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HTPC for streaming websites only

Sunburn74

Sunburn74

Diamond Member
Hi. My girlfriend is moving in with me and I'm interested in a small streaming box for our large screen TV. All it needs to be able to do is stream youtube movies, hulu (free), netflix , and crackle. It doesn't need anything else though some limited ability to surf the web would be nice. It doesn't need any other capabilities (blue tooth, dvd/blue ray, etc). Just streaming capability

I'd like it to be something the size of roku, but I don't want an item that needs a subscriptions. Any thoughts? Price is really not a factor though cheaper is better and I'd prefer to not have to build it myself.
 
Thoughts: Getting Netflix is the easiest part. Hulu is only Hulu Plus on set top boxes. YouTube isn't on Roku. And I don't think Crackle is on Apple TV.
 
Ever thought of purchasing a cheap laptop to do just that? They don't usually make for the best looking thing in your cabinet, but they're awfully versatile.

Xbox One sounds awesome too as an HTPC.
 
A cheap laptop is not bad, a little clunky but not bad. I've thought about an intel NUC but those are a little pricy, but would work fine with a good wifi kieyboard and mouse. some of the other HTPC small boxes seem to not have powerful enough CPUS and GPUs.

I'm also kind of eyeing this+ a cheap SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856173041

My concern though revolves around ability to stream 1080 P hd
 
Sunburn74 said:
A cheap laptop is not bad, a little clunky but not bad. I've thought about an intel NUC but those are a little pricy, but would work fine with a good wifi kieyboard and mouse. some of the other HTPC small boxes seem to not have powerful enough CPUS and GPUs.

I'm also kind of eyeing this+ a cheap SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856173041

My concern though revolves around ability to stream 1080 P hd
Click to expand...

That would work, you don't even need a SSD just install Linux on the free flash drive that comes with it and boot it from there.
 
What kind of a device do you want PC or Other (Retail Streaming Box)?

How much do you want to spend?

I guess you dont want much storage?

You could get one of these Dells??? (Father's Day Sale!).
i3 3220 Dell Inspiron 660S Can be turned on side $500.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...&model_id=inspiron-660s&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19
It is hard to beat this price because it comes with an OS and wireless card and a DVD.

A PC can be kind of pricey at around $400-$800. I am thinking like just get a bare-bones PC. However a used PC might be used also. Sandy bridge or later has the integrated video on the processor. A simple MITX motherboard with processor ram and some kind of small capacity hard drive or SSD. Having Wireless access is nice also if you want to control it from the couch?

You still need an OS of some kind. Win7 might work better for this unless you plan on using Linux you can get for free assuming you want to deal with that. Otherwise you are looking at a price of $99 just for the OS. Aren't monopolies fun?
 
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