[kamegami]

I'm looking to get a media center for my Mom for Christmas. I've been researching on the forums and I'm highly confused on what hardware I should get.

I need something
Simple to use and setup
Will play the average TV Show and Movie rip off an external drive without issue
Have a remote of some kind
Wi-Fi
Under $150

My options appear to be the Ouya, G-Box Mightnight MX-2, ATV2, Raspberry Pi, Intel NUC, Cubox, and who knows what else.

I'm leaning towards the Ouya right now since it can do basic games for the Grandkids and the controller should work just fine but I simply cannot decipher all the reviews and forum threads on what would work best. Ouya reviews say the MX-2 is better, MX-2 threads say it's junk, Rasperry Pi works but I have to get all the right hardware for optimal performance, CuBox is a scam, and so on and so forth.

Help would be greatly appreciated.

[mayoman]

If your Mum's TV has CEC then the Pi can be controlled with the TV remote. Otherwise the Ouya I think.

One warning re wifi - can be very flaky for video streaming. You may need to consider homeplug as backup.

[kamegami]

I don't think she has CEC.

The wif-fi streaming isn't a big issue, though thanks for mentioning it.

[nickr]

Don't get ouya if you want to play mpeg2.

[Ned Scott]

Don't get ouya if you want to play mpeg2.

Why? It should handle even 1080i mpeg2 even via software decoding.

[nickr]

Not according to the thread in mytytv pvr subforum. This one.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?pid...pid1424769

[Ned Scott]

Not according to the thread in mytytv pvr subforum. This one.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?pid...pid1424769

Odd, it worked when I used TVheadend. I don't have one now to test with, though.

[kamegami]

I've decided on the Ouya. Everything indicates it's the most user friendly which is probably the most important.