[edge06]

Quick question- how hard is the assembly of all these units, esp for someone who is noob and has never done this. Also, can someone verify that the openelec/ linux goes on the SSD and is simple to install? my soundbar only supports optical and planning to run PVR backend on my Synology NAS, this is why I want to go ahead with this setup.

Assembly is straight forward. Your motherboard manual will have a detailed guide on how to install everything. There are also many youtube videos you can watch and follow along with. It may seem daunting in the beginning but it really isn't that hard.

Openelec/Linux gets installed to the SSD and it is VERY easy to install. Follow the guide on the openelec wiki, but it's essentially:
- download installer
- unzip
- run usb format .bat file
- select usb from the list (make sure its in your pc and empty)
- it gets formatted
- plug it into htpc and select usb from the boot order
- wait a bit, and youre done

Hope that helps

[vineet381]

It does, thank you so much!

[kellyshaw]

suggest a new HTPC, very smart size only 14*10*3cm,little bigger size compare to iphone5. details here:
Celeron J1900 Quad core 2GHz Burst 2.41GHz 300M WiFi 2G RAM 32G SSD Preinstall Openelec XBMC, price about 200 usd, add shipping cost maybe 230 usd or so.

CPU J1900 is better than AMD Athlon 5350, you can see the 5350 vs J1900 specifications comparison here: http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/950/AMD...J1900.html

[edge06]

I've had a lot of great feedback from people who've purchased and built this setup!

[slippyjim]

Hi,

I've read your cheap HTPC build articles and was wondering will these be powerful enough to run acestream under Windows?

Currently I have an acer revo on Xubuntu 13.10 (works perfect for 1080p in XBMC) and it can play 1000kbps ace stream but not much better, ideally I want something to be able to play 2000kbps+ acestream

I am thinking of going back to Windows as I keep getting addons not working on Linux and acestream definitely runs better on Windows, any suggestions are welcome though

Thanks