Chromecast or Bay Trail

[OBasel]

I'm like one of the last people on earth to get a Chromecast I think. I really wanted to build a HTPC but these things are like $35 Amazon.com : Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player : Streaming Media Clients : Electronics

Anyone have experience of these v. Bay Trail boards v. Pentium/ Celeron boards? This one is not too expensive: http://forums.servethehome.com/processors-motherboards/2763-gigabyte-ga-c1007un-d.html and is bigger than bay trial atoms.

Still PC or chromecast

 

[TangoWhiskey9]

What about a Roku or AppleTV? Low power and more functionality.

 

[Marty007]

Have set up a few of the DN2820FYKH NUC. Wonderful little box, silent, low power consumption, no problem with 1080p video. Not the cheapest solution, but you basically have a full pc, with great options to boot.

 

[cptbjorn]

Have set up a few of the DN2820FYKH NUC. Wonderful little box, silent, low power consumption, no problem with 1080p video. Not the cheapest solution, but you basically have a full pc, with great options to boot.

I had an xbox 360 on my main TV connected to a Windows 7 WMC server. I just replaced both with a 2820 NUC running Windows 8.1 and love it. It takes less than 10% the power of the 360 and it does everything better (except play xbox games which I never did anyway.)

 

[T_Minus]

ROKU is > Chromecast that's for sure. I have both and once we got ROKU I put ChromeCast back in the box, and just haven't sold it yet

 

[Mr. F]

I'm also using the '2820' NUC for MythFrontend. If you get a newer production package it'll have the N2830 CPU in it.

 

[Patriot]

htpc is still too generic... what are your usecases? Plex, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Youtube?

 

[cesmith9999]

I have a roku. basically set and forget. a friend is getting a HTPC for 2 reasons. streaming stuff he cannot stream with his roku and the occasional I need to do something on the web that he cannot do on his roku.

if you are just streaming for the major outlets (Netflix,amazon, hulu). just get a roku. for under $100 you can stream almost all you can. and you can use plex to stream music and pictures and video to the TV.

Chris

 

[F1ydave]

I have chromecast, roku streaming stick and amazon fire tv. I like how I can stream straight to chromecast with my phone with netflix/hbogo, youtube etc. Roku and Amazon (voice controlled) have nice menus, but I hate flipping through menus. I have a media server, but haven't ran a HDMI from it yet....working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week doesnt leave a lot of time. They are all so cheap I just bought them anyway.

I know in the end that having a HTPC is more to my liking with customization. I just need to get around to buying a 50' HDMI or one of those mini-pc's.

 

[scobar]

I got a few firetv's that I use for plex and a few roku. I do have a box slated for the TV to try some bigger screen gaming. I would like to get a chromecast to play with as well.

 

[MESSERCHMIDT]

I like my chromecast unit; the expanded functionality over the past year has made it a must have.

Rather than using a baytrial, you can get a low per arm android box such as the Minix neo x8-h plus. There is a version with a x86 atom that runs windows 8.1 known as the minix z68 or something similar. both units work great for kodi/xbmc, media playing,etc

 

[PnoT]

You can get a Raspberry PI 2 , Microsoft One Remote, and an IR sensor and run Kodi flawlessly. I like the chromecast and typically bring it with me when going over to friends and family because it's super easy to hook up and stream from my Plex Server at home.

 

[mrkrad]

the firetv stick for $19 is pretty k-rad at running kodi/xbmc!

 

[Angry]

You can get a Raspberry PI 2 , Microsoft One Remote, and an IR sensor and run Kodi flawlessly. I like the chromecast and typically bring it with me when going over to friends and family because it's super easy to hook up and stream from my Plex Server at home.

Do you have to have plex pass for that?

 

[RobertFontaine]

There as such wide opinions in this space that it is hard to get a reasoned answer. By the time a thread gets a few posts in it is often debating that hottest newest hardware available. If it can run the same software with acceptable response rate, stream the video/audio you want at the resolution required then it shouldn't be such a kerfuffle.

For me the big question is will it be wife friendly once I get it installed. Even the idea of another remote control and switching sources can be annoying for the non-geek.

 

[whitey]

Another vote for Raspi2 along w/ rasplex image for me. Native CEC cmds/functionality for inherent recent remotes to work. (5 year old Samsung TV even works w/ CEC) make it a WIN for me, plex svr running on vSphere cluster of course.

I do however have a chromecast and they are alright.

That being said I have been through the gammit of mythtv/PS3 Media Server/XBMC/kodi HTPC's as well over the years. The raspi is the slimmest setup but if you're gonna use netflix/hulu/amazon TV/streaming svcs don't take this route. It's more for a 'I run/host' all or most of my media' via a media server on my LAN/over network. Plexpass to slingbox ALL my content anywhere/anytime is well worth it IMHO.

 

[CreoleLakerFan]

I have a full HTPC which runs the DSplayer version of Kodi. This HTPC is loaded with an R9-280x which I use for madvr scaling and gaming on my Epson 6030u w/113" SI Black Diamond screen.

I have an Nvidia shield console in the living room, which runs Kodi, in addition to all the streaming and VOD content you can throw at it, with the exception of Amazon Prime, which lacks a client for Android TV, but is rumored to have one in development.

My plan is to use pi's for any tv's I add, as all newer TVs have streaming services built in, so I can add Kodi with a cheap pi. I'll also add a pi to the kids TV, which is old enough to lack smart features, but has a PS3 attached. I'll add one more Nvidia shield to the MBR TV, since that's where the wife and I do a lot of VOD and streaming viewing.

I have one full HTPC which was phased out in favor of the shield, and another NUC, which is quite frankly too powerful for HTPC duties. I really like the shield, since it can run Kodi and has access to streaming services, and VOD through the play store, offers good native gaming, and can stream games locally and through the cloud. The only thing it can't handle is madvr scaling, which I only use on the projector anyway.

 

[capn_pineapple]

i3 NUC's (ivy bridge) all over my place/family's places. Cheap, powerful, streaming machines that can do all their LAN and external provider stuff and more.

 

[canta]

Another vote for Raspi2 along w/ rasplex image for me. Native CEC cmds/functionality for inherent recent remotes to work. (5 year old Samsung TV even works w/ CEC) make it a WIN for me, plex svr running on vSphere cluster of course.

I do however have a chromecast and they are alright.

That being said I have been through the gammit of mythtv/PS3 Media Server/XBMC/kodi HTPC's as well over the years. The raspi is the slimmest setup but if you're gonna use netflix/hulu/amazon TV/streaming svcs don't take this route. It's more for a 'I run/host' all or most of my media' via a media server on my LAN/over network. Plexpass to slingbox ALL my content anywhere/anytime is well worth it IMHO.

I votew for rasp Pi/Pi2

having both with kodi are miracle hahahaha

CEC works 100% on my old samsung 6 series...
one remote does all controlling kodi.

 

[Deslok]

With the launch of the new cherry-trail compute sticks has anyone tested one? Their move form realtek to intel wifi should be a huge boost as a streaming device.