Anyone using an HTPC in 2020?

Blue160 said:
I've got a mini ITX HTPC under the telly and have done for many years. It's running a G3258, 4GB DDR3 and onboard graphics. The Virgin Media box gets more use but the HTPC gets used regularly for a number of things.

The workout videos my wife uses come through their own website and aren't streamable via the TV box. It allows us to play films we bought through Sky Store while we had a Sky contract via the Sky Store website. Sticking a webcam on top of the telly allows for a family zoom meet-up on a screen big enough for us all to see as well. It's also been used for some living room gaming through GeForce Now.
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Whilst a lot of people seem to have moved on, there is still a place for HTPCs based on what you and some of the others have said.
 
Synology NAS running Plex and DLNA servers here. Don't see the need to have something under the TV any more. The Synology can happily live in my rack in the garage along with the other network kit/servers I use.
 
I use a windows PC and MADVR.

However I don't use an unraid server like I used to in the past. Just think its a waste of time. I don't use kodi or xbmc either. It was neat back in the day and looks very pretty but now I just browse a fold, double click and press play. Less fiddling, more film watching.

I have about 10TB on my PC and thats just about enough for now.
 
paradigm said:
Synology NAS running Plex and DLNA servers here. Don't see the need to have something under the TV any more. The Synology can happily live in my rack in the garage along with the other network kit/servers I use.
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Which Synology NAS are you using? out of interest? I need to buy a new one with a specific intention of using as a Plex server capable of 4k transcoding
 
Not sure their is a real need for an htpc now days? Unraid server in the cupboard with a hdhomerun, all connected to an ATV/Shield for all live tv and streaming needs(including iptv) - one box to rule them all.
 
martin363 said:
Which Synology NAS are you using? out of interest? I need to buy a new one with a specific intention of using as a Plex server capable of 4k transcoding
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RS815+.

I've thought about upgrading to a newer RackStation, but this one is doing everything I need just fine now I've upgraded it to 8GB RAM.

It'll even run a few VMs should I need it to.
 
phate101101 said:
Call me a cynic but I thought HTPCs are pretty much solely used to watch pirated media via plex..
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That's a fair shout, some people download and play files locally. As an aside, I know someone that rips all their blu-rays to store them digitally, so everyone in the house can access the whole library without needing the disc.
 
phate101101 said:
Call me a cynic but I thought HTPCs are pretty much solely used to watch pirated media via plex..
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I can confirm although I don't use Plex. My HTPC is also my gaming rig. RTX2060, 3600, 16gb DDR4, 240gb M2 Boot, 2TB M2 for games, rips etc.. All housed in a Silverstone GD05B hooked up to a 49" Sony Android TV
 
Had 3 last year, now down to one and that's more of an gaming HTPC now as I took the FreeSat card out.

Only switch it on to play games, everything else I stream through my TV via Plex.
 
Yep I'm still using mine. But I do mostly use streaming services via my TV. It's still very much worthwhile having because I don't just use it for home theatre use.
It stores all the movies and TV programs I want, and makes them available via plex any device in the house.
It also runs my CCTV server / storage, is network storage for backups with redundancy and a light gaming / game streaming machine too.
Little thing works hard!
 
I use my gaming PC as a HTPC. Does ok.

I no longer like to hoard media and rips that much... don't really care for it. Wouldn't mind a centralised media server but the wiring for the ethernet just isn't worth it for me and I'm not into Kodi/XBMC anymore. I don't care about a pretty front end to select films. I just wanna double click on a file, toggle on HDR and play it from file explorer.

The main role of my HTPC is to play the files and video process with MADVR now.



However with Dolby Vision, the time might come that I just do bluray player and disc now as windows has some severe limitations in regards to that. Also
 
Yup still using our HP mini PC (I forget the specific model number might be 800 G1 or something similar) though it is starting to show it's age and BSoD quite a bit. Once we move house I will build my own.

Stoner81.
 
I have an "HTPC" in the cinema room; but honestly, it's more of a PC "console". It just gets used for gaming. The glory days of Windows Media Centre Edition are behind us.
 
Been using HTPCs of varying descriptions for many years. Have a couple of Raspberry Pi 2's that I currently use with OSMC. One upstairs, one down. Just ordered a Pi 4 starter kit (25% discount at the rainforest until 13th) as my Pi 2 seems to be struggling with the Bluray rips I did recently. My HP Microserver hosts all my DVDs and anything I've recorded with Tvheadend but haven't got round to watching (which is a surprising amount). I don't do an awful lot of streaming; only if I miss something I'd planned on recording, or anything that catches my eye on Amazon Prime (not much).
 
I do, one has a 1080ti the other a 1070ti (this might get my 2080ti when i get a probably 3080ti when that comes out) , both used for gaming and movies and internet (3900X living room and i5 8500 in bedroom). Have a movie server with 48 6tb hdds running freenas. I just turn on, pick a movie and copy to local disk as running the server for just a movie is a waste.
 
Been using a PC on the TV since June/July.

Got myself a Logitech K400+ and use the PC "as normal" for iPlayer/Plex etc from the sofa.

Cannot say I miss using a remote control for general use.
 
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