Choosing a home theater computer that is compatible with WP 8 and Windows 8

[MIKEVCAMPBELL]

My PS3 is officially dead. It's not a huge suprise as it is probably 5 years old now but I need to replace it but I need something that better serves my needs. I don't think that I have played a single game for a year or two but my wife and I use it several times a week for Netflix, Amazon plus, and a connected hard drive to play all of my digital movies. I don't think that an Xbox is the best choice since I don't really play games anymore.

I was looking in to getting a media computer with XBMC but I couldn't find an app in the app store for WP 8 and since they are android based I don't want to buy one and hope Google stops being stupid and opens up a bit. I also looked at a Netgear option but they aren't compatible with Windows 8. Does anyone out there have any suggestions?

 

[iPwnza]

I know you don't play games, but Xbox is a good choice... You get smartglass and Xbox APPS (NOT GAMES)

 

[MIKEVCAMPBELL]

Can you play .mkv files on Xbox?

 

[jasqid]

Yeah. Have to agree. Get the Xbox with Kinect. You'll have to get a gold sub to do all the online stuff.
Sent from my HTC6990LVW using Board Express

 

[rangerdogy]

I agree with the others --- get an XBOX. I have that in addition to a PC running Media Center. Works like a champ.

 

[bassoprofundo]

Can you play .mkv files on Xbox?

Not without some showstopping (for me) issues... Basically, you can do it if you also have a PC running WMC and use the extender functionality of the XBOX360. Otherwise, you're stuck transcoding a heck of a lot of files. I have an HTPC running WMC (for most things) with a launcher for XBMC (for anything WMC doesn't do), and it's the perfect solution for me. No issues with mkv and no monthly "gold membership" fees to pay. I also run Tversity on a separate box (could be on the same box, though), and it serves all my home content up over the local home network as well as streaming when I'm out and about on my Lumia 920 and provides transcoding where necessary.

 

[GreenScrew]

Not as cheap as a dedicated game console but have you considered a Windows 8 tablet? For the extra cost it would have added functionality/portability versus a dedicated device