[Sharpy2014]

Hi everyone I currently use a laptop and a tower to run my Kodi

I am planning on replacing both of these soon for more dedicated hardware, my question is
Should I build two new Windows tower htpc ? If so what specs would you recomend needs to be pretty much silent

Also

How do the devices like fire stick or Kodi android boxes perform for 1080p playback

[Heiko123]

I use the firestick and a android box, both dont work 100% correct.
It is slow within menues and instable from tkme to time.

The best result and waf i get with this config:
1. PC with tv cards and database and filesystem in the basement
2. A raspberry2 with openelec in the livingroom

Only you have netflix, than can you try with firestick or android box

[Sharpy2014]

Can the small devices handle 3D files and I don't do much streaming all my media is on a local file server

[bry]

Chrome box is your best bet

[Sharpy2014]

No votes for a dedicated htpc then

What's the advantages and disadvantages of the 3 htpc,chrome stick , fire stick

Let me just state my Kodi is on pretty much 24/7 from 8AM until at least 12PM
it's always active playing movies 720p / 1080p 3D sometimes all local stored tv or music,
would this put to much of a load onto smaller devs

And my setup uses to my amplifier is 5.1/ 7.1 digital audio and HDMI cable

[katsup]

There are a lot of hardware posts, I'd suggest reading some of them, including the sticky at the top.

Hints:
- Most do not build HTPCs anymore as there are a lot of quieter, cheaper and less power hungry devices available now.
- If you require paid streaming apps, or BluRay, using more than 1 device can be easier than an all in one solution
- Some of the top boxes are:
-- Wetek Core 4k (still new)
-- Beebox
-- Chromebox
-- Raspberry Pi 2
-- Nvidia Shield.

[wrxtasy]

HTPC's are a thing of the past and only relevant to Kodi if you are also running a full blown desktop PC that needs productivity stuff like Office and a top spec Graphics card to run bleeding edge games.

For Kodi use only run OpenELEC or OSMC (RPi2), its far quicker, has less problems and requires less maintenance.

For Kodi broadcast TV streaming you would only get devices from Intel, AMLogic and the RPi foundation as these will give you far superior video deinterlacing quality.

7.1 HD Audio passthrough with Kodi, means devices from Intel for max compatibility and even then you have to check carefully. Others will decode HD Audio to lossless multichannel PCM and output that to an AVR. Nearly all should do lossy AC3/Dolby Digital 5.1 audio output.

For properly synced smooth 24p video playback with Android Kodi you would only get Android Lollipop devices from nVIDIA and WeTek and possibly MINIX (but they lack DRM for Android Apps). All the rest of the Android devices are frankly rubbish when it comes to their Firmware and video sync support.

The Nexus, FireTV's and other such closed Firmware devices are paid streaming boxes first that also just happen to run Kodi. If you don't care about silky smooth 24p video playback then they may be fine as you get a pretty interface and a remote control included with tight integration. They however have a bunch of Kodi limitations that can get annoying.

[daps83]

kodi runs alright on a fire stick depending on the file, but using it for sling tv has not been a great experience. sling plays fine on everything else I own, but on the fire stick it stutters a lot. So fire stick wouldn't be my choice for an all in one device for everything. For mainly kodi for my parents and some netflix it works fine most of the time.

[gguerra333]

Just my .02

There are a few advantages from using a NUC, laptop, HTPC etc.

1. You get a familiar Windows interface and doing things like adding network shares is easy (although you do this inside of Kodi)
2. You can use a mouse to do a lot more than you can with a remote
3, Many more hardware options related to audio and video, especially if using an AVR
4. Higher performance when playing high bitrate MKV's and/or BD's
5. You have an actual PC where you can run other software, browsers etc.
6. More RAM and/or storage if needed

On the downside it is usually more expensive

[shabuboy]

Full blown HTPCs are a thing of the past. Unless you have a very specific program which requires high end devices and/or for games.

Now, if you want windows most mini systems can run either windows or openelec, or even dual boot. Such as
Zotac BI320
HP Stream Mini
ASrock beebox
Tronsmart

All under $200 and all have threads out there as well.

There is even a thread about the Chromebox with Windows. And so far, yes, Chromebox still the king for most.

But it all comes down to your requirements. I am happy with my Fire TV box.

[Sharpy2014]

My requirements are

extremely good audio played via a 7.1 channel avr that supports multi channel audio via analogue or digital audio DTS, PCM, DOLBY DIGITAL digital audio cable , preferable to use the digital audio

video max HDMI 1080p ripped 3D bluerays smooth for TVs and projector

Network would be Ethernet as my files are stored on a NAS

OS would be Windows preferably

APPS for Kodi most intensive would be rom collection browser

I was thinking for my needs I would need a tower as a replacement

[noggin]

For Full HD 3D (i.e. playback of Blu-ray 3D ISOs or MKVs) you need either a Raspberry Pi 2 running the latest OE dev builds (which added 3D ISO support), a Windows PC (with a 3D compatible GPU) with a separate Blu-ray 3D player app, or one of the slightly odder-ball (and probably not brilliantly supported) Android boxes.

NB a Celeron Chromebox running OpenElec will NOT play 3D ISOs or MKVs...

For HSBS/HTAB 3D stuff then pretty much anything that can cope with 2D 1080p will work as HSBS/HTAB are not really 3D formats (they are 3D in 2D formats with a resolution tradeoff)...

[Sharpy2014]

Hi noggin could you maby explain more about these 3D films

My files are for eg

Star Trek into darkness HTAB 1080p file Dolby audio .mkv
you mentioned resolution trade off and said that it isn't real 3D ?

Another quick question

If I have two rips of the same DVD one is 720p h264 MP3 audio and the other SD MP3 Dolby digital audio

Could I remove the audio out of the SD file (Dolby digital) and use it with the 720p file. (MP3), either as an internal or external Audio. I know you can swap audio tracks from inside Kodi sort of like subtitles