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Pick the Right Kodi Box (UPDATED FEB 2015)
Now i got it, so my best bet is to wait for some NUC that has hdmi 2.0 or build a custom?

Because I was really looking to buy that NUC5PPYH, but i want to be full future proof.

And PS: purely for my information, noob question but how come i3 and i5 nucs wont decode hevc?
There is partial HEVC support in Windows I believe. Not using Kodi on Windows either. Noggin has a Haswell NUC that he tested these new Intel drivers out on a while back. He has more details on this....

More details in this thread too:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=215305

BTW:When I was looking at 1080p 8-bit HEVC support, I looked at all the same things you did. Gave up in the end and just bought a $37 AMLogic S805 - C1+ to run OpenELEC on, and 24p 1080p HEVC playback is now flawless. Smile

(2015-11-06, 02:39)djhifi Wrote: And PS: purely for my information, noob question but how come i3 and i5 nucs wont decode hevc?

The Haswell i3/i5 NUCs are from a CPU/GPU generation before HEVC full hardware decoding was available. Put simply, they are too old.

Intel have implemented Hybrid GPU/CPU decoding for HEVC on them in Windows, which effectively offloads the bits of H265/HEVC that are similar to H264/AVC to the GPU, but the bits that are newer to the CPU. It helps a bit, but doesn't come close to the level of performance you get with full GPU decode (as newer Intel CPUs offer). However these drivers are Windows only.
Hey Guys, looking for suggestions on a box for my needs.

It will be used as a daily PC using Windows and basic applications (nothing heavy)
At night/weekends it will be moved and plugged into my Home Theater room/setup and playback MakeMKV created Blu-ray files from USB.
I also want it to be portable enough so I can pack it up and take it with me on trips or to friends/family house, along with a portable HDD and keyboard etc.

Must have features:
1: Windows.
2: Bitstream HD audio included latest formats like Dolby Atmos.
3. Portable.
4: Wired Ethernet and USB.
5. 2.5 HDD if possible.

Not bothered about:
3D, Full BD Menus, remotes or WiFi.

Ideally want to spend around $300 (I already have a spare Windows license and SSD for OS) may stretch a little though.
Something like a ASRock Beebox seemed perfect but is missing HD audio Bitstream in Windows, so anything similar to that would be ideal I think.

Thanks for any help/suggestions.
Alright, a non techy newbie here, copy and pasting command lines to fix IP address issues on my laptop is confusing enough for me for reference. A week ago, I was just going to snag a firestick with kodi on it and be done, but my soon to be former employer, decided to throw some incentive payouts onto some rip off (drop shipping) store, while browsing products there, I was led here while doing research on products. Unfortunately, no hardware there is of use. So have a tight budget, as it's going to be out of pocket. Read thru the forums here all day yesterday, and am now probably as confused, if not more than before.

Basically am going to be using it to stream movies online thru kodi, a few add ons and maybe put a handful of movies I have onto it. The out of the box Chinese boxes were appealing until finding out there's no support for them, and other reasons. So a nexus player is pretty appealing with the price point, and seems simple enough to get hooked up. Reading thru that thread got me a tad confused if it's not needing tinkering with what I want to do. The rasberry pi2 seems really cool and fun to learn on, but maybe as a secondary project later, as for now I want something I can get set up and use now.

So, keeping it under $100, and somewhat ease of use for now, is the nexus the way to go? I recall another cheaper hardware that ran amlogic 805 (?) mentioned but heads spinning after all the reading I've done, any other suggestions, input , etc? Also, have netflix on my Xbox one/vizio smart(dumb) tv that my gf uses, so Netflix, Hulu, etc aren't of concern

Also, I stumbled upon this while posting this, it doesn't say NOOBS is preloaded with those bad add ons, but thoughts in this package? If it's bad, let me know mods I'll edit post. http://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-...y+pi&psc=1
(2015-11-06, 16:44)egtrev Wrote: Hey Guys, looking for suggestions on a box for my needs.

It will be used as a daily PC using Windows and basic applications (nothing heavy)
At night/weekends it will be moved and plugged into my Home Theater room/setup and playback MakeMKV created Blu-ray files from USB.
I also want it to be portable enough so I can pack it up and take it with me on trips or to friends/family house, along with a portable HDD and keyboard etc.

Must have features:
1: Windows.
2: Bitstream HD audio included latest formats like Dolby Atmos.
3. Portable.
4: Wired Ethernet and USB.
5. 2.5 HDD if possible.

Not bothered about:
3D, Full BD Menus, remotes or WiFi.

Ideally want to spend around $300 (I already have a spare Windows license and SSD for OS) may stretch a little though.
Something like a ASRock Beebox seemed perfect but is missing HD audio Bitstream in Windows, so anything similar to that would be ideal I think.

Thanks for any help/suggestions.
A good solid proven box this one:

$130 (on Amazon) - Barebones, Intel Haswell Microarchitecture (same as Chromebox) equipped, Zotac BI320:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=211925

Minor differences over a Chromebox are listed here:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid1871938

(2015-11-08, 21:56)HeadSpinningNewb Wrote: So, keeping it under $100, and somewhat ease of use for now, is the nexus the way to go? I recall another cheaper hardware that ran amlogic 805 (?) mentioned but heads spinning after all the reading I've done, any other suggestions, input , etc? Also, have netflix on my Xbox one/vizio smart(dumb) tv that my gf uses, so Netflix, Hulu, etc aren't of concern

Also, I stumbled upon this while posting this, it doesn't say NOOBS is preloaded with those bad add ons, but thoughts in this package? If it's bad, let me know mods I'll edit post. http://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-...y+pi&psc=1
The fastest way to run Kodi on cheap low powered ARM devices, is using OpenELEC(or OSMC on the RPI2). This is recommended because you will be running a very slimmed down version of Linux to run Kodi. Once setup is pretty much maintenance free and runs with fewer problems the using Kodi on Android.

In the $100 price range there are only two devices that I would recommend to run OpenELEC with minimal fuss. Those being the RPi2, which you have already found and the AMLogic S805 - ODROID C1+ which I compile images for.

A good RPi - Newb rundown of OpenELEC and another OS that runs Kodi - OSMC is found here:
http://mymediaexperience.com/raspberry-p...h-raspbmc/

If you are going down that route, first questions to be asked are:
Do you have a HDMI CEC compatible TV, and what brand is it ?
http://www.howtogeek.com/207186/how-to-e...ou-should/

Will you be using Ethernet or WiFi ?

Your post is somewhat confusing, if you want a Plug N Play Box with minimal fuss then yes the Google Nexus Player is recommended over the FireTV. There have been some bargains from Target stores with this Nexus box recently too.

I am looking for a replacement of my old WDTV Live. I have a FullHD TV and a hd-audio capable receiver. I watch most of my movies streaming from my NAS to the WDTV.

I have been eyeballing the new FireTV box because it has some features i would like to have
1. can run KODI for local streaming and the netflix/amazon app aswell
2. HEVC support
3. HD-audio passthrough although I saw you( wrxtasy) posted multiple times that it is apparently not working but then again i also read that it is fixed with the newest fireOS version
4. the price


The shield looks good aswell as it has all those features but €200 is alot for me atm. I dont really care about 3d support.
(2015-11-10, 13:40)h3llhound Wrote: I am looking for a replacement of my old WDTV Live. I have a FullHD TV and a hd-audio capable receiver. I watch most of my movies streaming from my NAS to the WDTV.

I have been eyeballing the new FireTV box because it has some features i would like to have
1. can run KODI for local streaming and the netflix/amazon app aswell
2. HEVC support
3. HD-audio passthrough although I saw you( wrxtasy) posted multiple times that it is apparently not working but then again i also read that it is fixed with the newest fireOS version
4. the price


The shield looks good aswell as it has all those features but €200 is alot for me atm. I dont really care about 3d support.

AIUI Shield doesn't have HD Audio support in Kodi - and AIUI the way it has been implemented by nVidia may mean that it is non-trivial (i.e. may take a little time) to implement within Kodi. (I may be wrong of course)
*** EDIT - may be closer than I thought! ***

If you want HEVC 1080p and HD Audio support then I'd suggest a Braswell platform might be the way to go. You'll need to run Windows if you want 5.1 audio in Netflix as you don't get this in the browser version (which is all you have under Linux), just the Windows app - and you'll need a wireless keyboard-type remote not just a regular IR remote as navigating the app isn't remote-friendly.

I'm not sure if HEVC decode is supported on Braswell under Windows Kodi, if it isn't you'd need to dual boot to OpenElec or another Linux solution.

The forthcoming Cherry Trail stuff may also do what you want at a lower price point than Braswell, but avoid the Baytrail-T stuff (no HEVC and very weak GPU)

**** EDIT : Fritsch's post below appears to suggest that HD Audio is closer to appearing on the Shield console than I thought. Happy to be corrected! ****
Nope :-) - see: https://github.com/koying/xbmc/commits/master

First part already done for Android.
First decide what functions / features you expect from a system. Then decide for the hardware. Don't waste your money on crap.
(2015-11-10, 14:36)fritsch Wrote: Nope :-) - see: https://github.com/koying/xbmc/commits/master

First part already done for Android.

So - I'm wrong and HD Audio is imminent for nVidia Shield Kodi? If so - hurray! Well done koying and co.
We need some bigger AudioEngine refactoring / changes as Android does not use encapsulated stream data, but only wants the data bits and does encapsulation itself. I am not 100% sure for v16 stable, but koying won't stop before all is done :-)
First decide what functions / features you expect from a system. Then decide for the hardware. Don't waste your money on crap.
Nice work. Smile
Whats really needed is some cloning technology, to clone the talented Kodi devs!

@ fritsch - is this AudioEngine refactoring you are talking about the same stuff that Christian is talking about for the AMLogic S812-H running Lollipop ?

(2015-11-10, 12:11)ChristianTroy Wrote: HD audio passtrough works using apps that use Android APIs, I'm speaking with Koying right now to see if Kodi can find a way to do the same, but such APIs are too high level for the way Kodi is designed.

(2015-11-10, 17:22)wrxtasy Wrote: Nice work. Smile
Whats really needed is some cloning technology, to clone the talented Kodi devs!

@ fritsch - is this AudioEngine refactoring you are talking about the same stuff that Christian is talking about for the AMLogic S812-H running Lollipop ?

(2015-11-10, 12:11)ChristianTroy Wrote: HD audio passtrough works using apps that use Android APIs, I'm speaking with Koying right now to see if Kodi can find a way to do the same, but such APIs are too high level for the way Kodi is designed.

Who is Christian?
First decide what functions / features you expect from a system. Then decide for the hardware. Don't waste your money on crap.
WeTek Android dev.

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