[xantaus]

I'm currently looking to create a stand alone xbmc box.

Generally the Acer revo seems to be recommended, so i'm looking at This One

But I have a couple of questions:

1) will this play 1080p video smoothly?

2) will this play flac audio smoothly?

3) how easy/necessary is it to update xbmc?

4) How easy is it to install additional programs and services?

[poofyhairguy]

1. Yes, once configured correctly. I would use Linux personally- a single core Atom is a little weak for Windows 7.

2. Should be able to, an AppleTV can playback FLAC and that is around the same amount of CPU power.

3.Not ever necessary. The whole point of XBMC is to make a media appliance that "just works" like a dvd player does.

4. Depends on how experienced you are will Linux. I am an old pro, so it was easier for me than on Windows....

[xantaus]

So the processor will be good enough for smooth 1080p and flac, Worth getting the dual core version then?

Like this one

I'll be using linux, though whats the advantage of a live cd install over just a standard minimum install?

I'm reasonably competent with linux, been using fedora for a few years now, so Ubuntu will be a change.

[poofyhairguy]

I personally have a dual core Atom frontend, but I never see it use more than one core in playback. You should be just fine.

The advantage of XBMC Live is that it is basically an Ubuntu install already configured- LIRC works, XBMC autostarts, etc.

Personally I prefer to roll my own XBMCbuntu in order to gain capabilities XBMC Live lacks like 7 channel PCM audio output. Here is the guide:

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=71609

[xantaus]

Thank you very much for the advice. Should be interesting to see how this turns out.

[NotShorty]

FWIW, the hardware in my sig plays 1080p beautifully. Haven't hooked it up to the kill-a-watt, but if you look at the power consumption of each of my components, you can see that it barely sips the juice.

Single core Atom might be a little anemic, but my Celeron does just fine with the latest DXVA builds of xbmc for windows since it's all off-loaded to the gpu. Xbmc Live is darn nice though if xbmc is your main priority.

NS