[noggin]

*** EDIT : Not to worry. Decided I didn't really need ChromeOS - so went for the Stanalone Option and installed OpenElec standalone. So far so good. This little box should really rock. ***
*** EDIT 2 : Though sadly not quite perfect yet. I'd read there were problems with VAAPI. I have some 35Mbs Blu-ray H264 interlaced stuff that needs VAAPI to playback without skipping/dropping - and it hangs. In software mode it can't keep up with both H264 decoding and de-interlacing at this bitrate. I'm in Standalone mode. Is this likely to be helped by switching to a dual channel RAM set-up? ***

1) where the heck are you finding 35Mbps interlaced Bluray content?

Stuff I've mastered myself mainly from high quality 1080/50i Pro Res HQ / DNXHD captures from HD-SDI sources. I work in the broadcast industry - and the stuff is Blu-ray compliant, mainly mastered with x264 or Adobe Encore. Plays fine on other OpenElec installs, as well as on consumer Blu-ray players when burned to disc.

2) so it hangs with VAAPI enabled, or disabled b/c it can't keep up?

Occasional total freezes with VAAPI enabled. With VAAPI disabled it can't keep up (even with multithreaded decoding enabled) with decoding and deinterlacing. Even BOB. At least one CPU hits 100%.

If the latter, try it with VAAPI enabled.

Yep - the only realistic way of watching this stuff is with VAAPI enabled. Should add that the same content works fine with VAAPI and S/W deinterlacing on a Celeron 1007U Acer Revo RL80.

The driver bug doesn't seem to affect all types of content; I've yet to experience it myself

I've had one freeze with OpenElec - no way of knowing what caused it - but it was watching high bitrate 1080/50i H264 Blu-ray content.

Will try watching more content and update you based on findings.