[XBMCforever]

Hello,

I am looking for dedicated hardware to run XBMC on... so far I am only running it on my laptop and my Android phone, but it would be nice to be able to have a dedicated device to plug into my TV.

I was thinking about buying a miniature PC with Windows 7 Home Premium and something like a 250-500 gig hard drive to store all my movies and music on, I would like decent (full) HD compatibility, and crucially, it must have an ethernet cable port, as wi-fi throughput in my flat is quite acceptable for conventional internet surfing, but poor for high-bandwidth video streaming (I've tried every single remedy that is known in my router's advanced settings, the problem just simply appears to be that there are what seems like a million other wi-fi networks in close proximity to mine).

Also, as I still have an old Philips tube television and don't intend to buy a new TV in the near future, I need to be able to connect my hardware to my TV via a Scart adaptor of some kind, although for when I finally do buy a new TV, it would be nice to already have an HDMI port.

And it should have a proper remote control included.


My budget is something like 250-300 euros... just for the PC, not necessarily including the OS.


Any suggestions?



Cheers,

XBMCforever

[mayoman]

Personally I would get a Raspberry Pi and either a powered USB or Ethernet hard drive, which would have a total outlay of around 100 euro (depending on how much you spend on the external hard drive).

A Pi would fit the bill for most of your needs: totally silent, HD ability, Ethernet port, HDMI and (at a pinch) composite video plus 3.5mm audio connector.
If you like tinkering this link shows you how to make your existing TV remote work with the pi as well (thanks to Ned Scott for pointing this out to me).