc..

I reserve the right to update these lists.

Topic: [WTB] A successful recommendation for a media player that suits my needs (1 BTC) - page 2. (Read 1692 times)