[Matt Devo]

Thank you so much, I am just getting used to these new processor numbering/naming, I understand now anything 29xx and above is good, of course 32xx is better. No, I am yet to see anything with Core i3, I am sure they are out there, but it gets very pricey, over $400 because all i3's i've seen are barebones, while I like the barebone, I just don't want to spend too much to make it a whole. At $150-$200, it's reasonable but since non of them accept 3.5" drive, I am lucked out when it comes to saving money. This would mean $50 for a drive, $50 for ram, add wifi card, I am over $350 for that.

not quite - Intel's product naming/numbering is positively confusing for the average consumer (and even some tech folks). The U-series Celeron processors are basically cut-down U-series Core i3's, but the N-series Celerons are based on the Atom architecture. So a 2955U blows the doors off a N2940. Stick with a U-series CPU and you'll be ok.

Thank you once again, so this is perfectly fine for regular HD playback and possible future 4K playback, as well as 4K off youtube?
http://www.amazon.com/HP-Stream-200-010-...B00R7R1GWK

At $180, this is really amazing, although the only thing I am worried about is the storage, this has only 32GB SSD. I guess it should be fine for OS drive and keeping everything outside via USB, should be OK, right?

basically has the same limitations as the Haswell Chromebox I mentioned before, but works/comes with Windows.

Yep listen to Matt, he knows his shit.

I guess the alternative is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6883218045
$255 with shipping, no tax. But specs are nearly identical to HP box, Intel 2957U and 2GB DDR3, except 64GB instead of 32GB. Is it really worth the difference? Perhaps having more ports (5 USB) and flash reader is benefit.

Yep, I gave up on BD playback, I think it's not worth trying to get something that can playback and also worry about codec purchase, compatible driver, etc.. I'll just keep PS3 for BD for now.

Basically the same as the ChromeBox/HP Mini, but slightly different configuration. Whether it's worth it or not depends on your use cases. If you're not needing BluRay playback, then do you really need (or want) Windows? If not, then the ChromeBox is your best buy, followed closely by the HP Mini.

I know your response was to someone else, but it applies to me too, does Zotac take 2.5" regular drive? Just spotted a 500GB for $40 on sale, although it didn't list 9.5mm height but I assume it should be fine.
So that's $105 Barebone, $50 for 8GB RAM, $50 for HDD, $80 for Windows license (or is it more expensive now?), we are up to $280 already.
Is there a reason for anyone to go with Zotac ZBOX-BI320-U instead of ZBOX-BI320-U-W for $255 which comes with everything one needs to run Kodi?

Do these Zotacs and HP's offer sound over HDMI?

All these Haswell/Broadwell boxes support full HD/lossless audio over HDMI.