GBox with XBMC

I don't have experience with that, but it looks a lot like what I was using previously on Windows 7, where I was using Media Browser (an extension for WMP) to display my movie library and relevant metadata, and play back any .mkv files I had backed up on my PC.

I've been looking into Plex since I can't use Media Browser in the same fashion as I used to, but I've not researched enough (or felt the bug yet) to commit. I'd really prefer having a dedicated PC/server with more HD space than what I am currently have (with either of my PCs) so I could store all my movies.

 

I have an Android box that is running XBMC with a bunch of the cracked addons giving me access to HD movies, even ones that are still in theaters, tv shows, live sports (streamed Jones vs. Cromier) etc. I didn't program it though, my buddy did but I am going to have to learn how to do it myself. There is also a means of getting access to hundreds if not thousands of live tv stations.

 

I think it's called Kodi now.

 

Yep. Kodi.tv through the Android TV Box browser and then DL the new app and apparently that's it - just install it. I haven't tried it yet though. Found out about it a week and a half ago but haven't got around to doing it.

This is the box I have.

Spoiler

 

I have a 30tb server running kodi and plex now and love it. Glorious as a parent.

 

Cut cable and run USTVNow and NaviX... Firstrowsports if you have to.

 

How long until there is a serious push by the Few to outlaw these devices?

 

Ride the wave while it lasts. The boxes are only $70-$100 anyway. Not like the old days where you had to buy a third party satellite to steal signals.

 

This. My personal opinion is that it's better to build your own box than to buy one off the shelf. But as a quick and convenient purchase, this GBox thing looks acceptable for what it does.

In an era where ISPs are looking to put data caps on home connections, it's better to have the content available on a local device instead of streaming over the Internet, IMO.

 

That and what you have locally can be significantly better quality.

 

Agreed, particularly if you do your own encoding.

 

And how do you get the content to put on your local device? You have to DL it. I don't see the difference in bandwidth unless Im missing something.

 

I have a feeling they're referring to repeated watching... It's deffinitely beneficial to have it locally as opposed to be dependent on another location and everything in between.

 

Get a Blu Ray drive for your computer. Rip the disc and encode it into a movie file. Warning; should only be done on relatively powerful systems that can be left unattended for about 12 hours.

Then just copy the movie file to your NAS or server.

 

You don't have to download anything if you're ripping straight off a disk.

12 hrs!? I ripped disks a hell of a lot faster than that with MakeMKV. It has been a while since I did it, but I'm darn near sure it only took like around 30 mins per movie.

To be fair I only include the untouched video and primary uncompressed audio (so typically 30ish GBs), no menus or extras (unless I need to grab subtitles for foreign films). And since it is mkv container, I guess that doesn't count as encoding to you.

 

OK, maybe im stupid, or a little drunk at the moment but if you hav ethe disk, play the disc. Why rip it to a hard drive? I still don't get it. I use the box to watch movies and tv series I don't have.

 

Because you can play to multiple rooms from a central location, or it can be a much better front end display to have your content cataloged digitally, or it is just easier than having to sort through discs to find the one you want (or for someone else to find one).

 

I'm talking about the entire process from ripping to encoding. So yeah, dumping uncompressed video into an mkv doesn't count for what I'm talking about. I'm assuming that eventually, someone is going to want to reduce that 30GB file size. I certainly wouldn't want hundreds of 30GB files on my storage, especially if most of them aren't being watched more than a few times. The resulting compressed video is still higher quality than streaming.

1. Rip video to computer movie file.
2. Store on home network.
3. Watch it any time from any device in the house.
4. Get higher quality video and audio without using Internet streaming, avoiding ISP data caps.