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    #16
    I attached a powered 4tb hard drive directly to my pi through a USB hub, so its definitely connected. openelx has a browser in it, but I'm a little curious as to why you need to browse the interwebs on a htpc when there's already so many other ways to do it but yeah.
    sold! But here's my build thread for those interested.

    http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=206864

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      #17
      Honestly, Ralph, if there's no issue with having a small PC tower sitting near your TV, that would probably be the easiest route. You can source old parts on ebay and craigslist that will most definitely suit your needs. It'll be inexpensive, easy to set up, and easy to upgrade or repair when something craps out on you. All of the other options suggested, including the Pi, Brix, and NUC, are just going to bring greater cost and/or complexity for the potentially unimportant benefit of a small size.






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        #18
        Originally posted by lbus9168 View Post
        I attached a powered 4tb hard drive directly to my pi through a USB hub, so its definitely connected. openelx has a browser in it, but I'm a little curious as to why you need to browse the interwebs on a htpc when there's already so many other ways to do it but yeah.
        That is what I am planning on doing. Connecting a external HDD to the HTPC so I can move movie files I want to keep on to it and not tax my internal HDD which may end up being an SSD.

        I don't really want to browse the web necessarily but on occasion it comes in handy as well as being able to watch movies on different websites if I can't find what I want elsewhere.

        My setup now is only my PS3....so we use it for Netflix and occasionally when I can watch a movie that doesn't stutter.

        I also use that for Amazon Prime which is the only other service we have.

        I can use the browser on the ps3 which is decent enough and I also have a browser built into my smart tv, but there will not be an experience as well as using my 60'' as a computer monitor browsing a real PC with a real browser as opposed to some glitchy half assed version.


        Like I said, that is not my goal. My goal is to have a unit that is connected via LAN and connected to my receiver and tv via HDMI that I can load up with blurays and other assorted media and play them back via VLC or or possibly PLEX so I do not need to stream everything and it is being sent to my tv over HDMI.

        I just want to have the functionality of a PC as opposed to something like the pi which is going to take a bit more work and be limited in certain aspects.

        As far as transcoding, I only needed to do that if I had to stream a file wirelessly to my ps3 as most of my movie files are MKV and the ps3 does not like that container. I will try and avoid MKV in the future but basically if I connect a mac mini or a mini pc, using VLC will bypass the need to worry about containers and/or transcoding as VLC plays almost every format I can think of.

        Im trying to find out what processor I should go with but I think ill just shoot for a quadcore as It should last me a bit for what I need to do.

        Originally posted by deevergote View Post
        Honestly, Ralph, if there's no issue with having a small PC tower sitting near your TV, that would probably be the easiest route. You can source old parts on ebay and craigslist that will most definitely suit your needs. It'll be inexpensive, easy to set up, and easy to upgrade or repair when something craps out on you. All of the other options suggested, including the Pi, Brix, and NUC, are just going to bring greater cost and/or complexity for the potentially unimportant benefit of a small size.
        Ya a small pc tower will be attractive to my daughter and also kind of an eye-sore.

        That is why im trying to do a mini pc. Ill throw it in the cabinet alongside my PS3 and the receiver and connect a fan to the back of the cabinet to pull out head as the receiver puts out a bit of heat and that is bad for a PC and be done with it. Everything will be hidden behind glass and will look modern.

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          #19
          I need to rig up a fan for my PS4. It's in an open cabinet (no door), bit heat still gets trapped. I'm pretty sure that's what killed my last two xbox360s!

          I can see how a tower would be attractive to the little one. Lights and buttons + young child = bad idea!

          You could always pick up a case like this:

          MicroATX form factor, so motherboards wouldn't be hard to find. Not sure how much space you'd have for upgraded video and audio cards, though. May not be necessary, depending on what sort of control and quality you want (onboard audio and video are good enough for most applications at this point.)

          What sort of space are you working with? Do you have a picture of your TV area?






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            #20
            Also a mini pc should be upgradeable for a while, not as upgradeable as full tower but somewhat.

            I forgot to mention that what I might also want to do, is make sure this HTPC is strong enough to transcode and stream because my tv in the bedroom is connected to a Sony Bluray player that has built in Ethernet. If the wife and I are in the bedroom and want to watch a movie, we can find the HTPC on the network and stream movies FROM the HTPC.

            I thought about just upgrading my main PC in the living room to do this but again, id have to stream to my main tv in the family room. If I have to stream id rather do it to the bedroom and have a direct connection for the family room.

            LOL.

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              #21
              Kodi/ xbmc has apps for nearly Everytging but your right, the pi does limit you.

              Id recommend doing as above, micro atx htpc setup, but somewhere hidden. Quad core is fine, htpc s don't need heaps of power.
              sold! But here's my build thread for those interested.

              http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=206864

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                #22
                Well Mr. Deev posted a picture yesterday of his pi and it has an HDMI out...

                I didn't realize they had HDMI out, so Ill investigate it more and see what I can do.

                Whatever I get, I definitely want it hidden.

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                  #23
                  Then a pi is perfect they're the size of a stack of cards ezpz.
                  sold! But here's my build thread for those interested.

                  http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=206864

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Buy an Intel NUC and run Kodi Linux, or the distro that I built that has this in mind. Kodi has everything you are looking and modules you can add and if you are feeling crazy you can even play some games on it (mostly emulator, and there is a Steam module). They around 200~400$ depending on what kind of spec you are looking for. More power than a Pi (which isn't bad either) and is about the same size just taller (when the pi is encased). I really need to come around more often!
                    The CB7 Collector.
                    Team Kindred Impulse Member #3
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                    Originally posted by deevergote
                    Do you really need to make a thread asking if having your car like this /---\ will cause uneven tire wear? Try walking like that for a few weeks and see if your shoes wear funny! (hint: they will.)

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                      #25
                      I have been doing this for years

                      I like a nice robust cabinet and at least an i3 processor. Main thing for video performance though is the video card, and then I think the next most important thing is RAM, once you have a good processor.

                      Something to consider is going 4K. I know you have your TV (I wish I had got one of the last plasmas!), but if you are going to build this you might want to future proof it and get a 4K card and a TV with 4:4:4 chroma subsampling. I have some expenses coming up but I think I am going to take that leap since I need a TV to play Forza on.

                      As far as streaming between two rooms, connect the two computers to a wired switch. For uncompressed 1080P I don't think wifi has enough bandwidth. You can even take a junk computer and make it a little file server... connect that to the LAN and stream off of that. Then you can just have little nodes with good video cards, a decent amount of RAM and an SSD just big enough to run your OS and programs on in each room with a TV. Theres a lot of ways to skin it.


                      Originally posted by lordoja
                      im with you on that one bro! aint nothing beat free food and drinks any day of the week, even if its at a funeral

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                        #26
                        Right now it is between a NUC unit and a Mac mini.

                        Honestly I know Mac is overpriced and it really does not have anything that is leaps or bounds over a NUC or pc, but there are two main reasons for wanting a mac as an HTPC-

                        1. Time machine- Windows cannot hold a candle to this. I am sure other people do just fine with backing up and restoring but when my wife got her new MacBook and used time machine to restore her old machine to the new one, literally it was a fucking duplicate. Apple does make everything so simple so EVERYONE can use it and I am techy and can install OS from USB drives lol....so I can do a lot of shit, but certain things do not need to be complicated. With a mac mini, I don't have to worry about losses. It backups itself and then if anything goes fubar, it is easy peezee to restore it to the exact way it was.

                        2. I will be converting over to a mac household at some point. My wife ONLY uses mac stuff, and I have a MacBook and my desktop is a PC. It is starting to show its age and this is the time where I would tear it down and build it up again but Id rather just invest in an imac and be done with it. I don't game anymore and I just want the ease of use that macs provide and I don't need windows for anything anymore. I mostly browse the web, do school work, and edit pictures for my photography business. All of that can be done on a mac.


                        I am, however, leaning towards a NUC unit as I like the ability to customize it and as far as I know, Apple is discontinuing the mac mini so even though It can be upgraded, at some point it will be dead in the water and ill have to move on anyway.

                        And besides, since the NUC are Intel, I am sure I can run OSX on it if I really wanted too.

                        As far as 4k is concerned, this unit states that it supports 4k display
                        http://www.amazon.com/Intel-NUC5i5RY...3&keywords=nuc

                        I am really not worried about it, as right now I obv do not have a 4k display and my plasma has only around 4-5k viewing hours so I am sure it has a bit of life left and I am trying to build a bare bones htpc for hundreds....don't really have 2-3k for a new tv haha.

                        And It might also be a gimmick like 3d. No networks display in 4k that I know of. So ill wait on that one. Bluray 1080p is more than enough for me.

                        When it comes to networking all the tvs, yea that is one way and you're right, more then one way to skin it-

                        I just want a direct connection to my Plasma as that is where we primarily watch tv and where my 5.1 system is....

                        the bedroom is a 47'' LED with no sound system.....so for that it would be streaming 720p or less......romcom, comedies, etc. So that is easy enough to stream to, esp with Plex. I just want to be able to play full 1080P files and have my tv as as the HTPC monitor so I don't have to bother with wireless or connectivity issues. I of course get the added bonus of browsing the web and maybe gaming although I wouldn't really because I have the PS3, Wii(with emulators), Sega, SNES, NES, and N64. LOL Got original systems na mean?
                        Last edited by Ralphie; 12-28-2015, 10:00 AM.

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                          #27
                          Originally posted by lbus9168 View Post
                          Kodi/ xbmc has apps for nearly Everytging but your right, the pi does limit you.

                          Id recommend doing as above, micro atx htpc setup, but somewhere hidden. Quad core is fine, htpc s don't need heaps of power.
                          Run Kodi/XBMC on a regular machine, then you have no limitations.
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                            #28
                            Originally posted by BreckAConner View Post
                            Run Kodi/XBMC on a regular machine, then you have no limitations.
                            Hence the NUC! It's a regular machine, it uses now a Skylake or Haswell desktop CPU and uses laptop RAM. I want like 6 of the damn things.
                            The CB7 Collector.
                            Team Kindred Impulse Member #3
                            92 LX Coupe F22A1
                            2013 Toyota Corolla S
                            92 EX Sedan F22A1
                            Originally posted by deevergote
                            Do you really need to make a thread asking if having your car like this /---\ will cause uneven tire wear? Try walking like that for a few weeks and see if your shoes wear funny! (hint: they will.)

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                              #29
                              I guess I should update-

                              I decided to cheap out and get an HDMI cable LMAO.

                              Since we are probably going to swap out my Windows desktop for an Imac in the next 6mos to a year, I figured I would wire my family room for HDMI and then just play from the imac when I get it. Itll be way more powerful than my 7 year old XPS machine.

                              So playing 1080P will be no problem. Instead of shelling out ~$400 for a machine that is going to sit in my entertainment system, I spent $50 and got a 75' run of HDMI with a signal booster. I hooked it up yesterday from my PC to my Denon and I got it configured and it is good. Picture quality is good and sound was good so now I just have to run it through my crawlspace and connect everything.

                              Then I need to bring my Bluetooth keyboard and mouse from home and set it up and see if the range will work so I can use it to browse instead of teamviewer LMAO.

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                                #30
                                I picked up a Logitech K400r to control my computer on the TV (and now my Raspberry Pi.) It's a neat device. Fairly small, without being an annoying mini-keyboard. It has a touchpad, which is WAY easier than trying to use a mouse on my coffee table! The touchpad is pretty responsive, too. I've had it for months, and I regularly forget to switch it off when I'm done... and the batteries haven't quit yet!






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