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Intel NUC - Haswell (4th Generation CPU)
On regards to the memory issue stated above. I've got my Intel NUC about a week ago, i'm using it with two Crucial SODIMM, and both are active. I'm running with 8GB of memory. I think Intel's support isn't thinking straight..
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(2014-07-28, 09:59)mhoogenbosch Wrote: On regards to the memory issue stated above. I've got my Intel NUC about a week ago, i'm using it with two Crucial SODIMM, and both are active. I'm running with 8GB of memory. I think Intel's support isn't thinking straight..

What model nuc do you own. What is the exact type of the memory you are using ?
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Anyone test the new v27 of the BIOS?

Does it fix the boot issue when a USB3 drive is attached?
https://communities.intel.com/thread/46549
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(2014-07-28, 05:10)nickr Wrote: You know nobody has to buy a NUC and the more I read these threads the more I think I'd be reluctant to recommend it. Great potential, shame about Intel.

People buy the NUCs because it's Intel and their returns process is amazing. They are great little units and it is a shame that the bios issues are ongoing. My 847 NUC worked perfect out of the box and my 4010U unit has been working fine since the 26 bios, which has been out for a couple of months.

All platforms have their inherent problems, and if you want something SFF, then you're even more pressed to find something without sacrificing something else. ATV2 is slow, Android can't do refresh rate switching, Chromebox isn't rooted (and more expensive than equivalents) and the NUC platform has bios issues. Alternative NUC platforms like the Brix are also plagued with trickle-down issues from Intel.

Seriously, if there's a box out there than can do 1080p, refresh rate switching, HD audio, enough grunt to run heavy skins, gigabit lan, comes with a BT remote all for $150, I'd be sold. Probably a few more bits and pieces on my wishlist that I'm missing.
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(2014-07-29, 05:38)Richie Wrote: All platforms have their inherent problems, and if you want something SFF, then you're even more pressed to find something without sacrificing something else. ATV2 is slow, Android can't do refresh rate switching, Chromebox isn't rooted (and more expensive than equivalents) and the NUC platform has bios issues. Alternative NUC platforms like the Brix are also plagued with trickle-down issues from Intel.

Seriously, if there's a box out there than can do 1080p, refresh rate switching, HD audio, enough grunt to run heavy skins, gigabit lan, comes with a BT remote all for $150, I'd be sold. Probably a few more bits and pieces on my wishlist that I'm missing.

ChromeBox isn't rooted? It's been running OpenELEC since a week after its release. It meets all your requirements except for the BT remote, and you can pick up a used PS3 BT remote for cheap. The issues it has currently are the same Intel linux video bugs which affect the NUCs, and for the most part can be worked around.
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(2014-07-29, 18:19)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2014-07-29, 05:38)Richie Wrote: All platforms have their inherent problems, and if you want something SFF, then you're even more pressed to find something without sacrificing something else. ATV2 is slow, Android can't do refresh rate switching, Chromebox isn't rooted (and more expensive than equivalents) and the NUC platform has bios issues. Alternative NUC platforms like the Brix are also plagued with trickle-down issues from Intel.

Seriously, if there's a box out there than can do 1080p, refresh rate switching, HD audio, enough grunt to run heavy skins, gigabit lan, comes with a BT remote all for $150, I'd be sold. Probably a few more bits and pieces on my wishlist that I'm missing.

ChromeBox isn't rooted? It's been running OpenELEC since a week after its release. It meets all your requirements except for the BT remote, and you can pick up a used PS3 BT remote for cheap. The issues it has currently are the same Intel linux video bugs which affect the NUCs, and for the most part can be worked around.

For me personally I didn't want to deal with Chromebox because it had a slower CPU and it didn't have integrated IR that could power the device off and on. Price-wise it's not a bad deal for someone who is okay with dealing with the whole root/dual-boot thing.
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(2014-07-29, 18:21)voip-ninja Wrote: For me personally I didn't want to deal with Chromebox because it had a slower CPU and it didn't have integrated IR that could power the device off and on. Price-wise it's not a bad deal for someone who is okay with dealing with the whole root/dual-boot thing.

the chromebox is available with a Haswell celeron, i3, or i7 Smile

I understand the lack of built-in IR, but having the receiver external gives more options for location - since it doesn't need to face out.

the Chromebox doesn't have to dual boot, it can run OpenELEC (or any other linux distro) by itself, and cold boots in ~6s. The hacking process is well documented, and I've scripted everything for the noobs. No UEFI crap to deal with. And the firmware/BIOS is open source, so issues are able to be fixed a lot faster than with the NUC. It's pretty damn stable right now.
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Okay, that is very good to know and seems like a viable option.

except.... if I can't power it on via IR with my expensive home theater remote it doesn't do me any good.

Clearly I'm in the minority on this though.

When I looked into this cost-wise the price delta was not much between the NUC and the Chromebox and since then price on i3 NUC has come down. I just paid $259 a piece for several of them. You can get an SSD to run OE (boots in under 5 seconds) for about $32 and RAM for $20. Price wise if the delta is $50 I would still pay that for the integrated (and very good sensitivity) IR.

With my last PC I drilled out the enclosure and put in an IR sensor that worked with the mobo to boot the device. It was a huge PITA because the IR sensitivity was poor (you had to point straight at it), sometimes it would power on when I was controlling other devices... and it did not play well with my IR extender solution (Xantech).

Nuc has fixed all of that. Quite happy with it.
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well, if you put the ChromeBox into suspend (vs shut down), then you can power on/off via IR remote, so that's not an issue. It's $169 + $15? for a MCE IR receiver, so a pretty good deal for a full x86 OpenELEC setup with HD audio, refresh rate switching, etc.
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Not an issue for you. I've always had issues with suspend/resume vs powering down and powering up... and now we're comparing $185 Chromebox that has Celeron CPU vs i3 NUC.

Again, I get it, Chromebox is good value, however you seem to be taking the tack that anyone who picks a NUC over a Chromebox is being foolish with their money.
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I'm super happy with my i5 NUC. The only issue for me is the remote, but I'm thinking more and more it's a remote (Logitech Harmony 650) or software (XBMCbuntu + LIRC) issue.
Maybe my eye is not trained enough to notice picture quality problems, though.
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(2014-07-29, 18:51)voip-ninja Wrote: Not an issue for you. I've always had issues with suspend/resume vs powering down and powering up... and now we're comparing $185 Chromebox that has Celeron CPU vs i3 NUC.

Again, I get it, Chromebox is good value, however you seem to be taking the tack that anyone who picks a NUC over a Chromebox is being foolish with their money.

no, not at all. I'd argue that the ChromeBox is a better option vs the N2830 NUC, not the i3; my only reason for posting was just to clear up any misconceptions about the ChromeBox's capabilities, not to argue value.
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(2014-07-29, 19:09)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2014-07-29, 18:51)voip-ninja Wrote: Not an issue for you. I've always had issues with suspend/resume vs powering down and powering up... and now we're comparing $185 Chromebox that has Celeron CPU vs i3 NUC.

Again, I get it, Chromebox is good value, however you seem to be taking the tack that anyone who picks a NUC over a Chromebox is being foolish with their money.

no, not at all. I'd argue that the ChromeBox is a better option vs the N2830 NUC, not the i3; my only reason for posting was just to clear up any misconceptions about the ChromeBox's capabilities, not to argue value.

Thanks, and I think you did a good job of doing that. I think the i3 vs Celeron is slightly more "future proof" although that might not matter at all with the trend for XBMC towards lighter/cheaper and less capable boxes like FireTV and Raspberry Pi where users don't care about full codec support and true 1080p playback capability.
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(2014-07-29, 19:35)voip-ninja Wrote: Thanks, and I think you did a good job of doing that. I think the i3 vs Celeron is slightly more "future proof" although that might not matter at all with the trend for XBMC towards lighter/cheaper and less capable boxes like FireTV and Raspberry Pi where users don't care about full codec support and true 1080p playback capability.

in terms of video decoding, there's no much (any?) difference between the HD4000 and HD4400, outside of 4K. The real issue is neither can (HW) decode x.265, so once XBMC starts supporting that, CPU power for software decoding will become relevant.
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Well, BD will probably be dead once that transition has happened... at which point my collection of movies will likely slow down or cease. I have little interest in buying crippled download-only copies of movies... and I refuse to engage in piracy to fill out my media collection.
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Intel NUC - Haswell (4th Generation CPU)7