[maddog808]

Does anyone know of a good alternative to the Lenovo Q190 or Acer RL80? I need something small, that will fit behind a flat screen TV mounted to a wall, with a built in HDD for local storage. I used to be able to find these for less than $300, and would pair them with this $13 remote, for a quick, all-in one OPENELEC solution.

I love the idea of a Intel NUC, FireTV, and Chromebox, but the Lenovos & Acers were nice because I would load them with a couple hundred kids movies for clients that have TVs in the lobbies of their businesses.

Any help to find something that fits the above requirements for less than $300 would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Matt

[maddog808]

Maybe I could just mount this 1TB external HDD behind the TV, along with a Intel NUC? The HDD is on sale at Newegg right now for only $59 after a promo code. Will my $13 MCE remote work with a NUC?

What's the cheapest NUC setup that will work with 720p mkv rips?

[Ned Scott]

A couple of NUCs have cases that can hold a 2.5 HDD. I think same with some of the Gigabyte Brix mini PCs.

[maddog808]

A couple of NUCs have cases that can hold a 2.5 HDD. I think same with some of the Gigabyte Brix mini PCs.

The 3rd gen Intel Celeron NUC that has room for a 2.5 HDD (BOXDN2820FYKH0) would be ideal at $139, but it's sold out everywhere. The i3 NUCs with room for a 2.5 HDD (D34010WYKH) are $290 barebones, which doesn't fit my budget for this project.

The Gigabyte Brix that have room for a 2.5 HDD are way over $300.

I'm leaning toward something like this:

Intel Celeron NUC, 1st gen (BOXDCCP847DYE): $149 @ Amazon
Crucial 2GB DDR3 RAM 1333 1.35V: $24 @ Amazon
Kingston 8GB USB Drive (for Openelec): $6 @ Amazon
WD 1TB Elements USB 3.0 External HDD: $70 @ Amazon

Total: $249 for a 1TB movie setup that fits on the wall behind a 55" TV.




By comparison, the Lenovo Q190 has Windows 8 pre-installed (which I would end up formatting over with Openelec anyway), Intel Mobile Celeron Dual-Core 1017U (1.60GHz), 4GB RAM and a 500GB internal HDD. It costs $300 with free shipping at the moment.

Would my above proposed NUC setup work, and would it be better than the Q190?

Thanks,
Matt

[Dougie Fresh]

If you're planning on leaving the USB stick in there look at this one: http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-SDC...B005FYNSUA -- it has almost no chance of getting knocked out or falling out on its own and for $3 more it's double the capacity at 16GB.

[Ned Scott]

There's a new Celeron NUC coming out soon called the N2830 (instead of N2820). Not sure when it will be out, though.

[maddog808]

There's a new Celeron NUC coming out soon called the N2830 (instead of N2820). Not sure when it will be out, though.

Thanks for the info, Ned. I read up on it, and it seems interesting. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of time to wait for the release of the N2830, or to wait for the N2820 to be available. I need to get the XBMC boxes & TVs installed in the next week or so. My choices are limited to items that are in stock right now.

1. Would my above proposed NUC setup work, and would it be better or more/less stable than the Q190?
   
2. Am I missing any parts for my proposed build?
   
3. Would it be any quicker or slower than the Q190 as far as navigating menus with Aeon Nox?
   
4. Are there any file formats that will play better or worse between the Q190 and the above NUC build?
   
5. Is there any reason to get 4GB RAM, if all I need is to use XBMC to play media via the attached USB hard drive? Let's assume Openelec, a 1TB library of 720p & 1080p mkv movies, using Aeon Nox.
   

Any help answering the above questions would be awesome.

I've used the Revo 3610, 3700, RL70, RL80, and Lenovo Q190 for this purpose for a couple year now; I would like to jump on the NUC train if I can save some $, and not lose (or potentially gain) some functionality within Openelec.

Thanks again,
Matt

[whitebelly]

$99 gets you a Foxconn 847 at the Egg. Not sure how long the sale will last. Add RAM and USB drive and you are set.

[maddog808]

$99 gets you a Foxconn 847 at the Egg. Not sure how long the sale will last. Add RAM and USB drive and you are set.

THANK YOU, WHITEBELLY!!!

This is exactly what I was looking for. Is there any benefit to 4GB RAM vs 2GB? Or would this $23 Mushkin 2GB stick do just fine for my needs?

Also, it appears I can put in a 2.5" HDD, to avoid the need for an external HDD. I'm thinking this $60 WD Blue 750GB would be the sweet spot for the movie library I'm putting in these doctor's office lobbies.

This leaves me $17 for a cheap MCE remote, and I'm under $200 for a complete 750GB setup! Not bad at all!!

Unless you tell me I'm missing something, I'm ready to pull the trigger on 3 of these right now.

[nooryani84]

That Foxconn uses the older Celerons... I'm skeptical if it's worth investing in at this point considering the newer options.

[MediaPi]

LOL unavailable :p

[maddog808]

That Foxconn uses the older Celerons... I'm skeptical if it's worth investing in at this point considering the newer options.

What are you skeptical about specifically? It's the same Celeron that the 1st gen NUC has in it.

What newer options can I get for under $200 with 2GB RAM, 750GB internal storage, and a MCE remote?

LOL unavailable

Not sure what you meant by that. I just ordered 4 of them, and they're still in stock at the moment. The only thing I need to figure out is what to do with the free USB DVD burners that came with them.


Thanks again to whitebelly!!! I can sell this to my clients with their movies loaded onto them for $600, easy!

[nooryani84]

It's quite weak and it's not even Baytrail.... http://ark.intel.com/products/56056/Inte...e-1_10-GHz

This is a rather old sandy bridge based CPU, not sure if the 24P was fixed here either. Should be a bit faster than a RPi, though the iGPU is questionable.

[maddog808]

It's quite weak and it's not even Baytrail.... http://ark.intel.com/products/56056/Inte...e-1_10-GHz

This is a rather old sandy bridge based CPU, not sure if the 24P was fixed here either. Should be a bit faster than a RPi, though the iGPU is questionable.

What are you skeptical about specifically? Is there any reason I should be concerned about it's ability to navigate menus smoothly using Aeon Nox, or play h.264 1080p mkv bluray rips? If so, please provide specific info. If not, then your comments are insignificant to the purpose of this thread. I realize this is an older CPU. I was looking for a cheap alternative to the Lenovo Q190, and whitebelly seems to have found it for me.

[MediaPi]

To me it seems like a steal at that price!!! just checked it says out of stock now. I think it could have been a pricing error lol good job maddog808 please report back on your experience with the box