2013-09-23, 20:02
Hi
New to the forum but long time XBMC user. I have been using Atom/ION boxes running OpenELEC until now and they were good machines, but one has just died. I expect I can hack something together to get it working again but I decided I would like to migrate to something a bit more serviceable, and a bit of future-proofing would be good, so I’m looking for hardware recommendations for a new XBMC box.
I’ve read a load of the recent recommendations here and they seem to be mostly very small form-factor (NUC, mini-ITX) but I am going to be installing this in an unfinished part of the basement and feeding HDMI and an IR extender through the wall into the TV room, so I don’t want to pay a premium for very small, very sexy, or even very quiet.
Must have:
Ability to play mkv up to 1080p and handle streaming plugins
Very slick UI (so I don’t want to consider Raspberry Pi or Android for now)
Ability to switch on and off from Logitech Harmony remote or low power consumption in standby, or both
Low price (closer to $100 than $150 if possible, not counting USB boot stick as I already have spares)
Nice to have:
Ability to have some home automation integration (never played with this but may want to. just bought a VeraLite)
Powerful enough for DVR features (not played with this for a couple of years so may or may not ever use it again)
Standard form factor like micro-ATX or mini-ITX so I can swap components out in future if I want to
HD audio – no idea if I want this or not. I don’t have any such media at the moment though.
Don’t care about:
Form factor of the HTPC, as it will be in a different room to the TV
Noise, for the same reason
Playing anime, 3D, games
USB3, optical drive, wifi (I play everything from the network which will be wired)
I wonder if mini-ITX will be the best option anyway for power consumption but I’d appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks in advance
New to the forum but long time XBMC user. I have been using Atom/ION boxes running OpenELEC until now and they were good machines, but one has just died. I expect I can hack something together to get it working again but I decided I would like to migrate to something a bit more serviceable, and a bit of future-proofing would be good, so I’m looking for hardware recommendations for a new XBMC box.
I’ve read a load of the recent recommendations here and they seem to be mostly very small form-factor (NUC, mini-ITX) but I am going to be installing this in an unfinished part of the basement and feeding HDMI and an IR extender through the wall into the TV room, so I don’t want to pay a premium for very small, very sexy, or even very quiet.
Must have:
Ability to play mkv up to 1080p and handle streaming plugins
Very slick UI (so I don’t want to consider Raspberry Pi or Android for now)
Ability to switch on and off from Logitech Harmony remote or low power consumption in standby, or both
Low price (closer to $100 than $150 if possible, not counting USB boot stick as I already have spares)
Nice to have:
Ability to have some home automation integration (never played with this but may want to. just bought a VeraLite)
Powerful enough for DVR features (not played with this for a couple of years so may or may not ever use it again)
Standard form factor like micro-ATX or mini-ITX so I can swap components out in future if I want to
HD audio – no idea if I want this or not. I don’t have any such media at the moment though.
Don’t care about:
Form factor of the HTPC, as it will be in a different room to the TV
Noise, for the same reason
Playing anime, 3D, games
USB3, optical drive, wifi (I play everything from the network which will be wired)
I wonder if mini-ITX will be the best option anyway for power consumption but I’d appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks in advance