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Low Budget HTPC

post #1 of 8
11/14/11 at 12:25am
Thread Starter 
Hi! I was thinking about getting a media player for my TV however I became interested in getting an HTPC. The problem is that I am trying to keep the price low and I was wondering if it is possible to build an HTPC for under EUR 300. Is that possible?

Thanks
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post #2 of 8
11/14/11 at 12:28am
It sure is, can you show me a website you'll be purchasing from so I can get an idea about the prices over there?
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post #3 of 8
11/14/11 at 12:31am
I use a Zotac Zbox for one of my Media Centers running XBMC live and it works perfectly for me. I bought it for 220 US dollars without a hard drive and memory. So you probably could get the total package for 300 Euros. There are different models to choose from, but I'm not sure what might be available overseas.
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post #4 of 8
11/14/11 at 12:37am
Thread Starter 
Not sure about that....I have sometime bought some stuff from Overclockers.co.uk but the shipping is quite expensive. However I might just get the components of eBay.

The other alternative that I am currently thinkng about is getting an Apple TV along with a NAS Drive and install a Custom OS on it (XMBC). However the Zbox seems interseting too smile.gif
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post #5 of 8
11/14/11 at 12:47am
Thread Starter 
Can you please tell me which model your Zbox is? So far I have found this for about 200EUR : http://www.zotac.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=100083&lang=en
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post #6 of 8
11/14/11 at 12:50am
I had an appletv2 with xbmc. You do not overwrite the Appletv2 iOS, you simply jailbreak it and add XBMC like an app.

It was ok, didn't seem as powerful as the zbox, but again it was 100 US dollars. I ended up selling my ATV2 though since I couldn't get it to work with dropbox, which I needed for my shared video library.

This is the Zbox I have, Its a little outdated but it still performs fine for me. Only thing lacking is a bluray player, for me its a non issue since I don't use physical media anyways.
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post #7 of 8
11/14/11 at 2:07am
Thread Starter 
Basically all I need is a media player for playing HD videos stored on a HDD. The advantage of the Apple TV for me is that I have an iPhone so I can use Airplay. When paired with a NAS drive, the ATV costs about as much as the Zbox (Without HDD). So which of these is the best to get?
Bloodthirster
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post #8 of 8
11/14/11 at 10:09am
Thread Starter 
So i have decided to get the Zotac ZBOX SD-ID12 and I have found it for less than 200 EUR on eBay. Can anyone please tell me if it will run 1080p mkv files without any lag?

Thanks smile.gif
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Bloodthirster
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