4 ms·

I've been thinking about a raspberry pi for this purpose but I'd prefer something already packaged up (even if it was a pi underneath).

Washuu 11y ago
Once the case, wireless adapter, and a few other items are added in to make the Raspberry Pi 2 function as a nice HTPC it comes out to about $100. The same cost for much less hardware.
- codfrantic 11y ago
  I only used a Pi (1B) (20$) 4GB SD Card (5$?) case (6$) and hdmi cable (0.5$) My TV has HDMI CEC built in which means my tv remote works with the OSMC / Kodi / etc install. This gets me to a total of 31.5$ for my full HD supporting mediacenter :) (the case is even optional since it sits on the back of my TV, out of sight)
datashaman 11y ago
http://www.xbian.org/ http://www.xbian.org/ XBian is a small, fast and lightweight media center distribution for the Raspberry Pi, CuBox-i, Hummingboard and many more devices to come. It is based on a minimal Debian and therefore offers much of the same freedom as Debian offers. Very simple to install and get running.
morganvachon 11y ago
If I'm not mistaken, one or more of the previous generation Roku devices uses the same SoC as the Raspberry Pi. We have a Roku 1 and a Roku 3, and they are both great for the price. The $50 Roku 1 is attached to an old but "too good to throw away" Sony Trinitron CRT, and the Roku 3 is on our bedroom TV, a 27" Vizio LCD. They both stream via WiFi with no issues (480p on the 1, 1080p on the 3). I did have a couple of RasPis running OSMC before we went with the Roku devices, and apart from issues with the initial setup, the Pis worked great. The Roku does offer a greater selection of services so there's a lot more 3rd party streaming content available there, and the official Plex app on Roku makes it easier to stream from our media server than the Pi, but if you know what you're doing you can enable uPnP on OSMC and local streaming mostly works fine. You can also run emulators on the Pi on top of OSMC, which is great for nostalgic gaming. The Roku 3 has a limited selection of games and a Wiimote-like remote, but no support for emulation that I'm aware of.

Washuu 11y ago

Once the case, wireless adapter, and a few other items are added in to make the Raspberry Pi 2 function as a nice HTPC it comes out to about $100. The same cost for much less hardware.

codfrantic 11y ago
I only used a Pi (1B) (20$) 4GB SD Card (5$?) case (6$) and hdmi cable (0.5$) My TV has HDMI CEC built in which means my tv remote works with the OSMC / Kodi / etc install. This gets me to a total of 31.5$ for my full HD supporting mediacenter :) (the case is even optional since it sits on the back of my TV, out of sight)

datashaman 11y ago

http://www.xbian.org/ http://www.xbian.org/ XBian is a small, fast and lightweight media center distribution for the Raspberry Pi, CuBox-i, Hummingboard and many more devices to come. It is based on a minimal Debian and therefore offers much of the same freedom as Debian offers. Very simple to install and get running.

morganvachon 11y ago

If I'm not mistaken, one or more of the previous generation Roku devices uses the same SoC as the Raspberry Pi. We have a Roku 1 and a Roku 3, and they are both great for the price. The $50 Roku 1 is attached to an old but "too good to throw away" Sony Trinitron CRT, and the Roku 3 is on our bedroom TV, a 27" Vizio LCD. They both stream via WiFi with no issues (480p on the 1, 1080p on the 3). I did have a couple of RasPis running OSMC before we went with the Roku devices, and apart from issues with the initial setup, the Pis worked great. The Roku does offer a greater selection of services so there's a lot more 3rd party streaming content available there, and the official Plex app on Roku makes it easier to stream from our media server than the Pi, but if you know what you're doing you can enable uPnP on OSMC and local streaming mostly works fine. You can also run emulators on the Pi on top of OSMC, which is great for nostalgic gaming. The Roku 3 has a limited selection of games and a Wiimote-like remote, but no support for emulation that I'm aware of.