I dropped cable TV 3 months ago and have been using Plex as the main source of movies and TV shows. Also, with the new Airplay feature in Plex it makes my Apple TV less relevant.
We just moved to a new house where I'm mounting our two HDTVs on the wall in our living room and bedroom. Because we don't really want any AV gear hanging around I've been told I can build two new Plex client HTPCs as long as they are kept out of sight or are not very visible. My original full-szie HTPC will be used in the basement to run a projector but that won't be set up for a little while.
So, I was hoping to get recommendations on what to use for small HTPCs that will run Plex Home Theater 95% of the time. I just need an HDMI connection to the TV and while they will be eventually hardwired with Ethernet they'll need wireless until I get the wires run. Other than that I'll be connecting a Lenovo N5902 remote keyboard.
Should I go with a barebones system and just add a SSD and RAM or should I build them from scratch with a mini-ITX board?
How good is the Intel NUC? What about the Foxconn HM76-based barebones systems? Should I consider AMD-based? If so, which chipset would give good enough performance?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,
We just moved to a new house where I'm mounting our two HDTVs on the wall in our living room and bedroom. Because we don't really want any AV gear hanging around I've been told I can build two new Plex client HTPCs as long as they are kept out of sight or are not very visible. My original full-szie HTPC will be used in the basement to run a projector but that won't be set up for a little while.
So, I was hoping to get recommendations on what to use for small HTPCs that will run Plex Home Theater 95% of the time. I just need an HDMI connection to the TV and while they will be eventually hardwired with Ethernet they'll need wireless until I get the wires run. Other than that I'll be connecting a Lenovo N5902 remote keyboard.
Should I go with a barebones system and just add a SSD and RAM or should I build them from scratch with a mini-ITX board?
How good is the Intel NUC? What about the Foxconn HM76-based barebones systems? Should I consider AMD-based? If so, which chipset would give good enough performance?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,