hi yall, i was planning on getting a modded xbox but i have a situation:

i want to use the xbox as a media machine. i want it to play back divx, xvid, mpeg, mp3s, wavs, etc. i basically want it to play back all my media files which i was able to play on my old computer. so instead of buying a brand new computer for over a grand, i just wanna get an xbox.

is this possible?
if so, how would i go about doing this?
how is the quality of the playback on the file types i listed?
when you play divx on the xbox, are you able to manipulate the screensize?


please lend me a hand with this. thanks in advance!

1.yes
2.use xbox media center
3.fine looks better than on pc cos tv res is worse so artefacts don't show up so bad
4.xbmc autodetects it- there is a little manual control

cool! a few other questions:

do you have to re-encode your stuff with virtual dub just in case xbox media center doesn't support it? or does xbox media center support everything?

can you play files off a dvd-r rather than using a hard drive?

man, if you are a divx hardcore viewer then xbox is the number one machine for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You don't have to reencode anything!!! you don't even have to burn it to a cdr or dvdr disk nor does put it on your xbox hard-drive, all you need is a network connection between your pc and xbox and stream the media file from you pc to the xbox from there!!! it's the easiest and best way around and cheapest way to watch your divx files easier-ly :Ds...

As for quality, sometimes, it's look a little bit smoother than on PC but sometimes your PC can play it a little smoother but if you are an anime fan watching those fansubbed cartoon, then the subtitle looks better when it's play on a regular PC... but still, the quality is most of the time 90% the same as on your PC :Ds...

and yes, you can play your vidoes files from DVD-r/rw, Cdr/rw or hard-drive, xbox media center will also play .bin files, svcd/vcd disk straight off without the need of extract the mpeg inside of those format :Ds... so to put, it's actually like the best ever DIVX player currently out beside the PC itself hehe :Ds...

thanks for the help. i'm not sure i wanna do a network connection because the computer is in a totally different room far away from where i would put my xbox.

okay, now for the next question: how do i get started? i know i'm gonna have to get a modded xbox somewhere around these forums, but is there anything special i need to know? i'm not exactly sure what xbox media center is. do i burn it on a dvdr/cdr to boot it up on the xbox? or do i have someone place it on a hard drive in the xbox? i briefly read some stuff about something called "flashing", but i don't know if concerns me and my situation.

thanks again for the help yall!

just get it pre modded and ask the guys to install xbox media center as the dash board- let him worry about the rest

ahhh, that's easy enough. thanks nimbles. i thought i had to go through a lot of stress with my xbox before i got it to do what i wanted it to. okay, my problems are pretty much solved. gracias amigos!!!