Kodi Community Forum

Hey peepz!

I'm looking for some input from the community regarding a cheap device for my needs, I have a NUC in my living room powered by Intel, however I wish to have XBMC in my bedroom + my sons room, BUT I don not wish to build 2 more NUC's.

I would like a small device that's cheap and able to run XBMC, also be able to stream 1080p films without any issues, I would love something that's like the gamestick what would you recommend?

MrLashed

Raspberry Pi

Does this not have issues streaming HD (1080p)?

If you use samba shares and the video has dts audio and the pi is not over clocked, then maybe you will have issues. But you can get around that if you overclock, or use a lower overhead share.

I second the Raspberry Pi, haven't had any issues with HD yet.

I stream Frozen 1080p MKV (11.5 Mbs bitrate) with DTS from a samba share (unRAID) to my main TV via a pi.

Pi is overclocked (1000mhz, its a built in option).

Works flawless, no issues. DTS is being passed to my receiver though.

I think the issue sometimes is having the pi decode DTS audio to stereo, which is probably what happens for a bedroom PC. I'll be testing that situation next.

Honestly, if you have a spare cell phone charger around (for pi power) and if you can find a spare SD card, you should go ahead and get and test out a pi. Its $35 and just let it sit there.

Hmm well I'm deffo thinking about doing this, as this would be cost effective, I've just watched a youtube clip of it streaming HD and it was running nice.

If I overclock it would I need a heatsink?

I've got a Pi in my bedroom. It decodes DTS and plays 1080p bluray rips no problem. I'm over clocked to 950 and use NFS from my file server.

Pi isnt really that cheap

$35 for the Pi
$10 for the case
$10 for the sd card
$10 for wifi
$5 for a charger
$15-$25 for a USB hub
$10 for a USB stick otherwise its too slow

Thats w/o shipping it ended up costing me around $120 now i'm looking to upgrade. I'm looking at a couple of options

The MyGica ATV1200
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCC-m3s2y3s

or http://www.hardkernel.com/main/main.php

but I'll most likely end up waiting for the new quad cores dropping this month

(2014-03-17, 00:45)derrickrozay Wrote: [ -> ]Pi isnt really that cheap

$35 for the Pi
$10 for the case
$10 for the sd card
$10 for wifi
$5 for a charger
$15-$25 for a USB hub
$10 for a USB stick otherwise its too slow

Thats w/o shipping it ended up costing me around $120 now i'm looking to upgrade. I'm looking at a couple of options

The MyGica ATV1200
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCC-m3s2y3s

or http://www.hardkernel.com/main/main.php

but I'll most likely end up waiting for the new quad cores dropping this month

It's cheap if you do it right. Calling the Raspberry Pi "expensive" or saying the parts will go above $100 is a pet peeve for me.

• $35 for the Pi, bought with other people so I got free shipping, which probably isn't an option for most people, but you never know :)

• no case. It's behind the TV. If I need a case then I probably have some legos or a small plastic box somewhere. The Pi actually fits nicely into a 50¢ electrical box from the hardware store.

• $5 for 8GB SD card, easy. You can get that price in a lot of local shops, so no shipping. We've also learned that some of the class 6 or 8 cards are actually faster than the class 10 cards when it comes to short reads and writes, which is more important for XBMC, so the most expensive SD card isn't always the best.

• $5 for a power supply sounds about right. meritline.com has them all the time for about that price, and they're typically not as crappy as stuff you get from DX.com. Plus, free shipping.

• Why a hub when you've only listed two USB devices total, one of which is optional (USB flash drive)? On my Pi's I typically use cheap USB hubs that are under $5, but one really isn't needed for XBMC use. Plus, if you buy a $30 hub then there's a good chance you can just power the Pi from that, and thus you won't need a power supply.

• Using a USB stick is the best way to get the fastest speeds on the Pi, but it's far from required thanks to the speed tweaks in XBMC v13 and the OpenELEC test builds. It was pretty slow before, but it has drastically improved.

• Even if I paid $300 for my HTPC I would still want it wired, but sure, throw $10 on for wifi. I like buying Airlink 101 wifi usb dongles from meritline.com when they go on sale for $10, with free shipping. Sometimes they even have multi antenna ones for $15.

It's easily in the $50-60 range (with shipping) for people who don't already have a spare SD card or USB power supply of some kind, and they often do. Even if you do have to buy those parts, those are parts that are easily reusable for other things, so there's little risk in trying the Pi.


Not saying that the ATV1200 is bad, and I will say that Hard Kernel's stuff is awesome, but like I said, it's a pet peeve of mine when someone calls the Raspberry Pi expensive.

I don't know why you bother, Ned - any time a thread like this appears there's always someone keen to tell the world they've been ripped off when buying a Pi. Spend more than $60 (all in) to get a Pi up and running, and you're being fleeced - period. Spend $120? I've got a nice bridge I'm trying to sell...

I think its in his job description

I'll add that i'm running OE 3.2.4 on my pi (so started with frodo 12.2) and updated it to rjeb's tweaked pi build.

But the pi definitely plays all my files perfectly. Sometimes it can be a little slow in the GUI, and can't do heavy skins (I actually like amber 4 out of 5 times over ace these days), but as I also stated earlier;

If you have a spare sd card lying around, and a usb charger that fits, its worth the $35 to try it out (even without a case).

Mines sitting on top of my server tower and currently pulling power from one of its usb ports.

I dont get why people get so mad about saying the pi can cost more than 65$. after shipping the pi cost around 39$. you wouldn't need to get a power supply, remote, IR receiver, case(Im all out of legos), and sd card for less than 26 dollars. What ever though Im not arguing over this anymore.

(2014-03-18, 01:31)calev Wrote: [ -> ]I dont get why people get so mad about saying the pi can cost more than 65$. after shipping the pi cost around 39$. you wouldn't need to get a power supply, remote, IR receiver, case(Im all out of legos), and sd card for less than 26 dollars. What ever though Im not arguing over this anymore.

Anyone can pay over the odds for something if they don't do their research and has more money than sense - just don't get all butt hurt and try to make out it's normal because it's not. It's not our fault if someone has been robbed blind when buying a Pi and parts, but I guess there's one born every minute.

So I don't think it's a case of anyone getting "mad", it's just a matter of setting the record straight to prevent anyone else being left with a wrong impression and thinking the over inflated price someone else paid is in any way normal or reasonable.

$120 for a Pi and parts is totally unreasonable. Shop around and you don't need to spend more than $60 for a fully working Pi system. Many people don't need to spend anything more than the $35 cost of the Pi itself as they'll have the rest that they need in the "bits" drawer at home.

Not butt hurt, I just dont think 26$ for those parts is setting the record straight. And your words read pretty mad.
Spending a few dollars more on parts that wont fail or look nice is not getting robbed blind