Need help choosing a HTPC/mini PC

Discussion in 'hardware' started by zopzop, Jul 23, 2014.

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  1. zopzop

    zopzop Registered Member

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    What do you guys recommend? I have the Kindle Fire/Fire TV bundle and I'm not happy with it at all. I have until August 11 to return it for a full refund.

    I was looking for something to replace the Fire TV with. My budget is $249-$299 USD. Looking around I found two items that look like they fit the bill.

    1) The Asus VivoPC-VM40B-02. I love the size of it's HD, love the fact that it's full Windows, love the 4GB of RAM (upgradable to 16). The only downside is the CPU/GPU. I read they are a little underpowered.
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._re=PPSSAKEQMCVZXJ-_-83-220-628-_-Product#top

    2) The Asus Chromebox-M004U. It has the newer CPU/GPU. But I have everything else about it. The size of the SSD is only 16GBs. It only has 2GBs of RAM (upgradeable to 8?). It's running ChromeOS and you can't put Windows on it, the best you can do is a Linux distro (meaning no Windows only games like Hearthstone).
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=83-220-572

    I want this thing for movie viewing and EXTREMELY light gaming. By EXTREMELY light gaming, I mean the only things that will be played on it (if they can be) are things like Hearthstone and Minecraft.

    What to do? As of now, I'm leaning heavily toward the Asus VivoPC. It's only downside is the slightly slower CPU/GPU (as compared to the Chromebox). It's also 70 dollars more expensive than the Chromebox (249 vs 179).

    Do you guys know of any better devices that do what I want it to do and fit my budget?
     
  2. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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  3. zopzop

    zopzop Registered Member

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  4. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    Oops must have missed that.

    If you cannot increase your budget, maybe you can get a used PC from eBay or similar.
     
  5. zopzop

    zopzop Registered Member

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  6. Wroll

    Wroll Registered Member

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    Is important to be that small, because if I were you I would build something with a HTPC case like Cooler Master 110/120/130.
     
  7. zopzop

    zopzop Registered Member

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    Yeah it has to fit in a little area currently occupied by the Fire TV.

    I went ahead and ordered that one from my Ebay link. Yeah the "GPU" is a little underpowered, but everything else was awesome for the price. I got it for $210. Thanks to WSFuser for that advice :D

    Now I have another question. I can get Windows 8.1 dirt cheap because of a student discount thing, how would I go about installing it on this mini pc? There's no cd/dvd rom drive.
     
  8. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    If you have the ISO file for Windows, you can use the Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool to make bootable USB drive.

    If you don't but have the product key, then first follow these instructions for downloading the ISO.
     
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