[MultipleParadox]

Hi,

I've been reading on these forums as well as other blogs in search of a relatively good but cheap hardware (sub-200$)
I've read the sticky post on here too, and to be honest it confused me more than otherwise (well, it did help in realizing the limitations of different hardware)

So long story short, the only thing I really need is to be able to install and run latest Kodi builds and have no software limitation whatsoever
In term of hardware, I'd need support of 1080p (I don't care about 4k) and Bitstream Audio (it will be plugged into an audio receiver that support dts and all that jazz)

At first I was looking at cheap chinese android based boxes, but thanks to the sticky post, I realized it wasn't that much of a good idea
Looking at more legit ones, it seems either price is above budget, or hardware is crippled or something along those lines

So I started looking at Intel Compute Sticks. They come in either Win10 32bits or Linux Ubuntu 64bits flavour

First question is, are those Intel Stick any good for Kodi? I don't recall the sticky post talking about these
Second would be should I consider Linux or Win10 version? I would like to use some kind of BT remote (with keyboard)

Thanks for your help!

[HereIsTom]

HiMedia Q5 Pro or Q10 Pro will fit your needs.

[wrxtasy]

nVIDIA Shield is a better and far more flexible Android device than any of the HiMedia gear. Or any other Android devices for that matter.

Really I see the only reason to buy Himedia is if you need to play 3D Bluray ISO's. And Himedia still has not ironed the bugs out with that yet either for smooth playback. Zidoo is passing them at a great rate of knots at this present point in time.

Any Android box will have Audio limitations, as seen here:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287430

Pure Kodi box, and if you don't need 4K = Chromebox, running LibreELEC Kodi.
A proven. Bulletproof choice, especially for comprehensive Audio support, you could not get a more mature stable Kodi platform.

Its the reason the Chromebox has over 1.5 million views on this Sub-forum !

As for BT, just use a PS3 BT remote or one of those (non Voice) Amazon BT ones.

[HereIsTom]

I have a HiMedia Q10 Pro and can say it is one of the best Android Mediaplayers!
wrxtasy himself never used a Himedia and just want to tease me because I'm not allowed to say anything good about Himedia!

[MultipleParadox]

Thanks for the replies so far

I'll have a look at chromeboxes and himedia

Unfortunately the nVidia Shild is out of my budget at the moment (living in Canada)

For any other suggestions, I'm still listening

[hdmkv]

As you don't care about 3D nor 4K, Chromebox is the perfect choice for a pure Kodi experience. No Windows. No Android.

[DJDJDJDJ]

Hi, Not to change the topic but when people here recommend Chromebox, which box are they recommending? There seems to be many companies making various chromeboxes ranging from (seems) GBP 20 to all the way to GBP 400.

[nickr]

Read the wiki.

[Matt Devo]

Hi, Not to change the topic but when people here recommend Chromebox, which box are they recommending? There seems to be many companies making various chromeboxes ranging from (seems) GBP 20 to all the way to GBP 400.

where are you seeing a Chromebox for GBP 20? And yes, read the wiki. A base model Celeron 2955U/2GB/16GB is all you need for flawless playback

[DJDJDJDJ]

Hi, Not to change the topic but when people here recommend Chromebox, which box are they recommending? There seems to be many companies making various chromeboxes ranging from (seems) GBP 20 to all the way to GBP 400.

where are you seeing a Chromebox for GBP 20? And yes, read the wiki. A base model Celeron 2955U/2GB/16GB is all you need for flawless playback

I found one for GBP 20 on google shopping. It had an ASUS image on it. However, details showed it was just the power supply for it. False alarm.

I have always shied away from Celeron. Howver, recently, i ran into some videos that wont play smoothly on a Core 2 Duo laptop nor on one of the older atom based mini PCs. Are newer celerons any better than the older ones for playing all types of videos with all the high bit video and audio these days?

Thanks.

[nickr]

If you want to know what a chromebox will handle read the chromebox page on our wiki.