I could google this, but I trust the opinions of the folks on here.   An xbox landed in the house and I want to set it up as a media player.   Anyone have a good link.

I guess the first few links I've landed on say I need to buy some some stuff to hack the xbox.   I'm not looking to get the most out of the xbox - just to replace a old dlink-320 media player which has one of the ugliest user interfaces out there.

Thanks in advance!

here you go:
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?DriveID=735

Yeah, I know those boxes Phil, but I'm a cheap bugger, and don't have the $150.   Actually the PS3 is an awesome media player - so if I were to spend $150, I'd likely double that and get another PS3 and get the blue-ray / gaming too.  

I got basically a free XBOX and I heard its a great media player.   I didn't realize hacking it was such a chore though, too (did I mention I'm lazy, too?)  

XBMC is your friend..    Does everything!  Even tells you the weather  

There are various software mods that take advantage of bugs in some games that allow saved game files to write into the firmware.  There are also hardware mods I believe, although these have the potential to brick the machine from what I understand.  A software mod is the easiest/best approach, but you'll need someone with the original game disks (MechAssault is one of them).

Just turned ours off, kids were watching a movie before bed. I picked it up second hand a few years ago already modded with XBMC.  Take a look at XBMC.org if you haven't already.  The XBOX, along with a wireless router running DD-WRT as a bridge allows you to take it an move it wherever you want.

Sounds good thanks guys.   I guess its a softmodding, but the youtube vids of this look great (even on the XBOX).  The DLINK 320 which was only a media player, released after the xbox, and cost $400 new, sucks completely...

If you tell me the manufacturing date on your system, and it's within the range I would require...I would gladly swap you for one of mine. Just ship it to me, and I'll ship you one back. I TSOP flash v1.0-v1.4 systems, a much better solution than a softmod. You cover the shipping, that's all I'd ask.

If it's a 1.6...softmod is your only option outside of a modchip.

Hey Tuborg I did that for a time with xbox then did it with 360 it's not the same and codecs can be a major pain.
I have the WD HD on my second tv and do not recommend it to anybody it's slow and a pain in the a** with my network.
What I do recommend is the Asus Oplay HDpr1 this thing is fast runs great never had any issues with it plays every codec no issues and never seen any lag in the unit yet.
But it cost me a hole 112.00$ at oemexpress that with tax in.
Best money i have ever spent and HDMI makes it great and plays all hd formats

Bring it to my house and I'll hack it right in front of your eyes!

Thanks guys.   Ken your offer is good as I'm lazy and the post office is right next door.  Jonny's offer is even better thought as he's a 10-minute drive away.  

Ethous - cool on the Asus.   I've seen it and the "popcorn in a box" - but never had the $$$ to spend on it.

If jonny can hack this, then I'm only out the gas money to his house.

It looks like an old one - serial number is 2004375 23102 (which puts it at hardware version 1.0/1.1.  

Wasting too much time hacking stuff these days....

Quoted from Tuborg

Thanks guys.   Ken your offer is good as I'm lazy and the post office is right next door.  Jonny's offer is even better thought as he's a 10-minute drive away.  

Ethous - cool on the Asus.   I've seen it and the "popcorn in a box" - but never had the $$$ to spend on it.

If jonny can hack this, then I'm only out the gas money to his house.

It looks like an old one - serial number is 2004375 23102 (which puts it at hardware version 1.0/1.1.  

Wasting too much time hacking stuff these days....

I've done so many that it's a 5 minute job opening AND soldering the points to write enable the TSOP, it's nuts I don't even need diagrams anymore.
I wouldn't rely on serial numbers to tell you for sure, date codes are more accurate...but if the serial points to early version then you know you at least don't have a 1.6/1.6b.

So not a waste of time though, I have 3 in the house I use soley for streaming A/V. I set up the 360 for media server access, it's pathetic compared to an Xbox running XBMC.

Quoted from ken_cinder

So not a waste of time though, I have 3 in the house I use soley for streaming A/V. I set up the 360 for media server access, it's pathetic compared to an Xbox running XBMC.

Yeah, the Xbox and XBMC truly are the peak of console modding (for now, anyway) .. quite amazing stuff.  M$ should stop being so stubborn and take some pointers from those developers.