WDTV/ Roku Streamers

A

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,765
I use one since all of my media is digital. I don't have a traditional NAS, I have 6TB shared out from my 'gaming' PC. I do 1080p on it and 3D also. I run completely wired for all media players all plugged into gig ports.

I don't think PCPartPicker handles it at all so I will just use amazon.com to give you a price estimate.

Intel NUC itself which is an i3 $290 -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0093LINVK/
Crucial m4 64GB mSATA Internal Solid State Drive CT064M4SSD3 $80 -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008393M2S/
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 MHz $56 -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006EWUOL8/

With this you have a super compact box that can handle anything you throw at it. I just set one up and it runs like a champ, about to build a second one for downstairs to replace the kids Roku box and dump Plex for in the house.
You can go cheaper if you ditch the SSD and boot from a USB thumbstick using Openelec or something like that. You could also split it so you only put one stick of RAM into each box and save $25 there for the second box.

I used Windows 8 myself.

I also ordered an IR dongle fromwww.flirc.tvthat is pretty nice. Purely optional and to be honest I use my iPad with the Constellation app to run XBMC about 99% of the time.
 
Void

Void

BAU BAU
<Gold Donor>
10,103
12,260
TXjohnny_sl said:
Glad this thread got active again. I am looking to cut the cable at the end of the month and came to Rerolled to see if I could find anything on it. I'm pretty sure I'm going with the Roku + Netflix and PlayOn. For those who have already cut the cable, any advice or pointers you wished you had known? What about PlayOn, anyone here use it? Any other services I should take a look at?
Click to expand...
I'm not your typical "cut the cord" guy because I don't worry about a lot of the streaming and live sports, I mainly worry about torrented stuff. I'd say the number one thing that has eased my transition is a dedicated TV tracker with an RSS feed so that I just select the shows I want to receive, the resolution, release type, file type, etc. and it automatically downloads it for me. I use BTN, but as discussed in the torrent thread if you're not in already you're kind of fucked. I know a few other sites were listed though, and I'm sure several of them will do the same thing. And if newsgroups are your thing, that thread has a lot of info about automated downloads as well.

If I didn't have shows auto-downloaded for me I'd be MUCH less happy with cutting the cord. But since I do, it is practically like having a DVR all over again because I don't have to remember shit (which is an issue as I get older!).

I'm sure someone else can offer some help on the other areas, but that was the biggest factor for me before I finally decided to cut cable.
 
Void

Void

BAU BAU
<Gold Donor>
10,103
12,260
a_skeleton_03_sl said:
I use one since all of my media is digital. I don't have a traditional NAS, I have 6TB shared out from my 'gaming' PC. I do 1080p on it and 3D also. I run completely wired for all media players all plugged into gig ports.

I don't think PCPartPicker handles it at all so I will just use amazon.com to give you a price estimate.

Intel NUC itself which is an i3 $290 -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0093LINVK/
Crucial m4 64GB mSATA Internal Solid State Drive CT064M4SSD3 $80 -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008393M2S/
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 MHz $56 -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006EWUOL8/

With this you have a super compact box that can handle anything you throw at it. I just set one up and it runs like a champ, about to build a second one for downstairs to replace the kids Roku box and dump Plex for in the house.
You can go cheaper if you ditch the SSD and boot from a USB thumbstick using Openelec or something like that. You could also split it so you only put one stick of RAM into each box and save $25 there for the second box.

I used Windows 8 myself.

I also ordered an IR dongle fromwww.flirc.tvthat is pretty nice. Purely optional and to be honest I use my iPad with the Constellation app to run XBMC about 99% of the time.
Click to expand...
Running to lunch soon so I'll have to look at it more in depth later, but this looks absolutely perfect for me. I have a spare 64GB SSD already, and I actually bought Windows 8 when it was cheap just to buy it in case I needed it for something like this, haven't upgraded my Windows 7 PC yet, and maybe I won't now. For $350 or so it looks like I could be ready to go. Double the price of a Boxee, which makes me pause, but it clearly has more functionality if I care to exert myself.

Awesome, thanks a ton a_skeleton_03, you're the man! This is probably exactly what I want. Might hit you up for some details later, but just at first glance this seems pretty fucking easy and perfect.
 
A

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,765
Vvoid_sl said:
Running to lunch soon so I'll have to look at it more in depth later, but this looks absolutely perfect for me. I have a spare 64GB SSD already, and I actually bought Windows 8 when it was cheap just to buy it in case I needed it for something like this, haven't upgraded my Windows 7 PC yet, and maybe I won't now. For $350 or so it looks like I could be ready to go. Double the price of a Boxee, which makes me pause, but it clearly has more functionality if I care to exert myself.

Awesome, thanks a ton a_skeleton_03, you're the man! This is probably exactly what I want. Might hit you up for some details later, but just at first glance this seems pretty fucking easy and perfect.
Click to expand...
It is not a regular SSD it is an mSATA one. Very, very important!!
 
Void

Void

BAU BAU
<Gold Donor>
10,103
12,260
a_skeleton_03_sl said:
It is not a regular SSD it is an mSATA one. Very, very important!!
Click to expand...
Ah shit, yeah you're right, totally didn't see that.

I may have to look into something slightly different then, as I'd prefer to make use of what I already have. I love that form factor though. Problem is there are a million different sites and recommendations, and not a single one is exactly what I want. I'll try to piece some stuff together perhaps and see what people think. I feel this would be a more appropriate place than the Desktop thread so hopefully people don't mind.
 
A

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,765
Vvoid_sl said:
Ah shit, yeah you're right, totally didn't see that.

I may have to look into something slightly different then, as I'd prefer to make use of what I already have. I love that form factor though. Problem is there are a million different sites and recommendations, and not a single one is exactly what I want. I'll try to piece some stuff together perhaps and see what people think. I feel this would be a more appropriate place than the Desktop thread so hopefully people don't mind.
Click to expand...
This is a better place. Like I said you can just use a thumbstick to run openelec on it and you don't need a hard drive.
 
B

bho

Bronze Knight of the Realm
207
7
after reading this thread i got the intel NUC, crucial 64gb msata, 8gb ram, centrino N/bluetooth, logitech bluetooth keyboard. got the hdhomerun prime, going to through my cablecard into it and see how it goes. will post here this weekend once i figure it out!
 
Void

Void

BAU BAU
<Gold Donor>
10,103
12,260
I also went ahead and got the NUC, msata, and 8GB ram. That flirc dongle is out of stock for at least 6 weeks, so I'm not sure what I am going to do for a remote. I might buy that centrino card bho listed and re-use my PS3 remote...but I do have a bunch of random IR remotes sitting around doing nothing too, so we'll see. I can always use my phone/tablet or even a mouse while I figure it out. I sort of prefer the feel of most of the nice IR remotes (the button layouts that is), but if it is going to be annoying to aim like the PCH one is I'll want to go bluetooth.
 
A

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,765
Vvoid_sl said:
I also went ahead and got the NUC, msata, and 8GB ram. That flirc dongle is out of stock for at least 6 weeks, so I'm not sure what I am going to do for a remote. I might buy that centrino card bho listed and re-use my PS3 remote...but I do have a bunch of random IR remotes sitting around doing nothing too, so we'll see. I can always use my phone/tablet or even a mouse while I figure it out. I sort of prefer the feel of most of the nice IR remotes (the button layouts that is), but if it is going to be annoying to aim like the PCH one is I'll want to go bluetooth.
Click to expand...
For a remote just use a smart phone. It's what I do 99% of the time even with a flirc
biggrin.png


You should be able to find a flirc on ebay for super cheap also.
 
Void

Void

BAU BAU
<Gold Donor>
10,103
12,260
a_skeleton_03_sl said:
For a remote just use a smart phone. It's what I do 99% of the time even with a flirc
biggrin.png


You should be able to find a flirc on ebay for super cheap also.
Click to expand...
I'll check ebay, thanks. I hate not having a physical button to push on a remote though, and I don't really see the point to keeping my phone on just to fast-forward through shit. Yeah it is fine to just browse and select something to play, which is what I'll do most of the time, but occasionally I watch shows with a lot of commentary that I don't need to hear (UFC/sports, award shows). I want a real remote for that.

Found one that is highly recommended actually.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1Supposedly it is highly customizable (not sure what I'd customize to be honest, but for this price I could shove it up my ass and not feel I wasted money) and the buttons look fairly conveniently placed, so going to give it a try. I still reserve the right to switch to bluetooth though!
 
A

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,765
My iPad just sits in the tray I use for my remote controls and I just pick it up and pause things. Yes it would be faster with a physical remote but I like being able to browse my entire library from my iPad while I am waiting for the current episode to end and just add the next TV show to the queue.
 
Void

Void

BAU BAU
<Gold Donor>
10,103
12,260
Remote control differences aside, as I sit here bored at work reading shit, did you just use the stock XBMC install, or did you use any custom stuff? I've never touched XBMC itself (I realize Boxee was built on it, but I didn't have to install it) and really have no clue what it is going to be like. I also saw that I can install the (old and no longer supported) Boxee software itself, but I'm going to avoid that since I'll want to be able to stay up to date.

PLEX is more suited towards people that have multiple devices and do a lot of streaming from the internet, from what I understand. I do the vast majority of my streaming from downloaded content on a NAS, with only one HTPC accessing it currently, so it seems like I wouldn't use most of the features that make PLEX desirable. Does that seem like an accurate assessment?

If others are using XBMC I'd love to hear about or even see what add-ons, skins, etc. you guys are using.
 
A

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,765
I slapped a skin or two on it but other than that, stock. You just install it, point it to your media, make some minor changes to the settings so that you get good video, and that's it.

PLEX I use in my house because the kids use a Roku downstairs and have it for when I am mobile. When I get some funding together a second NUC will go down there.

If you have the one HTPC then use XBMC. I have PLEX Media Server on the same PC as all my media and it doesn't effect the XBMC HTPC at all.
 
Zodiac

Zodiac

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,200
14
I use the Aeon Nox skin:



But it might be easier for you to learn the default skin before you get into the more custom ones. Nox is pretty simple though if you use the default settings.
 
Intrinsic

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
15,722
14,453
Vvoid_sl said:
I also went ahead and got the NUC, msata, and 8GB ram. That flirc dongle is out of stock for at least 6 weeks, so I'm not sure what I am going to do for a remote. I might buy that centrino card bho listed and re-use my PS3 remote...but I do have a bunch of random IR remotes sitting around doing nothing too, so we'll see. I can always use my phone/tablet or even a mouse while I figure it out. I sort of prefer the feel of most of the nice IR remotes (the button layouts that is), but if it is going to be annoying to aim like the PCH one is I'll want to go bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Just got the notification mine was delivered to my office, will swing by this afternoon and pick it up and try to get it up and running tonight. Was planning on just going the thumbdrive / openelec route rather than mSATA since I stream everything from my NAS.
 
A

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,765
Intrinsic_sl said:
Just got the notification mine was delivered to my office, will swing by this afternoon and pick it up and try to get it up and running tonight. Was planning on just going the thumbdrive / openelec route rather than mSATA since I stream everything from my NAS.
Click to expand...
It's not a bad route to go. I was waiting for my mSATA and was going to do that but then it showed up on the same day.
 
Void

Void

BAU BAU
<Gold Donor>
10,103
12,260
I just got everything but the mSATA delivered to me at work today. Which sucks, because I paid for 2 day shipping on the drive and it still hasn't shipped yet according to tracking. I specifically wanted it before the weekend. It *might* show up tomorrow, but they'd have to overnight it.

Just reaffirms by belief that I should never buy something that doesn't use Prime shipping unless I don't care when it shows up.
 
A

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,765
Vvoid_sl said:
I just got everything but the mSATA delivered to me at work today. Which sucks, because I paid for 2 day shipping on the drive and it still hasn't shipped yet according to tracking. I specifically wanted it before the weekend. It *might* show up tomorrow, but they'd have to overnight it.

Just reaffirms by belief that I should never buy something that doesn't use Prime shipping unless I don't care when it shows up.
Click to expand...
Lol, yes. I am a Prime snob also.
 
Intrinsic

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
15,722
14,453
Agree on Prime snob. In face, I'd say the only reason I went ahead and pulled the trigger on ordering was because of Prime and it'd be here by today. Otherwise the weekend would have come and gone and my impulse would have gone away.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.