[theraw]

Buying my third HTPC. Both have been PCs. I don't need them anymore, so I'd like a cheaper version, exclusively for running XBMC (err KODI).
As there are literally hundreds of Android/Linux devices ... one can easily get lost in the spec sheets (as I have).

Additional codecs can be bought if needed.
"Some say" we should wait for Android 5 implementations, but I'm not waiting another 6 months for that (with bugs sorted out) to happen.

Requirements:

• Under 100€ (if possible)
  
• RJ45 LAN Port
  
• 1080p smooth playback
  
• smooth XBMC UI (not raspberryPi-like. That's not smooth)
  
• low(-ish) power consumption
  
• available in EU
  
• good(-ish) support (so I can expect a stable version that actually works)
  

Some reqs can be broken, others ... can be bent.

Edit:
Don't need any of these:

• No superduper HD ultra THX, DTS, 7.1 (or even 5.1 for that matter), 24p... audio support. I have some old 2.1 speakers connected to the stereo output of my TV. Audio is therefore not a priority, anything is OK.
  
• Gaming is also of no importance (XBMC media only).
  
• Large internal storage space is not needed (System+XBMC only. No local media, all on the server).
  
• 4k video? Don't need it.
  

Is there such a device?

[wrxtasy]

Chromebox with the 1.4 GHz Intel Celeron 2955U Processor = approx. 105€ delivered and that is from the USA

Will play anything you throw at it straight out of the box, powerful Intel Haswell HD graphics. Boots in like 5 seconds and has a fast GUI, quiet with a low noise fan.
Run XBMC - Openelec in it and you can set and forget once configured. Openelec autoupdates.
Recommended you get the USB dongle Flirc too and you can program any spare remote control you have lying around to operate XBMC. You can navigate XBMC from a smartphone too.

https://flirc.tv

If you get the cheaper HP one, even with a Celeron processor and 2GB. This will be all you will need to run XBMC/Kodi/Openelec and high bitrate movies with headroom to spare.
Plus the cloverleaf powercord going into the power brick is interchangeable for a cheap local one to match your local power socket.
Keep an eye out for Amazon Black Friday deals happening now.

Extensive threads here on the forum for support which is very important.
Its a no brainer decision.

http://kodi.wiki/view/ASUS_Chromebox

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=194362

[theraw]

OK, it's an Idea.
Not a bad one at that, but not exactly a "no brainer". There's (at least) one problem: the price is twice of the budget.
Maybe if I would buy a used HP Chromebox let's say I could get one for 150€ ($187). Still quite/too expensive.

[MediaPi]

obvious otion is the firetv. well supported. fast low power. and though not the best in terms of picture quality (compared to the Pi in terms of upscaling, but 1080p content on 1080p tv wont be different) it is still producesa a great image as testified by many users. will have good resell value once you want to upgrade.

[twelvebore]

Is there such a device?

In a word ... no.

Your question, or questions very similar to it, get asked here very frequently. If there was such a box as you're asking for, people would be all over it. Anything Android is a software mine-field, anything x86 is generally >£$€150 unless you get lucky with a sale, or buy from China. That's just the way it is at the moment.

Cheap. Fast. Works. Choose any two :-)

You could try looking for a used Celeron 847 NUC on e-bay. That might get you x86+OpenELEC for <€100.

[wrxtasy]

OK, it's an Idea.
Not a bad one at that, but not exactly a "no brainer". There's (at least) one problem: the price is twice of the budget.
Maybe if I would buy a used HP Chromebox let's say I could get one for 150€ ($187). Still quite/too expensive.

Sorry I made a bit of a miscalculation (AUD to Euro's), but from Amazon USA the white HP Chromebox is USD$150 (120€) delivered. Thats the price I see here in Australia when I finally look in the shopping cart, just before purchase.
Maybe your looking at the UK store or a Euro one, or the Amazon USA store has region blocked you.

This box has the best picture quality and bang for your buck around.
Any cheap Android platform will not even come close.

If you have a RPI with 512MB, get a new SD card, overlock it and get a proper 2 Amp power supply and you will be very surprised at how fluid and fast XBMC/Kodi has become. (Kodi/Openelec 5.0 Beta 2)

So I now agree with the previous post the answer is No, not for under 100€ especially in the EU.

[Starstream]

Such a device does exist, get a Solidrun CuBox-i it's basically a better performing R-Pi style gadget.
Under 100€ (if possible) - yes
RJ45 LAN Port - yes
1080p smooth playback - yes better codec support than R-Pi
smooth XBMC UI (not raspberryPi-like. That's not smooth) - yes 1080p at 60fps
low(-ish) power consumption - yes
available in EU - yes if you dont want to buy direct from solidrun see their reseller page
good(-ish) support (so I can expect a stable version that actually works) - Kodi for Freescale iMX6 devices is still in beta but it is quite stable and I use it as my main playback system


The i2ex model (dual core CPU) with no WiFi n or bluetooth will set you back around 63 euros which leaves enough in the budget for a micro SD card.

Download Openelec disk image from here (Kodi 14 beta 2), use win32 disk image writer to burn to SD card then put in the CuBox-i and your up and running.

Whenever you want to update download the .tar then copy to the openelec\update network share and reboot your CuBox-i, it will auto update to new version.

[theraw]

obvious otion is the firetv. well supported. fast low power. and though not the best in terms of picture quality (compared to the Pi in terms of upscaling, but 1080p content on 1080p tv wont be different) it is still producesa a great image as testified by many users. will have good resell value once you want to upgrade.

Another "obvious, no brainer"
Well to be honest I did take a look at the fireTV. And I sort of like it, but the problem is rooting latest versions. I do like the rooted functions. Maybe if I get a good deal on ebay.de or ebay.co.uk. I'll keep my eye on that. Thanks for confirming my thoughts.

Cheap. Fast. Works. Choose any two :-)

You could try looking for a used Celeron 847 NUC on e-bay. That might get you x86+OpenELEC for <€100.

Good point. Still. I thought (hoped) that some sort of compromise can be achieved without completely disregarding one of the three (cheap, fast, works). I can compromise. A bit.

I'll check the celerons, eventhough I'm not sure if I can get anything close to my budget.

... the white HP Chromebox is USD$150 (120€) delivered. Thats the price I see here in Australia when I finally look in the shopping cart, just before purchase.
Maybe your looking at the UK store or a Euro one, or the Amazon store has region blocked you.

This box has the best picture quality and bang for your buck around.
Any cheap Android platform will not even come close.

If you have a RPI with 512MB, get a new SD card, overlock it and get a proper 2 Amp power supply and you will be very surprised at how fluid and fast XBMC/Kodi has become. (Kodi/Openelec 5.0 Beta 2)

Yea, EU is a problem. Quite a few gadgets are (unreasonably) expensive here.
Chromebox would be "fast" and would "work" but unfortunately the "cheap" factor is not even close to my budget. Still, I'll keep looking for a possible deal..
I tried RPI with a quite good SD. It's surprisingly good, especially for it's price, but the performance is still subpar (for my taste).
When the movie starts playing and you dont skip or use XBMC GUI a lot ... it's "OK-ish". Looking for a bit more muscle.

Such a device does exist, get a Solidrun CuBox-i it's basically a better performing R-Pi style gadget.
Under 100€ (if possible) - yes
RJ45 LAN Port - yes
1080p smooth playback - yes better codec support than R-Pi
smooth XBMC UI (not raspberryPi-like. That's not smooth) - yes 1080p at 60fps
low(-ish) power consumption - yes
available in EU - yes if you dont want to buy direct from solidrun see their reseller page
good(-ish) support (so I can expect a stable version that actually works) - Kodi for Freescale iMX6 devices is still in beta but it is quite stable and I use it as my main playback system

The i2ex model (dual core CPU) with no WiFi n or bluetooth will set you back around 63 euros which leaves enough in the budget for a micro SD card.

Download Openelec disk image from here (Kodi 14 beta 2), use win32 disk image writer to burn to SD card then put in the CuBox-i and your up and running.

Whenever you want to update download the .tar then copy to the openelec\update network share and reboot your CuBox-i, it will auto update to new version.

Don't know this product. Will check it out. It does sound a bit "too good to be true", but maybe it's just what I'm looking for.


Thank you all for your input. It's well received.

[nickr]

Also you could check out a second hand ion2 machine, like a revo r3700. Have 4 of them. Possibly fails on power consumption, but I think satisfies your other needs.

[Starstream]

Don't know this product. Will check it out. It does sound a bit "too good to be true", but maybe it's just what I'm looking for.

It's the real deal, it has been around for a while but in alpha status for some time so a lot were hesitant to go near it, but support for Freescale iMX6 is now in Kodi 14, there are other iMX6 products in the works too from some other vendors.

It's a better device than any Android box if you have no need for apps.

The i2ex and i4pro models have the same GPU so you want to stick to the i2ex, there are cheaper models but come with slower CPU/GPU.

[t2ffn]

Just save for another month or two and get a chromebox. I know everyone has their own budget limitations but for another €50 you will likely have a much better option pool to pick from, and not have to deal with as many possible drawbacks or limitations the cheaper options give.

Sell some old stuff on ebay or musicmagpie or such to help fund it. I just offloaded about 100 DVDs that have been sat in a box taking up a cupboard shelf for years without being touched. Ok, only got £20 for them but that's £20 better than the dust pile I had, and bought me the Xbox One remote. (awesome remote btw)

[grey]

in a couple of day should be released this machine, getvero.tv

so wait a bit

[wrxtasy]

For the CuBox-i - I would be having a very good read of this forum first, to make yourself aware of any issues:

http://www.solid-run.com/community/topic1498.html

Just for shits and giggles I did a wee test on my Overlocked RPI B+ with Openelec Kodi Beta2....
and found a 1080p (24p) Jellyfish test file at 60Mbps bitrate (AVC) streamed via ethernet using the NFS protocol = no dropped frames !
Pretty capable and dirt cheap little devices these Raspberries.

At the moment I am personally saving my $$, putting up with minor limitations with a RPi and awaiting cheaper devices likely coming in 2015 that will decode in hardware HVEC (H265) video, ones that also have perfect switchable on the fly 23.976, 50 and 60Hz playback.

[theraw]

In short - to bring an end to the story - I bought an Asus Chromebox. Just received it today, so there is not much to tell yet.

It could have gone either way: FTV, i2ex, Chromebox, or even something else. I was looking for a good price/performance/requirements ratio, with all of your advice in mind.

As mr. @twelvebore said:

Cheap. Fast. Works. Choose any two :-)

Found a great deal (by EU standards) for Chromebox. Adjusted the budget thing and went with that.

Gonna put OpenELEC on it and see what all the performance fuss is about.

[theraw]

Didn't have time to config everything, but ... Chromebox is .... very .... very .... fast! Power consumption is also very low. I measured when playing a 1080p 60fps video. It used 11-12W. Normal 1080p was 7-9W. When put to suspend mode it was 0W. Keyboards tested worked great. Suspend/wakeup in a few secs, plays everything I throw at it. Almost too good to be true. Definitely worth the extra buck.

Happy camper.