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New Media Center Advice


wolpoffm

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wolpoffm

Hello,

For the past 10 years I have used a full fledged desktop powerhouse of some configuration or another, neatly packed into an HTPC box as my media player connected to the big screen.  I am now looking to move away from that setup to a silent unit that really is dedicated to playing streaming videos from my Emby server, netflix or other streaming app.

 

Thoughts on the current best units in this class? Intel NUC, fire tv etc?

 

Your thoughts are appreciated!

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legallink

People have a lot of different opinions on this subject. In reality it depends on what you want out of the unit and at what price point.

 

I've got a server in my basement that runs emby and a front end roku. I love the roku from an ease/price/waf perspective but the UI on emby isn't fantastic. It's ok. That being said, the roku does great with all the other things, Netflix, Hulu, pbs for kids, random channels I like, etc. no other platform has the same channel support as the roku.

 

That being said, if it is just emby or similar, fire tv as mentioned above is hard to beat. Nice price point, emby looks great on it, and overall, for Amazon prime stuff, it's pretty good, but Netflix has not received great reviews on the fire tv.

 

Intel Nucs are full fledged computers and in reality, not even in the same price point as these other task specific devices. I'm not a huge fan of the Nuc approach, most due to remotes and user experience, as I find the purpose built machines are really great at their purpose. The Nucs are great all arounders, so think about what you want the device to do.

 

Nvidia shield gets some decent reviews. Apple TV it is too early to tell as we don't have an emby app for Apple TV, although it is expected. The roku app is also expecting an update in the near future, so, for me and mine, we are probably sticking with the roku. I just like the remote and the headphone jack in the remote along with all the apps. But depending on your use case, there could be a better fit for you.

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Vidman

for Hi Def video, audio and streaming Nvidia Shield TV is currently the best unit in this class, with the cavet that it is unlikely to get a Amazon streaming app any time soon

Edited by Vidman
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