i tried raspberry pi 2 but it is not as ideal as a full fludge htpc. maybe a nuc has enough power for htpc, i don't have hands-on experience. i understand your point because this sc440 cannot be 24/7 loaded, otherwise too much power consumption to defeat its purpose. i found out a solution to this though. i can use ir remote control to hibernate this and wake it up for htpc purpose. in the future i may use a standalone rp2 to smart manage its power status with some scripts. so this setup is definitely not for 24/7, but good for xvmc, mythtv, security cam server etc, as long as a rp2 is used to hibernate it when not using. i am exploring this approach. it can be significant, because the major issue for old servers is power consumption. if smart power management is successful, buying cheap yet power hungry old servers for real world application is possible. as i mentioned earlier, i totally understand your point, and actually felt the pain.