Hi,
I am looking for a new Openelec/XBMC device for my living room.
I already have a raspberry Pi, running the latest version of Openelec, and although I absolutely love it, it just seems slightly a little bit too laggy to be used as my main box.
I was wondering whether there are any other recommended, more powerful, devices that would give me a fast experience.
I recommend a small regular computer.
@
elsmandino, I`m running a raspberry pi, Have you tried over-clocking?
I went from ATV1 (with crystalbuntu) to RaspBMC on a Pi and just recently got both of the most talked about devices for XBMC, the DN2820FYKH NUC and the Amazon Fire TV. Both of those are worlds faster and more responsive than either ATV1 or the Pi. Since you mention that you want to use Openelec, it probably means you do not mind its drawbacks (lack of the ability to run other services), in which case I would just get the NUC and install Openelec on it. It'll run circles around what you currently have and can be used as a regular desktop when needed. It is a bit more expensive than a Pi, but then again, not much.
Does that NUC play well with Openelec?
Yes NUC is perfect with OpenElec. But NUC also costs more than FireTv. For the $150-$200 budget, which is what NUC will cost, consider the Asus Chromebox also, which is newer/faster than NUC but lacks built-in IR.
(2014-06-02, 22:42)MrCrispy Wrote: [ -> ]Yes NUC is perfect with OpenElec. But NUC also costs more than FireTv. For the $150-$200 budget, which is what NUC will cost, consider the Asus Chromebox also, which is newer/faster than NUC but lacks built-in IR.
A chrombox is a celeron, like the base nuc, but for ~$180 comes with 2gb of ram and a small 16GB SSD already (and wifi/BT).
Its a good deal, and just needs a simple process to change to flash it to allow standard install of OE on its internal SSD.
Its just missing IR, but you can either use a BT remote, or get a flirc, etc.
Yes, its a Haswell Celeron which is newer generation than the one in the NUC (IvyBridge), and has a much better GPU also. I have just bought it
There seemed to be no reason to buy the NUC if you don't want to run Windows.
As others have said an Intel NUC.
But if you want to limit it specifically to Arm chips like the R-Pi then the SolidRun CuBox-i series is the best option, it has Openelec, GeeXbox already available for it though they are in an alpha state. The i4 hardware is a fast quad core CPU and good GPU, feels as good as XBMC running on a PC. Comes with IR, ethernet, wireless, optical, HDMI, USB and SD slot all built in.
However just to re-iterate the CuBox-i isn't as mature as the R-Pi software wise or the x86 NUC, so your jumping into cutting edge stuff.
(2014-06-03, 11:15)Starstream Wrote: [ -> ]As others have said an Intel NUC.
But if you want to limit it specifically to Arm chips like the R-Pi then the SolidRun CuBox-i series is the best option, it has Openelec, GeeXbox already available for it though they are in an alpha state. The i4 hardware is a fast quad core CPU and good GPU, feels as good as XBMC running on a PC. Comes with IR, ethernet, wireless, optical, HDMI, USB and SD slot all built in.
However just to re-iterate the CuBox-i isn't as mature as the R-Pi software wise or the x86 NUC, so your jumping into cutting edge stuff.
Hi
Does the Cubox-I has CEC? if yes, is its CEC hw supported by libcec?
Thanx
Hi,
Thanks so much for everyone's input on this - much appreciated.
(2014-06-02, 15:18)stuCONNERS Wrote: [ -> ]@elsmandino, I`m running a raspberry pi, Have you tried over-clocking?
I have overclocked the Pi to 1.0 GHz and it went from a barely usable device (in my opinion) to a fantastically usable one.
However, it is just a little bit slow still for everyday use - it works well in my bedroom but I think I need something with a little more grunt for my main livingroom device.
I have seen reference to that Celeron 847 NUC before as a decent little machine - does it play everything you can throw at it?
That Chrombox also looks like a really great option - what are your experiences with it so far?
Intel have also brought out a new Celeron-based NUC that also looks pretty promising (and pretty cheap too):
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/n...0fykh.html
How would you guys reckon it would stand up agains the 847 NUC and the Chrombox? The N2820 looks like it could be a pretty good chip.
Starstreamer - that i4 Cubibox looks like a great little machine (not readily available in the UK at present, which is a shame). Is there any advantage of a regular processor over an ARM chip when it comes to something like just running Openelec?
@ bogolisk yes HDMI-CEC is supported and works with libCEC.
@ elsmandino they do sell/ship to the UK (unless they are out of stock), all you need is a regular 2 to 3 pin adapter for the euro power cord.
(2014-06-02, 14:55)elsmandino Wrote: [ -> ]Hi,
I am looking for a new Openelec/XBMC device for my living room.
I already have a raspberry Pi, running the latest version of Openelec, and although I absolutely love it, it just seems slightly a little bit too laggy to be used as my main box.
I was wondering whether there are any other recommended, more powerful, devices that would give me a fast experience.
I hear Amazon firetv is a decent platform, but I wouldn't buy android and I wouldn't run android + xbmc (just a preference really) for myself or a PI solely on intent to run xbmc, for me thers no real x86 alternative if you want performance.
Having done a little more research, I am starting to think that the Chromebox might be the best choice for me at the moment - latest generation processor and the SSD/RAM both included.
However, one of the most interesting things for me is that it appears that you can dual-boot between Chrome OS and Openelec.
Am I correct in thinking that you can run Netflix off Chrome OS as an app? This would be great for me as I was thinking that I would have to buy a separate device just to keep on watching Netflix - I did try getting Netflix up and running on XBMCbuntu but it just wasn't usable.
Please dont buy some hardware assuming XBMC supports it, Especially Linux + Netflix + Openelec or Some other Linux + XBMC, I am not familiar with Chrome OS, idk if XBMC runs on it for e.g.
I have heard that, there is an alternative to silverlight (which netfix requires) but again, you should confirm with openelec or with Chrome OS they actually support Netfilx, because Openelec is Linux based, So go check.. Or that you can get Netflix working under Linux before you make some commitment to some hardware expecting all your other non xbmc things to work.