[ZippZopp]

i currently have older PC parts in silverstone HTPC case. this is doubling as both my HTPC and server.

i'd like to move this out of the living room and use it solely as a server. i want something small, quiet, cool and compact for an HTPC in the living room now. i came across the Asus Vivo PC, Gigabyte Brix, Zotac Zbox. they are all small, compact PCs that look like they would work quite well for an HTPC.

does anyone have experience with any of these to use to watch Live TV via Windows Media Center along with using Kodi and Plex? have you been happy with any of them or have you had a bad experience. I'd love to hear from anyone who has used them and what your experience has been like before I buy one

i'll be using it to watch and record tv from an HDHomeRun Prime as well as watching my Blu-Ray rips that will be stored on the server.

thanks!

 

[LexInVA]

I haven't used them, but next gen versions with Skylake are worth checking out as they will run cooler than all the existing models, which are running Haswell for the most part. The only downside to these mini PCs is that they are not a value in any way whatsoever with the cost of mobile CPU/Memory in comparison to their performance and you pay a premium solely for their size. Their performance is also so-so at best as they are typically dual-core Celerons with a cut-down GPU. If you really want to build a compact HTPC, you are better off spending your money on a very quiet desktop-grade mini-ITX system in a SFF or compact case, which will give you better performance and expansion potential.

 

[wraslor]

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-ho...4337-zotac-bi320-review-small-cheap-htpc.html

 

[MrBobb]

I was just about to spend $500+ for a satellite HTPC box, but these cheaper appliances sure sound enticing, following my experience of totally over building my main HTPC box. Purely HTPC use, I found out, is capably managed by a modern base CPU+iGPU.

 

[ZippZopp]

I was just about to spend $500+ for a satellite HTPC box, but these cheaper appliances sure sound enticing, following my experience of totally over building my main HTPC box. Purely HTPC use, I found out, is capably managed by a modern base CPU+iGPU.

agreed, my htpc was built from older parts after i upgraded my workstation, but it is totally overbuilt for what it does. i might just grab one of these little PCs and use it as my HTPC

 

[Dark_Slayer]

I was just about to spend $500+ for a satellite HTPC box, but these cheaper appliances sure sound enticing, following my experience of totally over building my main HTPC box. Purely HTPC use, I found out, is capably managed by a modern base CPU+iGPU.

A j1900 makes a great WMC box (fanless and cheap)

A RPi 2 makes a great Kodi box (fanless and cheaper)

Neither do 4k, but for their respective prices you can scrap the whole setup for a "just-as-cheap" setup when 4k content is actually available and low-powered devices catch up