[henrytheunicorn]

For the best XBMC streaming experience, what device should I use? I heard that Fire TV can have some problems with XBMC and I haven't heard of any problems with streaming for the Raspberry Pi except that it may be slow for 1080p unless I overclock it a bit.

Amazon Fire TV: $99
Raspberry Pi (with everything needed): $79.31

Raspberry Pi Stuff I will Buy:
http://www.amazon.com/RASPBERRY-MODEL-75...009SQQF9C/
http://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pi-Case-...00ASJRMT0/
http://www.amazon.com/PNY-32GB-Elite-Per...00DX5D9I4/
http://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-Copper-H...00IR72LJQ/
http://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pi-Micro...00DZLSEVI/
http://www.amazon.com/Hausbell-H7-Wirele...00B9996LA/

I plan on using XBMC to stream from Icefilms, YiFy, Project Free TV, and probably premium channels (Not required, since I have a Smart Bluray Player, but it would be a nice feature) like Netflix (I currently have this), Amazon Instant Video, or Hulu.


*Please list any bugs you have with a Raspberry Pi XBMC (Raspbmc/OpenELEC) setup or an Amazon Fire TV setup with XBMC. If you have no bugs, please tell me how well it works*

[Ned Scott]

The answer is Amazon Fire TV, but I want to clear up a couple of things:

1. just an FYI, don't talk about icefilms and other bootleg sources on xbmc.org

2. If you do ever get a Pi, go for the newly released model B +, which should be the same price but with slightly better hardware

3. Most people seem to think that you don't need heatsinks on the Pi, even if you overclock it. I would agree with them.

4. If you can, get a "Noobs" SD card from the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It's class 4 or 6, but the class doesn't really matter for Pi usage. The class refers to large/sustained transfer speeds, but some of the faster cards have slower speeds for little reads/writes. The end result is that using a lower class card can actually be faster, as far as XBMC on the Pi is concerned. The "Noobs" card is about $5-10, which is a fair price for the card anyways, it's one of the known fast ones, and it will setup OpenELEC or RaspBMC for you.

5. The Pi might be slow at some stuff, but playback isn't really something that it would be slow at. It's kind of an all or nothing thing (more or less) when it comes to playing back video. You typically want to overclock a Pi to help the GUI speed. This is mostly true for almost any XBMC device that is overclockable.



All that being said, since you want Netflix and Amazon video services, you should get a Fire TV and sideload XBMC on it. The Fire TV is a great value for XBMC alone, and it has very good official Netflix and Amazon clients, which you cannot get on the Pi.

For known issues and tips for XBMC on the Fire TV, see Amazon Fire TV (wiki).