Tried installing this last night. Initial impressions.
I installed the application while the PC was extremely busy with torrents even though the usual recommendation to close all running applications was given. The entire installation process was rather straightforward; I was expecting a re-start prompt but there was none. Went straight to running the program and there was no conflict (yet) with other applications already installed in the PC.
The interface is quite luvly indeed but I felt the menu control to be rather sluggish (but it could be because the torrent was overloading with data transfer in the background). Amazing thing is, opening of movie files, regardless of size and resolution, is a lot faster compared to KMP and MPC.
I don't like the lack of slider on the playback which is a common feature in other software players. The fast play function is fine though. Since most MKVs have no chapters, if you press the chapter button you end up going back to the movie list.
My desktop is powered by E6600 C2D which is slower than the recommended 3.0Ghz C2D. However, except for a 15GB 1080p concert that exhibited out-of-sync issues at some scenes, my PC managed to play all other 1080p files I tested pretty OK. The fast play worked well and the transition back to normal playback speed was smooth and didnt disturb the sync at all. However, there is a slight stuttering of 1080p files, visibly not as buttery smooth as how MPC handles them, but I find the issue acceptable because it does not reach "freeze frame look" -there was no skipping. Nonetheless, I would have to guess that a P4 would be hopeless in this scenario. Even a Pentium-D would likely struggle. Perhaps XBMC really needs C2D efficiency with 3.0Ghz clock speed afterall.
Didnt bother to test any 720p file because if this application can pass the high bit rate 1080p test, it will definitely play any 720p you throw at it.
No issues whatsoever with analog sound set-up or digital sound set-up. DTS was decoded and identified properly.
Subtitle sync is slider type so my wife would probably not like the lack of fine sync control up to 1/1000 of a sec.
The default movie icon is an image of a Sony moviecam (sponsor?). I suppose I have to download the cover arts if I want them. Too bad I threw away the cover arts that came with some downloads. Is this going to be a tediously long process?
As regards PQ, I'd have to analyze it more through hours of viewing in order to give a better assessment. As it is and without tweaking with video settings, the 1080p movies looked great.
Haven't watched a full 1 or 2-hour feature yet, so can't comment about some feedback in the net as regards the XBMC hanging in the middle of a movie.
Quite fascinating program I must admit.
