The Good Computer Guy Blog :: Xbox Media Center (Xbox - it's not just for games any more)

Tags: Technical Media

Do you have TiVo? If you do, can you understand how anyone can live without it? Me either. Over the weekend, though, I also got a second Xbox for the house. No, not for the kids to play games on (although that's an unfortunate byproduct), but for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XBMC" title="Xbox Media Center">Xbox Media Center. Today's entry is more about home electronics and entertainment than computers, although still quite related (you can't do this stuff without a computer and network.)

I actually had an Xbox set up about a year ago but didn't realize how powerful it really is. The most recent one came about from finishing the basement and wanting to get video and music down there. I had wired up an output from the upstairs TiVo but that wasn't very satisfying as you can't control the TiVo from the basement. Enter Xbox Media Center (or XBMC.) First, in order to run it you need to mod your original Xbox (not a newer Xbox 360), either by adding a chip or doing a "soft mod," which just changes the Xbox software. That's where the complicated computer stuff comes into play. Both of my Xboxes are soft-modded. After modding the Xbox it's a simple matter to copy over XBMC via network cable and turn your Xbox into a full multi-media center, capable of playing music (including connecting to iTunes), videos, displaying the weather, TV guide, watching Internet videos (including YouTube), listening to satellite radio... The list of capabilities goes on and on and grows daily. It is truly remarkable. My main goal, though, was to be able to stream and control TiVo shows down to the basement, which it does beautifully. And it still plays games too - everyone wins.

As far as costs go, I don't think you can find a cheaper full-featured media center. You can pick up an old Xbox for no more than $100. All of the software (mod tools, add-ons, and Xbox Media Center) is free. If modding is beyond your technical capabilities you can have someone else (like me) do it for you in about an hour.