QT7.6 - 5.1 Still Blocked! What are the alternatives???

[boots2x]

<Sigh> QT 7.6 is still blocking AC3 Passthrough. After reading gbooker's thoughts in the other recent threads, I'm starting to believe it will never be fixed.

So... all politics aside, I'm going to start researching alternatives to Front Row. I know VLC plays AC3 and even DTS files without hassle but it doesn't have the nice Front Row UI. I played around with the XBMC a while back - the last release seemed to get things sorta right (they had some video scaling issues). A quick scan of their forums indicates that AC3/DTS should be handled correctly - I'll check this.

My question is this: aside from ditching OS-X on this iMac and using Linux/Windoze, has anyone found a workable alternative to Front Row? It doesn't have to be amazing - all I want to do is use the Apple Remote from the couch, browse the external drive, choose a file and have it play the video and AC3 sound.

THANKS!

James

[andrian]

Try: http://www.plexapp.com/ for an alternative to Front Row.

[boots2x]

Wow yeah! Plex is very nice.. and it WORKS! I also downloaded XBMC and a new project called Boxee. XBMC works quite well now (I had a terrible time 6 months back getting it to display on the HDTV correctly - basically didn't work). It and Plex seem very similar (I guess that's to be expected as they're branches of the same project - and use the same skin). I'm going to give Plex a bash and see how it fits. So far, it doesn't look like I'm going to miss anything from Front Row - PARTICULARLY not the QuickTime aspect of it! BEST thing is it handles files (MKV's too!) with AC3 OR DTS tracks. Wonders will never cease!

Boxee is interesting - more based around Social Stuff (see what your friends are watching and watch too). Interesting but a bit cute for me...

THANKS!

James

[nicocoa]

Interesting but a bit cute for me...
THANKS!
James

all I want to do is use the Apple Remote from the couch, browse the external drive, choose a file and have it play the video and AC3 sound.
THANKS!
James

Sweet. Isn't it cute ?
nic