[Paul B]

My Xbox 360 died the other day (outside of the 3 year extended warranty) with the E74 error. Now, I can get it fixed (and probably will, if only to sell it) but as it see's very little gaming use and is mainly used for streaming video from my NAS/Desktop or playing directly from an external HDD I was looking to see if there was a better alternative.

From what I've seen I could:

1) Go for a plug-in generic media player box (~£30)
2) Replace my PVR box with something capable of playing from an external HDD (thinking ahead)
3) use the Xbox once fixed despite its flaws
4) use a small form factor (old PC) as a HTPC running XBMC
(5 - somebody has an old XBMC original Xbox that they no longer want/need?)

The xbox is noisy and I've got no doubt that this error has come about since putting high load on it streaming video, it sounds like it could easily take off with all of the fan noise. It's also massive for what it does. Its also quite annoying for it to have a massive HDD that you can't use for storing video as Microsoft don't want you to.

Option 4) looks good but I'm having real trouble working out which hardware will be suitable:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBMCbuntu#XBMCbuntu_minimum_and_recommended_hardware_requirements

I was looking at cheap (<£50) shuttle PCs on ebay but they're all awkward specs and I haven't a clue which'll be appropriate.

I fired up XBMC on Ubuntu (on this netbook) and it looks and feels great. It also has lots of add-ons which includes iplayer.

Does anybody run a (cheap) HTPC with XBMC or something similar?

[tomtom]

Bad time to post.. Slackers will be in Lima by now

[Jim]

I use a ps3 for the same thing you use your xbox for.
If you go down HTPC route, I can recomend mediaportal, used it many years ago, it will have changed quite a bit since I was using it tho:
http://www.team-mediaportal.com/
I didn't like XMBC so didn't really use it
Also if you want to build a HTPC, I can recomend a cheap micro-ATX board (Gigabyte do some good cheap ones) and an low spec intel CPU.
My parents current pc is my old HTPC which has got an intel E2220 chip on it and its virtually silent, even as its heavily overclocked and fully loaded with stock fan.

Personally I would go with a all in one media box type thingy off the shelf, purely because time is a premium these days and I can't be wasting it messing about with stuff like codecs etc...

[Paul B]

The Xbox seems to be working again now so it'll do until it finally goes for good. Reading more into the repairs I doubt I'll bother as most (apart from MS) seem to be temporary fixes (guaranteed for a whopping 30 days!).

I've been having a lot of trouble working out if second hand PCs meet this spec:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBMCbuntu#XBMCbuntu_minimum_and_recommended_hardware_requirements

There was a 2.8GHZ Semperon Shuttle PC on there for ~£40 but I haven't a clue if it'd be powerful enough. I was hoping for something used off the shelf rather than wasting time on a custom build, its not worth it.

[Paul B]

Ok, its certainly dead now 

I didn't like XMBC so didn't really use it

I think likely things have changes as it seems pretty good to me, especially with 4OD and iPlayer add-ons. XBMC remote for Android also makes controlling  playback very easy.

I'd build a HTPC but I've hit on a bit of an issue, namely that the TV only supports SCART and upgrading that too isn't an option currently.

A few days ago they released XBMC for Android, currently its only working fully on one device but this'll no doubt open the flood-gates to cheap Android devices that function well. This doesn't remove the SCART issue though 

[lagerstarfish]

VGA or composite to SCART leads don't cost much

or am I missing the point?

[andy_e]

VGA is a digital signal and SCART is analogue, you need a converter between the two.

[Bubba]

Regarding option 5 in the OP, is there a way of flashing an old XBOX that doesn't involve trying to find a copy of what are now pretty rare games on ebay, etc in order to flash XBMC?  Last time I searched I couldn't find one but this was a while back now.

[Paul B]

Regarding option 5 in the OP, is there a way of flashing an old XBOX that doesn't involve trying to find a copy of what are now pretty rare games on ebay, etc in order to flash XBMC?  Last time I searched I couldn't find one but this was a while back now.

Not that I'm aware of. There are a few consoles with XBMC for sale on Gumtree etc. but prices vary wildly as does location.

[slackline]

6) Cheap & cheerful... http://www.raspbmc.com/ (albeit it geeky and likely involved, but circumvents some of the cable problems as it has HDMI out, and you shouldnt have to worry about codec problems either).

[Paul B]

6) Cheap & cheerful... http://www.raspbmc.com/ (albeit it geeky and likely involved, but circumvents some of the cable problems as it has HDMI out, and you shouldnt have to worry about codec problems either).

No it doesn't! HDMI is also a digital output and thus needs conversion for use with a SCART TV. Plus, (as andi_e can verify), Raspbmc is very very slow and will never play MPeg2.

[slackline]

Sincere apologies Paul I didnt read all of the posts in detail as I had a shit nights sleep, only your first one where I saw no mention of a "SCART issue", and just scanned the other posts (I now see it explained in your third post).

Just buy a flat screen TV with HDMI input and remove a pointless headache and free up some space in the living room.  Youll likely end up getting a new TV at somepoint anyway and they can be had for pretty cheap these days anyway. 

[Paul B]

I'm stubbornly refusing to do that as the CRT TV is still going strong (oh yes, that money thing too).

[slackline]

Get a job, then a few fuck alls wont be an issue