What standalone XBMC/HTPC box?

Domi said:
23rd October Amazon fire

looks like it is going to be a huge hit as a media player.
Native Plex and XBMC support plus Netflix , Amazon Prime and can be rooted and side loaded with any of the usual android stuff.

Basically a one box that can do everything ? we shall see but it does look very good indeed.
Click to expand...

Just seen you can preorder if you have prime (or are named on a prime account) for £50 think I'll be getting one
 
Tempted by one of those at £49.

My only worries would be the audio types supported as it doesn't list any for of DTS. Does anyone know if it will passthrough to an amp or is it stuck with the formats it lists?

Also 24p seems to be up in the air with them.
 
Just ordered me a Amazon Fire TV, can't complain for £49 (joys of prime) and being able to install XBMC on it.
 
Am I right in saying that the Amazon Fire has essentially an "android-type" OS and if you install XBMC and connect a USB stick or external drive, it will stream media from that source??

I'm looking for a decent media streamer for my dad but it will mostly be used in a caravan so there won't be a network to connect to (which is why the Chromecast isn't for him!)

I know there are other media players out there that will do this but the specs on the Amazon Fire seem pretty good for the cost!
 
I use the 2820 NUC downstair with openelec to stream all my media from my microserver. Its immense and really is so useful and fluid.

Takes all the files I ask it to and never struggles and is nigh on silent.

Set me back about £130 with ROB of RAM and a small SSD.
 
Pabl0 said:
I use the 2820 NUC downstair with openelec to stream all my media from my microserver. Its immense and really is so useful and fluid.

Takes all the files I ask it to and never struggles and is nigh on silent.

Set me back about £130 with ROB of RAM and a small SSD.
Click to expand...

I have the same.

Plus you have the option of installing other Operating Systems should you wish to.
 
Yeah, easy duel boot like you say and also powerful enough to run ambilight clone, any skin and as many apps as you'd like.

Seriusly hard to consider an android box over this, for the price difference there is just to many compromises with them and also this NUC will last years until it needs any upgrading.
 
You need to have Amazon prime to get it at that price. Check if you can get the 1 month free trial as they offer it all the time, sign up buy the firetv and then cancel prime so it doesn't charge you once the free month runs out.
 
Having finally decided I'm going to use XBMC as my medi front-end, I'm now torn on what hardware to replace my aging, sprawling and noisy HTPC with.

I was all set to order the Fire TV. Looks good on many fronts - decent spec, noiseless, good integration of games and TV services, seems to run sideloaded XBMC well enough. But it has no options for expandable storage, has limited memory and can't access files on USB drives, so would be completely reliant on streaming.

I looked at several other boxes, Ouya, Minix Neo X8, Chromeboxes, etc. Not convinced by any of them.

The Raspberry Pi doesn't have enough power for me, but I did look at the Minnowboard Max, which seems to have better specs, but there's nowhere near as much information around on this as the other options so I'm not really sure.

Then there's the Intel NUCs. The D2820 for around £80 looks good for a flexible PC solution. Should run well with Linux, and possibly be able to stick a few games on there for the kids too (notably Minecraft), but I'd imagine the games options will be wider and easier to manage on the Fire TV. The big advantage of the NUC would be flexibility and extra grunt.

Then there's the OpenHour Chameleon linked upthread. That looks a good bit of kit too.

Anyone got experience in this area? I'd like first and foremost to be able to play my media collection. As I won't have an optical media player in the lounge anymore I'd be reliant on ripping on my PC and streaming/copying over the ripped files, so I need ability to play 1080p rips fluidly. Also looking for easy use of iplayer, ITV player, 4OD, youtube, and a web browswer with Flash. And some gaming for the kids if possible.

Fire TV, D2820 NUC, MinnowBoard Max, or something else?
 
Yeah, Netlfix would be nice. But I guess you could always use the Netflix website so long as you've got a compatible browser, so it's not like doing without it completely. (Or maybe the website is a bit rubbish, I don't know. Don't use Netflix yet, but would like the option to.)

The NUC isn't even that much more than the Fire TV. Now the Prime discount has expired, the base unit of the D2820 is the same price, and then you're just looking at a small outlay on an mSATA drive and a stick of 204-pin memory.
 
This just gets more difficult!

The Fire TV looks great value, has some nice apps integrated, and runs XBMC even with Aeon skins smoothly. But I've also been hearing a few things that are putting me off it a bit. Like the latest updates prevent rooting, some questions about frequency switching and 24p playback, flaky keyboard support, difficulties with web browsers.

With a voucher I have I can get an HP Chromebox (Celeron 2955u, 4GB ram) for just over £100, and sticking ubuntu and XBMC on that seems like it might be a better choice (can use external drives, no problems with playback, easy browser integration, and can even install Minecraft and use Steam in-home streaming).

However, along those lines I'm thinking if I get it for those uses, that Celeron is going to feel pretty dated pretty quickly, so why not just bit the bullet and splash the £230 or so on a fully kitted-out i3 NUC?

I just keep swinging from one option to the next.
 
Ah, I noticed on closer inspection that the voucher I thought I might use has expired so the Chromebox would be £140, which is nearly twice the price of the Fire TV.

The D34010 NUC is not fanless, no, but it's very quiet. According to reviews, no louder than a soft whisper at load. Pricing up more carefully, the NUC would come to £240 with a 30GB mSATA and 4GB RAM.

A lot more than the Fire TV, but I am liking the idea of setting up a media and casual gaming box for the lounge. Not liking the extra £160 it will cost, though...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom