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Crssi · (This post was last modified: 2013-08-20, 22:05 by Crssi.)

I have had NUC i3 on test for three weeks, and I was amazed with it.
The only thing I don't like is that intel linux drivers does not support contrast to be altered if using HW acceleration. I havent tested windows (but as I have read there are also some other problems).
The PQ is critical for me, on the end HTPC is used for watching video content.
The only way to alter a contrast (and the brightness over GUI) is to use SW decoding.
Without setting the brightness and contrast to about 65% the dark scenes are without details and somehow crushed even with RGB limit 16-235.
I didn't have the celeron version of NUC, but I dont believe that this version can do SW decoding smoothly.

I am really eagerly waiting for haswell to see if there can something be done with IR and with its lower temp footprint... but too soon, maybe 3rd gen NUC price will drop... well see in then upcomming few months.
I will surely go with i5.
On i3 SW decoding used about 45-80% CPU and I believe that on i5 this percentage will be lower, which also means lower temp footprint.

If I am wrong, please correct me... I hope in a good way, since I would really love to be wrong here. Wink

warlock09 · (This post was last modified: 2013-08-20, 22:15 by warlock09.)

(2013-08-20, 21:33)jammyb Wrote: If you notice.

There's only one negative on the NUC. The price.

If you want perfect xbmc playback, fluid heavy skin capability and 3D. You buy i3 NUC.

You want perfect xbmc playback, heavy skin capability and SBS 3D. You buy Celeron.

You want silky smooth heavy skins and everything playable. You buy i5

But IMO. If you're future proofing and not contemplating 3D. Go Celeron. Why? Because i3 is £100 more and you can do SBS 3D with the Celeron.

If you gotta. Go i3!

If you don't want to spend the money. Get TLBB. Fuck the pi!

But. Another contender - http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=171705

But I love my NUC. Hell, I customised it to do exactly what I wanted! I'm not looking to change for a while, but I love talking about XBMC hardware!!

Been using ali express for small things only.....just wondering if buying from them is reliable enough , and another question is its overseas if something goes wrong..returning an item would be a problem..are they any good ..they are cheap enough..but the question is reliablitiy ??thanks.im based in the UK...i might consider a NUC..since a lot people have good reviews on it...so maybe its time to save money for me now.... Smile

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2013-08-21, 05:04

MediaPi, OUYA just released a stable unofficial XBMC v12... today.

*drops mic*

broken promises my ass...

Bmul · 2013-08-21, 08:09

(2013-08-21, 05:04)Ned Scott Wrote: MediaPi, OUYA just released a stable unofficial XBMC v12... today.

*drops mic*

broken promises my ass...

Nice now i can sell my OUYA for a better price Big Grin

I am going to pickup my NUC from the post office today!

MediaPi · (This post was last modified: 2013-08-21, 11:01 by MediaPi.)

(2013-08-21, 05:04)Ned Scott Wrote: MediaPi, OUYA just released a stable unofficial XBMC v12... today.

*drops mic*

broken promises my ass...

Touche, Well played sir.

(2013-08-21, 08:09)Bmul Wrote:
(2013-08-21, 05:04)Ned Scott Wrote: MediaPi, OUYA just released a stable unofficial XBMC v12... today.

*drops mic*

broken promises my ass...

Nice now i can sell my OUYA for a better price

I am going to pickup my NUC from the post office today!

LOL, don't say that I wanted to buy an Ouya now I have to pay more money Sad

Report back on your new toy Bmul. Its little candy to a child LOL

WhiteHartMart · (This post was last modified: 2013-08-21, 19:43 by WhiteHartMart.)

Selling my Ouya to go and get a NUC.

Audio issue with my Yamaha receiver - white noise which needs the receiver to be power cycled every time I start watching a movie. Think its DTS or handshake related?

Tried the build from the Ouya store today and passthrough audio just completely broken using my AV amp.

Had a NUC in the past and stupidly sold it - its more than worth the extra outlay for me! Blush

aesalazar · 2013-08-22, 02:19

(2013-08-21, 19:42)WhiteHartMart Wrote: Audio issue with my Yamaha receiver - white noise which needs the receiver to be power cycled every time I start watching a movie. Think its DTS or handshake related?

Had the exact same problem with my old popcorn hour. Really annoying. First movie was ok but if I went to a second without something being rebooted or the EDID resynced it would do that on DTS tracks. Never figured out if there was a way around it. Havent had that problem with the NUC.

Ernie

pacemaker1000 · (This post was last modified: 2013-08-22, 15:15 by pacemaker1000.)

Can someone with the NUC running Openelec tell me whether in video settings you can see the tab to select colour space to normal 16-235? Very important for what is technically a standalone video player and is hit and miss as the whether the tab is visible. Was when I put an nvidia card in my pc but nt compatible with ati

Also do you get multi channel out on HDMI when playing AAC files

Thanks

Will buy if it does these

MediaPi · 2013-08-22, 15:28

Best place to ask is the NUC thread pacemaker1000

Intel NUC - HTPC possibilitiesPages

pacemaker1000 · 2013-08-22, 15:50

(2013-08-22, 15:28)MediaPi Wrote: Best place to ask is the NUC thread pacemaker1000

Intel NUC - HTPC possibilitiesPages

Done!
Doh! What a numpty, got too exited

Thanks

calisto · 2013-09-21, 11:32

Ebuyer now doing the NUC for £129.99, here is link http://www.ebuyer.com/447255-mb-boxdccp8...dccp847dye

E_Val · 2013-10-02, 18:05

(2013-08-18, 22:24)MediaPi Wrote: From reading all posts in XBMC.org I can only see the NUC from US perspective, this is some love to the UK
For people that live in the UK this is a price list of the cheapest NUC I can find

Intel BOXDCCP847DYE Desktop PC - (Celeron 847,QS77, DDR3,USB 2.0, 2x HDMI, Windows 8) - £138.28
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-BOXDCCP847...=intel+nuc

Samsung 2GB Kit (2 x 1GB) DDR3 1066Mhz PC3-8500 Laptop Memory - £4.99
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Samsung-2GB-Ki...19c9adb5aa

Kingspec 32GB mSATA SATA Mini PCle (KSD-m.SATA.5-032MJ) SSD Solid State Drive CE - £24.99
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kingspec-32GB-...2c66c0de81

MELE F10 USB 2.4G Wireless Remote Control Fly Air Mouse Keyboard Android TV Box - £18.98
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MELE-F10-USB-2...2a2fd8763e

TOTAL £187.24

Considering if you brought the Ouya and didn't like the remote and decided to get the Mele f10 remote that would cost you
£100+£18.98=£118.98

So for an extra £68.26 you get

** 2GB Ram as apposed to 1GB Ram (upgradable to 16 GB / no upgrade to Ouya) x2

** 32 GB mSata as apposed to 8 GB emmc (4 times(mSata I believe is much faster than eMMC) x4

** Five USB 2.0 ports vs 1 USB 2.0 and 1 micro USB 2.0 (x2.5)

** Dual-HDMI ports supporting HDMI 1.4a output vs Single HDMI 1.4 x2

** Eight-channel (7.1) digital audio via one HDMI 1.4a output vs HDMI (5.1) digital audio

** Gigabit (10/100/1000) Lan vs 10/100 Lan

** 1 x Mini-PCIe mSATA (future upgrades) vs no upgrades

** another 1 x Mini-PCIe ( so you got one full size and one half size) the other can be used for wireless module, so it can be hidden instead of a USB dongle

** Openelec on x86 vs xbmc for android (infinte less frustation compared to well you know)

** and last but most important the hardware in the NUC is a lot more powerful.

I'm not sure how much better performance the NUC will have but I'm guessing alot
for an extra £68.26

NUC should have its own section it looks pretty awesome man
The extra 68.26 will be well spent considering this system can last you for 5 good years with incremental upgrades

check out the amazing performace (has only 1 ram as apposed to the price of two)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR8pH-y0vd0

I tried an Ouya and was really disappointed. The USB HDD support on it is terrible so wasnt suited to my needs at all, and the Ouya itself had audio issues which meant I kept having to factory reset. Sent it back.
In my search for a better solution I came across this thread, it sounds like a good solution, my question is though, a couple of months on would you have changed this setup in anyway MediaPi?

MediaPi · (This post was last modified: 2013-10-02, 19:48 by MediaPi.)

Be honest with you E_Val buy the NUC from Amazon (its dropped to around £133) buy the Ram. Don't bother with the cheap msata because it has rubbish speeds. Just use any USB stick you have lying around to install Openelec. And use a remote control that your comfortable with. I personally use this those £5 cheap remotes on ebay. This video shows the preformance of NUC with just a USB installation and only 1 gig of ram

You can see it absolutely destroys the cheap arm based XBMC. And its stable. And runs Aeon Nox no problem
So yeah get a NUC the Ram and you'll need a remote and a clover plug thing so it should cost you £133 + 5 +5

something like that

and if you wanted more speed you can upgrade in the future.
Hope that helps

Budwyzer · 2013-10-29, 23:44

(2013-08-20, 00:57)MediaPi Wrote:
(2013-08-19, 10:29)Bmul Wrote:
(2013-08-19, 10:25)kees667 Wrote: Thanks for the write up. However I need optical out as I don't have an HDMI receiver. Do the higher end nucs offer this?

No,
Also the 4th generations has only digital audio thru HDMI
Will this work

AIS HDMI To HDMI + Auido (SPDIF+LR) Converter 1080P Professional manufacturer

You can use the second HDMI output connector into this to give optical out? And its not that big...
granted its expensive at £19.06 but its atleast a yes if your willing to spend some more?
Curious to know if this will work since I don't have any experience in this

MediaPi, what did you end up doing? No one ever asked, your TV doesn't have optical out?

nickr · 2013-10-29, 23:51

(2013-10-29, 23:44)Budwyzer Wrote: MediaPi, what did you end up doing? No one ever asked, your TV doesn't have optical out?

Please don't quote photos! We only need to see them once.

The trouble with optical out on a TV is that it won't usually pass through all formats. Depends on the TV.