So many xbmc choices! AMD E450 Zotac zbox user would love some advice :)

Im very new to xbmc and have been enjoying it on my main Windows 7 pc so much I decided to buy a small pc to run xbmc on my big screen tv.

Ive looked into different routes of this and today got a very good price deal on a Zotac ZBOX AD04.
The spec is as follows:-
AMD E-450 APU 1.65 GHz Dual-Core
AMD Radeon HD 6320
4GB DDR3 1333 SO-DIMM
160 GB SATA HD
It also contains a Windows media player remote which I would like to use.
I also will connect a usb external 1TB HD which as all of my Movies, TV series , Music and Photos on it. I will mostly use xbmc for watching those and also streaming video and live tv content.

My question is which way to go! I notice various builds of xbmc. I see some saying avoid linux based builds for AMD based systems and others say everything is working perfectly now. I want something that once set up will work without much issue.

So far im between Windows 7 xbmc, Xbmcbuntu , OpenElec and xbmc freak! There could be more versions out there also that im not aware of yet but ive spent many many hours on the net trying to research this. I was thinking that I might dual boot the system but then as its real use is for xbmc I probably wouldnt have much of a use for it...unless there are other advantages?
The other quick question is if I use a linux based OS like xbmcbuntu or OpenElec will I be able to add files like plugin zips from a USB pen from my windows 7 pc?

Any help or advice would be very much appreciated as I really would like to fast route to the best setup.

(2012-04-29 03:36)tsddave Wrote:  Im very new to xbmc and have been enjoying it on my main Windows 7 pc so much I decided to buy a small pc to run xbmc on my big screen tv.

Ive looked into different routes of this and today got a very good price deal on a Zotac ZBOX AD04.
The spec is as follows:-
AMD E-450 APU 1.65 GHz Dual-Core
AMD Radeon HD 6320
4GB DDR3 1333 SO-DIMM
160 GB SATA HD
It also contains a Windows media player remote which I would like to use.
I also will connect a usb external 1TB HD which as all of my Movies, TV series , Music and Photos on it. I will mostly use xbmc for watching those and also streaming video and live tv content.

My question is which way to go! I notice various builds of xbmc. I see some saying avoid linux based builds for AMD based systems and others say everything is working perfectly now. I want something that once set up will work without much issue.

So far im between Windows 7 xbmc, Xbmcbuntu , OpenElec and xbmc freak! There could be more versions out there also that im not aware of yet but ive spent many many hours on the net trying to research this. I was thinking that I might dual boot the system but then as its real use is for xbmc I probably wouldnt have much of a use for it...unless there are other advantages?
The other quick question is if I use a linux based OS like xbmcbuntu or OpenElec will I be able to add files like plugin zips from a USB pen from my windows 7 pc?

Any help or advice would be very much appreciated as I really would like to fast route to the best setup.

stick with windows 7

Would that be Windows 7 64bit?

(2012-04-29 14:06)tsddave Wrote:  Would that be Windows 7 64bit?

yes

Ok thanks.
Will performance be 100% using Windows 7? I want to play and stream some 1080p stuff also. I was thinking of one of the standalone xbmc builds for this reason.

(2012-04-29 14:06)tsddave Wrote:  Would that be Windows 7 64bit?

+100

+1 Windows 7 64bit

Just try the different builds. Personally I would always go for OpenElec when you strictly want to use xbmc, it's fast, easy to setup and small. If you however want to use your htpc for more than only xbmc, then you could always try something else.

OpenElec has the option to add files just by copying them to the samba shares through your home network. And I guess it can also be done by a USB pen.

(2012-04-29 20:57)Amelandbor Wrote:  Just try the different builds. Personally I would always go for OpenElec when you strictly want to use xbmc, it's fast, easy to setup and small. If you however want to use your htpc for more than only xbmc, then you could always try something else.

OpenElec has the option to add files just by copying them to the samba shares through your home network. And I guess it can also be done by a USB pen.

AMD Radeon HD 6320=windows7 for compatability

The fusion builds of OpenElec work fine. I've installed OE on a zotac ad02 and it works fine. Only if you want HD audio bitstreaming windows is the obvious choice.