[glsftm]

Guys - I’m new to this board and to HTPCs in general. So I’m seeking some, actually a lot of advice. I have done a bit of reading and tried to piece all of the information together but I’m sure asking for help is the best course of action!

I’ve recently started playing about with the raspberry PI, installing OpenElec but I’m not sure if it has the oomph for what I would actually like.

In essence I’d like to run XBMC to play .avi, .mp4, .MPEG etc files up to a maximum of about 1.5gb per file, most are actually lower quality -  800mb or smaller. To begin with, this will be off an external USB hard drive, but I would like the ability to upgrade to some sort of NAS system in the future.
Based on the above, I thought that OpenElec was a great way to run XBMC as it has quick boot times etc, the problem is, I also would like to have the ability to run a web browser to access NFL Gamepass streaming. To achieve this, I’m wondering whether it is worth either purchasing or building a budget HTPC and operating some form of dual boot, OpenElec and windows 7/Linux OS?

If I went with this sort of setup, I’d also like a way to remotely turn on the system from cold and the ability to use the remote on OpenElec and to browse on Windows (or whatever other OS I would install)….is this even possible?

I wouldn’t want to spend any more than £250 and wouldn’t be afraid to give ‘DIYing’ a go! (With a little advice of course)

Any help would be appreciated.
 

[GortWillSaveUs]

I'd recommend looking into the Acer Revo RL70-UR10P.

It comes pre-installed with Windows 7, a wireless keyboard, remote, and all you'd have to do is install XBMC.
As far as an "instant on",....why not do what I (as well as many others) do,...put the PC into Sleep mode.
This way,..if you push a button on remote or a key on the keyboard, the system is essentially instant on.

and, this device is well below your £250 limit.

Building a HTPC is awesomely fun,..but it can lead to a "rabbit-hole" where parts start to eat up your budget.

[glsftm]

I'd recommend looking into the Acer Revo RL70-UR10P.

It comes pre-installed with Windows 7, a wireless keyboard, remote, and all you'd have to do is install XBMC.
As far as an "instant on",....why not do what I (as well as many others) do,...put the PC into Sleep mode.
This way,..if you push a button on remote or a key on the keyboard, the system is essentially instant on.

and, this device is well below your £250 limit.

Building a HTPC is awesomely fun,..but it can lead to a "rabbit-hole" where parts start to eat up your budget.

Thanks for your response GWSU. I've had a quick look and I can't seem to find that version in the uk but it is a good starting point.
I still have concerns around NFL gamepass and having a setup that can cope with that. Following a quick search it seems the Revo 3700 4GB struggles to play (choppy video) as gamepass is "coded in a way that doesn't support properly offloading to the GPU."

Does anyone have any experience with nfl gamepass with their setup and could make any suggestions.

With my smaller budget in mind, I might have to keep linking my laptop up to the tv come game time and run openelec on rasp pi, which isn't ideal.

[Dougie Fresh]

If you can put together an A6-3500 or Pentium G620 based system, the CPU would have enough power to handle video that cannot be offloaded to the GPU and you could just run Windows as the OS without having to deal with dual-boot.

[Azaman]

I've had a quick look and I can't seem to find that version in the uk but it is a good starting point.

eBuyer have them...

I'm considering one myself, leaning towards a Revo, but wondering what the best build is to go for if I got one ?