Wondering if anyone has any experience with these or what your thoughts are? I've been looking into all sorts of solutions, almost ordered a Amazon FireTV but when I found out it couldn't do DTS or 5.1, I canceled the order and have been trying to see what else is out there. I have been looking into building a Raspberry Pi and/or the other more powerful breeds of Raspberry Pi's but when I saw the announcement of Intel's "Compute Stick" today, I started googling around to see if something like this already existed, which is when I stumbled across AliExpress.
I currently have a QNAP TS-469L (slow at having to transcode) as my Plex server and I am currently watching movies using the built-in XMBC (Frodo) with the PleXMBC plugin but I honestly hate the way this all functions and looks. I have tried the AppleTV workaround but it lags big time. I have also tried playing through my Sony BD player with DNLA but don't care for the interface either.
Here's what I'm looking for: something I can plug into my Yamaha receiver that will run Plex Home Theater on and play 1080p MKV's at nearly any format I can throw at it: AAC/AC3/DTS/DTS-HD/DD/etc in 5.1 or 7.1. This is really meant more to hold me over until I see what Apple does with the AppleTV. I have a 100% Mac/iOS household with the single exception of the QNAP.
I figure I'm looking for something that does not run Android since I learned about the OS's limitation with audio, so maybe something that runs Linux? I'm not necessarily looking to get a stick-based device either as I understand that having an ethernet connection will give me much better performance, but I want to find something for $100 or less and act solely as my player. I want to turn it on and have it open straight up in Plex Home Theater and act as if it were a standalone system for Plex and Plex only.
Get a chromebox and mod it, or if you're not into that kind of thing, just get one of the new celeron nucs and use openelecplex, will do all you want and not require any transcoding to happen on your qnap.
Go with the Raspberry Pi, plays anything up to 20Mbit/s in DirectPlay, DD and DTS passthrough to amp for either 5.1 or 7.1 sound, over 10,000 users can’t be wrong.
If you find its not for you you can always turn the Pi into a mail/web server, or give it to the kids/grandkids/local school.
Make sure you get a flicr remote device if you plan on using a remote control with it as chromebox's dont have built in IR like the nucs. That's part of the reason I suggested the celeron nuc, built in IR and can be turned on via the built in IR, the chromebox the flirc device can only wake from sleep and once it wakes from sleep the fans dont idle down.
Make sure you get a flicr remote device if you plan on using a remote control with it as chromebox's dont have built in IR like the nucs. That's part of the reason I suggested the celeron nuc, built in IR and can be turned on via the built in IR, the chromebox the flirc device can only wake from sleep and once it wakes from sleep the fans dont idle down.
Oh, I see... maybe I need to do a bit more research before pulling the plug. I'd like for it to work my existing Harmony Hub that I have.
Another question: I see that OpenELEC Plex hasn't been updated in some time. I haven't looked much further, but do you know if it's possible to keep the builds up to date to use the newer PHT features, namely user switching?
Another question: I see that OpenELEC Plex hasn't been updated in some time. I haven't looked much further, but do you know if it's possible to keep the builds up to date to use the newer PHT features, namely user switching?
Rasplex (Raspberry Pi) is OpenELEC with Plex HT, current version - 0.4.1 - has trailers and extras, new release coming out shortly with Plex Home.
Another question: I see that OpenELEC Plex hasn't been updated in some time. I haven't looked much further, but do you know if it's possible to keep the builds up to date to use the newer PHT features, namely user switching?
OpenELEC + PHT is current with with the most recent PHT. Fast User Switching works great
Current versions:
OpenELEC-Plex-Intel/ION/Generic/Fusion-3.2.4-181-Plex-Home-Theater-1.3.2-04be168 ( 32bit still missing )
OK, last question then on a Raspberry Pi vs Intel box sort of thing.... does Raspberry Pi have any lag, even with the largest of libraries (400+ titles) and MKV files (30gb+)? Or should I opt for something with more computing power like the Intel box?
What about the "more powerful" versions of Raspberry Pi like the MIPS Creator, Hummingbird, etc?
Sorry for all the questions, I just want to buy the correct amount of horsepower as I don't pay much attention to hardware specs much these days. I am comfortable with all the setup and such but just want to make sure I get the right hardware for my needs.
I cant chime in on the pi, however I can chime in on the celeron nuc, I have a fairly big library, around 800 movies, and about 130 shows full back fill (took forever to rip...) anyway, the nuc handles it all with ease.
Dont worry about all the questions mate, it's a chunk of change to spend, well the nuc is.
Also you will find people are like mac and windows with pi vs pc. I am not sure you could go wrong but I have heard some issues with the pi and slow menu scrolling at times.
I am not sure you could go wrong but I have heard some issues with the pi and slow menu scrolling at times.
I heard that Plex Inc are giving out free PlexPasses, do you believe everything you hear? There are no issues with navigation, if there was over 10,000 people would be letting us know!
"About 90 percent of what's out there in cyberspace is hearsay - or lies - and opinion, often misinformed opinion, and it's all repeated over and over again." - David Tang.
I heard that Plex Inc are giving out free PlexPasses, do you believe everything you hear? There are no issues with navigation, if there was over 10,000 people would be letting us know!
"About 90 percent of what's out there in cyberspace is hearsay - or lies - and opinion, often misinformed opinion, and it's all repeated over and over again." - David Tang.
Regards
Whoa easy there tiger, no need to get brash, I was merely making a statement, the OP wanted suggestions and opinions, they were given, to the OP good luck in whatever you end up buying and if you have any issues you know where the forums are to help ya out!
OK, after lots of research today and looking at both options, I think I'm going to go away from the Raspberry Pi and go toward either the ASUS Chromebox M004U (modded with link from earlier) OR a Intel NUC like this one.
But from what I can tell, if I went the Chromebox route, all I'd have to buy extra was a FLIRC USB IR receiver and it would already have RAM, a SSD and Wifi (not to be used) built-in. Total as of today's Amazon prices would be roughly $188.
Whereas, if I bought the Intel NUC, I'd have to buy a 16GB SSD, 4GB RAM, a power cable (it doesn't come with one) as well as the FLIRC URB IR receiver for a total (after tax) of $245.
It seems the processor specs on the Intel NUC is a Celeron 1.3GHz and the Chromebox has a Celeron 1.4GHz
If you were deciding between the two of these, which route would you go?
Well if you're ok with the chromebox not being able to turn on via the remote, or dealing with the odd sleep fan issue the chromebox is the way to go. I have both, and the chromebox method did work, took me about 30 minutes to get it all modded over. But for me I like having my nuc off when I am not using it. And the chromebox didnt go to sleep nicely when it woke up the fans would run about 60% until a reboot. So there are some issues you have to deal with for the lesser price. Also you dont want that nuc you want this one with the built in IR. Yes you would need an ssd for it, but it comes with bluetooth and wifi. And if you're not doing anything but using it for Openelec/Plex you dont need more than 2GB of ram so you could save some cash there. And this nuc I linked comes with the power cord :)
Thanks for all the help! I went ahead and ordered the NUC you mentioned and the RAM, I have a USB stick already so I'll use that. I should receive it all by Friday so I'll be back sometime this weekend to set it up!
