How much did you spend on your htpc/streaming setup?

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HavocXphere

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Excluding screen and speakers and what not. Just the device.

How is that working out? What would you do differently now?

Toying with the idea of using a separate device instead of built in smart TV functions (tediously slow)...so curious what people out there got.
 
About 1500 on a microserver
Plus a couple hundred for hdmi card. Had hard drives lying around.
Far better than smart TV functions.
Also have a roku 3 for Netflix etc.
 
Normally hand me down parts from gaming pc. Used to be expensive but now not worth alot.
 
Any old lappie or pc that can do hdmi @ 1080 + Openelec + An internet connection + a Flirc + any old remote + a Tv + Usenet = win.
 
I spent about R1500 on a Roku which I use for Netflix and BBC iPlayer, and another R1700 on a Minix Android media player for watching Showmax. I'm hoping the Minix is going to be more future proof because it runs Android and can therefore install any Android app that would run on a tablet or smartphone. I prefer using the Roku for Netflix because Netflix on Android doesn't yet support 1080p.
 
I guess it depends on the TV, I have a Samsung H6400 and it's not slow at all and it has the smart remote which CNET crowned as the best remote ever included with a TV, they even did a whole separate review just about the remote.

On the back end I built a server around the Pentium G3258 to stream throughout the house.
 
When you said htpc streaming setup I thought, well yeah, Ive spent a lot. Camera, green screen, video editing software..... then I realized you were talking about consuming the media, not producing it :D
 
1x BananaPi + 1x HDD + DIY enclosure = R1600
1x Odroid + 1x HDD + DIY enclosure = R1600

BananaPi is a "automated download machine" and primary NAS (downloads + backup of earmarked files/folders)
ODroid is used for secondary NAS (mirroring/redundancy/backup) and Plex/Kodi/Cherry Music setup

Both are headless machines running their own variants of Linux, accessible from any device on the home network (pcs, laptops, tablets, phones) and also has cloud capability (adsl upload speed limits usability though). Pretty low power consumption for an always on setup. Both run x264 (1080p) and x265 perfectly.

I have another setup used for network management, primarily the security aspects and secondary QoS.

That's my home entertainment setup; my gaming setups are another story.

My previous setup was HP micro server, but that died and lost a lot of data, not to mention capability, so wanted to minimize the risk by going with redundancy (more than 1 AIO system).
 
Soul Assassin said:
I guess it depends on the TV, I have a Samsung H6400 and it's not slow at all and it has the smart remote which CNET crowned as the best remote ever included with a TV, they even did a whole separate review just about the remote.

On the back end I built a server around the Pentium G3258 to stream throughout the house.
Click to expand...

This except I use my home server as a media/storage server for all streaming throughout the house iPads TVs etc using a Plex media server - I had all the hardware already so it was 100% free - the only cable coming from the TV is the power cable no other device - works beautifully.
 
Last edited:
MrR said:
1x BananaPi + 1x HDD + DIY enclosure = R1600
1x Odroid + 1x HDD + DIY enclosure = R1600

BananaPi is a "automated download machine" and primary NAS (downloads + backup of earmarked files/folders)
ODroid is used for secondary NAS (mirroring/redundancy/backup) and Plex/Kodi/Cherry Music setup

Both are headless machines running their own variants of Linux, accessible from any device on the home network (pcs, laptops, tablets, phones) and also has cloud capability (adsl upload speed limits usability though). Pretty low power consumption for an always on setup. Both run x264 (1080p) and x265 perfectly.

I have another setup used for network management, primarily the security aspects and secondary QoS.

That's my home entertainment setup; my gaming setups are another story.

My previous setup was HP micro server, but that died and lost a lot of data, not to mention capability, so wanted to minimize the risk by going with redundancy (more than 1 AIO system).
Click to expand...

Oh pictures please! Did you import? :D
 
MrR said:
1x BananaPi + 1x HDD + DIY enclosure = R1600
1x Odroid + 1x HDD + DIY enclosure = R1600

BananaPi is a "automated download machine" and primary NAS (downloads + backup of earmarked files/folders)
ODroid is used for secondary NAS (mirroring/redundancy/backup) and Plex/Kodi/Cherry Music setup

Both are headless machines running their own variants of Linux, accessible from any device on the home network (pcs, laptops, tablets, phones) and also has cloud capability (adsl upload speed limits usability though). Pretty low power consumption for an always on setup. Both run x264 (1080p) and x265 perfectly.

I have another setup used for network management, primarily the security aspects and secondary QoS.

That's my home entertainment setup; my gaming setups are another story.

My previous setup was HP micro server, but that died and lost a lot of data, not to mention capability, so wanted to minimize the risk by going with redundancy (more than 1 AIO system).
Click to expand...
Nice!
 
MrR said:
1x BananaPi + 1x HDD + DIY enclosure = R1600
1x Odroid + 1x HDD + DIY enclosure = R1600

BananaPi is a "automated download machine" and primary NAS (downloads + backup of earmarked files/folders)
ODroid is used for secondary NAS (mirroring/redundancy/backup) and Plex/Kodi/Cherry Music setup

Both are headless machines running their own variants of Linux, accessible from any device on the home network (pcs, laptops, tablets, phones) and also has cloud capability (adsl upload speed limits usability though). Pretty low power consumption for an always on setup. Both run x264 (1080p) and x265 perfectly.

I have another setup used for network management, primarily the security aspects and secondary QoS.

That's my home entertainment setup; my gaming setups are another story.

My previous setup was HP micro server, but that died and lost a lot of data, not to mention capability, so wanted to minimize the risk by going with redundancy (more than 1 AIO system).
Click to expand...

I need pictures this sounds epic!!
 
Hard to say because it basically encompasses my entire home network.
But so far I have 4 microservers, 6 desktop PCs, 2 TVs, and about 100 Terabytes.
You can watch any content on the network from any device on my home using Plex or even just VLC.
 
Yeah I pretty much use old hand-me-down gaming PC parts for my HTPC rig. Definitely not very power efficient, will need to look into the sustained costs of this at some point!
 
Plex changed the home entertainment game for me, if a device is capable of connecting to Wi-Fi it can most probably run Plex, if this country had readily available fast upload speeds someone like LazyLion could be "Netflix" for all of his friends and family.
 
Soul Assassin said:
Plex changed the home entertainment game for me, if a device is capable of connecting to Wi-Fi it can most probably run Plex, if this country had readily available fast upload speeds someone like LazyLion could be "Netflix" for all of his friends and family.
Click to expand...

Well, I still am... but using the physical media instead of lightning fast Internet.
Remember the old story of the pigeon with the flash disk beating the Internet transfer?
That still applies.
 
LazyLion said:
Well, I still am... but using the physical media instead of lightning fast Internet.
Remember the old story of the pigeon with the flash disk beating the Internet transfer?
That still applies.
Click to expand...

Don't I know it, luckily USB 3.0 has saved me some time with friends and flash drives.

There are entire subreddits dedicated to people sharing terabytes upon terabytes with people across the world.

You could be this guy: "FiOS customer discovers the limits of “unlimited” data: 77TB a month"
 
Ubuntu desktop with 5TB running Plex server, Kodi headless, sickrage, couchpotato and headphones (about R4000)
Rpi 2 in bedroom (R800)
MX2 Android PC in lounge (R1200)
 
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