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HTPC on a budget...or just something that can stream my video files

Hello,

 

I am looking for some advice. I am trying to find an HTPC on a budget or a device that can stream 1080p videos to the TVs on my home network. I can build my own PC, or I can turn to a mini device, like an Amazon Fire, Roku, AppleTV or something along those lines. I want to be able to hook my external HDD (or have my files stored locally on device) and stream videos. I know that I can pretty much do this with a device with XBMC. 

 

So, basically I want to stream 1080p (and possibly 3D, but not a priority) from a device/PC to me TVs.

 

Thank you in advance for any and all help, advice and suggestions.

 

Johnny

CPU: Intel i7 3770K | Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UDH4 | RAM: 8 GB Blue Ares | GPU: Gigabyte Windforce 780 GHz Edition | Case: Corsair C70 Vengeance Arctic White | Storage: 250 GB SSD Corsair Neutron - 128 GB SSD Kingston - 1 TB WD Black | PSU: Corsair 850 watt | Display: 3 x Dell S2340M 23-Inch IPS 

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Raspberry Pi

Intel NUC

Mini itx pc

android stick (no usb port on most though)

Ouya/Nvidia shield

Tablet

Apple TV/Chromecast etc

 

there are tons of options I guess

 

Really depends what you want to do, and what you want to spend

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Raspberry Pi

Intel NUC

Mini itx pc

android stick (no usb port on most though)

Ouya/Nvidia shield

Tablet

Apple TV/Chromecast etc

 

there are tons of options I guess

 

Really depends what you want to do, and what you want to spend

Yeah. I think I would like to stay between $200-300, but would really like to stay at the former. 

 

AMD sephron 3850

I will have to check that out. This combo would do the trick?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1659467

CPU: Intel i7 3770K | Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UDH4 | RAM: 8 GB Blue Ares | GPU: Gigabyte Windforce 780 GHz Edition | Case: Corsair C70 Vengeance Arctic White | Storage: 250 GB SSD Corsair Neutron - 128 GB SSD Kingston - 1 TB WD Black | PSU: Corsair 850 watt | Display: 3 x Dell S2340M 23-Inch IPS 

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Something like this:

 

 

AMD Sempron 3850 1.30GHz & ASUS AM1M-A
 
 
Or if you can still find Zacate boards, they can do the job, and should be cheep ;)
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Do you guys think it is worth building one or getting a pre-built device like Amazon Fire, AppleTV, Roku...etc? I mean, I really do not need a full featured Windows machine.

CPU: Intel i7 3770K | Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UDH4 | RAM: 8 GB Blue Ares | GPU: Gigabyte Windforce 780 GHz Edition | Case: Corsair C70 Vengeance Arctic White | Storage: 250 GB SSD Corsair Neutron - 128 GB SSD Kingston - 1 TB WD Black | PSU: Corsair 850 watt | Display: 3 x Dell S2340M 23-Inch IPS 

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You can go for the Raspberry Pi then, and run Openelec or Raspbmc on it :)

 

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Do you guys think it is worth building one or getting a pre-built device like Amazon Fire, AppleTV, Roku...etc? I mean, I really do not need a full featured Windows machine.

Honestly, I'd highly recommend getting a Roku 3 or WD Live TV (Or Apple TV if you're heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, all your devices are iOS or Mac OS X, etc). Both are fantastic little units which are more powerful than a Chromecast and there is no lag or delay when switching to another video.

 

You can stream local 1080p content in a variety of formats including h.264 MKV and MP4, which are your common formats nowadays anyway. You can stream from a attached USB HDD, or over the network from a NAS or a PC with a shared drive.

 

The best setup is to use a PC as a Plex Media Server. You can even use your gaming desktop if you have one, but it is best to have a dedicated media server (though dedicated server is not required).

 

As for 3D playback, the WD Live TV definitely supports some varieties of 3D playback. They don't officially support it but the features are there and it works for many users:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9385/~/3d-support-on-wd-tv-live-products

 

AppleTV is also capable of some variety of 3D as well. I personally don't have a 3D capable HDTV so I cannot verify either of these are the kinds of 3D you want.

 

As for the Roku 3, I can't find any info on 3D one way or the other *shrugs*.

 

It does seem like none of these media boxes support "Full Frame Packed 3D" due to resolution and processing limitations. We may see this eventually in newer devices. You'll need a full HTPC or a dedicated 3D blu-ray player for that.

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Honestly, I'd highly recommend getting a Roku 3 or WD Live TV (Or Apple TV if you're heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, all your devices are iOS or Mac OS X, etc). Both are fantastic little units which are more powerful than a Chromecast and there is no lag or delay when switching to another video.

 

You can stream local 1080p content in a variety of formats including h.264 MKV and MP4, which are your common formats nowadays anyway. You can stream from a attached USB HDD, or over the network from a NAS or a PC with a shared drive.

 

The best setup is to use a PC as a Plex Media Server. You can even use your gaming desktop if you have one, but it is best to have a dedicated media server (though dedicated server is not required).

 

As for 3D playback, the WD Live TV definitely supports some varieties of 3D playback. They don't officially support it but the features are there and it works for many users:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9385/~/3d-support-on-wd-tv-live-products

 

AppleTV is also capable of some variety of 3D as well. I personally don't have a 3D capable HDTV so I cannot verify either of these are the kinds of 3D you want.

 

As for the Roku 3, I can't find any info on 3D one way or the other *shrugs*.

 

It does seem like none of these media boxes support "Full Frame Packed 3D" due to resolution and processing limitations. We may see this eventually in newer devices. You'll need a full HTPC or a dedicated 3D blu-ray player for that.

Thanks for the great info!

 

I think that I will definitely look into the Roku 3. I have been reading up on it and sounds like that may be the one to go with. I don't really need 3D, but I thought I would throw that in there, too. I am thinking about a very inexpensive HTPC. I have SmartTVs throughout the house, so I guess XBMC could really serve the video files on the external HDD. Something to think about, for sure.

 

Thanks!

CPU: Intel i7 3770K | Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UDH4 | RAM: 8 GB Blue Ares | GPU: Gigabyte Windforce 780 GHz Edition | Case: Corsair C70 Vengeance Arctic White | Storage: 250 GB SSD Corsair Neutron - 128 GB SSD Kingston - 1 TB WD Black | PSU: Corsair 850 watt | Display: 3 x Dell S2340M 23-Inch IPS 

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My server is running Plex with my whole DVD/CD collection. If your TV supports DLNA, it can stream right to that. I also have Chromecast, which is a good thing with that too!

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I have a server running plex and a raspi which runs on rasplex. Works like a charm, they really boosted the performance of the plex distribution with openelec ... 

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