My Laptop Died, Need a new HTPC

[BoredSysAdmin]

I should mention a buddy of mine came over and got my laptop back up and running. That doesn't mean this thread doesn't have a purpose still tho. I'd still like to upgrade and I just got 200 bucks for one of my old receivers. 710 isn't a horrible price. Still more than I'd like to spend. I'd like to stick around 500 total. 600 if there's like, no other way.

If you old laptop doesn't have SSD, then this would be best upgrade. Not even memory would be as significant.

For example:
https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-2-5-Inch-Height-SDSSDHII-240G-G25/dp/B00M8ABEIM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1499633381&sr=8-3&keywords=sandisk+ssd

Keep in mind, larger sized SSDs are typically faster

 

[TLS Guy]

On your budget you are looking at a barebones solution. However by the time you have bought all the parts, I doubt you will get a good system on budget by the time you have bought all the parts you need, keyboard and operating system.

May be what you should do is use a Chromecast, and drive it from a phone or tablet until funds permit a decent system. Purchasing second rate gear always gets you further behind.

The Asrock i5 seems to be discontinued. Consumer reviews were not encouraging. Customers seem very pleased with the Intel NUC line with the exception of early versions. I can give the unit a strong endorsement. One of my sons has the Intel NUC i7 and has been very happy with it.

 

[Pogre]

On your budget you are looking at a barebones solution. However by the time you have bought all the parts, I doubt you will get a good system on budget by the time you have bought all the parts you need, keyboard and operating system.

May be what you should do is use a Chromecast, and drive it from a phone or tablet until funds permit a decent system. Purchasing second rate gear always gets you further behind.

The Asrock i5 seems to be discontinued. Consumer reviews were not encouraging. Customers seem very pleased with the Intel NUC line with the exception of early versions. I can give the unit a strong endorsement. One of my sons has the Intel NUC i7 and has been very happy with it.

I like the look of the nuc line too. The i5 is $700 kitted out, BSA was saying. Do they have an i3? It wouldn't take much to upgrade from this laptop.

If you old laptop doesn't have SSD, then this would be best upgrade. Not even memory would be as significant.

For example:
https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-2-5-Inch-Height-SDSSDHII-240G-G25/dp/B00M8ABEIM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1499633381&sr=8-3&keywords=sandisk+ssd

Keep in mind, larger sized SSDs are typically faster

How would I know if it has ssd? I'm not up on pc stuff very well.

 

[Pogre]

I'm pretty happy with the laptop. I just wish it would do 4k. Otherwise it does everything I want right now and it's far, far from a high end model. I'm not going for a high end pc or anything. I was looking at 300 dollar laptops at Walmart earlier.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

How would I know if it has ssd? I'm not up on pc stuff very well.

Find Device Manager and look for disk drives, expand it
This guy has regular hitachi hard drive and external usb drive:
https://i.stack.imgur.com/qt4K1.png
this is how SSD would typically appear:
https://i.imgur.com/btv8W7T.png

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Through the grapevine, I've heard about some QC issues with recent NUCs so I won't be in huge rush recommending them, surely not at premium prices they demand.
Here's another mini pc build:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856164097R&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820156072&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820215022&ignorebbr=1

Total under $450
Just add windows or free linux os

 

[Pogre]

Find Device Manager and look for disk drives, expand it
This guy has regular hitachi hard drive and external usb drive:
https://i.stack.imgur.com/qt4K1.png
this is how SSD would typically appear:
https://i.imgur.com/btv8W7T.png

This is what I have.

 

[Pogre]

Through the grapevine, I've heard about some QC issues with recent NUCs so I won't be in huge rush recommending them, surely not at premium prices they demand.
Here's another mini pc build:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856164097R&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820156072&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820215022&ignorebbr=1

Total under $450
Just add windows or free linux os

That's looking better. Is there much in the way of soldering? I have some basic skills...

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

This is what I have.

View attachment 21578

It's plain old 5400rpm HD. I suspect it's main reasons windows feels slow starting and opening apps.
SSD would be huge change.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

That's looking better. Is there much in the way of soldering? I have some basic skills...

No soldering. All plug and play. If you ever build lego models, you'd be able to do it.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

[rant]
Speaking of I3, I5, I7 - Intel made its CPU naming a hair tearing maddening stupid. I stopped relying on the name/model long time ago. Every cpu I see, I check on passmark site to see result. The benchmark heavily prefer more cores, but most windows apps still using only one core so check single core result in smaller font .

BTW most NUCs include U series CPUs. So Core I7 meaningless number U.
You'd expect normally Core I7 to be real Quad core and Hyperthread enabled to get total of 8 cores.
No the case with U processors - in order to fit power requirements, these are only dual core and HT brings to 4. As result their performance is far lower than a desktop core i5. This is much worse with server Xeons cpus. I'm doing it for 20 years and I can't for life of me tell you expected performance based on model randomly chosen.
[/rant]

 

[Pogre]

Good rant.

Okay, the situation has changed a little with my lappy back in business. I'm no longer in any kind of hurry and can take some time to put something together. I'm not even a little bit intimidated by Lego clicking. I think putting one together myself would actually be a fun project.

I'd like something that does pretty much everything my cheap, old laptop does, but in 4k. I guess basically an update to what I have. Web browsing, music player and Kodi. I have Kodi Ultimate on my laptop right now. Works pretty well, but gets a little buggy sometimes.

 

[TLS Guy]

Good rant.

Okay, the situation has changed a little with my lappy back in business. I'm no longer in any kind of hurry and can take some time to put something together. I'm not even a little bit intimidated by Lego clicking. I think putting one together myself would actually be a fun project.

I'd like something that does pretty much everything my cheap, old laptop does, but in 4k. I guess basically an update to what I have. Web browsing, music player and Kodi. I have Kodi Ultimate on my laptop right now. Works pretty well, but gets a little buggy sometimes.

Just make sure you get a grounding strap and make sure you are grounded as you work on the unit, so you don't blow it up from static.

I don't think you will have trouble putting it together.

I put this HTPC together four years ago with Bored's help. I use it all the time and love it.

I used the best quality parts I could find and it has now many hours of use on it.

The tower audio workstation to the left of it I built in 2002 from the best parts I could obtain. It was costly for a PC at the time, but it now has had lots of use over 15 years. If I had used cheap parts I likely would have got through several by now. It still does everything I want. It will be due for replacement, but I will have to update WaveLab and buy a new RME unit, so it will be a costly project.

I firmly believe you are lots of dollars ahead taking the high road.

 

[Irvrobinson]

No SSD, No bueno

Yeah, but not in a $400 budget.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Yeah, but not in a $400 budget.

Yes on $400 budget if refubs or open boxes accepted

 

[Irvrobinson]

Yes on $400 budget if refubs or open boxes accepted

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Why would I trust the advice of a guy who has a Tapatalk signature? ;-)

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Why would I trust the advice of a guy who has a Tapatalk signature? ;-)

New phone . Haven't got to that yet.
BTW S8 rocks

 

[Bryce_H]

Agree my setup is a bit geeky, but my 6 year old twins can use the setup in the living room to get to their media. A harmony remote helps too

When I built my systems (including the HTPCs), my mantra was easy front end for everyone else - I deal with the back end.

Even when I had the stand alone Windows 10/WMC setups - it inevitability crashed while I was on travel. I haven't had the Raspberry Pi's crash once.

I understand it is not for everyone, just that there are other options out there. All of this started 5 years ago when we cut the cord and dropped satellite/cable. I needed a DVR solution for my OTA antenna. We went with a WMC set-up that was pretty good for a long time...then they dropped support for WMC, so I switched to Win 10/Kodi setup. But it never quite worked right (Next PVR backend). Then I got the HDHomeRun and after some fiddling (and getting it hooked up to a UPS) it has been flawless.

 

[Pogre]

Just make sure you get a grounding strap and make sure you are grounded as you work on the unit, so you don't blow it up from static.

I don't think you will have trouble putting it together.

I put this HTPC together four years ago with Bored's help. I use it all the time and love it.

I used the best quality parts I could find and it has now many hours of use on it.

The tower audio workstation to the left of it I built in 2002 from the best parts I could obtain. It was costly for a PC at the time, but it now has had lots of use over 15 years. If I had used cheap parts I likely would have got through several by now. It still does everything I want. It will be due for replacement, but I will have to update WaveLab and buy a new RME unit, so it will be a costly project.

I firmly believe you are lots of dollars ahead taking the high road.

Grounding myself is something that wasn't even on my radar. BSA tossed together a quick setup for me on the last page that I think would definitely do the trick. I want to shop a little more carefully now and see what I could build that will do what I want.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Agree my setup is a bit geeky, but my 6 year old twins can use the setup in the living room to get to their media. A harmony remote helps too

When I built my systems (including the HTPCs), my mantra was easy front end for everyone else - I deal with the back end.

Even when I had the stand alone Windows 10/WMC setups - it inevitability crashed while I was on travel. I haven't had the Raspberry Pi's crash once.

I understand it is not for everyone, just that there are other options out there. All of this started 5 years ago when we cut the cord and dropped satellite/cable. I needed a DVR solution for my OTA antenna. We went with a WMC set-up that was pretty good for a long time...then they dropped support for WMC, so I switched to Win 10/Kodi setup. But it never quite worked right (Next PVR backend). Then I got the HDHomeRun and after some fiddling (and getting it hooked up to a UPS) it has been flawless.

I hear yea. I 100% agree. Server+tiny client is the way to go. I'm running LibreElec (upgraded from OpenElec) Kodi w/Plex client in my living room on tiny and old Atom asus eepc box. No performance issues even on such old hardware. LibreElec is also support RasPi devices and it's very easy to set up.