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Recommended option for me?
#31
stick to the question of the op instead of flaming

Eskro is right ... the zotac has only one fan ... in my opinion any nettop or mediabox thingy without a fan is troubles ! its so packed there is literally not enough room to let the air flow decently !
u can screw it down to the bare minimum in the bios or let it go higher by your personal choise!

Flaming @ eskro wont help the op! with his 2k+ post it shows he posts here alot and i see him post on basicly every HTPC build help thread !

tbh claypigeon , only thing i saw u doing here atm is bragging about how your Ion performs o so well on openelec with aeon MQ2 skin ... \o/

like eskro says , dont take everything so serious.

he's also not forcing pple in to windows ... i presume the op is female and has just normal knowlage of windows ... u cant presume she has the l33t h4x skills to toy around with linux ! ok if u install openelec it basicly runs itself, but when u want to add something extra sometime at some point maybe as a beginner it stops there.


anyway , if u have problems with someone take it out in PM , not in a thread where some1 asks a decent opinion!!
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1st Htpc : LC-power LC1360MI case with MSI E350IA-E45 , 2x2gb patriot , 2tb samsung eco
2nd Htpc : same as above except ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe
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#32
Kaitlyn2004 Wrote:I currently have my computer connected to TV via HDMI. I am moving and will be changing my setup to a NAS connected to my router, my computer will become my office computer and I will have a new HTPC/similar in my living room connected to my TV

My situation:
- Ethernet or wireless (N ideally) support
- Ability to use/connect to NAS... multiple sources for content
- HDMI output to TV capable of handling 1080p content
- Would be a bonus if I could also use it to surf the web, youtube, etc. etc...

Am I better off getting something like WD Live, Patriot Box Office or an actual HTPC? I'm leaning towards the later and installing XBMC Live on it... (Does XBMC live have other functionality like a web browser?)

What sort of HTPC would I be looking at. Been seeing some in the sub-$200 CDN range but they are barebones (just missing RAM+HD?) and I've come across mentions that they aren't powerful enough to do 1080p content...

Thanks! I can't wait to figure this out and get XBMC set up in my living room!!! Smile

Kaitlyn , u can figure out xbmc allready on your normal pc and test if its ok for you or to hard ...

the wd live , patriot box , ... are good systems but they do basicly what said on the box , just play movies , if a new codec comes out and is popular it MIGHT be available for firmware upgrade,

in xbmc this should not be the problem.

xbmc does not have the ability for a webbrowser yet , maybe it'll come but if u hook it up with a wireless keyboard u can easily alt-tab out of xbmc and go surfing !

u can set it up then in windows 7 or Ubuntu ,
for windows the E350's are now really good systems
if u want to try linux stay with the atoms
every brand has something else so you just need to check what fits you !
keep in mind streaming 1080P trough wireless is a no go !

if size does not matter you can always buy a 2nd hand Pc but since you want something quiet u dont want a atx psu turning in your HTPC Smile
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1st Htpc : LC-power LC1360MI case with MSI E350IA-E45 , 2x2gb patriot , 2tb samsung eco
2nd Htpc : same as above except ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe
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#33
HansP Wrote:...
... i presume the op is female and has just normal knowlage of windows ... u cant presume she has the l33t h4x skills to toy around with linux

Your misogyny is repulsive and disgusting, You may wish to retract and apologize for your remarks, they are offensively sexist, equating the some ones competency and knowledge to their gender. That something everyone should take seriously, and in the bright light of the public eye. I have personally known brilliant female scientist, engineers and scholars, your misogyny degrades every woman, and for that mater every man or person that knows that it is not the sex, race or creed of a person that establishes their knowledge or intelligence.

Profoundly disgusting.
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#34
HansP's primary language is not English and he already said he's not too good with it,
so relaxe, he never meant to hurt anyone...
cut him some slack!

and im telling you again claypigeon, move on!!
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#35
eskro Wrote:HansP's primary language is not English and he already said is not too good with it,
so relaxe, he never meant to hurt anyone...
cut him some slack!

Sexism and misogyny are not language issues they are bigotry. There is no excuse for associating a persons sex to their competency regardless of ones language. Condoning, excusing and tolerance are nothing more than accessories to the original offence and they are equally offensive.
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#36
claypigeon Wrote:Your misogyny is repulsive and disgusting, You may wish to retract and apologize for your remarks, they are offensively sexist, equating the some ones competency and knowledge to their gender. That something everyone should take seriously, and in the bright light of the public eye. I have personally known brilliant female scientist, engineers and scholars, your misogyny degrades every woman, and for that mater every man or person that knows that it is not the sex, race or creed of a person that establishes their knowledge or intelligence.

Profoundly disgusting.

i think you're beeing picked on at work or something and are working your frustrations out here or on other forums no ?

i did not meant it in ANY way to discriminate all females ! but in most cases ( in this matter ) it is true !

maybe in the USA this comments are not done ... in my country they do not read my post like u did and directly thinking OMG HE DISCRIMINATED WOMEN , BURN HIM !

really ... nothing better to do ?
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1st Htpc : LC-power LC1360MI case with MSI E350IA-E45 , 2x2gb patriot , 2tb samsung eco
2nd Htpc : same as above except ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe
Reply
#37
HansP Wrote:i think you're beeing picked on at work or something and are working your frustrations out here or on other forums no ?

i did not meant it in ANY way to discriminate all females ! but in most cases ( in this matter ) it is true !

maybe in the USA this comments are not done ... in my country they do not read my post like u did and directly thinking OMG HE DISCRIMINATED WOMEN , BURN HIM !

really ... nothing better to do ?

Yes, clearly history has demonstrated nationalized bigotry worked out very well for your country. Sad Luckly, through out my live I have worked with Belgium's, a very smart woman who ran our European network, along with other nationalities through out the world, so I know it is not the people or the nation, but rather is the person who is the bigot. It is sad you cant see that in your own words, and hide behind your perception of your nationality as an excuse for your lack of tolerance.
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#38
claypigeon Wrote:Yes, clearly history has demonstrated nationalized bigotry worked out very well for your country. Sad Luckly, through out my live I have worked with Belgium's, a very smart woman who ran our European network, along with other nationalities through out the world, so I know it is not the people or the nation, but rather is the person who is the bigot. It is sad you cant see that in your own words, and hide behind your perception of your nationality as an excuse for your lack of tolerance.

ur an idiot !
nothing more to say for me ...
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1st Htpc : LC-power LC1360MI case with MSI E350IA-E45 , 2x2gb patriot , 2tb samsung eco
2nd Htpc : same as above except ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe
Reply
#39
claypigeon Wrote:if you are using a NAS it is likely because you want to share media to multiple devices, which also means you likely want to use a mysql shared library and shared thumbnail cache, so to your points on those, a SSD drive provides no additional value.

Not if you make it so that the thumbnails rsync to the SSD daily from your NAS, so that way you get the speed advantages of a SSD and the ability to have a synced library. Sharing the thumbnails straight off the NAS makes things very laggy IMHO.

With that said, and despite the fact that I use Linux on all my XBMC clients, anytime someone wants more than just a XBMC appliance I think Windows is worth the cost. If nothing else major platform browsers (and versions of Flash) all perform best on Windows, which can make a big difference with low power HTPC boxes. I recommend a Windows 7 system for OP, something AMD Zacate.

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#40
Common guys- please stick to OP request. I'm sure everyone suggestions has good intention in here. With all these suggestions, it's up to OP to choose his system.

For me, Win7 MCE all the way because it can do DTS-HD/TrueHD pass-through and it has a lot of cool remotes control for MCE too. I used Eskro suggestion to build my first zacate mini-htpc. Since I never build a mini-htpc, his suggestions are very helpful. I have no problem building htpc with standard case, but I want to make sure that everything fit in a tiny case. I have a standard case htpc in my bedroom, but it is too big for entertainment center. Eskro is very helpful with my zacate mini-htpc. I found that his suggestion is very good. My quest for a mini-htpc is base on playback DTS-HD/TrueHD, and I can live with decoded mkv PQ. It took me less than an hour to turn everything below into a pre-built htpc. If the OP is interesting, below is my mini-htpc spec (it can playback Vudu, Netflix, YouTube, browsing, BD m2ts/mkv with DTS-HD/TrueHD), and everything else I threw at it:

1. APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply
2. ASRock E350M1/USB3
3. Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV125-S2/30GB 2.5" 30GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
4. Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR1066D3N7K2/4G
5. SilenX IXP-74-09 120mm Case Fan
6. Rii Mini Keyboard
7. LG Black 10X BD-ROM

This is how I set up to pass-through DTS-HD/TrueHD:
1. Download- Windows 7 codec pack
2. Download- Shark007 32bit. If you're running Win7 64x, you have to download this too- Shark007 64bit
3. Follow this step by step visual instruction after 1&2 downloaded and the settings have to be correct for it to work properly- (DTS-HD/TrueHD pass-through)

You'll see DTS-HD/TrueHD display on your AVR during BD playback!

One other note- it's better than any HD media player that I owned (Boxee Box, Xtreamer, Roku, etc). I don't have to deal with all the HD audio playback issues that all the media players posses anymore. I have full control of the settings, instead of rely on Boxee, Xtreamer, etc to fix it for me. They never get their HD audio to work correctly yet!
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#41
HansP Wrote:u can set it up then in windows 7 or Ubuntu ,
for windows the E350's are now really good systems

How does an E-350 compare to the originally-suggested E5700?

Also the suggested onboard NVIDIA GeForce 9300. Everything I see says it handles 1080p. Does it handle it "comfortably" or are you borderline pushing its limits? Is there a better option to consider?


It's been SOO long since I've looked at computer parts... so I'm so out of the game and they all have different mixtures of what can go together, their benchmarks, problems, etc... :S
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#42
poofyhairguy Wrote:Not if you make it so that the thumbnails rsync to the SSD daily from your NAS, so that way you get the speed advantages of a SSD and the ability to have a synced library. Sharing the thumbnails straight off the NAS makes things very laggy IMHO.

I concur, this is an options, with the trade off of syncing vs shared volume is you may be missing thumb data between syncs.

Clearly IO performance is enhanced by keeping data on local storage vs network storage.

Regarding laggy perceptions, it is such a qualitative factor based on the tolerance of an individual making it difficult to quantify what is acceptable to one vs another out a common benchmark. Or in other words, what is laggy to one might be fine for another it is a function of their expectations.

Regardless, I wonder if the reason I don't perceive an issue of lag in loading the thumbnails in my shared thumbnail environment is due to the use of the of the <useddsfanart> tags in the advancedsettings file. see http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=ThumbnailCache for more details. With the useddsfanart tag my shared thumbs are loading ~1/8th of the volume of data which may be why, my perception of the performance of shared thumbs, does not feel laggy to me. I have to caveat, that this setting has trade-offs, you are trading size/quality for performance, personally I have not considered it a determent.
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#43
Kaitlyn2004 Wrote:How does an E-350 compare to the originally-suggested E5700?

The E-350 is better with power, the E5700 is faster. Not lying- my personal system is closer to the E5700 because I am a hardware junkie and because its the better Linux option. For Windows either is good.

Quote:Also the suggested onboard NVIDIA GeForce 9300. Everything I see says it handles 1080p. Does it handle it "comfortably" or are you borderline pushing its limits? Is there a better option to consider?

A GeForce 9300 plays every 2D 1080p file you can get your hands on. Trust me, I have tried ones that max the Blu Ray standard. Only can't do 3D.

Quote:It's been SOO long since I've looked at computer parts... so I'm so out of the game and they all have different mixtures of what can go together, their benchmarks, problems, etc... :S

That is the point of such a wonderful forum! Good luck in your decision.

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#44
claypigeon Wrote:Regarding laggy perceptions, it is such a qualitative factor based on the tolerance of an individual making it difficult to quantify what is acceptable to one vs another out a common benchmark. Or in other words, what is laggy to one might be fine for another it is a function of their expectations.

Agreed. I think its laggy because I have the perfect usage scenario for a SSD- I have a HUGE library (1200+ Movies, 300+ TV shows), and I prefer the "Wall View" option on skins that really put on display the latency from non-SSD options.

In regards to the OP, I always feel that the low heat and fast boot times combined with the fast interface of a SSD makes it a option I always recommend for HTPCs. But you can do without them if cost is an issue- even I leave out SSDs on XBMC boxes I give as gifts to family members. Every box I use daily has a SSD as its OS drive though.

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#45
I can throw an SSD in the rig for sure... but I've also heard that some SSD are very slow and really not much of a benefit over a good hard drive.

Is this is fast SSD?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6820220532

Also worry about it being 32GB. Win 7 x64 will take ~20gb leaving me with ~10gb of space for cache, other misc programs... last thing I want is to run out of space Smile
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