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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > HTPC vs Media Boxes (Roku, Apple TV, SHIELD, etc)
 
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Vinlaen
Feb 19, 2008

 What's the benefit to having a dedicated HTPC versus using a media box such as Roku, Apple TV, NVidia Shield, etc?

I've been using XBMC (now Kodi) since the original X-Box days. I originally replaced my X-Box with a dedicated HTPC (running XMBC/Kodi) because of HD playback, startup time, and other factors. I'm still using a dedicated HTPC (with Kodi) but I'm beginning to wonder why I don't switch to a media box.

Previous media boxes were slow, didn't support 24 Hz playback or DTS-HD/AC3 passthrough, but it seems like a lot of them are now supporting everything. (especially the NVidia Shield I think?) A lot of them also support other things aren't even available in a dedicated HTPC like Hulu, Netflix, etc.

So ... is it really worth using a dedicated box?

* # ¿ Oct 27, 2015 17:11
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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > HTPC vs Media Boxes (Roku, Apple TV, SHIELD, etc)