which hardware for single XBMC HTPC

Hi,

I am trying to figure out which hardware for a XBMC installation my needs would fit best.

The PC will only be for XBMC and no gaming, but should fulfill the following points:

as silent as possible (without exploding costs)
can play HD schmoothly
boot time as fast as possible (maybe openELEC?)
remote can stop AND start from standby
and if possible with bluray (I try to avoid win7 but would go with it, if the solution works fine. By the way, I am not very experienced with linux but would do/learn all the neccessary to get it to run.)

Please help me, all the threads I have read so far confused me even more. I would go with a solution like ZBox, and change fan to make it silent, if this would work.

Thanks alot
Frank

Hey mate, did you read the stickies at the top of this forum? Did they confuse you? Links below:

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=94199

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=94268

The first link (eskro's guide) gives a list of options, as well as what each setup can / can't do.

After reading that, further questions you have.

XBMC Live would suit you if you're only looking to boot the PC straight into XBMC (and not use it for anything else).

Hi,

thanks for your help.
I've read already the stickies and plenty of other threads, unfortunately I never read about my remote controller question.

Actually I would prefer to have as much as possible prebuild by vendor (e.g. Zotac), but need to have the things working as mentioned in my post.
(An answer like, take ZBox xyz and use remote controle zyx and it will work would be superb.)

Only XBMC is supposed to run on this machine, which will be placed in the living room and should work as close as possible like a usual entertainment equipment like BR or TV.

I am planing to buy an iPad as well to control the XBMC via tablet. And I'm going to buy the Harmony® 1100 Advanced Universal Remote for steering all equipment in the living room. So the XBMC should work with it, which I think shouldn't be a problem, when the XBMC is working with remote in the first place.

I am also able to build a computer on my own, if there is no prebuild possible, but would prefer otherwise.

Maybe you have an idea?

Thanks alot
Frank

the best pre-built system to me is the ZOTAC ND22,,,
hands down,,,

Powerful enough for 1080P,
and high-def streaming like NEtFlix-HD or HULU-HD...

but its not built for 3D playback,
and same for bitstreaming HD-AUdio,,,

but if its not a concern to you,
go for it, there's no better in my opinion,,,

my current HTPC, that i built myself,
cant even do 3D playback and bitstreaming HD-AUdio,,,
i dont need those features as of today,,,

Hi eskro,

thanks for the tipp.
What remote and ir-receiver do you use and does it also start the Zotac from sleep?

And is this ND22 silent or does it bother sometimes?

BR
Frank

There is a tread on the ND22.... you could get answers there since we don't own it. But yes ND22 is pretty nice.

i know the ND22 has a fan which can be toned down in BIOS options...
i recall people setting the fan to %60...

now you shouldnt have a problem waking up from sleep,
but forget about a POWER-ON from a total shutdown state...

and for remotes in general,
its in my HTPC guide,
so, i dont feel like repeating myself again
just go read lol

I've found using wake on lan from a tablet pc very helpful for turning on htpcs from a total off

hi

@uncola
that's a cool idea, thanks

@eskro
thanks for the tipp, I'm going to read your guide

@Beer40oz
I'll check out this thread then, thanks.

BR
Frank

hi eskro,

I see, that I have alread read your guide/thread, but I don't know, if the e.g. ND22 will work flawlessly with the mentioned remotes.
That's why I asked and hoped to get information, where somebody has it already running (maybe just as I plan to) without any problems.

Thanks for your guide, because it helped a lot to get a good start.

Thanks
Frank