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Modded XBox The Ultimate Multimedia PC?
Anonymous writes "Can a modded Xbox running homebrew software really beat all existing
designed-for-the-living-room multimedia devices hands down?! Tom's Hardware
Guide seems to think so. They reviewed Xbox Media Center
(XBMC) and say the free open source software turn an Xbox into The Ultimate Multimedia Center, the ideal home
playback system for audio and video.
(Apparently there is a PC software version available too:
Media Portal)" The article also explains some of the more convoluted issues surrounding XBMC. But I definitely agree that this is a great system.
You should not reinvent the wheel on user interface. Users have finally become accustomed to the way media players look (and they all tend to look the same now) and operate. Just because its open source doesn't mean that it has to be hard to use. Too many developers forget that and try to make their app look cool before getting it to work good or creating a nice clean design.
That's not to mention the fact that a $20 box buys you HDTV component video output as well
most people don't use a matrox g200. I believe the XBOX has a modified version of the geforce 2 GTS, and any nvidia card after that should be able to run stuff for it, maybe with a lightweight emulation layer. Or people could buy old GF2 GTS cards. I'd buy one to be able to play XBOX games on my PC.
My only regret is the xbox can't read DVD+R discs (only DvD+RW) so I end up using more expensive and less permanant media for no good reason whicn I want to archive a show.
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
Ummmm, no. Don't you see? The XBox is just the first step of many. Microsoft has the money and the skills to be patient. The home entertainment market is going to be absolutely massive, and Microsoft is going to be in everybody's living room, whether it be the XBox 2 or XBox 3 or 4 or 5. Hell, they're already in many DVD players, aren't they? Even if you hate them, you have to admit they have a bunch of smart sons of proverbials up there.
If I had to guess, I would say that each X-Box probably costs about $50-$75 to make and ship. The whole "sold at a loss" thing came from the fact that they needed to recover their development and marketing costs. They have probably done so by now, and so it's pure gravey until Intel stops selling them the chipset they need, and then it's on to X-Box 2, where the cycle starts over again.
Sorry, I don't have the numbers to back it up, and everything I recall reading has said MS is selling the XB at a loss based on estimates of what they think MS must be paying per unit.
However, most contrary arguments are arguing that MS is not losing money when you buy an Xbox. Of course they're not, the Xbox was already made and just sitting there. If no one bought it, MS would lose whatever it cost to manufacture, package, and ship.
If you buy it, they are at least recouping some of their costs, and are also able to boast higher sales figures and therefore increase development on the XB and also, perhaps, maintain very tough licensing W.R.T. games.
Make no mistake, buying an XB strengthens MS position in the gaming industry.
On the other hand, if it does cost $200 to make, and it only costs what? $150 now? Then if you are one of those people morally opposed to buying MS products I think you can feel free to justify it.
On the other hand, keep in mind that you will also have to pay for modding (wether you do it yourself or not), a disk drive, and a few other bits and pieces, and suddenly it's still only around the same price as a $300 Tivo (although it can also do more).
Personally, I just bought a used series 1 Tivo for $50 and am going to upgrade the drive (about another $100). I did get the service - it is worth it.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
Wow, only on slashdot would someone aregue about reinventing the wheel. Anyways, I'll bite and use your car comment: Imagine if your pedals for your accelerator, clutch (if you have one) and brake were swapped. No particular reason they have to be in one place or another, right? Well, users (drivers) are used to it. Lets not throw out a proven interface just to experiment. Alot of money has been spent on UI research (pity sometimes that its not spent on making programs secure or effective) and UI trends shouldn't be bucked without a proven reason that they are less efficient and that a user would benefit significantly from changing their habits. This does happen (Mozilla's tabbed browser inteface for example), but not often.
Is the X-Box designed for playing DVDs? No, it's primarily a game console with a secondary function which allows you to play DVDs - perfect for the kids or those who don't want to/can't afford a separate DVD player in addition to a games console.
For $200 including the console + any mod chips required to make the media functions work - for the average person who wants a simple media machine for the cheap - it's bloody excellent for that price.
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