Help with what to buy
#1
Hi,

Sorry to join and straight away be asking for help but I'm new to this, I'm looking for a device to connect to my TV which I can use xmbc with.
I've came across this....

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/networking...9-pdt.html

Will this do the job or should I stick with a Raspberry Pi ?

Thanks in advance.
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#2
are you on a tight budget? If you can spare a few hundred $, why not get an Intel NUC or build a mini ITX system with a Intel Pentium processor. Im running 2 of these and they are great
pvr.wmc TV addon and ServerWMC Backend Development Team
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#3
I've read Raspberry Pi won't stream HD content smoothly. Maybe someone else can confirm?
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#4
As I'm new to it I don't want to spend a lot of $ if I'm honest.
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#5
(2014-02-05, 02:01)SpecialSauce Wrote: I've read Raspberry Pi won't stream HD content smoothly. Maybe someone else can confirm?

Raspberry Pi has no issues with HD content. Most reported issues are Wifi related (HD streaming is at the limit of what most home wifi networks will support) - if you are on a wired connection you should not have issues.
I would recommend it for internet streaming or viewing local libraries, TV recordings etc. It is NOT however an ideal PVR client - channel changes, EPG loading etc is very slow.
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#6
Thanks - Is the 1st Gen Apple TV any better ?
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#7
what sort of budget do you have? You could build an Intel pentium based socket 1155 mini-ITX system using the HDMI output from the builtin intel graphics on the CPU which does 1080P output and supports bitstreaming all audio formats... This can be done for like $200-$300 which is pretty cheap really.

Assuming you are in the states I just quickly looked at Newegg and priced up:
Pentium G3220 $70, ASRock H61 Mini-ITX motherboard $50, 2x2GB DDR3 $44, Mini-ITX case with 250W power supply $50 = $215. Then add storage, be it a hard drive, SSD, or even run OpenElec off a USB3 stick. It's pretty good value. If you have any old/spare parts or look to 2nd hand forums etc, you could do it even cheaper.

If you dont want to spend this much then Id probably say to stick with a raspberry pi (with aforementioned slowness given that it's not particularly powerful).
pvr.wmc TV addon and ServerWMC Backend Development Team
http://bit.ly/ServerWMC
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#8
(2014-02-05, 12:32)gingerninja Wrote: Thanks - Is the 1st Gen Apple TV any better ?

Don't have one so can't say for sure but I would not expect significantly different performance.
I would honestly go for Scarecrow's suggestion. A low end Intel NUC (Celeron) box + 2GB RAM + power lead + USB3.0 memory stick running OpenELEC and using your smartphone as a remote should get you going for around £160.
You then have a neat, fast system that you could upgrade down the line (add SSD, remote control etc.)
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#9
grab a zbox ad12, 4gb ram and whatever spare 2.5" drive you can find..throw OE and be done with it.
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#10
What about a desktop with this spec....

Dual Core Pentium D 3.0GHz HT processor.
4GB Ram.
NVidia Geforce 6200 video card.
160GB Hard Drive.
DVD Writer.
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#11
If thats something you already have laying around then you may as well give it a shot, but Im not sure I would recomend buying that (what price anyway?).

Also what display would you be hooking this up to, and what audio system is in use for the room in question? And what budget do you have
pvr.wmc TV addon and ServerWMC Backend Development Team
http://bit.ly/ServerWMC
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#12
(2014-02-05, 18:25)gingerninja Wrote: What about a desktop with this spec....

Dual Core Pentium D 3.0GHz HT processor.
4GB Ram.
NVidia Geforce 6200 video card.
160GB Hard Drive.
DVD Writer.

Perfect.
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#13
Hmm, wouldn't it depend on what display/audio requirements though? For example I doubt that audio over HDMI will be possible, it would either be SPDIF/optical out, or 3.5mm stereo jack which may or may not be suitable. Video over HDMI using DVI to HDMI cable/adapter should work but a quick google did find people having issues with the typical overscan, picture quality, etc etc. Also those Pentium D are pretty old generation (core 2 duo era etc). I think it depends on the price, if it's super cheap or free because he already owns it, then as I said give it a whirl for sure. But if it is going to be at a cost, I think more information is needed as there could be better options for not too much $$ as we have already suggested above Smile
pvr.wmc TV addon and ServerWMC Backend Development Team
http://bit.ly/ServerWMC
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#14
Actually I take that back. I thought we were talking nvidia 620, not the older 6200 non vdpau card. My apologies.

However that box would work fine with a newer nvidia card.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
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#15
(2014-02-05, 12:32)gingerninja Wrote: Thanks - Is the 1st Gen Apple TV any better ?

No. I have several including one with the Broadcomm card on Crystalbuntu and I have not been able to get it to stream HD smoothly on a wired gigabit connection. Neither live TV or uncompressed BD rips work in what I find to be an acceptable manner. I played with this quite a bit and finally gave up... The R.Pi is much better with HD content.
The XBMC team, plug-in devs, skinners, etc. do this for us for FREE in their spare time because they want to. Think about that for a second before you start bitching...
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