I need help choosing the right box for me
#1
Ok, here is my track record and what I am capable of.

I had a Boxee. It worked fine, except a bit slow. Scanning took an eternity. It died.
I got an Ouya and put XBMC on it. XBMC rules all as far as function and speed...of course.
All of my videos are native on 2 external drives. The Ouya refuses to play most videos without freezing. I've asked dozens of times about files types, settings, builds, etc. It just...doesn't work unless I was to setup a network.

I have no idea how to setup an HTPC or a NAS in my house. At the moment, I just want things to work.
I was hoping to NOT have another Android box, but I can't seem to find much else without building my own.

I learned a lot about Openelec today...but no clue what to do there either. I don't want a Pi, because it seems too slow for what I want to play.

How do we feel about the Gbox Mx2 Midnight? There are tons of positive Amazon reviews. I looked at Minix, but it seems like everyone keeps getting Chinese ripoffs.

All of my hair is falling out trying to figure this out. I just want to watch a movie without having to adjust 20 settings and rebooting 8 times!

Help!
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#2
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-HTPC-with-X...338bcc8f32

How does this thing look? Too much?
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#3
Graphics is a little old, Here is a cheap build

Intel NUC 139$

Ram 37$

Hard Drive 54$

MCE Remote 14$

Total = ~244 - 270 after shipping.
And thats not looking for good deals.

But you can speed up a pi with overclock and usb install, or you can just share your movies to your ouya from a desktop.
I would be happy to walk you through a build if you dont feel comfortable. It always feels better building your own.
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#4
So, no on the Ebay thing? I don't want an old processor Sad
I've seen plenty of Pi errors on the internet. I just......need to make sure I don't have to battle forums figuring out how to play my movies. My wife is a little less patient than I am with the nerd stuff Smile

I only somewhat understand what a NUC is. I need my device to do the following:
*Play XBMC without freezing or shutting down.
*Have at least 2 USB ports that can play External Hard drives of 2TB or greater (powered or not)
*Have the ability to Backup my XBMC settings/update XBMC.
*If it DOES freak out, I can restore the PC without issues.
*Boot directly TO XBMC
*Have the ability to use a remote. I don't know what type. Whatever one I can use without pointing directly AT the box.
*Have wifi in case I ever figure out how to setup a NAS for my vids and files.
*I'll probably need OpenElec and Linux? I don't really know how to program anything to much.

In the above, the NUC is just the main body with motherboard?
Would I need more than 4GB ram?
I don't even need a big hard drive...Nothing will be stored there.
Do I need anything else? I'd love to keep it under $350.

I hope this doesn't take me more weeks to figure out. Sad
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#5
Everything you need is included in that listed build and it will do everything you asked. 4 gigs is more than enough for openelec. Openelec installs from a usb drive. ITS REALLY EASY. and you will be up in running within minutes from getting it on the usb drive to install. We can walk you through that if you need.
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#6
You're making this more positive than I was expecting......

Is there a way to turn it off from the remote?

That NUC is out of stock. It looks like it's $250 everywhere else. May be a no go. The others look like they don't have wifi or power cords and cost even more.

I'd much rather do this than the "Lets try 3 more Android devices" method and hope one works.

Sooo...if I order everything you put down there, I'd be set? (Maybe a different remote?) http://www.amazon.com/Matricom-gmousefly...165&sr=1-8 <--- seems simple and snazzy. Think my Boxee or PS2 remote would work?

Not sure what to do yet. I just don't want to keep pouring money in and having to wait 2 months for everything to work :\

**Def not going the Ebay route. Upon researching what you gave me, the Ebay specs weren't as good.
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#7
Yeah I would just order it and wait for it to be in stock. Its a great deal thats why their always out. I dont know about those rf remotes. MCE remotes are the most used and supported. Their also usually really cheap and most universal remote have a mce option. A xbox 360 remote would even work out of the box as a mce remote. This one -> http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Media-Rem...e+wireless

So I can't recommend that remote because i dont have one and it would probably need some keymap changes to get to work perfect. where as any mce remote works out of the box with zero effort. Maybe get both, so you can fall back on the mce remote if the other one wont work like you want it to. I have read people like the F 10 pro, which is similar.

The boxee remote should work fine if you have the usb dongle but you probably dont. No for the ps2 remote.
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#8
Hrmm....I WANT to order, but I also don't know if my brain can handle waiting a month for it to show up. I guess it's worth the wait if it means I'll be able to watch my shows for more than 5 minutes. This is my punishment for buying digital media in a legal fashion instead of using torrents. :\

I just want a remote that is easy to use with XBMC and not have a ton of extra things to hit. The OUYA controller works fine....and you will NOT lose it... but it's easy to drop and or accidentally tap buttons you don't want to. Plus, it's clunky and clicky. I'll probably do the Xbox controller. Nice fine. It looks like it would be best. The MCE remotes won't need to be pointed directly at the box? That is my only concern. My cable remote needs that, and it's awful. Every other remote in my life, I can change the channel from other rooms if I need to. I do always have my phone though.

I'm just going to start buying up my pieces this week and hope it all works out. XBMC is forcing me to jump back into being more tech savvy and having to learn things I don't want to. Smile

Thanks for all the help! I'm trying to hit up the forums a bit to disperse some of my knowledge as well. I'm always grateful to find a post about things I need fixed. It's time to give back a bit too.
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#9
The internet seems to think the Intel NUC DN2820FYKH is discontinued. I've been looking for days, and it's not available.....anywhere....at all.

Is there a like or better alternative? This seems to have everything, and is cheap, but non-existent.

Any ideas? I just...can't keep waiting. My Ouya is just not going to cut it.
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#10
Never heard of this seller, but here's a cheap Brix: http://aiveor.com/p/3741351/Gigabyte%20I...PGP98.html
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