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Hi all,
I need your collective wisdom to help me choosing a new XBMC machine. Requirements:
1. Intel based - I had so much trouble with ARM based Pivos Xios that I am not taking chances any more. BTW, is i3 with Intel graphics good enough for HW playback? I think it should be OK, but wanted to double check.
2. Small, preferably fan-less
3. Should support internal HDD (not SSD) - I need at least 1 TB of storage.
4. Integrated Wi-Fi and IR is a very big plus, but not a requirement
6. No need for optical drive
I would go for the NUC, but it does not support HDD...
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Interesting. Thanks for the info.
BTW, I could never figure out whether these NUC come with Wi-Fi or not. It seems that only the antenna is listed, but than I wonder which Wi-Fi cards are recommended for them (to be used on Linux).
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noggin
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2014-02-23, 17:05
(This post was last modified: 2014-02-23, 17:06 by noggin.)
The NUCs don't come with Wifi cards as standard - though cased models come with aerial(s)/antenna(e). You need to put a Mini-PCI-E Wifi card on your shopping list if you want internal WiFi.
If you don't want Full 3D (which isn't currently supported in XBMC internally anyway) - then you can go for a less powerful CPU than a Core i3. The Celeron 1007U is working fine (including hardware decode + software de-interlacing of 1080i at full frame rate in recent OpenElec builds) - though I'm not sure there is a NUC with that CPU. The Celeron 847 may struggle a little bit with 1080i at 60fps.
If you can find an offer on an Acer Revo RL80 - then it's worth a look. I have one and am very happy with it. I got the model with C1007U CPU, 2GB RAM, 500GB HD, 2.4+5GHz Wifi, Bluetooth, USB 3.0 and GigE. It had an internal CIR header which I connected a cheap TSOP to which gave me full MCE RC6 IR remote control (including power on and power off) It does have a small fan. I paid £139 (which I think came down to £119 after cash back) from eBuyer in the UK. It did drop to £99 after Cashback briefly. I run OpenElec on it, installed to the internal HD.
(It also has a spare Mini-PCI-E slot - I think rather than mSATA - and a second internal SATA connector - as there is a model with an optical drive also available which presumably shares the motherboard). If you wanted 1TB of storage you'd either replace the internal 2.5" SATA HD or add a USB 3.0 external drive?)
