[bluray]

if you're not planning to bitstream, this might be a cheaper alternative- Foxconn NTA350.

[eskro]

i dont know how stable the E-350 platform is under linux but,
as usual, and since your new to all of this, i'd stir away from either Linux,
or the E-350 platform,,,

go for E-350 + windows

or

go for Atom/iON + Linux

[apex82]

atom/ ion is going to be around $100 more than the e-350. I like the idea of trying to get it to work with amd and having option of purchasing nvidia card to use with linux if all else fails.

How does this case look? I am looking for an extra spot in case I add on a video card at a later date.
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=28232&vpn=...Technology

or this one?
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=50766&vpn=...ture=INWIN

Thanks for all the help so far

[bluray]

atom/ ion is going to be around $100 more than the e-350. I like the idea of trying to get it to work with amd and having option of purchasing nvidia card to use with linux if all else fails.

How does this case look? I am looking for an extra spot in case I add on a video card at a later date.
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=28232&vpn=...Technology

or this one?
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=50766&vpn=...ture=INWIN

Thanks for all the help so far

given those two choices, i'll go for apex!

[Kirky99]

As an aside, is there any way to "test" openelec on a machine without doing a full install, like just booting it from a thumb drive?

Yes, as mentioned, just install it TO a thumb drive. That's how I'm running it. Boots the Aton/ION in about 18 seconds, even has WiFi support for my built in wireless card. Currently running a pre-Eden PVR build with Aeon MQ3 and it's amazing!

[voip-ninja]

Yes, as mentioned, just install it TO a thumb drive. That's how I'm running it. Boots the Aton/ION in about 18 seconds, even has WiFi support for my built in wireless card. Currently running a pre-Eden PVR build with Aeon MQ3 and it's amazing!

Weird, I thought openelec 1.0 was based on Dharma, not pre-Eden.

[sraue]

Weird, I thought openelec 1.0 was based on Dharma, not pre-Eden.

yes OpenELEC-1.x is based on Dharma. Bute there are devel builds with Eden and PVR too. OpenELEC-2.x will have XBMC-Eden and comes after Eden is is released, OpenELEC-3.x will be based on XBMC-Frodo (12.x) etc... We are working now for some time parallel on OpenELEC-2.0 so its *possible* it will be released some days after Eden will be released.

[sion28]

Any idea if OpenELEC will run on an AMD E-350 platform like say the Foxconn NTA350?
That's a nice, inexpensive little box there. With OpenELEC, you'd just need to add RAM, am I right? (No HDD or SDD necessary?)

[Kirky99]

No HDD or SSD necessary really, but it would help to have ytou library stored in a MySQL DB and your thuumbnails stored on the network. I guess maybe a USB stick could provide fast enough access, I use cheap-o freebie USB thumbdrives from conferences, training classes, etc.

I don't know the staus of E-350 support. If it's not there, it's coming...

[voip-ninja]

I could not get OpenElec to work at all with the onboard graphics of my i3. Every time it booted I lost video through hdmi. Bizarrely the onboard DVI worked fine.

[Kapz786]

I could not get OpenElec to work at all with the onboard graphics of my i3. Every time it booted I lost video through hdmi. Bizarrely the onboard DVI worked fine.

Thats strange Openelec will not work with HDMI audio "out the box" you need to do some very simple tinkering in SSH.

My setup (same as yours) is going good so far just need to tinker with the video settings.

If you want to give Openelec another shot i'd say its something in the BIOS make sure you set onboard graphics to primary and disable some of the other options thats what i did on my Asrock MB

[phatgeek]

I would like to combine a Atom d525 board with a gt430 gpu, and then install open-elec. Is that a crazy idea?