[travist]

Are there any good suggestions for a small, prebuilt PC that is suitable for a full-featured XBMC HTPC? I've been toying with the AT5IONT-I as my current HTPC, but it's not 100% functional. If I knew more about linux, it may not be as much of a problem, but there are a couple of important (to me) things that I can't get to work.

One is standby. I can't for the life of me get this to work. It's a low power PC, but it is currently running 24/7. That's wasteful and ultimately will kill the PC sooner.

The other is resuming from standby. This is another big factor, because as a HTPC should work via remote. I know there are some add on modules that make this possible, and I may investigate those more.

Other things include cases, cpu/gpu temp stats, etc.

So, is there a good prebuilt hardware that is "certified" to work out of the box with XBMC?

[T800]

Running all the time can be wasteful but how soon would it kill the computer? Years?

You should probably list want you want out of a "full function" XBMC on a prebuilt system. People requirements can differ from user to user.
Mine was full blu-ray rips with HD audio. No games, 3D or PVR.
Yours could be totally diiferent.

[bluray]

one of these should work- ZOTAC ZBOX Intel Celeron SU2300 1.2 GHz Dual-Core Barebone or xtreamer ultra

[travist]

Good point.

Right now I have the box running in a home built case, made out of plexiglass. I couldn't find a case like I wanted. With the small form factor of the mobo, I was really hoping to find something that was about the size of a normal stereo component, like a DVD player. It runs pretty cool, but I'm sure it's not as cool as it could be with a better built case. Also, I have no power buttons on it, so if it gets turned off, it's a pain to turn back on.

As for what I'm looking for, that would be just basic XBMC features. No games or add-ons necessarily, but for all of the standard features to work like they are supposed to (i.e. standby/resume). I really only use the box for video (SD/HD) and audio playback. Occasional youtube or streaming video plugins. Nothing fancy.

With many small form factor pc's being built these days, it would be awesome if there were xbmc releases that were geared specifically toward them. For example, I just ran across this today:


There's a good writeup on it located here.

Another possibility would be something like this:


The first one comes with VESA mounting hardware so it can attach behind a TV. Throw XBMC on there and you have a quiet, small HTPC that would probably perform pretty well. It sucks if the WAF is very low, or if it's hard to get it working initially...

[PatrickVogeli]

I'm using the Asrock 330HT with no problems, sleep works fine too. The Zotac seem to work fine also, and I believe the Shuttle XS35GT and XS35GTv2 also work fine.

However.. have you tried running your Asus using openelec? I think it's worth a try..

[bluray]

travist- are you try to buy a pre-built or build htpc yourself? if you're worry about heat, there is not a problem with heat in my mini-itx case. you can see it in my signature. i leave it on 24/7, and not a single issue so far. it can playback just everything on xbmc with w7.

[travist]

PatrickVogeli,

How does resume from sleep work using a USB IR receiver? That's where I hear the majority of the problems are. I, however, have not been able to get the standby on my system working - even after trying all of the recommended fixes posted in the forums.

I have never seen openelec, but it looks very interesting. I may have to give it a shot when I return home.

bluray,

I currently have no real issues with heat, but I do have problems finding a case that looks halfway descent with the rest of my stereo components. I've found one or two, but they are very expensive. Others I think would have cooling issues because of the size and the fact that natively the board is passively cooled. It has been several months since I've looked for a case though, so there may be new products out that I haven't seen.

[bluray]

what size and color are you looking for?

[travist]

black and about the size of a dvd player...