XBMC Media Center

XBMC Media Center (XBMC), formerly Xbox Media Center, is a media player application for the original Microsoft Xbox, and recently Intel Mac's, Windows, and Linux. XBMC can play video, music, and photo content from the disk drive, hard drive, USB drive, and, most significantly, from a networked computer. Streaming media content from a computer is largely viewed as XBMC's best feature.

Xbox Media Center
MSRP $0.00
Release date January, 2004
Brand XBMC Team
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Pros & Cons21
Reviews40
Details
Buy It
Competitors7
Comments4
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Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
40 reviews
77
negative
mixed
positive
31 positive
0 mixed
8 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
+24agreedisagree

•
Amazing file-format support. Will play just about any file you throw at it.
+17agreedisagree

•
Open-source and free
+16agreedisagree

•
Great UI with nice graphics
+12agreedisagree

•
Great built-in audio visualizations
+12agreedisagree

•
Configurable Xbox controller / remote functionality
+10agreedisagree

•
Continually updated and improved because of development community
+9agreedisagree

•
Can play Internet radio
+9agreedisagree

•
Runs Python scripts for applications like YouTube
+9agreedisagree

•
Customizable, very much so if you get into the XML configuration files and MySQL databases.
+8agreedisagree

•
Has Last.fm Scrobbling support.
+7agreedisagree

•
XBMC ported to Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
+7agreedisagree

•
Can play files inside .RAR compression
+4agreedisagree

•
Very useful to me!!!
+4agreedisagree

•
Cheaper than lose mediaplayer if you have a xbox
+3agreedisagree

•
Much harder to lose an xbox than an ipod.
+1agreedisagree

•
its free, great
+1agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
Xbox version requires a modded Xbox
+14agreedisagree

•
The Xbox version can't play HD video content (hardware limitation)
+12agreedisagree

•
Not officially licensed for the Xbox
+9agreedisagree

•
Can be difficult to configure and setup for a novice
+7agreedisagree


39 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

Since Xbox Media Center is not an officially licensed software application for the Xbox, it requires that the the Xbox is "modded" to permit the code to run. Typically, modifying the Xbox is done either (1) by physically modifying the motherboard by soldering some connections and adding a mod-chip, (2) applying a software patch (aka "softmod", see the 30 min. softmod tutorial for instructions), or (3) swapping the Xbox hard drive ("hot swap"). Note that none of that is required if XBMC is being installed on a PC, Mac, or Linux computer.

XBMC is a free, open-source application distributed under a GNU General Public License.Xbox Media Center won two categories at the SourceForge 2006 Community Choice Awards: 1) Best Multimedia Project, and 2) Best Game Project. It is nominated as a finalist in six categories for the 2007 awards. The non-Xbox versions can be downloaded at XBMC's official website.

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Articles

• How to Go from Xbox to Xbox Media Center in 30 minutes

written by Erik Jul 12, 06

• How to watch YouTube on your TV

written by Erik Jan 26, 07

Discussions

• Help with setting up XBMC

last post by medparadise Sep 19, 06

• What's the xbmc Gueux disc?

last post by sirox503 Aug 3, 06

• How can I undo the XBMC

last post by Omar Aug 1, 06

• Problem upgrading

last post by Erik Jul 20, 06

• Is there a cd who will instal XBMC to my XBOX?

last post by Omar Jul 13, 06

• Can I undo the XBMC?

last post by Omar Jun 23, 06

This report was started February 15, 2006 at 12:01 pm by Erik
with the last edit occurring October 20, 2009 at 10:55 am by Rodriguez Vincent
This page has been viewed 47006 times, with 394 edits by 60 contributors.
See the full report history »

Buy It

Competitors

XBMC Media Center is ranked 1st among it's competitors.  See the top picks in Software »
MythTV

MythTV

MSRP  $0.00    Released  --
Pros
  • Free, open-source alternative to TiVO
  • Support for multiple simultaneous TV tuners
  • Live TV functionality. pause/rewind/fast forward live TV
Cons
  • Complicated setup geared towards more techie people
  • Difficult working with digital broadcasts and HDTV
  • Doesn't interact with digital cable/satellite directly but instead requires an IR blaster
ProSCORE
7 reviews
85
Vote! (2 votes)
vote XBMC Media Center 50% vs. vote MythTV 50%
Apple TV

Apple TV

MSRP  $229.00    Released  March, 2006
Pros
  • Integrated wireless
  • Plays high-definition content
  • Small footprint and sleek styling
Cons
  • Limited to iTunes
  • 24 hour movie rental time window
  • Xbox with XBMC is cheaper and is more flexible
ProSCORE
26 reviews
52
Vote! (6 votes)
vote XBMC Media Center 67% vs. vote Apple TV 33%
ZIOVA Clearstream CS510

ZIOVA Clearstream CS510

MSRP  $200.00    Released  May, 2007
Pros
  • Support DivX and XVid streaming
  • Built-In WIFI
  • Affordable
Cons
  • Slow to boot
  • Fast forward does not seem to work on XVid and DivX
  • Built for geeks, not user friendly enough for mainstream users
ProSCORE
5 reviews
68
Vote! (4 votes)
vote XBMC Media Center 100% vs. vote ZIOVA Clearstream CS510 0%
Vudu Box

Vudu Box

MSRP  $295.00    Released  September, 2007
Pros
  • Internet streaming of movies on your TV
  • Supports 1080p/24 fps with HDMI output
  • Innovate remote with scroll wheel
Cons
  • No PC streaming support
  • Doesn't work with universal infrared remotes
  • No built-in WiFi
ProSCORE
8 reviews
52
Vote! (7 votes)
vote XBMC Media Center 100% vs. vote Vudu Box 0%
Archos TV+

Archos TV+

MSRP  $249.00    Released  --
Pros
  • Both WiFi and Ethernet connectivity
  • Fully functional Opera Web browser
  • DVR functionality
Cons
  • Doesn't support HD video
  • Can't pause or rewind live TV
  • Limited content from Archos portal and CinemaNow
ProSCORE
6 reviews
39
Vote! (2 votes)
vote XBMC Media Center 100% vs. vote Archos TV+ 0%
Amazon Unbox

Amazon Unbox

MSRP  --    Released  --
ProSCORE
0 reviews
N/A
Vote! (4 votes)
vote XBMC Media Center 100% vs. vote Amazon Unbox 0%
Buffalo LinkTheater PC-P4LWAG

Buffalo LinkTheater PC-P4LWAG

MSRP  $249.00    Released  --
Pros
  • Streams well over WLAN and fits together with Buffalo LinkStation NAS and a Buffalo Airstation router.
Cons
  • It does not support subtitles!!
  • The scart connection is a joke. It disturbs other scarts, can't "play together" with them and does not recognize (switch) the ration 16:9 . 4:3 as all other scart connected devices.
  • The units respond to ~1 in 10 remote button pushes, so that to navigate down through 10 files and then play a file frequently takes hundreds of key presses. The units frequently loose network connection while idle, and this requires navigating all the way back to the main menu, frequently hundreds of button pushes on the remote. If a new file is added to the terastation or other media server the units lock up when a "refresh" is done to the server; any file that is playing halts. There are several buttons on the remote that if pushed lock the unit up to the point that a factory reset must be done to recover.
ProSCORE
2 reviews
17
Vote! (4 votes)
vote XBMC Media Center 100% vs. vote Buffalo LinkTheater PC-P4LWAG 0%

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Comments

259 taps
show more
1.  avatar Aliminator said:

What is Q drive? How do I go back to my original Xbox menu screen to delete some game files?
Oct 06, 2006 6:28pm
2.  avatar tayl0r said:

Go to My Programs, then select Game Saves on the left.

Feb 08, 2007 4:43pm
3.  avatar ovon said:

How do I get it?

Aug 12, 2007 4:46pm
4.  avatar Erik said:

how to get it:

1) use BitTorrent
2) IRC channel #xbins
Oct 01, 2007 10:52am
Some HTML is allowed. Your comments remain editable after you post..

Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

Fila

avatar
September 16, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
79
negative
mixed
positive
15 pros
4 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
  • Amazing file-format support. Will play just about any file you throw at it.
  • Open-source and free
  • Great UI with nice graphics
  • Great built-in audio visualizations
  • Configurable Xbox controller / remote functionality
  • Continually updated and improved because of development community
  • Can play Internet radio
  • Runs Python scripts for applications like YouTube
  • Customizable, very much so if you get into the XML configuration files and MySQL databases.
  • Has Last.fm Scrobbling support.
  • XBMC ported to Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
  • Can play files inside .RAR compression
  • Very useful to me!!!
  • Cheaper than lose mediaplayer if you have a xbox

Cons

  • Xbox version requires a modded Xbox
  • The Xbox version can't play HD video content (hardware limitation)
  • Not officially licensed for the Xbox
  • Can be difficult to configure and setup for a novice

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

haitianrep

avatar
April 23, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
79
negative
mixed
positive
15 pros
4 cons

Pros

  • Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
  • Amazing file-format support. Will play just about any file you throw at it.
  • Open-source and free
  • Great UI with nice graphics
  • Great built-in audio visualizations
  • Configurable Xbox controller / remote functionality
  • Continually updated and improved because of development community
  • Can play Internet radio
  • Runs Python scripts for applications like YouTube
  • Customizable, very much so if you get into the XML configuration files and MySQL databases.
  • Has Last.fm Scrobbling support.
  • XBMC ported to Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
  • Can play files inside .RAR compression
  • Very useful to me!!!
  • Cheaper than lose mediaplayer if you have a xbox

Cons

  • Xbox version requires a modded Xbox
  • The Xbox version can't play HD video content (hardware limitation)
  • Not officially licensed for the Xbox
  • Can be difficult to configure and setup for a novice

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Unk

avatar
December 30, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
81
negative
mixed
positive
13 pros
3 cons

Pros

  • Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
  • Amazing file-format support. Will play just about any file you throw at it.
  • Open-source and free
  • Great UI with nice graphics
  • Great built-in audio visualizations
  • Configurable Xbox controller / remote functionality
  • Continually updated and improved because of development community
  • Can play Internet radio
  • Runs Python scripts for applications like YouTube
  • Customizable, very much so if you get into the XML configuration files and MySQL databases.
  • Has Last.fm Scrobbling support.
  • XBMC ported to Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
  • Can play files inside .RAR compression

Cons

  • Xbox version requires a modded Xbox
  • The Xbox version can't play HD video content (hardware limitation)
  • Can be difficult to configure and setup for a novice

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

anon

avatar
December 29, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
75
negative
mixed
positive
12 pros
4 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
  • Amazing file-format support. Will play just about any file you throw at it.
  • Open-source and free
  • Great UI with nice graphics
  • Great built-in audio visualizations
  • Configurable Xbox controller / remote functionality
  • Continually updated and improved because of development community
  • Can play Internet radio
  • Runs Python scripts for applications like YouTube
  • Customizable, very much so if you get into the XML configuration files and MySQL databases.
  • Has Last.fm Scrobbling support.
  • XBMC ported to Windows, Linux, Mac OS X

Cons

  • Xbox version requires a modded Xbox
  • The Xbox version can't play HD video content (hardware limitation)
  • Not officially licensed for the Xbox
  • Can be difficult to configure and setup for a novice

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

dialupinternetuser

avatar
May 4, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
75
negative
mixed
positive
12 pros
4 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
  • Amazing file-format support. Will play just about any file you throw at it.
  • Open-source and free
  • Great UI with nice graphics
  • Great built-in audio visualizations
  • Configurable Xbox controller / remote functionality
  • Continually updated and improved because of development community
  • Can play Internet radio
  • Runs Python scripts for applications like YouTube
  • Customizable, very much so if you get into the XML configuration files and MySQL databases.
  • Has Last.fm Scrobbling support.
  • XBMC ported to Windows, Linux, Mac OS X

Cons

  • Xbox version requires a modded Xbox
  • The Xbox version can't play HD video content (hardware limitation)
  • Not officially licensed for the Xbox
  • Can be difficult to configure and setup for a novice

Competitors

dialupinternetuser prefers MythTV over XBMC Media Center
dialupinternetuser prefers XBMC Media Center over Vudu Box, ZIOVA Clearstream CS510, Amazon Unbox, Archos TV+, Buffalo LinkTheater PC-P4LWAG, Apple TV
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Erik

avatar
October 6, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
73
negative
mixed
positive
11 pros
4 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
  • Amazing file-format support. Will play just about any file you throw at it.
  • Open-source and free
  • Great UI with nice graphics
  • Great built-in audio visualizations
  • Configurable Xbox controller / remote functionality
  • Continually updated and improved because of development community
  • Can play Internet radio
  • Runs Python scripts for applications like YouTube
  • XBMC ported to Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
  • Can play files inside .RAR compression

Cons

  • Xbox version requires a modded Xbox
  • The Xbox version can't play HD video content (hardware limitation)
  • Not officially licensed for the Xbox
  • Can be difficult to configure and setup for a novice

Comments

"how to get it:

1) use BitTorrent
2) IRC channel #xbins"

Competitors

Erik prefers XBMC Media Center over Vudu Box
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Manzabar

avatar
December 15, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
83
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
2 cons
have ithave it
love itlove it

Pros

  • Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
  • Amazing file-format support. Will play just about any file you throw at it.
  • Open-source and free
  • Great UI with nice graphics
  • Continually updated and improved because of development community
  • Can play Internet radio
  • Runs Python scripts for applications like YouTube
  • Has Last.fm Scrobbling support.
  • XBMC ported to Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
  • Can play files inside .RAR compression

Cons

  • Xbox version requires a modded Xbox
  • The Xbox version can't play HD video content (hardware limitation)

Competitors

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

tyronematrix

avatar
June 7, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
92
negative
mixed
positive
11 pros
1 con
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
  • Amazing file-format support. Will play just about any file you throw at it.
  • Open-source and free
  • Great UI with nice graphics
  • Great built-in audio visualizations
  • Configurable Xbox controller / remote functionality
  • Continually updated and improved because of development community
  • Can play Internet radio
  • Runs Python scripts for applications like YouTube
  • Customizable, very much so if you get into the XML configuration files and MySQL databases.
  • XBMC ported to Windows, Linux, Mac OS X

Cons

  • Xbox version requires a modded Xbox

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

craig200

avatar
August 15, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
62
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
3 cons

Pros

  • Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
  • Open-source and free
  • Configurable Xbox controller / remote functionality
  • Can play Internet radio
  • Customizable, very much so if you get into the XML configuration files and MySQL databases.

Cons

  • Xbox version requires a modded Xbox
  • The Xbox version can't play HD video content (hardware limitation)
  • Not officially licensed for the Xbox

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

phearce

avatar
June 23, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
62
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
3 cons
have ithave it

Pros

  • Streams audio, video, photo content from your networked computer
  • Amazing file-format support. Will play just about any file you throw at it.
  • Great UI with nice graphics
  • Great built-in audio visualizations
  • Customizable, very much so if you get into the XML configuration files and MySQL databases.

Cons

  • The Xbox version can't play HD video content (hardware limitation)
  • Not officially licensed for the Xbox
  • Can be difficult to configure and setup for a novice

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No
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