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Le0 posted:Any advice? Overkill. If you want the fastest speeds ever, the SSD works but honestly you don't even need it. I was using an old OCZ that came with my Zotac box for free. 8GB of memory is exteme overkill unless you're going to be using it (I doubt it)-- if it's just 720/1080 media, 2gb or 4gb will be perfectly fine. Otherwise, perfect setup for basically all media and such except HD audio (DTS-MA/TrueHD) but you'll still get DTS and everything will play smooth as butter.
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Jul 3, 2013 14:57
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So is the Logitech harmony smart hub a good product ? I have a spare android tablet, and all my equipment is on a rack in a spare room save for the projector. I primarily use xbmc and have a Logitech k400 keyboard for YouTube/browsing.
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Jul 4, 2013 00:48
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jonathan posted:So is the Logitech harmony smart hub a good product ? I have a spare android tablet, and all my equipment is on a rack in a spare room save for the projector. Get the harmony smart control. Its the newest version and comes with a sleek simple rf remote. The thing works amazing. I didn't even have to use the optional ir blaster cause the ir sender is so powerful. It can even control the ps3 and Wii without extra hardware. Don Lapre fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Jul 4, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 04:25
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Ixian posted:Haswell isn't going to get you much in the NUC - even the GPU (or more specifically, the version of the GPU they'd put in the NUC) isn't that much better. On the low end Haswell is about better battery life which doesn't apply, obviously. Hmm..this is interesting advice. I'm waiting for the Haswell NUC myself, but a cheaper version of the current NUC might be tempting. I wonder what the power consumption differences are, and how much "better" the Haswell chip is, especially if you just want to play ripped Blu-Rays, some emulators, and maybe a small Steam game or two.
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Jul 4, 2013 04:49
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dox posted:Overkill. If you want the fastest speeds ever, the SSD works but honestly you don't even need it. I was using an old OCZ that came with my Zotac box for free. 8GB of memory is exteme overkill unless you're going to be using it (I doubt it)-- if it's just 720/1080 media, 2gb or 4gb will be perfectly fine. I never used DTS-MA/TrueHD, I guess it won't be a problem for me. Thanks guys. So I revised my components. I choose 4 GB RAM cause the 2 GB sticks are not available from the shop I want to buy from. HDD : WD Blue Mobile, 5400rpm, 8MB, 2.5 Zoll, 500GB, SATA-II RAM : Kingston ValueRAM, 4GB, DDR3-1333, CL9, SODIMM Le0 fucked around with this message at 07:35 on Jul 4, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 07:04
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I don't know if it was a typo, but the WD Blue is not a SSD.
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Jul 4, 2013 07:33
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Oh yeah mislabelling! I dropped the idea of an SSD and just got some random laptop drive
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Jul 4, 2013 07:35
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Le0 posted:Oh yeah mislabelling! I dropped the idea of an SSD and just got some random laptop drive Looks fine. Don't forget you'll want a flash drive or external CD-ROM drive or something so you can actually install whatever you decide to use.
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Jul 4, 2013 07:39
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tarepanda posted:Looks fine. Don't forget you'll want a flash drive or external CD-ROM drive or something so you can actually install whatever you decide to use. Yep, I'll go with Openelec I guess, I already used it on my RPi and it works fine. I'll have to setup an SQL DB on my NAS as well.
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Jul 4, 2013 07:44
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Silly Burrito posted:Hmm..this is interesting advice. I'm waiting for the Haswell NUC myself, but a cheaper version of the current NUC might be tempting. I wonder what the power consumption differences are, and how much "better" the Haswell chip is, especially if you just want to play ripped Blu-Rays, some emulators, and maybe a small Steam game or two. The i3 Ivy Bridge NUC uses 17W, the Haswell equivalent in the upcoming one is 15W. That's pretty good news for a device with a battery; for the NUC I imagine it would translate in to less than a couple dollars a year in power savings, YMMV. Neither one will have a problem with ripped BDs, or any media really, or most emulators. "Small Steam games" depends on your definition of small - the HD 4400 used in the mobile Haswell is not, according to the benchmarks I've seen, all that much faster than the HD 4000 it replaces. You're looking at older Source Engine titles, the usual round up of Indies, and not much more. There are better graphics options available overall with Haswell chips, but I doubt you will see them in the tiny NUC. I think the fastest it is slated to get is the i5 version, which has an HD 5000 part - it's faster, but it's not really going to get you much more in modern PC games. Other than that, there is an all-aluminum fanless NUC coming out too, but I don't know about the specs or price of that one. The current NUCs I have are so quiet I'm not sure it matters but someone will care. Ixian fucked around with this message at 11:18 on Jul 4, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 11:15
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Ixian posted:The i3 Ivy Bridge NUC uses 17W, the Haswell equivalent in the upcoming one is 15W. That's pretty good news for a device with a battery; for the NUC I imagine it would translate in to less than a couple dollars a year in power savings, YMMV. Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm thinking of...a lot of those Humble Indie Bundle games, HL2, emulators...nothing that should be too taxing, I would hope. Sounds like the power concerns and updated graphics wouldn't be a quantum leap over what's available now. That was a really thoughtful post, thanks! Hmm...I might have to keep an eye out for a cheaper i3 instead. If I'm not mistaken, I'd lose IR capabilities, but I already have 2 IR USB adapters.
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Jul 4, 2013 11:42
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The Gigabyte Brix is a NUC knockoff that looks pretty appealing for a HTPC: http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1208 ...if cost isn't an issue.
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Jul 4, 2013 21:03
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ffej posted:The Gigabyte Brix is a NUC knockoff that looks pretty appealing for a HTPC: http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1208 That's the same board as the NUC, only Gigabyte subbed in a USB 3 controller and swapped one HDMI port for a DP - same as the new NUC, basically, except the Brix is still using Ivy Bridge CPU's. I don't know if it'd be worth the wait or money, really. If Intel hadn't added USB 3 and DP to their Haswell NUC (and IR and Analog out as well, which the Brix doesn't have) it'd be a different story but now there's literally no reason not to buy that over the Brix.
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Jul 4, 2013 22:30
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Does anyone have any experience with IR remotes with built-in keyboards that work over HDMI-CEC? I have an AD12 with OpenElec on it and was thinking I'd set it up to use HDMI-CEC, since my AD12 is in a moderately inconvenient spot to pick up IR on its own. Having a keyboard would make my life way less painful when searching for stuff, but I have no idea if that even works over HDMI-CEC. I'd also want to use this with my Blu-Ray player, but that shouldn't be too much of a challenge. If anyone has specific remotes that they like, that'd be nice to know. That Harmony Smart Control thing is kinda interesting, but I really don't care to use my smartphone with my TV.
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Jul 4, 2013 22:55
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I think that I have settled on building something instead of buying a Zbox/NUC. This probably seems overkill for a HTPC but I'd like to also run a Wii/GC emulator among some other tasks (hence the Motherboard, RAM, CPU, Case. poxin fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Jul 5, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 23:24
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For lack of a direct answer to this that I could find, can anyone recommend a good, small wireless keyboard/mouse with good range? I've currently got a fullsized, plasticky keyboard that's both a pain in the rear end and has awful range. I'd prefer one of those neat ones I've seen that is a remote on one side and a keyboard on the other, but only if it has a mouse integrated into it. Otherwise, just a small keyboard/mouse combo would be great.
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Jul 5, 2013 22:12
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I'm hoping someone will post to say how great the Rii bluetooth mini keyboard/touchpad thing is. It looks great, so hopefully it isn't a pile of poo poo.
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Jul 6, 2013 00:31
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Gromit posted:I'm hoping someone will post to say how great the Rii bluetooth mini keyboard/touchpad thing is. It looks great, so hopefully it isn't a pile of poo poo. I have an rf version and it works ok. Range isn't the best.
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Jul 6, 2013 00:36
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wow, yeah that does look awesome. I don't even have a huge room, like maybe 5-6 ft from the media center, is the range that good or worse?
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Jul 6, 2013 02:22
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Falcon2001 posted:wow, yeah that does look awesome. I don't even have a huge room, like maybe 5-6 ft from the media center, is the range that good or worse? 5-6 feet should be fine. I am probably 8-9 feet and i can control it from my couch as long as i wrap my pointer finger around the top left corner. Which i do anyway when im typing. Its perfectly usable for making GBS threads around youtube occasionally or doing a little work in the OS.
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Jul 6, 2013 03:26
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This is more of a home electrical question, but it's for an HTPC setup so whatever. If there's a better place to ask let me know. I moved into an old historical building and the room I want to set up my HTPC in only has 2-pronged plugs that don't accept plugs where the prongs are different widths (one wider than the other). This is either because that's how the plugs are made or because they've been painted over so many times - it's hard to tell. (This is in the US) In any case, this obviously a problem as everything I have is either mixed-width plugs or 3-pronged. What are my options here? A friend of mine told me I can trim down the wide plug on one of those 2-to-3 converter things and to run the ground wire to the radiator or plumbing. Will that work for plugging in a power strip?
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Jul 6, 2013 04:08
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Clanpot Shake posted:This is more of a home electrical question, but it's for an HTPC setup so whatever. If there's a better place to ask let me know. You don't need the ground for things to work. Though it is safer
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Jul 6, 2013 05:52
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Clanpot Shake posted:This is more of a home electrical question, but it's for an HTPC setup so whatever. If there's a better place to ask let me know. From my very brief reading of electrical standards, the different-height prongs were a standard long before the ground pin came along. I'm pretty sure you are correct that your wallplate has been painted over. Can you throw a breaker and scrape it out with a knife? e: VVVVVVVVVVVV that as well mewse fucked around with this message at 08:30 on Jul 6, 2013 |
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Jul 6, 2013 05:59
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mewse posted:From my very brief reading of electrical standards, the different-height prongs were a standard long before the ground pin came along. I'm pretty sure you are correct that your wallplate has been painted over. Can you throw a breaker and scrape it out with a knife? Switching over to modern receptacles is cheap. Each one is like a buck fifty.
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Jul 6, 2013 06:21
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jonathan posted:Switching over to modern receptacles is cheap. Each one is like a buck fifty. If you're renting and can't replace those yourself, the plug adapters to allow grounded plugs in older outlets are ALSO cheap, and the proper way to use them is very simple, and non-destructive. Unscrew the center screw from the cover for the receptacle, plug in the adapter, and screw it back in. This will ground the plug directly to the box in the wall. This is, of course, assuming that the central screw is properly connected to ground, which may not be the case in a historical home.
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Jul 6, 2013 13:52
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jonathan posted:Switching over to modern receptacles is cheap. Each one is like a buck fifty. But realize it doesn't actually add a ground. And they are supposed to be labeled as not grounded if you do this.
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Jul 6, 2013 13:56
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Sorry I meant the ones with the larger slot on one side. Fishing 3 conductor wire no thanks.
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Jul 6, 2013 18:16
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Guys, I need a little clarity here, I've got a half formed idea and I need someone to tell me if I'm nuts or fumbling towards success. I've been wanting to build a mame cabinet and a HTPC separately for a while now, but, what if I combine them both? Could I put a zotac box or a brix or nuc in a cabinet, feed a monitor and then run an hdmi cable from the cabinet to my TV and use it for either a media center or a mame machine? Would this work or am I just jerking off?
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Jul 8, 2013 18:07
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Cricken_Nigfops posted:Guys, I need a little clarity here, I've got a half formed idea and I need someone to tell me if I'm nuts or fumbling towards success. Well yes it would work. Its going to be silly though and you might as well buy 2 zotacs.
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Jul 8, 2013 18:10
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Yay. My AD12 just up and stopped working. The unit won't power on at all (the power cord has power to it). Looks like I get to RMA it after 6 months of it working. Lame.
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Jul 8, 2013 19:01
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Braincloud posted:Yay. My AD12 just up and stopped working. The unit won't power on at all (the power cord has power to it). Looks like I get to RMA it after 6 months of it working. Lame. When you say the power cord has power to it, did you actually test it at the jack?
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Jul 8, 2013 19:01
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Don Lapre posted:When you say the power cord has power to it, did you actually test it at the jack? I've misplaced my multi-meter to test that. The little green light is on the transformer box on the power adapter though...
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Jul 8, 2013 20:51
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I've been getting some oddness lately with my system- I'm using a Hauppauge 2650 cablecard tuner with a tuning adapter, and sort of randomly different HD channels will refuse to tune. I'm suspecting that either the tuning adapter is having an issue or the cable signal is having some sort of interference- the line is split several times to go into different rooms in the house, but I haven't noticed any issues with signal in other rooms or with my cable modem.
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Jul 8, 2013 21:07
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Cricken_Nigfops posted:Guys, I need a little clarity here, I've got a half formed idea and I need someone to tell me if I'm nuts or fumbling towards success. Don't buy a brix and just get two NUCs or AD12. You could technically do what you are talking about but....why. Also if you let go of the whole "arcade cabinet" part you would end up doing what tons of people do, which is use XBMC with a ROM addon and a regular TV/controller.
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Jul 8, 2013 21:47
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So tempted to replace my aging Revo with this. And it's only $30 more than the Core i3 model (AT-7300). What the hell, I know I'm going to succumb at some point...
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Jul 10, 2013 21:51
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agarjogger posted:Anybody know of a low-profile USB FM tuner? I can only find two on all of Amazon, really, and they're both huge. I want my laptop to be less useless outside of wifi range. Wouldn't have thought it would be easier to get HD television on it than the local public radio station. What I'd really like is to stick the radio tuner in the forever-free Expresscard slot, but this just seems an impossibility per Google. A bit late, but have you considered Software Defined Radio (SDR)? You can get an realtek based (rtl-sdr) dongle for $20 that can tune anything from 52MHz - 2200Mhz. Not only can you tune FM radio stations (Wide Band FM), but also listen to local law enforcement and others. I'm not aware of an express card cable SDR, but they might be out there... the USB dongles are no bigger than a thumb drive (plus an antenna).
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Jul 10, 2013 22:11
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Fourteen posted:So tempted to replace my aging Revo with this. And it's only $30 more than the Core i3 model (AT-7300). I have the AMD version with th e-350 and its kind of noisy. It fit my budget at the time but I'm savings some bucks for something better. Eyeing up the new NUCs when they come available or maybe a discounted old one.
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Jul 10, 2013 23:55
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Has anyone run Plex on a Raspberry Pi as a HTPC, via XBMC? My needs/wants are pretty basic. I have an Oppo BDP-83 which I might as well keep until it dies, because it's a wicked DVD upconverter. So I don't need anything for DVD/BluRay playback. I'm sick of carting my digital files back and forth to watch shows, but I also don't want to spend a lot of money just for the convenience. I'm considering a NAS solution, maybe just a 2TB drive - my router supports it, and it'd be a great way to get my media off of my main computer and onto a remote drive. In that case, I'd need to use Plex to stream files to the TV... and RasPlex is moving pretty slowly, it seems. Has anyone done this? As a side-note - is there anything I can get for < $200 that would support everything one would desire in a HTPC but also support Emulator gaming? 'Cause once I start thinking about the NAS, I think "well why not just have the NAS connect to the TV instead of having an extra box - and if I'm doing that, I might as well add gaming" and holy gently caress it's leading me down all kinds of crazy paths and it's impossible to pick one!
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Jul 11, 2013 02:13
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I light fires posted:I have the AMD version with th e-350 and its kind of noisy. It fit my budget at the time but I'm savings some bucks for something better. Eyeing up the new NUCs when they come available or maybe a discounted old one. Really? Interesting. Guess I will hold out for some reviews then.
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Jul 11, 2013 02:22
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Ya, it was annoying enough that I stuck it in cabinet behind a door so I didn't have to hear it. I can't hear it now when something is playing or people are talking in the room but if its night time and I'm alone I can hear it whirring away but hey I only paid 140 bucks plus it came with a free ssd. It's not awful but it is certainly louder than something advertised as "noiseless". The e-350 runs pretty warm though so if the intel chips were cool enough you might not have any issue.
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Jul 11, 2013 07:42
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