New entry-level setup for home: Raspberry Pi 3 or Android-based streaming box?

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Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › New entry-level setup for home: Raspberry Pi 3 or Android-based streaming box?

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jeffois

30 posts

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#1649465 11-Oct-2016 21:06

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reven:

remotes are all that great on the cheap android boxes, sure it has "netflix" but can you navigate netflix with the remote easily or is it like using a mouse/keyboard to navigate? thats what has always put me off of those devices.

I've gone with the Amazon Fire TV 4K, the remote is the one that it comes with (the voice enabled one). Ultimately, it has to be "wife friendly" :)

We're running a Roku 3 at present, which is fine for local content (Plex), Netflix and live NZ TV (Plex channel)--but of course no NZ on-demand, SkyGo etc. You comments swung me to be honest... the RBP3 would certainly be fun for me, but painful for the wife!

Cheers, Jeff
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JimmyH

2886 posts

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#1649490 11-Oct-2016 21:37

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I'm running my Plex server on an Asustor NAS., which has a dual core Atom processor. It isn't on 24/7, I power stuff down when I leave the house.

It has 8 bays (of which I have populated 4 with 6TB drives in RAID5 configuration, for 16.2TB of space with 4.5TB of that currently unused). It holds all my media (TV, Films, Music,photos etc), backups (2x desktops, 2x laptops), and emulator images etc. And the unused 4 bays offer plenty of growth potential (another 21TB) for me to incrementally expand the storage pool if I need it.

As long as you have a capable client, so the Plex server doesn't have to transcode on the fly and can stream as is, an Atom processor is plenty. It's cheap to run, runs pretty cool, and can support several concurrent users without breaking a sweat.

The issue with Kodi on my android box (Minix X8-H) appears to be software rather than the hardware, which is plenty capable. So I'm about to configure it to use VLC instead of Kodi's internal default player, so see if that fixes the problem. Tomorrow's task, using some instructions I have just found on the Kodi forums.

So in summary:

I recommend Plex on a NAS, it seems to run well, to store content centrally
I recommend Kodi as a front-end on clients, just make sure they are sufficiently capable so the NAS doesn't have to transcode; and
Based on what I have read, I am inclined to NextPVR on a HTPC (with a tuner and capture device) if you want to also use Kodi clients to watch Freeview or whatever is coming out of your Sky box - haven't tried this yet, it's next on my project list.

Also, if you get an android box, I seriously recommend getting a good Airmouse. They will make it much easier to use.

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