Kodi Community Forum

Dear XBMC Community

I am interested in getting some advise, here is my situation

I am looking to purchase a dedicated computer for my living room to run XBMC, all my video is 1080p non 3D and is located on a networked server and will be delivered to the new XBMC machine via a wired gigabit link. I have an 80" Sharp LCD screen that needs to be powered by the XBMC Machine and I also want to be able to stream full screen HD video, without tearing, from services like UNBOX, HULU, NETFLIX etc...

Other requirements that I want the machine to satisfy are: for the machine to be as quiet as possible and have the ability to connect via VGA D-SUB connection - I personally find it to have the best video quality when using a computer.

I currently have a full sized custom built HTPC in my living room but it is to noisy and big... I am looking to get something newer ... I have identified two small factor machines the Mac Mini with dedicated ATI card, 8gigs of ram and 7,200rpm HDD and the Alienware x51 with a full sized NVIDIA card 8gig of ram and 7,200rpm HDD. There is clearly a size difference, but I wanted to talk to the community here about the pro's and con's of running XBMC on a PC vs Mac, as well as hear about some personal experiences from people who use either of the two above-mentioned machines.

All information will be greatly appreciated.

If you want quiet why have 7200rpm drives. SSD is quicker, quieter and cooler. Especially as your media is stored remotely.

8gb of ram is over kill for XBMC, might as well save your money.

Does it have to be just Mac mini or alien ware?
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?pid...post843683

VGA thing is weird, perhaps your TV isn't set up right for HDMI.

Alienware= if you like overpaying for stuff with lots of LEDs in them.

Mac Mini= get a previous year model for a cheap price and be happy. Run Mac OS X or Windows on it.

Check out the hardware subforums for more quiet options. XBMC doesn't care what OS it is ran on.

+1 for older mac mini. Cheap, small and quiet. I have one running with flirc these days and it make and the rest of the family very happy.

The last of the "white" Mac Minis has an NVIDIA GPU and works very well with XBMC. Earlier models use an Intel GPU that doesn't support hardware acceleration, though the Mini will play 720p just fine without acceleration (1080p may give problems).

I use Bootcamp/Win7 but XBMC works just as well on OSX. If you need a D-Sub connector the older Mac Mini is ideal as you can use a DVI to D-Sub cable or adaptor. For everyone else, note that you need a separate cable for audio and this may be a problem e.g. my Toshiba TV only allows a separate audio cable on HDMI1.

Having said all this, even the older Mac Minis still fetch a high price on ebay. I'd guess it would be cheaper than a new Alienware box though.