BeagleBone Black used for XBMC?

[sigxcpu]

I would feel pretty moneyless, given that PLEX requires a transcoding server so lots of CPU power (aka KW$).

I know for sure that Pi eats <6W (5V/1.2A power supply) so no, PLEX was never a comparable option. BTW, PLEX is supported on SmartTVs (at least Samsung does it, I've tested it).

[amwales]

The nowtv supports hardware decode for x264 ( it's really a rebranded roku lite ). So far I am running it at 720 with mp4, x264 and it works a treat without transcoding anything.

[AndersAnd]

I don't have HDMI CEC ( I think) so what is the best method to get remote control? I think IR remote would be preferable.

Many flatscreen TVs has an RS-232 port on the back for remote controlling. The commands are usually specified in the user's manual.

HDMI-CEC is supported by many LCD and plasma TVs with a HDMI port. What make and model TV do you have? It may be labelled, for example Sharp AQUOS-LINK, Panasonic  Viera Link, Toshiba REGZA Link, Sony EX-Link, Samsung AnyNet+...

I have a little Grundig and never seen "link" mentioned.

What Grundig model do you have?

Grundig calls CEC for DigiLink: http://www.grundigvision.ro/en/search?keyword=DigiLink

DigiLink
You can connect up to 11 devices via the digilink function to your Grundig television.

What is it?
The DigiLink function uses the CEC protocol (Consumer Electronics Control). This permits the usage of external devices connected to HDMI slots via an HDMI cable (ex; DVD player) only by using the remote.

Products with this feature
LED TV: 55 VLE 9372 BL 47 VLE 9372 BL 42 VLE 9372 BL 50 VLE 930 BH 46 VLE 8270 BH 40 VLE 8270 BH 46 VLE 830 BL 40 VLE 830 BL 32 VLE 830 BL 32 VLE 8130 BH 46 VLE 7230 BH 40 VLE 7230 BH 32 VLE 7230 BH 26 VLE 7101 BF 22 VLE 7120 BF 40 VLE 5323 BG 32 VLE 5323 BG 40 VLE 4322 BF 32 VLE 4322 BF 32 VLE 4140 C
LCD TV: 32 VLC 6121 C 32 VLC 3100 C 26 VLC 3100 C 22 VLC 2100 C 19 VLC 2100 C

[AndersAnd]

I know this is off topic (not raspi or beaglbone) but you may be looking for the same solution
to the problem I had. Bringing media from the computer to the big screen living room tv. How
would you feel about a closed source solution that came with a powersupply, wifi, remote
control and running plex client for £9.99? Take a peek at nowtv

http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/av-distribution/now-tv-10-minute-hack-10-wireless-plex-media-player.html

ok its not 1080 but it does 720.

The article links to a "Roku LT" search on Amazon.co.uk. But the cheapest "Sky Now Tv Box" I can find there is this for £22.00: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-WITH-PLEX-same-roku/dp/B00HRD4BWG/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?m=AN9VNWLFANFB3

It's sold here for £9.99: https://shop.nowtv.com

There's 1 customer review at the Amazon link above giving 1 out of 5 stars:

22 Jan 2014
By M. Reeves

This box is available at 9.99 from nowtv (aka sky). It is also not a full roku LT but a cut down version locked to nowtv. It will not run Netflixs, lovefilm etc. which a real roku LT will (and you can get the roku LT cheaper at the moment too!). It also will not directly run plex as the advert suggests (unlike a real roku LT). You have to get into developer mode and side load plex so it is cheeky showing plex on the advert.

[AndersAnd]

The nowtv supports hardware decode for x264 ( it's really a rebranded roku lite ).

The review at Amazon says it's not just a rebranded Roku LT:

It is also not a full roku LT but a cut down version locked to nowtv.

[amwales]

ok, for those that may be interested. The nowtv is available from here https://shop.nowtv.com/ for 9.99 a friend told me that a highstreet retailer was selling them for 8.99. It is possible to register it without paying for any subscription services. I'm surprised anyone would buy one from amazon since you can order them direct with free postage from nowtv.com.

I had never used plex before but what excited me was the idea that the server stored the metadata and the plex clients were just dumb clients with nice UI. You get the idea, all very xbmc https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=plex+ui&espv=210&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=iH8CU9C6PIq47Qa7pYEI&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=667

The plex client is not officially supported and must be side loaded via some button pressing combos, but once its done, it stay in the list of apps even after reboots.

The bad - It's wireless, if you have wireless issues you are going to be unhappy. I had wireless issues for a while but finding a better channel fixed the issue.

My daughter loves to watch recorded cartoon shows with us in the morning, I set one up in the master bedroom and we can watch all the shows there. It worked so well I bought a second one for the living room connected to a the plasma.

I run the media server on a hp proliant microserver, you can get them for £99 after cashback. It consumes about 35Watts and I just use it as a cifs server and now plex server. I have quite a large collection of films and the nowtv only has issues with some 1080p videos that I don't watch.

Anyway, I was after a solution like this for ages and at the price I just couldn't believe it. I have several raspis, I'm a linux dex but to be honest all the pissing around and cost I'm very happy with this new setup.

[sigxcpu]

Your PLEX suggestion is valid if you have all your media encoded as H.264, which is not always the case. So, the PLEX mediaserver has to transcode from whatever source format (DIVX/XVID) to H.264 in order to be played by a PLEX client (e.g. Samsung SmartTV).

And let's not talk about adding subtitles, as PLEX adds them as an image overlay instead of a separate text stream, so a transcoding is required regardless of the source format.

So again, no, PLEX is not an option compared to Raspberry Pi. You can have your mediaserver as a simple, dumb fileserver and Pi will be able to stream almost any format from there.