[bigron]

Hi everyone,

Firstly I consider myself not very techy. I’m looking for advice on the best system to fit my requirements. My current set-up:

I download/burn movies and tv shows and store them on my 3TB external HDD (almost full). I either plug this straight into my Samsung 3D smart tv or play them through my laptop using my movies and HDMI (Also with my current set up when watching 1080p in the blacks it looks almost pixelated and grey). I have recently discovered XBMC and think it’s amazing, just how I want my media to look especially the Aeon Nox skin.

So now I want to buy or build something that will really fill all of my requirements. Do I Need a HTPC and NAS or just one, I don’t know but here is what I would like to be able to do.

Run XBMC (Obviously)
3D and 1080p playback
Lots of hard drive space for all my media and work (currently have 4TB of data and could easily be double this is I had the space.
Watch Live TV (I live in the UK, is that a problem?)
I see you can play old games like SNES/Sega and even Wii games using an emulator.
It will mainly be used in one room. But could I stream content to my laptop both when I’m in the house or away on business? (Someone mentioned setting up a VPN).
Would like to but not essential, be able to access web browser and uTorrent.
Also will want a wireless keyboard and remote.

As for budget, I would say almost limitless, I don’t mind spending more if there is performance to be gained. I would be happy though if I had a little change from £1000 (roughly $1600). I am prepared to pay more if it will make a difference. I am open to all suggestions. If the best option is to build something I know someone I could ask to help.

As for OS I’m used to using windows, but if there is a distinct advantage to using another, then I am open to that as well.

Sorry for the huge post, any advice on any parts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Big Ron

[joelbaby]

Get a 4 Bay NAS and WD Red Drives. This will burn up most of your money. Consider using a RAID5 configuration, so if one drive dies you don't lose any data. In RAID5 with 4 drives you get the same capacity as if you were using 3 drives.

To send TV round the house get a HD HomeRun.

If you need an HTPC with infra red remote control, wait for the new NUC item number: D34010WYK
If you don't need IR, then get the old i3 NUC, and read the threads on it. You need to add in 32/64Gb mSATA SSD, and 4GB RAM and put Windows 7 on it.

On a good NAS you can run torrents. If you can't figure that out, then do the torrent on the HTPC, and transfer the files from the SSD to the NAS.

More on NUC here - http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-nuc-ki...wer_124251

Don't know about SNES emulation, but is likely fine with the integrated Intel HD Graphics. Just check with the people who know about the emulator and look at the version of Intel graphics on the chip (eg HD 4000, HD 4400, HD 5000).

[jsneor]

I need some guidance as to what hardware to buy to mainly only run xbmc so i can get rid of comcast.
I nor my wife are tech savvy and am looking for a plug and play solution.
I have come across a few items in my research but can't find a difinitive answer as to which route to go.
If you know of a different option, please reply as well:

G-Box Midnight MX2
Raspberry pi
Cubox-i
MiniX NEO X7
MiniX G4
SainSmart MK808
ProBox 2
iMito MX1

Anyone

[joelbaby]

plug and play solution

Wait for Pivos to release their next hardware in the near future because they will provide dedicated support.