XBox as media center w/ OS X?

January 11, 2008 6:35 AM

I have an XBox 360 that I'd like to use to play divx/mpeg/mov files on the TV. I have a house full of Apple machines. Lastly, I don't want to violate the XBox warranty (and lose XBox Live). Is there anything I can do?
posted by xmutex to technology (14 comments total)

Connect 360 is well worth the price. I use it at home all the time.
posted by bryanjbusch at 6:45 AM on January 11, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Wow, design8r- that looks perfect. Can you have it play stuff non in the iTunes library? I don't like using iTunes to organize movies.
posted by xmutex at 6:47 AM on January 11, 2008

See this previous question for some answers.

Yes, it's possible with 3rd party software such as connect360 or twonkyvision. When I've tried these kinds of programs (on Linux), some files worked and some not. This was just after the latest xbox update, things might have improved since then.

Someone who have used a Mac for this recently might know if things works better now.
posted by rpn at 6:47 AM on January 11, 2008

err, "stuff not in the iTunes library"...
posted by xmutex at 6:47 AM on January 11, 2008

Yes, it will pull from iTunes and from one other movie folder of your choice.
posted by bryanjbusch at 6:49 AM on January 11, 2008

I believe that with the Fall update, Divx playback is native. Just burn the data to a CD/DVD or even use a USB drive. I have tested this myself, and it works fine. The only problem is video encode with older versions of the divx codec.
posted by GurnB at 7:18 AM on January 11, 2008

Connect360 works astonishingly well. I'm connecting to my Xbox 360 over a wireless G network, and there is zero lag is playing MP3s or movies. The setup was very easy, only took a couple of minutes on both sides.

It pulls songs from iTunes, movies from iTunes and your standard Movie folder (and subfolders), and your iPhoto library. While it sorts iTunes songs pretty well (by artist, song name, album, genre and playlist) it only sorts movies alphabetically and not by folder; this is a mild annoyance, moreso if you have a lot of movies.

I don't believe it pulls songs from places other than iTunes.

Some films don't work, but most stuff I've downloaded is fine; even high-res 1080p stuff streams, which is quite amazing to see. You can always transcode your files using something like VisualHub to a format that the 360 can play.

The only problem I've heard about it is that the support is quite bad; emails to the devs often go unanswered. Having said that, they do seem to release updates regularly.

At the end of the day, I can't recommend it highly enough. It's made my 360 immeasurably more useful.
posted by adrianhon at 7:35 AM on January 11, 2008

nthing Connect 360
posted by neilkod at 7:38 AM on January 11, 2008

GurnB is correct. The most recent Xbox update provides the ability to playback DivX and XviD video. I've used this multiple times and it works well.

Xbox 360 Update Supports DivX and XviD Video Playback (Lifehacker)
posted by tanminivan at 7:43 AM on January 11, 2008

I started to install Connect360 on one machine and TVersity on another and realized that I just completely despised the 360's interface for choosing and playing back things. I blame XBMC, which has ruined me forever.

My point being this: put your stuff on a stick or external HD and play around with how you like watching things that way before you invest cash in Connect 360. Maybe you're not as irritable as I am but I decided I'd prefer to use an old modded xbox with XMBC and simple samba shares. Even if you don't already own one they're available for not all that much more than the $20 Connect 360 will cost you.
posted by phearlez at 9:13 AM on January 11, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Tversity Rules them all. Constantly update and great support. Able to stream music, movies and internet feeds. A++
posted by bleucube at 9:23 AM on January 11, 2008

An additional note to to XBMC suggestions, the original Xbox is not powerful enough to play 720p and 1080p content .
posted by mphuie at 9:28 AM on January 11, 2008

bleucube: Tversity is Windows only.
posted by mphuie at 9:29 AM on January 11, 2008

The 360 can read Mac-formatted drives, so if you have a USB drive you can plug it in directly. I don't think it'll play anything besides mp4, divx and wmv files.
posted by O9scar at 1:59 PM on January 11, 2008