Need cheap, pre-built mini system
#1
Brick 
Ok, need a cheap one, preferably prebuilt / mini for the bedroom.

Only needs to output 720p
Doesn't need storage outside of running XBMC (have a NAS)
Really nice if there's an IR device attached
Don't need Wifi

Any recommendations?
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#2
cant go cheaper then APPLE TV for now
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#3
(2012-05-13, 19:44)eskro Wrote: cant go cheaper then APPLE TV for now

that... is a good idea.

when you jailbreak the apple tv, you're pretty much blowing up the initial install and completely replacing it, right? is it possible to go back?

edit: I actually want to run OpenElec.TV and I don't think it runs on the 2nd gen ATV. May pass on this one.
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#4
Do you need an optical drive?

Have you considered a custom build or barebones? The ASUS E35M1-I is a OpenELEC recommended motherboard -- it would be pretty cheap and quick to build a system with one of those.
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#5
Watch out for ATV2 if you have high bitrate MKVs. You're only displaying 720P, but you still have to read/decode those 1080P files. I'm not sure what the cutoff is for bitrate, but I know ATV2 will choke on MakeMKV untouched bluray rips.
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#6
I would take a look at one of the newer zotac models.
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#7
Have a look at Rapsberry Pi solution. They have some availability problems right now, but let's wait...

http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/571
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#8
I usually would have made the same recomendation as Eskro, but Apple TV2's that are jailbroken are now going for insane prices.

Matter of fact I am going to put mine up on ebay because they are selling for more than the cost of building a nice HTPC.
(And my HTPC in the livingroom is a joy to use compared to the AppleTV2. Thanks to the posters on this forum for the recomendations on the build!)

A jailbroken untethered apple tv2 can go for between $2-300 on ebay right now.
A nice A4 or A6 HTPC will run about the same.
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#9
What is funny, you can get a used original AppleTV on ebay for <$100 and run crystalbuntu on it quite well at 720p. If you wanted to play 1080p file just pop in a crystal HD card for <$50.

This is the easiest and cheapest way I have found for XBMC that can play nearly anything, or atleast until all those tiny ARM devices come out running some form of XBMC.
Theater: The PS4/XBONE killer running Kodi 17.3 3D Movie Box: Raspberry Pi running LibreElec 8.0 Alpha BROKEN Family Room: "A6-Pack" running Kodi 17.3 Whole House: FireTV running Kodi 17.3
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#10
Me personally,..although I just built my first HTPC,..it cost me much more than this solution:

Acer RL70-UR10P Desktop

and the price came down a little to just over $300
I'll probably pick this up soon for my other TV.

It also comes with Windows 7 pre-installed.
That was $100 out of my budget on my HTPC build.
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Need cheap, pre-built mini system0