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There are a lot of good information in this thread but also a lot of misinformed advice.
First off a Raspberry Pi is not a PC - it's a low powered system with a mobile grade SoC (System on a Chip). The base CPU frequency of the Raspberry Pi is very low and yes you can overclock it but not by a lot without requiring cooling of some sort and then the low powered part is out the window.
As a media playback system the Raspberry Pi is surprisingly good - it's not as good as an Apple TV gen1 (Silver model) with a Broadcom decoder card but it does have hardware accelerated decoding of video/audio which is why it can play back most media flawlessly - the most obvious downside to the Raspberry Pi is the UI rendering (when you navigate XBMC), due to the system being quite slow it's struggeling to keep up. I have used XBMC on Raspberry Pi in the past and once you are playing media it works as intended and you will have a very good experience. As for other downsides are the USB driver in the Linux kernel which for unknown reasons drops packages making it nonviable for HQ audio output or stable wifi. There is a lot of interpolation code going on to smooth out the dropped kernel level packages of the USB driver and for most people this code will make it unnoticeable.
The biggest upside of the Raspberry Pi is the built in CEC. CEC makes it possible to control the XBMC via the HDMI cable so you can use your TV remote to navigate and control XBMC. This makes it a lot easier to use for most people. You do not get CEC without buying expensive external solutions for Android based media players which means you have to use two remotes which is just not as nice a solution.
If you are about to purchase a solution I strongly suggest you look into CrystalBuntu as it's above and beyond the best media playback solution you can get in terms of quality - both in the UI rendering and the actual media decoding. It does not come with CEC built in but you can always add that down the line if you need to.
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 12:28 - Feb 16 by JonTheJack
I've just downloaded XBMC onto my Nexus 7 and got Sports Devil up and running; well a few links anyway.
I'm having major trouble with 1Channel, though. I can't get any shows or movies to show up at all? Ive read through the help and tried changing the domain in the settings but still get nothing... Anyone had this issue and know a fix?
1 channel is one of the add ons blocked by British isps. Get a vpn like privateinternetaccess.com 24 pound for twelve months
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Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 13:48 - Feb 16 with 2821 views
To anyone with sound problems via him. Close xbmc plug in hdmi to TV and laptop then reopen xbmc should then have sound. Xbmc doesn't pick it up once it's up running. Let me know if this works
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Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 19:56 - Feb 16 with 2769 views
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 13:16 - Feb 16 by mikl0s
There are a lot of good information in this thread but also a lot of misinformed advice.
First off a Raspberry Pi is not a PC - it's a low powered system with a mobile grade SoC (System on a Chip). The base CPU frequency of the Raspberry Pi is very low and yes you can overclock it but not by a lot without requiring cooling of some sort and then the low powered part is out the window.
As a media playback system the Raspberry Pi is surprisingly good - it's not as good as an Apple TV gen1 (Silver model) with a Broadcom decoder card but it does have hardware accelerated decoding of video/audio which is why it can play back most media flawlessly - the most obvious downside to the Raspberry Pi is the UI rendering (when you navigate XBMC), due to the system being quite slow it's struggeling to keep up. I have used XBMC on Raspberry Pi in the past and once you are playing media it works as intended and you will have a very good experience. As for other downsides are the USB driver in the Linux kernel which for unknown reasons drops packages making it nonviable for HQ audio output or stable wifi. There is a lot of interpolation code going on to smooth out the dropped kernel level packages of the USB driver and for most people this code will make it unnoticeable.
The biggest upside of the Raspberry Pi is the built in CEC. CEC makes it possible to control the XBMC via the HDMI cable so you can use your TV remote to navigate and control XBMC. This makes it a lot easier to use for most people. You do not get CEC without buying expensive external solutions for Android based media players which means you have to use two remotes which is just not as nice a solution.
If you are about to purchase a solution I strongly suggest you look into CrystalBuntu as it's above and beyond the best media playback solution you can get in terms of quality - both in the UI rendering and the actual media decoding. It does not come with CEC built in but you can always add that down the line if you need to.
Bonus: Any information here regarding XBMC works on the CrystalBuntu solution as it's also XBMC based.
It is a PC. A PC is a personal computer. RaspberryPi is a personal computer. Everything you wrote there describes a computer. A low powered one as you say, but it's still a computer.
I was given one for christmas and this thread has inspired me to play around to see if can get XBMC running on it. Nipper is obsessed with Netflix so if can get that running through this it'll give me a very quiet life!!!
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 19:56 - Feb 16 by Uxbridge
It is a PC. A PC is a personal computer. RaspberryPi is a personal computer. Everything you wrote there describes a computer. A low powered one as you say, but it's still a computer.
I was given one for christmas and this thread has inspired me to play around to see if can get XBMC running on it. Nipper is obsessed with Netflix so if can get that running through this it'll give me a very quiet life!!!
POSTER OF THE YEAR 2013.
PROUD RECIPIENT OF THE SECOND PLANET SWANS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 19:58 - Feb 16 by Jackfath
Cheers. I'm using Raspbmc. http://www.raspbmc.com/download/ . Taken all of 10 minutes to get it installed and hooked up to my NAS. Brilliant. Looks like Netflix is out but iPlayer, 4oD and 5OD will work which will do very nicely!
Think I might need a quicker SD card though so ordered a Class 10 8GB. Will wait for that before having a proper mess about.
It's no replacement for a more powerful PC though, but looks like I should be able to get some of the sports stuff on here played on there. Time to play around ...
why don't we have Swans TV. like the other big clubs have. advertisement and sponsors would pay for the rights and keep subscriptions reasonable , we'd bring back ki and corner the asian market of floating(non man u)/betting fans. how much would it cost? surely it's worth looking into i watch most games online and it's a pain in the ass what with dropout etc, so i'm all for our own football channel
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 13:48 - Feb 16 by swans11
To anyone with sound problems via him. Close xbmc plug in hdmi to TV and laptop then reopen xbmc should then have sound. Xbmc doesn't pick it up once it's up running. Let me know if this works
It didn't work but went back in to system settings and changed the other audio setting (audio output to) and superbly sorted. Now I have to watch a million episodes of Baywatch.
Lord_Jack increasingly detached from the riches of kicking a ball
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 19:56 - Feb 16 by Uxbridge
It is a PC. A PC is a personal computer. RaspberryPi is a personal computer. Everything you wrote there describes a computer. A low powered one as you say, but it's still a computer.
I was given one for christmas and this thread has inspired me to play around to see if can get XBMC running on it. Nipper is obsessed with Netflix so if can get that running through this it'll give me a very quiet life!!!
By that definition my watch is a PC....
But this is semantics and even the official Raspberry Pi FAQ agrees with me - it's a computer not a PC. PC today is the defacto name of a desktop computer which the Raspberry Pi isn't.
My Raspberry Pi ran Netflix.
If Bony and Michu start to gel.....oh my
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Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 01:31 - Feb 17 with 2649 views
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 01:00 - Feb 17 by mikl0s
By that definition my watch is a PC....
But this is semantics and even the official Raspberry Pi FAQ agrees with me - it's a computer not a PC. PC today is the defacto name of a desktop computer which the Raspberry Pi isn't.
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 19:56 - Feb 16 by Uxbridge
It is a PC. A PC is a personal computer. RaspberryPi is a personal computer. Everything you wrote there describes a computer. A low powered one as you say, but it's still a computer.
I was given one for christmas and this thread has inspired me to play around to see if can get XBMC running on it. Nipper is obsessed with Netflix so if can get that running through this it'll give me a very quiet life!!!
I just chucked £200 at an Acer Revo on your recommendation, now you're all for the RaspberryPi's ffs mun
[Post edited 17 Feb 2014 11:01]
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Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 17:46 - Feb 17 with 2552 views
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 20:45 - Feb 16 by Uxbridge
Cheers. I'm using Raspbmc. http://www.raspbmc.com/download/ . Taken all of 10 minutes to get it installed and hooked up to my NAS. Brilliant. Looks like Netflix is out but iPlayer, 4oD and 5OD will work which will do very nicely!
Think I might need a quicker SD card though so ordered a Class 10 8GB. Will wait for that before having a proper mess about.
It's no replacement for a more powerful PC though, but looks like I should be able to get some of the sports stuff on here played on there. Time to play around ...
[Post edited 16 Feb 2014 20:46]
Cool. Can you keep me posted on the progress with the Pi? I am liking the way this is done, seems pretty easy to set up and manage and reasonable in price. Will hopefully give it a whirl soon.
POSTER OF THE YEAR 2013.
PROUD RECIPIENT OF THE SECOND PLANET SWANS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 11:01 - Feb 17 by BLAZE
I just chucked £200 at an Acer Revo on your recommendation, now you're all for the RaspberryPi's ffs mun
[Post edited 17 Feb 2014 11:01]
Nah you're alright. RaspberryPi's not much use for what I was recommending anyway. Seems perfect for a basic XBMC install though. I hope you did some research on the Revo's though as I don't have one. A lot of people recommend them though and the form factor is great. I've fallen in love with the BeIN sports site .... can have 4 live channels on screen at the same time, which will be brilliant for the footy! Hope they keep the PL rights for next season although currently it's looking unlikely.
We've got too many gadgets in our house, and every one we get seems to spawn a few others when the kids figure out that they want one too. Absolute nightmare!
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 17:46 - Feb 17 by Jackfath
Cool. Can you keep me posted on the progress with the Pi? I am liking the way this is done, seems pretty easy to set up and manage and reasonable in price. Will hopefully give it a whirl soon.
Yep sure.
Spent about 4 hours on it last night, much to my physical cost today as I'm bloody knackered! Got XBMC running flawlessly within 20 minutes, and worked with Wifi and hooked up to the server to watch some 720p files perfectly. Seems more difficult to install useful add-ons like iPlayer and 4oD as need to connect from another PC but nothing insurmountable. Need to have a play with the sports channels mentioned earlier in this thread as I've never touched those before. It's not something I think I'll be using on a regular basis personally but can certainly see the merits for some.
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 17:56 - Feb 17 by Uxbridge
Yep sure.
Spent about 4 hours on it last night, much to my physical cost today as I'm bloody knackered! Got XBMC running flawlessly within 20 minutes, and worked with Wifi and hooked up to the server to watch some 720p files perfectly. Seems more difficult to install useful add-ons like iPlayer and 4oD as need to connect from another PC but nothing insurmountable. Need to have a play with the sports channels mentioned earlier in this thread as I've never touched those before. It's not something I think I'll be using on a regular basis personally but can certainly see the merits for some.
I like the idea of adding in the movies and sports add ons and then sticking it to the back of the TV and using the remote to use it. I think it will do all that I would want it for, mind you I am unsure as to what else you would want XBMC to do?
I also haven't got the big money needed for some of the other bits and bobs at the moment.
POSTER OF THE YEAR 2013.
PROUD RECIPIENT OF THE SECOND PLANET SWANS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 18:00 - Feb 17 by Jackfath
I like the idea of adding in the movies and sports add ons and then sticking it to the back of the TV and using the remote to use it. I think it will do all that I would want it for, mind you I am unsure as to what else you would want XBMC to do?
I also haven't got the big money needed for some of the other bits and bobs at the moment.
As part of the bundle I was given, I got a wireless keyboard/mouse thingy. Bloody brilliant little thing. I'd look in that direction personally, but it's horses for courses really.
Yeah should be able to hide it away very easily. It's no bigger than a deck of cards. Reckon a base unit could be achievable for about £50-60 if you shop around for the SD card, wireless controller/keyboard, case and even wifi dongle.
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 18:44 - Feb 17 by lovejuicejack
Ive downloaded XBMC and f*cked about with it for hours I cannot get it to work at all .. keep getting a cannot connect to server message.
My computer knowledge is pretty limited, but if you take a look at some of the youtube videos of how to set up xbmc you should be ok. I haven't really got a clue what xbmc is and a lot of what I do with it is hit and miss but even I managed to watch the Scumdiff game on the weekend in near HD quality, no buffering, no stuttering live from a Norwegian TV station. Only downside was non English commentary.
I followed instructions to get something called Mash Up and then Googled to get Navi-X. I think that really all you are getting is short-cuts to the same sort of feeds you get on the likes of wiziwig.
"M'sieur, you said your dog did not bite!"
"That's not my dog"
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Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 19:42 - Feb 17 with 2455 views
1a micro usb charger but you might already have one. Plus an USB input device such as wireless keyboard or remote. Think the board is cheaper at CPC also. But aye, thats about it. Dont even need the wifi if can run an ethernet cable.
Yeah I followed that instruction, I have loaded mashup but it will not install due to not connected to the server. I looked up the fault and it's too do with a computer setting!
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Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 21:47 - Feb 17 with 2396 views
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 09:11 - Feb 16 by Jackfath
I have only just started playing with XBMC yesterday. For those who are experienced in this field, what would you say is the best "item" to get to attach to the TV?
I connected the laptop to the TV last night and watched "Gravity". Had to plug in some old speakers into the laptop as the audio was still coming through the laptop, not the TV.
I looked up a raspberry pi unit, like this,
Looks like a pretty easy way of doing this?
I currently pay for sky sports and movies - I guess this gadget could save me lots of money!
Raspberry Pi is very good. Have one hooked up to a 42 inch plasma. Easy enough to setup after installing Openelec on it. For a £28 Pc it does really work well outputting in HD
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Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 21:49 - Feb 17 with 2391 views
Anyone got one of these for streaming games? on 10:10 - Feb 16 by Shaky
The Raspberry Pi is ok as for what is known as a backend, that simply gathers content from various sources (internet streams, freeview, satellite, etc) but is underpowered as a playback device.
If you want something that can act as both a playback frontend and a backend, you need to get something more powerful, but if you also want to play HD or Blueray content the typical cheapo eBay Android boxes are also underpowered.