Another great option for an all-in-one home media server solution is Microsoft’s flagship gaming console, the Xbox 360. When all of the features are considered, it’s quite impressive what Microsoft has been able to do with what used to be just a gaming console; with internal storage for your personal content, the ability to stream media from other devices and web access for gaming and movies, the Xbox 360 brings to the table everything you’ll need to manage your media. The only drawback to using the Xbox as your media server is its lack of specialized apps; you won’t have access to YouTube, Pandora, Flickr and many of the other sites supported by some media servers.
All the major video resolutions are supported by the Xbox 360 home media server, including the coveted 1080p, making it a great companion for your HD TV. If your screen doesn’t quite stack up to these specifications, you can use your Xbox at the smaller, more common resolutions of 480p and 720p. It also comes equipped to handle stereo surround sound, so you’ll always have the option to play movies in fully immersive surround sound.
The most impressive aspect in our review of the Xbox 360 as a home media server is capabilities for renting, purchasing and storing movies and TV shows. With Microsoft’s online store and proprietary “points” system, you can buy or rent from a massive library of movies and TV shows. Not only that, but with the Zune software provided by Microsoft you can purchase and store music on your Xbox’s hard drive.
While there’s a decent amount of storage space available on the Xbox’s internal hard drive, you will get much more mileage out of your system by streaming local media from a larger, shared hard drive. You can access movies, TV shows, photos and music stored on local hard drives with this system, though you won’t be able to share files stored on its hard drive with other devices like a traditional home media server does.
The biggest drawback to the Xbox 360 as a home media server is lack of access to internet content. There is a huge network of gamers on Microsoft’s Xbox Live, but their connected services do not extend far beyond that. There is an app for the system that allows you to interface with and stream media from Netflix, but that is the extent of their web-related media connectivity. We’d like to see Microsoft broaden the range of options in this category.
The Xbox 360 is easy to use and navigate. The user interface boasts intuitive layout and navigation, giving you a seamless and simple streaming experience, whether you choose to play content from the device itself or from Netflix or a networked hard drive.
Every potential route for customer service is available with this device, with the exception of a live chat feature. You can search for answers in their extensive FAQs or ask them questions directly via phone or email.
When it comes to converting your Xbox 360 gaming console into a home media server, things couldn’t be simpler. While some improvements to internet content availability would boost this system in our rankings, we’re satisfied with its current performance and we hope you will be too.
