Use XBMC instead of MediaDirect including Dell Travel Remote Support!

As a new M1330 owner I wanted to get it working as a HTPC.

I've managed to get things setup with Beta 2 of XBMC and whilst I still have some work to do I thought I'd share my results so far with everyone here as I figured others may benefit from my experience.

Since I can't post links to external URLs on this forum if you're interested in more info just use Google to search for the following:
"dell travel remote site:xbmc.org"

That will find the thread I've created on the XBMC forums.

 

Why are you using a notebook at a HTPC? They're slower, more expensive, and doesn't fit in with the rest of your a/v components.

 

It's plenty fast enough to play back full 1080p content so that's obviously not an issue for a HTPC.

I'm about to go on a 2-3 month trip so I needed a notebook for that and it happened to coincide with me wanting to build a HTPC for playing back HD content via XBMC for Windows so it seemed a logical decision to me.

I do have a PC already setup running Media Center with dual tuners for TV, that I use via my XBox 360.

It fits in just fine with my HT setup. Sit it on the cabinet (or in my case a box), plug in power and HDMI (to my receiver) and I'm done.


This has the added benefit of being able to pick up my external drive and notebook, go to a friends, plug it in and watch movies, etc there with the full XBMC experience. Something I've already done once within days of owning it (before I even got the remote working properly).

Personally I think it's a very neat solution for anyone that is already going to own a notebook, though obviously not for everyone.