Is anyone using this? I'm interested in building one.

How is the video quality? I would assume the output would be good because the XBOX was designed with a tv-out in mind, as opposed to an NVidia card, where the tv-out is really an afterthought.

I understand that it isn't capable of HDTV playback, but are there any other downsides, or is it a good basic frontend?

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Currently running: R5.5, HD5000 x 2, PVR150, Athlon 64 3000+, Chaintech VNF4, 1GB RAM, 2 x 250GB in LVM, MSI NX6200TC -> AA 9A60 -> HDTV

I've been using one for about 2 years now, hacked with ldot's installer. It is a good basic frontend, very easy to set up with the mythtv-xbox package. Video out quality is fantastic, but I find it a bit sluggish overall due to its low memory. A friend of mine has doubled his RAM by soldering more chips to the backside of the board and reported much performance improvement, but I haven't yet attempted it. You can find more info here:

http://www.mythtv-xbox.org/phpBB/

and the install package here:

http://bit.blkbk.com/

Good luck!

Do you leave it running 24x7 or do you turn it on and off. I'm looking for something that I can just leave on, because in my opinion, it is a pain to have to turn it on and off each time you need it. I'm not sure if the xbox was built to handle this.

When you say that it is a little slow...is that in the menus? Which parts are slow?

Do recording videos skip? Do they take a few extra seconds to load?

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Currently running: R5.5, HD5000 x 2, PVR150, Athlon 64 3000+, Chaintech VNF4, 1GB RAM, 2 x 250GB in LVM, MSI NX6200TC -> AA 9A60 -> HDTV

mine's slow when you boot into linux to run it. don't notice any other problems though. i wouldn't be comfortable leaving it on all the time.

Do you need a modchip to run this or do you software hack it?

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Currently running: R5.5, HD5000 x 2, PVR150, Athlon 64 3000+, Chaintech VNF4, 1GB RAM, 2 x 250GB in LVM, MSI NX6200TC -> AA 9A60 -> HDTV

i am using a chip. i am 99% sure that a soft mod will work too.

I'm flashed my TSOP and am running xbox-myth. It works great. I leave my on 24/7 and it seems fairly stable.

I just use a softmod, look on xbox-scene for information about ldot's installer, its a piece of cake and very configurable. I leave mine on 24/7 because its pretty slow to boot into. It sits in a closed entertainment cabinet, and so far (almost 2 years of use) I haven't had any overheating problems.

The slowness I was referring to is with the menus, and particularly switching into MythMusic, or MythVideo, as with only 64MB of RAM, lots of swapping occurs. Video quality is great though; I'm sure with the HD output it'd be even better.

Since now when the 360 is out prices are dropping a bit on the old xboxes, but is it possible to softmod a new xbox or will I need an older one? I don't have one myself so I have to buy, and everubody selling used xboxes pack in a bunch of games and other stuff I don't want to pay for. Haven't yet found a used xbox cheaper than a brand new...

And is it possible to do a softmod without getting hold of an old game? The "official" softmods seem to require that you get hold of some old game to use?

I've been reading around on xbox-scene but there are so many softmods and most seem to be directed to people who want to be able to continue playing games on their xbox...

I went to a pawn shop and picked up an extra Xbox for 99 no tax. Included controller, cable, power cable. The first one I bought has a 2004 serial number. 2004 is too new. So I took it back and traded it for a 2002 serial number. I had to go to a few game stores to find an original splinter cell and used the splinter cell raincoat mod with microsoft 8 meg memory stick. It worked like a champ. If you need more direction in the softmod, pm me.

I've softmodded several xbox's new and old. My own xbox is from late 2004 and it soft modd'd very well. The most recent one was from 2005.

On a side note - the XBMCMythTV python scripts are great, check them out at SourceForge. My xbox gets used the most out of all the front ends in our house...