[OceanBoy]

Hello all,

My first post. I recently read the "Your Very First HTPC? But Where do You Start?" thread and came out a little bit overwhelmed
There is so much good information that it put my brain in overload and back to square one.
I'm not 100% sure which group I fell in, so I figured I'd ask for a bit of guidance.

Current equipment:
HD flat screen TV and an Onkyo receiver with a free HDMI port I have reserved for a future HTPC.

Here are my use cases.

1. Watch streaming video (netflix, amazon, etc)
   
2. Play MP3's that reside our NAS
   
3. Look at pictures that reside on our NAS
   
4. Watch family videos that reside on the NAS. Only those that were shot with an HD camera are HD.
   
5. I DO NOT have movies or TV series stored on the NAS. I don't think I will in the future either.
   
6. Play Blue ray discs (actual discs). Since xbmc doesn't play Blueray discs natively, I figured I'd just hook up an external usb blueray drive to whatever solution I come up with.
   

That's about it. Nothing elaborate. I used a PS3 for these functions in the past but it's not a good solution for me. It just doesn't work well as many here probably know.

I'm reluctant to build/buy anything that will be overkill for these humble requirements.
What would be a good recommendation for me.

Thank you for your time.

[Malosar]

Well for those requirements you're really looking at a Windows based system, so I'd immediately discount any other solution running a linux or openelec version of XBMC. Things like netflix and amazon will really only run well on windows without lots of messing around. And Blu-ray playback is ONLY windows.

If you're interested in 3D blu-ray in future, I would buy the appropriate equipment now so you don't have to update the HTPC later. That means something like an i3-3225 or AMD A8-5600k. If not you could go cheaper on the processor, like a G530 or an A4/A6.

For the rest of the hardware, the guides have a lot of suggestions but I would make sure you get an SSD, not a HDD, it will massively improve your experience with HTPC. You don't need big storage since you have a NAS so it's just OS and apps for the HTPC. Pick a case style you want combining both aesthetics and integration into your existing AV equipment. Some prefer full width and low or full height. Some prefer the ITX box style cases, it's up to you.

I would advise putting a Blu-ray BD-ROM drive in the HTPC rather than external, it will look tacky and you'll get no real benefit from being external unless you want to swap it between other computers occasionally. I have Silverstone case with a large front panel that hides the bluray drive so that isn't an issue for me.

[OceanBoy]

Thanks for the advice Malosar.
Very helpful.

[PobjoySpecial]

...

[DavidT99]

With BR I found that a simpler method is to just buy a standalone BR player. This wont cost any more than an internal player with playback software but will hughly decrease your setup and maintenance headaches. BR is becoming a major PITA with all the protection systems being developed and now we have Cinavia to contend with.

David

[IsleOfMan]

I really don't see anything on your list that you couldn't do with most any network-connected stand-alone Blu-Ray player for $50 - $100. You've basically excluded most of the tasks that XBMC does better than a stand-alone Blu-Ray player. What's your motivation for considering HTPC and XBMC in the first place? If you're looking for a project or people to help you spend more money than you planned on, you've come to the right place... but if you're just looking to acomplish what's on your above list, I'd head over to AVS and let them help you pick a solid Blu-Ray player.

[Malosar]

I still prefer everything on the one HTPC rather than a 3rd device. My setup on my main living room HTPC:

HTPC
A6-3650 AMD APU
Ceton InfitiTV PCI-e cablecard
BD-ROM
SSD + 2Tb HDD (for temporary recorded TV storage)

WMC
- Playback and recording of LiveTV including premium channels like Showtime etc.
- Recorded programs are set to move to my WHS which makes them available from all other Windows PCs in the house via WMC
- Includes Netflix integrated client
- XBMC addon for WMC to switch to XBMC easily and back again
- Blu-ray played directly in WMC via TMT5 integration, no loading of separate application

XBMC
- Navigation and playback of movies and TV shows stored on WHS
- Centralized MySQL database on WHS
- 5 PCs running XBMC all identical library with automatic updating

So I do switch between WMC and XBMC, but that's all.

[IsleOfMan]

I still prefer everything on the one HTPC rather than a 3rd device. My setup on my main living room HTPC:

HTPC
A6-3650 AMD APU
Ceton InfitiTV PCI-e cablecard
BD-ROM
SSD + 2Tb HDD (for temporary recorded TV storage)

WMC
- Playback and recording of LiveTV including premium channels like Showtime etc.
- Recorded programs are set to move to my WHS which makes them available from all other Windows PCs in the house via WMC
- Includes Netflix integrated client
- XBMC addon for WMC to switch to XBMC easily and back again
- Blu-ray played directly in WMC via TMT5 integration, no loading of separate application

XBMC
- Navigation and playback of movies and TV shows stored on WHS
- Centralized MySQL database on WHS
- 5 PCs running XBMC all identical library with automatic updating

So I do switch between WMC and XBMC, but that's all.

Everything you've listed under XBMC and most of what you've listed under WMC are functions the OP has said he WILL NOT be using. All he wants to do is view Netflix/Amazon/etc, MP3s, Pictures, and Home Videos, and Blu-Ray discs...all items easily acomplished by a Blu-Ray player and a few of which are dificult and/or expensive to accomplish with XBMC.

[Malosar]

I was more replying to DavidT99 in that post but you are definitely correct. A good high end player can accomplish those tasks.

[DavidT99]

I was more replying to DavidT99 in that post but you are definitely correct. A good high end player can accomplish those tasks.

I would also prefer to use my HTPC to play either ripped BR or BR discs but it is getting harder to do this with the encryption being employed today. I have decided to give up and resurrected my old standalone Sony BR player.

David

[OceanBoy]

I really don't see anything on your list that you couldn't do with most any network-connected stand-alone Blu-Ray player for $50 - $100. You've basically excluded most of the tasks that XBMC does better than a stand-alone Blu-Ray player. What's your motivation for considering HTPC and XBMC in the first place? If you're looking for a project or people to help you spend more money than you planned on, you've come to the right place... but if you're just looking to acomplish what's on your above list, I'd head over to AVS and let them help you pick a solid Blu-Ray player.

As a self confessed late adopter, I was not aware that there were BlueRay players that can exist on the network and can browse network storage.
If so, can these handle MP3 playlists? Also, what kind of user interface do they have?