[mpmp]

If you want encoding then maybe I would look at the HP Stream Mini. Basically a Chromebox but the CPU supports Quicksync.

I will say that the Asus Chromebox would work better than anything in its price range and has ample power to run Kodi including playing VC1, 1080i, and almost all of the 4K material readily available.

Since getting an i3/i7 processor does not have much benefit over the default of the Asus Chromebox would upgrading the memory to 8GB and the SSD to 128GB or 256GB make a marked improvement to the operation of the Chromebox or not?

If not, would an Intel NUC with a processor that supports Quicksync be more useful for encoding and decoding H265 video?

Thank you very much in advance.