[marting]

Hi all,

I'm thinking about getting this unit and hook it up to a tv and sound system (that currently is connected to a much clunkier box). In summary: AMD dual-core 1.6 ghz cpu, Radeon HD6310 GPU, 120 gb SSD. I'd be running Debian and XBMC, but I'm worried about the slightly weak cpu and graphics card, and wanted to check in here. For those of you who know this stuff, do you think that it may have any trouble decoding 1080p content?

Are there better units out there that you'd recommend instead, in the same style?

-- Martin

[.:B:.]

I think both price and consumption wise the Gigabyte Brix or Intel NUC models are more interesting. Of course, if you need integrated IR (which I think is a pre for a HTPC) the selection is narrowed down quite a bit.

I have an AD10 myself (same AMD platform), and while I'm happy with it, a little bit more power certainly wouldn't hurt - when you use a heavier skin like Aeon Nox 4 e.g., it clearly shows the system's limitations. Power consumption of the NUC platform is similar, but you get a lot more performance out of it. And at this time the E-350 is an obsolete platform compared to what Intel can offer you.

Oh and - Debian and XBMC... As you can tell from my sig I like and use Debian but I wouldn't let it anywhere near a HTPC. Unless you're good at building your own XBMC on Debian, but otherwise I wouldn't try it. Use one of the many Ubuntu solutions or OpenELEC. Minimal hassle.

[marting]

IR is no problem - I have a separate IR receiver anyway.

Thanks for the suggestions - the platforms you mention look nice (a fair bit more powerful than the AMD one from what I can tell, especially the GPU), but the main reason I had for liking the linked system was that it outputs analog signals as well, as I occasionally have need for that. However, the Brix has a displayport that could be converted to VGA, and an external soundcard can generate analog audio, so I suppose I can work around the analog problem (until I don't need to any longer). Sound reasonable?

[Dougie Fresh]

Take a look a this guy too: Lenovo IdeaCentre Q190 (Pentium 2127U 1.9GHz Processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, LAN, WLAN, Integrated Graphics, Windows 8) £259.99.

That's a great processor and integrated GPU, especially for Linux and Windows.

[p750mmx]

If the item you've linked to is still £269.90 then that is no bargain at all, hell no. The one right above me is a much better deal then the one out of TS and there will be many others better then the E-350 setup..