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Convince me *not* to get a 2nd xbox 360

S

swbsam

Platinum Member
I'm a non-gamer who recently got an xbox 360 for netflix/hulu/ and xvid media playback. I'm so satisfied with its ease of use and quality that I'm thinking of getting another for the bedroom tv - anyone have any other suggestions or is there nothing out there that's as good and cost effective ($200 arcade is what I think i'll purchase)
 
You can get a dell refurb for about $200 that would allow you to stream netflix, hulu, any video/audio source you want, plus browse the tubes. It would get my vote (I have the same setup, xbox 360 in the living room, dual core dell slim in the bedroom and it works great)
 
Do you have a laptop that you can plug into your bedroom TV? If so, skip the XBox 360 and use that for streaming video playback.
 
Kaleidescape is freaking awesome for media storage.

Tivo Series 3 gives you netflix streaming and mpeg-2/mpeg-4 playback, (but not streaming you have to put in a dir and tell it to copy the file).

I've heard some neat stuff out of tvixbox and even some of the DVR packages are doing similar.

Otherwise xbox360 is the best fit for your use.
 
I would build a media center pc and use it instead, connected to the 360 you already own.

I use a 360 with mce and also have a linksys dma which is a LOT quieter and less power hungry.
 
Originally posted by: CptCrunch
You can get a dell refurb for about $200 that would allow you to stream netflix, hulu, any video/audio source you want, plus browse the tubes. It would get my vote (I have the same setup, xbox 360 in the living room, dual core dell slim in the bedroom and it works great)
Click to expand...

Or buy a brand new arcade?


I'm assuming he's storing the videos on a pc somewhere, not on the xbox. No need for a hdd.
 
Originally posted by: AkumaX
ps3?
Click to expand...

Normally a choice to consider - If he was looking to spend around 200, the PS3 is automatically out me thinks since it's around double that price tag. The other problem with the PS3 is that the "Advantages" are debatable per person/situation - I'm not sure how easy streaming is on it (I don't think you can do netflix), bluray probably isn't super appealing for a bedroom tv, etc.


The Arcarde would be cheapest/easiest I would think - Baring that a Tivo or a cheap MCE (which would probably cost more still but have some room to upgrade/expand).
 
Originally posted by: oogabooga
Originally posted by: AkumaX
ps3?
Click to expand...

Normally a choice to consider - If he was looking to spend around 200, the PS3 is automatically out me thinks since it's around double that price tag. The other problem with the PS3 is that the "Advantages" are debatable per person/situation - I'm not sure how easy streaming is on it (I don't think you can do netflix), bluray probably isn't super appealing for a bedroom tv, etc.


The Arcarde would be cheapest/easiest I would think - Baring that a Tivo or a cheap MCE (which would probably cost more still but have some room to upgrade/expand).
Click to expand...

playon does hulu,netflix and a bunch of other random feeds.
tversity can stream any video/music you have on your pc.

if the OP is already using playon/tversity combo, then he is set. All you have to do is plug in the ps3. the bonus is now you have a blu-ray player that is upgradable and very fast.
 
wait. stop. don't get it.

did i convince you enough? just get the damn thing and be happy, although i don't see why you couldn't just use an old pc you have lying around to do the same thing the xbox 360 would at a fraction of the cost.
 
Originally posted by: rasczak
wait. stop. don't get it.

did i convince you enough? just get the damn thing and be happy, although i don't see why you couldn't just use an old pc you have lying around to do the same thing the xbox 360 would at a fraction of the cost.
Click to expand...

he could just buy another a/v and power cable for an xbox. then when he wants to watch in his room, disconnect the xbox from his main tv (leaving the a/v and power cables connected there) and just grab the xbox unit and put it in his room (where new a/v cables and power cables are already connected)
 
Originally posted by: Elganja
Originally posted by: oogabooga
Originally posted by: AkumaX
ps3?
Click to expand...

Normally a choice to consider - If he was looking to spend around 200, the PS3 is automatically out me thinks since it's around double that price tag. The other problem with the PS3 is that the "Advantages" are debatable per person/situation - I'm not sure how easy streaming is on it (I don't think you can do netflix), bluray probably isn't super appealing for a bedroom tv, etc.


The Arcarde would be cheapest/easiest I would think - Baring that a Tivo or a cheap MCE (which would probably cost more still but have some room to upgrade/expand).
Click to expand...

playon does hulu,netflix and a bunch of other random feeds.
tversity can stream any video/music you have on your pc.

if the OP is already using playon/tversity combo, then he is set. All you have to do is plug in the ps3. the bonus is now you have a blu-ray player that is upgradable and very fast.
Click to expand...


Other then the Blu-ray the Xbox does that and cost half the price.

If the Xbox still cost $299 for entry then i would agree. But ever since they went to $199 its hard to beat for what you get.

 
I say go for it...I use my 360 mostly the same way you do, and if I didn't have a Linksys DMA2200 extender, I'd buy another.

Do they still have that coupon at dell that can snag you an arcade for ~$160?

Oh and the only other thing I'd consider is an AppleTV with Boxee loaded on it.
 
Originally posted by: loup garou
I say go for it...I use my 360 mostly the same way you do, and if I didn't have a Linksys DMA2200 extender, I'd buy another.

Do they still have that coupon at dell that can snag you an arcade for ~$160?

Oh and the only other thing I'd consider is an AppleTV with Boxee loaded on it.
Click to expand...

I've been trying to use Boxee on my somewhat spare (my wife uses it to check email, so I can't leave it hooked up to the tv 24/7) mac book and it's been pretty buggy and unresponsive. Is the appletv experience better? I'm not judging the software, it's pretty slick but still feels like a beta.


And, yep, i stream xvids to my xbox 360 using either connect360 (from my iMac on os x) or playon if I need my hulu fix.
 
FYI - you must be signed into xbl gold to do netflix. You have a few options:
1 a second accout ($)
2 recover gamertag. Takes a few minutes each time you switch boxes
3 keep your profile on memory card and move it ($)
4 move your hard drive. Not sure how well this works, I had to delete netflix ANC redosnload when I moved my drive to a new box

Just make sure you know what you're doing. I'll probably get a second one myself
 
Originally posted by: Elganja
Originally posted by: rasczak
wait. stop. don't get it.

did i convince you enough? just get the damn thing and be happy, although i don't see why you couldn't just use an old pc you have lying around to do the same thing the xbox 360 would at a fraction of the cost.
Click to expand...

he could just buy another a/v and power cable for an xbox. then when he wants to watch in his room, disconnect the xbox from his main tv (leaving the a/v and power cables connected there) and just grab the xbox unit and put it in his room (where new a/v cables and power cables are already connected)
Click to expand...

That'swha.Idowithmyps3
 
Originally posted by: mugs
FYI - you must be signed into xbl gold to do netflix. You have a few options:
1 a second accout ($)
2 recover gamertag. Takes a few minutes each time you switch boxes
3 keep your profile on memory card and move it ($)
4 move your hard drive. Not sure how well this works, I had to delete netflix ANC redosnload when I moved my drive to a new box

Just make sure you know what you're doing. I'll probably get a second one myself
Click to expand...

Ugh, so you can't easily use one xbl gold account on two consoles? They wouldn't be running at the same time, even.

If I do go the xbox route I'll look into the alternatives you posted - thanks for the heads up!

As for the suggestions to use an extra pc - I don't have an extra computer and our household is 100% mac as of late... but a dell refurb is a possibility.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: Elganja
Originally posted by: rasczak
wait. stop. don't get it.

did i convince you enough? just get the damn thing and be happy, although i don't see why you couldn't just use an old pc you have lying around to do the same thing the xbox 360 would at a fraction of the cost.
Click to expand...

he could just buy another a/v and power cable for an xbox. then when he wants to watch in his room, disconnect the xbox from his main tv (leaving the a/v and power cables connected there) and just grab the xbox unit and put it in his room (where new a/v cables and power cables are already connected)
Click to expand...

That'swha.Idowithmyps3
Click to expand...

I would consider that but it would drive my wife crazy. In fact, I had to bend her arm a bit to get an xbox in the first place - she just didn't get it. Now she uses everyday to watch netflix movies, so I've won her over.. but she hates wires and would be annoyed if I kept on moving it around.
 
If you're using playon to play hulu on your 360 you can use it for netflix too. No xbl needed. Easiest way to use one account on two boxes is a memory card
 
Originally posted by: mugs
If you're using playon to play hulu on your 360 you can use it for netflix too. No xbl needed. Easiest way to use one account on two boxes is a memory card
Click to expand...

I love using my 360 for streaming netflix and movies across my network.

I even play Guitar Hero sometimes too..

but mostly its a glorified htpc.

linkified
 
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