Is this suitable as HTPC?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Is this suitable as HTPC?

peejayw

1841 posts

Uber Geek

#148737 29-Jun-2014 12:47

Anyone using one of these as a HTPC? Would they be suitable?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/desktops/no-monitor/auction-745594102.htm

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

turb

881 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1076536 29-Jun-2014 14:20

In its current state it looks fine for playing media from a storage device, but that's about all.

Streaming video off the internet would probably be severely hampered only having wifi. And through some dodgy USB wifi at that.

You really need a wired LAN for this - maybe a USB LAN adaptor would do the trick?

If you wanted to use it for watching or recording TV you would need to use a network connected tuner like the HDhomerun.

Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.

timmmay

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#1076539 29-Jun-2014 14:52

Six year old CPU. They have broken WiFi antennas. I'd skip it, a R Pi would do a better job and cheaper.

turb

881 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1076587 29-Jun-2014 16:28

timmmay: Six year old CPU. They have broken WiFi antennas. I'd skip it, a R Pi would do a better job and cheaper.

I have tried out a Raspberry Pi and yes, you can get a nice result, but they can be daunting if you're new to Linux. I wasn't a total Linux noob and I still didn't find it very user friendly.

The thing you're looking at would be an inexpensive way of trying out the HTPC concept, while still maintaining the flexibility of an HTPC over other media boxes. But it will have limitations. Don't forget to include the price of a wireless keyboard/mouse combo in your budget.

Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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Geekzone

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#1076614 29-Jun-2014 17:21

For this price I got the Gigabyte BRIX from Amazon. Added 4GB RAM and 128GB nmSATA SSD for a total of about $320. It comes with both ethernet 1Gbps and 802.11a/b/g/n. And modern CPU including an Intel HD5000 GPU.

You sitll need a network tuner such as the HDHomeRun for either chioce.

davidcole

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#1076651 29-Jun-2014 19:21

I'd probably go freitasm's solution over a raspberry pi. A pi might deal with streaming video via xbmc but it's hard to get broadcast video running in to it, and personally I found a bit sluggish. But for the price point they're very capable.

With the brio, you could run a real browser for these sites that don't have an xbmc channel etc.

Previously known as psycik

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PhantomNVD

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#1076694 29-Jun-2014 21:12

I'm in with the general consensus here, TM machine is too underpowered/not worth the effort, Linux is trick (unless you're in there already) so buy new AND capable and smile :)

Wireless mouse and k/board are sub $30 these days, so BRIX + K/b Mouse + homerun (http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=474120) for $500 seems your best bet for a good working solution..

Side note though, the homerun linked here had 'only' 720p and 1080i?

davidcole

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#1076699 29-Jun-2014 21:27

Homerun is whatever is broadcast. It doesnt do anything with the transmission, but dump it to the network.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

Sideface

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#1076715 29-Jun-2014 21:56

peejayw: Anyone using one of these as a HTPC? Would they be suitable?

I have one of these as a toy for my grandchildren.
No, it is NOT suitable for HTPC duties.

Sideface

nickrout

219 posts

Master Geek

#1089317 15-Jul-2014 14:54

The box on trademe has nVidia ION so will give perfect video playback for h.264 and mpeg2 material. It'll be a bit slow in eg XBMC menus, but faster than a pi.

Something like this is a good option http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Super-Mini-PC-X3700m-Intel-Celeron-1037u-Dual-Core-1-8Ghz-Processor-2GB-RAM-8GB-SSD/1593071054.html

kiwipawl

273 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1089327 15-Jul-2014 15:16

What about on of these? http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=WKSPB3005&name=PB-3005-Intel-NUC-Ultra-Compact-PC-Intel-Celeron-N

shk292

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#1089330 15-Jul-2014 15:24

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Super-Mini-PC-X3700m-Intel-Celeron-1037u-Dual-Core-1-8Ghz-Processor-2GB-RAM-8GB-SSD/1593071054.html

I love this part of the description of that PC:
Support Windows / linux OS, Default Win7 (cracked version)

[Moderator edit (MF): changed quote because it's the Chinese site not PBTech with this text]