[McLars]

Looking for some input on hardware. I want to buy or build a box for my in-laws that will run only XBMC (okay, Kodi) with live streaming of foreign channels, many of which are HD. They just want to switch on and do whatever they do with a remote.

I can do the hardware / software myself, just want to know from your experience, what are my best options in regards to picture quality and stability (being as trouble free as possible is a must for these folks, otherwise I'll be their first call :-) at under $250ish?

I'm open to all options from a Chromebox and Android box, to Fire TV and a NUC-style mini pc running Openelec or XBMCbuntu as long it meet the above requirements.

[User 231261]

+1

yeah I would like to know that also... what is the configure once then forget most user friendly, high usability, low learning curve xbmc box out there.
Secure auto updating OS and applications.
Forget the age discrimination bit I would say.... Elderly user.... I have a 79 year old father in law who's downloading from Usenet and has his own private Netflix like collection of the movies he loves including a vast 40ties and 50ties music library he wants me to appreciate..

[RaggSokk3n]

As a rule of thumb the cheaper and further away from a XBMC of you go the more issues you'll see. From best to worst: PC+OpenELEC, PC+xbmcbuntu, PC+Windows, rpi, anything android.
Find something with a cpu/apu powerful enough for what your playing add 2-4gb ram+ssd and you're good to go.
If you want to stream 1080i I believe a6 6400k is still the best way to go without a dgpu (correct me if I'm wrong). If you're staying with 720p/1080p than everything from a nuc+celeron to a am1+sempron 3850 will do the trick.