Which Media Centre is better?

JvanD

JvanD

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I'm in the market for a new media centre.

So far I'm looking at the following:

PopCorn Hour A-210
PopCorn Hour A-300
Xtreamer Prodigy.
Mede8er 500x2

Kinda scared about buying the Xtreamer products as everyone is very opinionated about their lack of after sales service and bug fixes.

If you could steer me in the right direction or make a suggestion it would be highly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
JvanD said:
I'm in the market for a new media centre.

So far I'm looking at the following:

PopCorn Hour A-210
PopCorn Hour A-300
Xtreamer Prodigy.
Mede8er 500x2

Kinda scared about buying the Xtreamer products as everyone is very opinionated about their lack of after sales service and bug fixes.

If you could steer me in the right direction or make a suggestion it would be highly appreciated.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

well if the PopCorn Hour A-300 is on your list then go for that!

Otherwise I'm a fan of the Mede8er.
 
Yup I'm thinking along the lines of the Popcorn hour mostly. What makes you say Mede8er?
 
JvanD said:
Yup I'm thinking along the lines of the Popcorn hour mostly. What makes you say Mede8er?
Click to expand...

The Mede8er just works. No mess, no fuss, minimal setup and you're good to go in full HD with 7.1.
It does not have all the features of an XBMC type machine, but it works well and has little or no issues. The only thing to worry about is that some BenQ tv's have an IR range very close to the Mede8er signal to doing anything on the Mede8er turns the tv off :p

TBH I still have the Mede8er 500, not the x2 so I am unsure about all the new features they have added there.

Honestly tho, if the Popcorn Hour A-300 is in your budget get that.
 
Hp proliant Microserver with xbmc is the best solution
 
Thanks for the input thus far, I'm doing a bit of research and noticed that the new Xtreamer Prodigy supports Android which sounds quite cool however I cant find a review on the net .... troubled. Hardware means nothing if the implementation sucks.

Noob question what is XBMC? Like a media server? Trying to get the noise out of the living room :-P
 
rooted apple tv (atv2) running xbmc over here. all for R900... well.. that was when the dollar was R6.90 ... o_O
 
JvanD said:
Noob question what is XBMC? Like a media server? Trying to get the noise out of the living room :-P
Click to expand...

XBMC is derived from the original Xbox media center software... its the best MC software out there... with the best iOS/Android companion/remote apps. And it runs on windows/mac/linux AND as per my previous post... ATV2. ; ) checkit @ http://xbmc.org/skins/

With my ATV setup all the movies are streamed over gigabit cat from another room... the atv doesnt even have a fan, and only optical audio. i.e. no noise.
 
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Cool busy downloading it as we speak. Will give it a go! Looks great and skins galore.
 
I have no idea what these things cost - so not sure if it's in the budget or not ... but check this Xstreamer Ultra

http://www.xtreamer.net/Ultra/

Come with an 8GB stick that enables you to boot into XBMC or Boxee, amoungst others
 
Another vote for XBMC. My box is so quiet, the only way you know it's on is the power light :)
 
If you can go with an XBMC type setup, you definitely won't regret it.. they rock.
 
A PC running Windows Media Center with the MediaBrowser plugin :P

just built myself a cheapie for around R3k for the following specs:

Intel DH67CL mini ITX Board
Intel Pentium G620T (35W)
4GB RAM
CFi ITX case and PSU
AData 32GB SSD

Plays everything under the sun, and works like a charm (completely silent - only the CPU fan, and you can hardly hear the thing)
 
The Xtreamer Ultra looks quite good ... but a bit steep on the pricing R 3,249.00. I noticed Xtreamer SA has stock of the new Prodigy. I placed an order for it now - lets see if it works or not!
 
Kinda trying to get away from the PC thing myself howerver there is no firmware updates and issues with indexing.
Seems like a healthy alternative ....
 
satanboy said:
wtf? The mede8er cost just over R1,000
Click to expand...

Yes, but it plays everything (and I have found files that dont work on a Mede8er), and it looks like this:

http://community.mediabrowser.tv/uploads/site_1/2483/VanillaLarge.jpg (obviously requires a bit of work when setting up all the metadata, but once that is done :D)

I was looking at a Mede8er, but still decided on going the PC route... the flexibility of being in control of the entire system is worth more to me in the long run than a bit of cash. When you have a collection in excess of 2TB, finding anything on a Mede8er becomes a complete nightmare, whereas with the PC, I can look for a movie based on actors, genres, studios, date added, production date, name, etc...
 
10 Reasons why an HP + XBMC beats the snot out of pre-built Machines:

1) The chassis enables you to install 5 hard drives internally, and up to 5 external drives.
2) XBMC is the best Media Centre software out there, and plays every format known on the planet. it also has the sexiest UI available (running in FullHD)
3) More flexibility on Hardware and Software on a HP, than on a Medi8tor/Popcorn Hour
4) XBMC and OpenELEC are free (Linux too, if you wanna go that route) and xbmc updates are available daily.
5) Hundreds of Skins, Mods and Plug-Ins. (You can install stuff like torrents/sickbeard on it)
6) Ability to control Media Centre with your Android / iPhone / iPad (I think it can also stream your whole media library to those devices, too)
7) The HP now costs only R1199, down from R3600.
8) Super quiet & low power consumption.
9) IceFilms Library, which is spectacular for uncapped users.
10) PseudoTV (The Best Reason, hehe)
 
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