I chose to make this blog entry a little late because the subject I’m writing about wasn’t quite done yet!
So I love to watch movies and have been looking for a way to consolidate my DVD library into an easy to use system. At first I would copy my DVD’s to my computer and compress them into a format that loses very little quality but takes up much less space. I would then take these compressed files and put them onto a DVD. Now I can fit 6 of these onto on DVD thus consolidating my library. There were however, some issues with playing some of these getting out of sync using a special DVD player that is capable of playing these compressed (DIVX) movies. This sync problem was frustrating me and I thought it might be my DVD player’s problem.
I was searching on-line for a better player that might not have these problems. I did a Google search of “the best DIVX capable DVD player” and came across a forum where a guy gave a list of good models but mentioned at the end that the VERY BEST is a Microsoft XBox with a Media Centre Modification. I researched this and found it can do so much more than any regular DVD player with DIVX could ever do. For only $50 for a used Xbox from my friend and $25 for a softmod and XMBC (Xbox Media Centre) it’s cheaper than my former player from Futureshop!
It has so many features that really present my library well. The movies can be streamed from my computer so no need to burn DVD’s. It organizes my library into a slick jukebox style interface. Being hooked up to my network, XBMC is capable of accessing the Internet Movie Database to download DVD covers, plot synopsis, cast information and much, much more!!
Here’s what the XBMC Dashboard looks like – very clean!
This link will take you to a YouTube video demo of what it looks like:
Click here to view
November 4, 2007 at 9:04 am
I really like your new system too =) Well worth it!