Why do you not like these devices? Is it because of Android OS? I dont want the additional power consumption and additional real estate a htpc requires. I have Kodi loaded on this Samsung tablet that I am using to respond to this thread. It streams the movies without hiccup. I dont understand yours and TLS's reluctance to these devices. Im all ears.
I don't like them because I consider them utterly miserable.
You have hunt and peck remotes.
Not handy to open up a web browser on screen, if you can.
Slow.
Only able to be upgraded at the discretion of someone else.
In my experience they are glitchy and not at all nice to use or won on many levels.
On the other hand an HTPC is fast, and loads pretty much anything almost instantly
Able to get absolutely anything around the NET and world fast
Very easy to integrate VPN tunnels and cloud services.
Integrates easily with my hard drives.
Has disc player that can also burn.
In over three years has proved very reliable.
Extremely easy to use and navigate from full size wireless keyboard.
Windows 10 natively decodes Dolby Digital plus.
Can load all the other codecs.
Can be adapted to provide the very best streaming quality, to really get the best from MPEG DASH. In my view this is a game changer. If you think these miserable devices like ROKU and Amazon Fire can give you optimal quality from these new advances you are dead wrong. You have just not heard and seen optimal streaming quality unless you have a well constructed and set up HTPC.
They provide high quality, versatility, ease of use, fast operations and reliability. If that is what you want, and I believe for the serious enthusiast it does, then it comes hands down for an HTPC over those misery units.
It just in no contest.
