Which Device to go for
#1
Hi Guys,

Im currently looking into buying a media player for XBMC. I've played around a bit with XBMC on a laptop, but other than that im a relative newbie.

All I want is a player that runs XBMC smoothly, with the ability to connect it to my 5.1 AV receiver/Plasma TV in the lounge and watch my Blu-Ray and DVD moves that I have ripped mainly to AVI/MKV files. the posibility to play 3D movies would also be nice for the future, but not essential at the moment since my TV isnt 3D. I have a Gigabit ethernet connection by my TV, so Wi-Fi is not necessary.

My max price limt is +/- £300, but if really necessary I could stretch it a bit.

Ive been researching on these forums, but there's so much information im finding it difficult to decide on the best hardware.

Ive been looking into Nettops, reading alot about the Zotac Zbox, but there are so many models mentioned on different threads, that I cant pinpoint which would be the best one for my requirements.

Ive also seen the Lenovo Q180 and Acer RL70 ranges mentioned, but again cant find definite info if they will be suitable for my needs.

Please can someone offer me some advice on what to go for, either something ive mentioned above or something entirely different if you think it would be a better option.


Many Thanks.
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#2
I just put an order through Scan.co.uk this week. I think it was under £300.

Silverstone GD04 (Case)
Silverstone ST40 400w (PSU)
Asus F2A85 M LE (Motherboard. This model in particular as I needed optical audio out as my receiver (Arcam AVR350) can't decode audio over HDMI)
AMD A6-5400K (CPU)
Corsair 4GB RAM
Corsair M4 64GB SSD (Hard drive)

Will do everything you need but I did go for a big case & PSU which set me back £110 alone.
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#3
Thanks for the reply essjay.

Any one else have any recommendations?

Cheers
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#4
(2013-01-14, 09:28)teb1980 Wrote: Thanks for the reply essjay.

Any one else have any recommendations?

Cheers

Have you looked into the new Intel NUC's, there's 2 to choose from, more than enough power to do what you need.
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#5
If your AV receiver does HDMI audio, Id say look no further than a raspberri pi.
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