[josh5565]

Ok - So I recently built a 10TB unraid server due to my Thecus NAS blowing out it's NIC card. Now it's time to look at my media server. I currently run WD Live HD in the bedroom & the hub in the living room. Honestly I love them but with 400 movies it's starting to lag when scrolling through to pick out a movie and it doesn't always show the album art unless I stay on that page for 30 seconds or more. So it's time to upgrade that. I am completely new to the XBMC world and have been reading the forums for days trying to pick out what's best for me.

I want this box to act like an appliance. I don't want to be having to hook up a keyboard/mouse to it all the time because something went wrong. It's only going to play movies period. I do need the True-HD/DTS-HD and the occasional 1080P 3D. Although I am not that into 3D at this time but I do own a 3D TV.

I was looking at the Lenovo Q180 then found the Q190. Seems like a decent box if setup correctly from what I read. especially for $319! If I did buy one of these I would like to upgrade the HDD to a Samsung SSD for lightning fast performance. I guess my main question for this unit is will the Q190 with Intel Celeron Processor 887( 1.50GHz 1333MHz 2MB) be able to handle 1080P 3D?

My other option is to build a machine. Which I have no problem doing as long as I know what parts to buy. I have looked at eskro's build layout's and seem to like this one best (yes I will donate to him if I choose this build) then I would obviously just choose a remote to my liking.

Another lost newbie to XBMC wanting to spend around $500 on each unit.

[Beer40oz]

The ASRock FM2 board has it's problems... helped a friend do a build with it and heat issues. He RMA'd and wen't with what I have the A6-3500 FM1... no more problems... we know it works and he is a happy camper....

But if you wan't the new FM2 APU look at a different motherboard... hope Asrock fixes the issue.

[josh5565]

Ok that's good to know, thanks! If i do end up going that route I will definitely swap the board/cpu for your suggestion. Ya know I have never been an AMD fan but man they keep sucking me in here lately for some reason. Years ago I had an AMD laptop burn my leg while when I passed out and have stayed away since! lol

Any clue if the Q190 would do the 1080P 3D or should I just nix the whole nettop idea and build one?

Oh and speaking of ASRock man I wish their Vision or CoreHT series would come down in price. I would buy one of those in a heart beat.

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Oh and a suggestion that I am sure has come up before. XBMC should really think about offering a couple of options for people to buy. I bet they would make a killing if the prices were right! It would be pretty simple for them to get good deals on parts since their name is widely known in the computer industry and clearly people are building these machines constantly asking for help on parts. Heck one of the big names might even consider partnering with them!

[Jasp]

I guess my main question for this unit is will the Q190 with Intel Celeron Processor 887( 1.50GHz 1333MHz 2MB) be able to handle 1080P 3D?

It wouldn't have an issue with 1080p, but the CPU is incapable of 3D, have a look at the specs:

http://ark.intel.com/products/69361/Inte...e-1_50-GHz

[josh5565]

Ok so that obviously throws out the Q190 in my options. I guess I will build the A6-Pack unless someone has another build highly recommended.

[josh5565]

Well I ended up ordering the stuff for the original A6 Pack came out to be $442.00 which is under budget so I am happy. The only thing different I bought was the case. I ended up with the ISK 300-150. I am going to try the stock power supply if I have trouble I found a local store I can run up to and buy a different brick power supply. Oh and I also bought the Samsung SSD since it has better specs.

I did only order 1 of these units. I will use it for testing purposes then I will make the final decision for the bedroom. I may just order the Q190 for the bedroom since it doesn't need 3D and I don't plan on ever needing it there anyways.

I do find 1 thing crazy. It's that the WDTV Live Hub is able to play back MKV 1080P 3D SBS just fine with a fracture of the power these units have. Not that I recommend these unit's to anyone with any type of real movie collection.