[Numus]

I currently have an acer revo (has been downgraded to the bedroom) and an apple Tv 2 (which i lost root and now is just a hulu/netflix box in the bedroom). I need a new Kodi box in the livingroom but only want to spend about 150. I am confused between chromebox, raspberry pi, ect. I am from the old school days of the original XBOX (when TSOP flashes and Softmods were the rage).

What hardware will give me this experience (either out of the box or with minimal addons)?

Run Kodi pretty stable with 1080p support and DTS-HD MA support
IR Support (Harmony remote)
Be under 150 bucks

[Ned Scott]

Without a doubt, Chromebox for your situation :)

You will need to add an IR receiver, like a FLIRC or a small MCE dongle, but both of those would work fine with a Harmony and won't really add any bulk.

Total price should be well under $150 USD.

[Numus]

Without a doubt, Chromebox for your situation

You will need to add an IR receiver, like a FLIRC or a small MCE dongle, but both of those would work fine with a Harmony and won't really add any bulk.

Total price should be well under $150 USD.

I have been looking for a chromebox but they all seem to be around 160+ and then another 20 for the FLIRC? If you have any chromebox's for under 150 please link!!!!

[katsup]

Often on eBay you can get an Asus Chromebox for cheaper.

[wrxtasy]

What Ned said !

[noggin]

Definitely the Chromebox or a similar Haswell 2955/2957U Celeron box is going to work very well for you. HD Audio bitstreaming and excellent picture quality. Responsive UI and very fast boot times.

If you don't like the idea of an IR receiver dongle you can use the PS3 Bluray Bluetooth remote and pair it with the built in Bluetooth in the Chromebox in OpenElec. This works well for me, though a cheap IR USB dongle will also work well.

The Pi 2 will do a good job too. You won't get bitstreamed DTS HD, but you will get lossless decoding output as multichannel PCM for anything <192kHz.

The Pi 2 is pretty responsive, and a huge improvement over the Pi, but the Chromebox will feel a bit snappier in daily use.

Both devices have very good support in these forums - they aren't 'niche' products. They are also both OpenElec platforms - so you get an excellent, lightweight, optimised distribution that is easy to install and upgrade, and again actively supported.

If you can find a second hand or discounted Chromebox then it is definitely the box to get.

[naloj]

You can get one used but "like new" from Amazon for $145:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B...7EE7U53NWQ

FLIRC also goes on sale frequently for $14-15:

http://camelcamelcamel.com/FLIRC-Dongle-...ext=browse

[Ned Scott]

New Chromeboxes go on sale from time to time for $130-135. Just keep an eye out on amazon, newegg, ebay, etc.

[z31fanatic]

The Chromeboxes are very good but I prefer the Zotac zbox BI320 when it's on sale for $140-160.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product

Very satisfied with mine.

Or if you have RAM and a HD or SSD sitting around, then the bare bones is $110

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product

[noggin]

The Chromeboxes are very good but I prefer the Zotac zbox BI320 when it's on sale for $140-160.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product

Very satisfied with mine.

Yep - all things being equal the Zotac is a better box in many ways (space for a 2.5" SATA drive, full Windows compatibility etc.) However the Chromebox does come with RAM and a 16GB SSD - whereas often the Zotac is a barebones purchase at that price isn't it?

[z31fanatic]

Don't know in the UK, but here in the US it was $140 for the box with 64GB SSD, 2GB RAM, and W8.1.

[noggin]

Don't know in the UK, but here in the US it was $140 for the box with 64GB SSD, 2GB RAM, and W8.1.

Not a chance... That model (with Windows) appeared at a very low price initially - but that was a mistake and was for the barebones (still more than US$140 though).

[DocG]

Don't know in the UK, but here in the US it was $140 for the box with 64GB SSD, 2GB RAM, and W8.1.

Not a chance... That model (with Windows) appeared at a very low price initially - but that was a mistake and was for the barebones (still more than US$140 though).

I believe he meant in the US. Pretty sure Newegg had these on sale for $140 only a couple of months back.

To answer the thread, I'd have to agree with Haswell Celeron boxes being the best choice in that price bracket, and as has been said, just keep an eye on prices. The Asus Chromebox could be had for $125 off ebay only a couple of weeks back. The BI320 with Windows has been going for $140 on several occasions, I only recently picked up a "Like New" barebones BI320 off Amazon for $75, and I've seen a "Used" HP Chromebox on Amazon for under $100. It doesn't need to be Black Friday to pick up a good bargain if you're willing to keep an eye out.

[Topken]

Yeah Newegg USA had them goin for $140 for the Bi320 with Windows 8.1 with Bing installed on the 64gb mSATA ssd and 2gbs of ram.

It's third party sellers that have driven the price to over $230. Newegg gets them in stock and sells out so dang quickly at $180 that the third party sellers have to step in and they have the price jacked up between $230-$330 and its rather annoying. I would be more then happy to purchase the BI320 fully loaded at $180 or less but I just don't have they money when it does get that low.

[noggin]

Sorry - should have said - I was talking about my experience in the UK in my "Not a chance" comment - realise in hindsight it was ambiguous.