Xbox 360 Media Streaming (Windows XP Pro)

[t_aitch]

Im in the situation at the moment, where ive ditched the HTPC in the living room as its too fiddly to play a simple file, and i dont really want to use Windows XP MCE. So now, im looking for a media streamer, and in another thread someone recommended a 360 as a media streamer, which sounds right up my street!

I know there is quite a few threads on getting the Xbox 360 to work as a media center extender, where the host computer is running Windows Media Center.

I have (and i dont really want to change) Windows XP Pro.

So my question is, is it possible to get the Xbox 360 to stream media content (divx, xvid, music, etc.) from a computer system running XP Pro, and if so, how is this possible?

Id really like to hear opinions from other users that have been able to do this?

Thanks a lot people.

[UKMuFFiN]

Haven't managed it myself yet, planning on doing it when it comes back from repair

http://www.tversity.com/home

[Dooms]

Check out this previous thread

Points to this link thats a guide to setting up the software that UKMuFFin just posted

[t_aitch]

Thanks for the help guys. Greatly appreciated!

Another thing that was on my mind was that i live in a household with two computer systems. Is it quite easy to switch from different sources on the 360?

This is the first time ive got a console for about 3 years now. Is there any games that you can recommend which stand out? Im into just about anything really.

[Dooms]

Ive never used tversity so im not sure, If you were using the media connector or MCE you can add as many folders to look in on as many computers as you want.

Games wise... Well I think everyone is going to scream at you to get Gears of War (and you REALLY should get it) other than that...

Call of Duty 3
Burnout Revenge
Project Gothem Racing 3
Pro Evo Soccer 6
Viva Pinata

Just some of the games people are raving about

Oh and make sure you get on LIVE!

[t_aitch]

Thanks for that.

What would i need to get on Xbox live, apart from the 360 itself? Is there a subscription fee?

I was thinking about getting the premium pack as it looks to come with all the gubbins, but its quiet overpriced. Do i really need the hard disk and head set? I mean, what is the hard disk actually used for?

Also the HD lead that comes with it doesnt look like a HDMI lead from the pics on amazon.

I saw the ad for gears of war and it looks pretty amazing.

[Dooms]

360 doesnt have HDMI, it uses component for its HD goodness.

definate YES to the premium pack for the HDD and Component cable... the headset is nice for playing on live or just using it to chat to mates

The HDD is used for saving games (if you dont have the memory card) download content such as Demos, Trailers, Patches, Add-ons and best of all... Xbox Live arcade games! Also it is required if you want to play old Xbox 1 games and is used as a cache while playing games to speed up loading times

For a gold live subscription (so you can play the games online) its £40 for the year, otherwise you get a silver sub for free which allows you to download stuff. The premium pack does come with 1 month free

[t_aitch]

Surely it might just be cheaper then for me to buy the hard drive seperately then?

Took a look at gears of war yesterday, was pretty amazing.

I over-estimated how expensive the games were on this, i was thinking that they were about £49.99 each.

Just going to wait around now for a cheap deal to become available for the standard pack.



Ah yes, and another question:

I know that Logitech do a harmony remote control which is designed for the Xbox 360, but would any of the other harmony remote controls work for it?

Thanks again everyone for all your help!

[Dooms]

No it doesn't work out cheaper (the HDD on its own is expensive) honestly you will kick yourself if you get the core console

HD AV Cable - £17.99
HDD - £64.99
Headset - £12.99
Memory Card (requierd if you get the core console) - £17.99

There are some good deals around at the moment... I dont know if blockbuster/gamestation are still doing the deal

Premium Pack
Extra Wireless
PGR3
Arcade Live
Gears of War
Pro Evo 6

£329ish


www.play-asia.com is great for dirt cheap region free games (about £21 a game)

[Blademrk]

Definitly do not go for the core package. The cost of the HDD alone will take it close to the price of the Premium, plus you don't get HD AV cables only standard def ones.

[t_aitch]

I suppose.

Ill keep my eye out for a cheap premium pack.

The reason why i said it might be cheaper is because there was a deal in the bargain forums for a 360 with PGR3 for £149 (clearance offer)

[chriswood_7]

Originally Posted by t_aitch

Im in the situation at the moment, where ive ditched the HTPC in the living room as its too fiddly to play a simple file, and i dont really want to use Windows XP MCE. So now, im looking for a media streamer, and in another thread someone recommended a 360 as a media streamer, which sounds right up my street!

I know there is quite a few threads on getting the Xbox 360 to work as a media center extender, where the host computer is running Windows Media Center.

I have (and i dont really want to change) Windows XP Pro.

So my question is, is it possible to get the Xbox 360 to stream media content (divx, xvid, music, etc.) from a computer system running XP Pro, and if so, how is this possible?

Id really like to hear opinions from other users that have been able to do this?

Thanks a lot people.

To do this you need Media Connect 2 from Microsoft (need to run the validation tool to get it) and set up your streaming content from that networked PC.

I have done this before and it works well,

Good luck

[ArcticFox]

I could never get it to work and i completely gave up on the idea.

[t_aitch]

What method were you trying ArcticFox?

[UKMuFFiN]

Woo hoo, Just got my 360 back from being repaired and have got Tversity working, just tweaking it now.

[Flibb]

This reply might get deleted due to its mention of mod chips, but will try anyway.

I have played with several ways of getting divx, mpg, mp3 etc from a PC to the TV. For me its got to be on a budget. Anyway, mentioned this to a colleague at work the other week, and he introduced me to the original Xbox, combined with a mod chip. Total cost would be under £50. He let me borrow his xbox and gave me a chip to install in my one (chips is around £10). With a bit of fiddling involving a bootable CD and ftp transfer of files I have ended up with a system that is running xbox media centre http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/
Then y sharing directory's, or drives on my PC i can watch just about any media out there, you Can even mount an ISO of a DVD using daemon tools on the PC and watch it over the network on the xbox. xbox DVD remote can be used to control it, or a game pad. Theres also lots of other mods you can do, think you can even get HD out of it somehow. Looks like it also works with NAS drives as the xbox does the decoding, and outputs audio via opticla to an amp.