(Part 2) Best products from r/xbmc

You have a few options, assuming you're using an actual computer and not a raspberry Pi.

• Bluetooth Candy Board style remote. The Rii is on a deep discount right now. If you're on a raspberry pi, opt for a 2.5ghz one. I haven't been able to get bluetooth to work with my pi.
  
  
• MCE IR receiver / remote. You can sometimes find them at Value Village, but ebay or amazon is good enough. These work really well.
  
  The candy board style remote is nice because it's got a trackpad and keyboard. If you have a cat, they'll enjoy the laser pointer. The MCE remote is nice because it's a traditional feel -- on my system, I have both hooked up.

I installed the Netflix Windows 8 application and XBMC.

I then installed OblyTile and created a custom large button at the Start menu/tile interface for XBMC (needed to customize the tile with the XBMC logo, but wasn't tough). I also added the Netflix tile right next to it, large as well.

I installed Chrome (browser of choice) and created two smaller tiles that were links to bookmarks in Chrome, YouTube and Google Music.

Change the background of the Start/tile interface to something dark with a little bit of a pattern. Looks very clean and crisp.

I use a Logitech K400 right now. I have a Logitech 650 and Flirc I want to finish setting up, but I haven't had the chance to tinker with that aspect yet.

Overall, Windows 8.1 and XBMC + Netflix works really well. The Netflix app is stellar and XBMC keeping XBMC full screen (hitting "\") and just hitting the Windows button to get out of it/go to Netflix is very smooth and user friendly. I prefer it over the Apple TV and my Ouya by far.

And I built it with the very affordable Intel NUC DN2820FYK, which accepts 2.5" HDs.

The Amazon FireTV is essentially a mini computer, just like the OUYA, that you can run XBMC on. http://www.amazon.com/Fire-TV-streaming-media-player/dp/B00CX5P8FC


In my opinion (and the popular opinion I think) is that the FireTV is a much better value for an XBMC box than the OUYA. It only costs around $30 more, but it is so much more powerful it'll be able to handle just about anything you throw at it mediawise. The heaviest of skins can be a tad laggy at times (I had to switch off Aeon MQ5, but some people say they run it fine) but it handles Aeon Nox for me flawlessly.

Synology is a brand that makes NAS systems. They are a bit more expensive than competitor brands (and much more expensive than building one yourself), but they have unrivaled reliability and easy of use.

I use an Android app to run an FTP server on the FireTV so that right now, using a non-NAS setup, I can leave my USB hard drive plugged into the FireTV and be able to transfer over new media wirelessly (rather than unplugging, transferring, replugging, and remounting the drive). This won't be a concern once I have a NAS system setup since everything will be accessing the storage wirelessly (or through an ethernet connection) at that point.

I'm not sure, but these are pretty similar from amazon. com (not co.uk)

Both are physically identical to mine.

http://www.amazon.com/Android-Dual-Smart-1-6Ghz-1080P/dp/B00CM0O4N0/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1397968536&sr=8-10&keywords=android+xbmc+box

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIVAL-LiMITED-Android-Consumer-Electronics/dp/B00JI7ZNEY/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1397968604&sr=8-12&keywords=android+xbmc+box

hope that helps.

1. As others have said, a celeron NUC is more than powerful enough these days for high bitrate 1080p video playback. It will almost certainly not fair well with next gen software-decoded h.265 content. You need a beast for that stuff. Fortunately, hardly any of that exists.
   
   
2. Since you are using Kodi on your Note 2, you don't need transcoding, so it doesn't really matter how strong the CPU of the server is. Your Note 2 is performing the video decoding.
   
   
   I've got the DN2820FYK running OpenELEC. I pretty much never need to restart it. Here's my setup:
   
   4GB DDR3L RAM
   
   Xbox 360 Remote
   
   Rosewill MCE Remote for after I got sick of the 360 remote not having a stop button.
   
   Getting an SSD is overkill, but I like it because it ensures the NUC is quiet and boots about as fast as possible. All of them are small enough. Here's one with decent reviews that's especially small.
   
   
   As far as noise goes, I've never personally heard the NUC. I live in an apartment though. It's possible if you put it in some kind of sound deadened room, you might hear it, if you've got really good ears.

I've had my Gbox MX2 for about a month now and I love this thing. It comes loaded with the Android interface and has XBMC built in as well. What makes this thing great is that the company updates the firmware whenever there is a major update in XBMC so you are getting a personal update just for this little guy to continue being useful. Also it comes with a 1 year warranty, so if you receive a defective device or if it breaks randomly months after purchase then your all set. Also comparing to much of the cheaper devices out there it's fairly fast when browsing and loading.

For a while I was on the ropes of purchasing this or the RK3188 (it has better specs and is cheaper). But after having this thing for a month I doubt I'm going to bother getting it and just fill my apartment with more Gbox MX2's. The ONLY reason why I would consider maybe getting an RK3188 in the future is if I figure out how to run emulators on my Gbox w/ a Xbox controller and I need more power. At the moment I'm not sure how well the Gbox can handle emulator games.

EDIT: Here is the link to purchase:
http://www.amazon.com/G-Box-Midnight-MX2-Android-Streaming/dp/B00CH643A8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398790097&sr=8-1&keywords=gbox+mx2

Don't bother getting the $109 version of this, your money is better spent simply buying a 3rd party controller

I personally bought this keyboard/touchpad for it and works fresh out of the box w/o having to setup:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ENZRP0G/ref=oh_details_o06_s01_i03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

• i'll look into it just for sheer curiosity. i've been following the discussion about the new db development.
  
• depending on how you get your files you should be able to apply a filter on files. here is my filter ".nzb, .sfv, .srr, .idx, .sub, .m3u, desktop.ini, thumbs.db, inner-sanctum.txt, .nfo"
  
• this should work for x10 control http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=110392
  
• the lightberry.eu should work for you for alternative inputs. the thing is it requires an rpi, and will break hdcp so you may have issues.
  
• harmony rf costly but i love my harmony hardware.

Yeah, surely wireless headphones are a better choice? Even if your iPhone is out of charge/lost/you get a new phone, your wireless headphones will still work, and can be used in more ways. Or, a wireless headphone adapter like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Ericsson-MW-600-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B0038M3H4S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1345935895&sr=8-3

Roku is going to work best. It's super simple and requires very little setup plus it is going to support the lower-resolution of her TV better than any other device. You can download an app that lets you control it from your phone.

I have this and love it. Works very well in my apartment. Also, if you have a smart phone, you can use that as a trackpad/mouse as your computer.

Thanks a lot for the help!

I just found a neat supplier in Canada that sells different Pi packages: http://www.amazon.ca/CanaKit-Raspberry-Complete-Starter-Supply/dp/B0096M7IJY/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1426717873&sr=1-2

I've seen this around too, had to hunt through amazon. "MX3 remote" seems to be its name, though it's generic so hard to find a specific one. There appear to be at least two versions; one with red "X" and mouse icons under the OK button, and another with blue icons. They may be the same, they may be different clone manufacturers. There's no telling.

Amazon/prime shipping, lots of reviews, $25... I'll probably order this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Aerb-Multifunction-Wireless-Keyboard-3-Gsensor/dp/B00K768DHY/

Others:

http://www.amazon.com/Onedayshop%C2%AE-Multifunction-Wireless-Keyboard-3-Gsensor/dp/B00KXLS1GQ/

http://www.amazon.com/Multifunction-Wireless-Keyboard-Infrared-3-gsensor/dp/B00L8TT2PQ/

http://www.amazon.com/Generic-Wireless-Keyboard-Android-Universal/dp/B00F4LG0P4/

http://www.amazon.com/2-4GHz-Wireless-Keyboard-Remote-Control/dp/B00IN727DK/

http://www.amazon.com/Elecs-Wireless-Universal-Learning-Function/dp/B00HJK7A20/

http://www.amazon.com/2-4G-Wireless-Mouse-Keyboard-Learning/dp/B00F4LVGFS/

It's funny; if there were one brand and this got a good reputation, they might sell more. But since it's generic (and may have multiple manufacturers), there's no way to know. The nature of generic goods. Hopefully they're consistently good.

Glad for the strong endorsement of synology and I think I am gonna pull the trigger on the synology DS1813+

I would recommend this router. It has two USB ports that can be used for pretty much anything, and is light on your wallet for the quality you will get. I don't think there is any custom firmware for it though. I would also recommend running OpenElec on a PC similar to this. I have an ID41 running OpenElec which handles 1080p without any issues.

FireTV $99 or less. Runs XBMC 13.1 quite well in my limited testing. Getting it set up to replace the Amazon home screen is a bit fiddly, but probably well worth the effort.

CuBox that you are talking about is $109 when you get Wi-Fi. This is a dual core cpu with 1GB of RAM.

OR just get the Amazon Fire TV for just $99 which has a quad core cpu and 2 GB of RAM. Wi-Fi is also included with no additional cost.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CX5P8FC?pc_redir=1408756760&robot_redir=1

Why get this CuBox over the Fire TV?