Need new media streamer for >$200

E

Edgar

2[H]4U
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Jul 24, 2005
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Since apple did not announce a new apple tv. I need to buy a replacement for my boxee box since the wifi on it died.

I need something that has wifi since I have no way of hardwiring it. Needs to play my 1080p mkv's with DTS audio.

Would LOVE it to have XBMC support. Also, if it could look somewhat "pretty" since it will be out in the open.

Anything like that exist? Suggestions appreciated.
 
The Celeron based NUC is $100 less and will still play anything you throw at it without issue. Using one as a HTPC myself.
 
Rasperry Pi is the cheapest solution. You can add a wifi usb dongle, power it with a standard micro-usb power supply like for any phone, add storage via sd card, and it will play 1080p mkv.

Do you have a receiver which takes DTS? The Pi is not powerful enough to decode DTS in software.
 
Blue Fox said:
The Celeron based NUC is $100 less and will still play anything you throw at it without issue. Using one as a HTPC myself.
Click to expand...

Well that is the question, if it can handle 1080p with DTS HD, i remember from somwhere that that is exactly the only thing Celeron 847 couldn't handle, but maybe it is not true anymore.
 
That unfortunately I cannot tell you. All the DTS-HD content I have has been converted to FLAC. No issues with 8 channel FLAC however.
 
Yes i have a receiver that does DTS. So it has to be 1080p and DTS capable.
 
Well, there's a difference between DTS and DTS-HD. Pretty much anything can do the former. If you lot can point me to some content with DTS-HD, I can go ahead and test it for you.
 
Please test Blue Fox. If it decodes without stuttering. I'm all over it!
 
Looks like I have to buy RAM for this? How expensive is it? I need something to be below $200 after tax. Maybe I should put up a WTB thread? I don't mind if the unit is used.
 
It just takes normal DDR3 SODIMMs. A 2gb stick should suffice and keep it under $200. The NUC + RAM + USB flash drive can easily be had for that amount.
 
MrCrispy said:
Does your receiver decode DTS-MA or TrueHD?
Click to expand...

I actually have a soundbar that does DTS-ma and truehd. It's the Sony ct550w. Leaps and bounds better than my tv speakers. Does not distort either.

@blue fox. Are you running on openelec?
 
EdGaRRRRR said:
Looks like I have to buy RAM for this? How expensive is it? I need something to be below $200 after tax. Maybe I should put up a WTB thread? I don't mind if the unit is used.
Click to expand...

$152.99 - http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Next-Computing-Black-BOXDCCP847DYE/dp/B00B7I8HZ4/
$19.99 - http://www.amazon.com/Mushkin-Enhanced-Essentials-Laptop-991643/dp/B003TSTDOE/

$172.98 without SSD.

Now it is your decision if what storage system you buy for OpenELEC - you can buy an USB drive, use an USB drive you already have or get something like this mSATA drive for $41.99 - http://www.amazon.com/Premier-SP310-mSATA-Solid-ASP310S3-32GM-C/dp/B00ELQZD10/ . Of course that mSATA drive is an overkill, OpenELEC would do fine with 4GB too, but no one makes such small mSATA drives :).

And if you later decide that you want it to be completely passive, you can get a passive case :
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2...um_NUC_Case_-_VESA_Mountable_AK-ITX07-BK.html :D
 
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Would something like this be better?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856164005

The reason being it has wifi already. The intel nuc I would still need to buy a wifi dongle. I would love to snake some ethernet to my living room, but I can't pay someone to do it and I don't know how to do it. So wifi is a must.

Also comes with power cord so you don't have to buy that either.
 
@blue fox how do you/or others handle things like netflix/hulu/amazon on the nuc. Or how do they handle it on openelec?
 
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Do you notice any performance decrease by not electing to go with 16 gb of ram, or the lower CPU's? Have you guys tried 3D playback?
 
EdGaRRRRR said:
@blue fox how do you/or others handle things like netflix/hulu/amazon on the nuc. Or how do they handle it on openelec?
Click to expand...
Sorry, don't use any of that.
Mystique said:
Do you notice any performance decrease by not electing to go with 16 gb of ram, or the lower CPU's? Have you guys tried 3D playback?
Click to expand...
I have 2gb of RAM in mine and I can't imagine why you'd need more for media playback. Could probably get by with 1gb even. Can't test 3D unfortunately as my projector doesn't support it.
 
This is what I've parted out.

Intel NUC:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B7I8HZ4...TF8&colid=1YUSH944I0TC9&coliid=I1JMQ83H6BDD5Y $153

RAM:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0065SMVVW...UTF8&colid=1YUSH944I0TC9&coliid=IVO1T227Q8IF5 $20

WiFi card + Bluetooth (so I have the option of adding bluetooth support. Wifi does 2.4 and 5 GHZ):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007QXLIWI...TF8&colid=1YUSH944I0TC9&coliid=I1SMR3S82EIL3A $22

Power cable since I need it:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000234TYI...TF8&colid=1YUSH944I0TC9&coliid=I35ER0O4U22IO8 $4

Comes out to $199. I have a cheapo 4GB flash drive to run openelec. Think that will be enough? Do I really need a msata drive? Or will openelec run in the memory just fine(why I opted for 4GB's instead of 2)

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks again for the help.
 
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2gb of RAM is plenty and it will run from a flash drive just fine. I use a regular WMC remote with USB receiver. They can be picked up rather cheap on eBay (or elsewhere).
 
So would you rather get the kingston 2GB of ram instead of the less known SuperTalent 4GB of ram? Both $20.
 
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