Home Entertainment PC Recommendation

MJ1 on 18/07/2016 - 08:20
Last edited 18/07/2016 - 08:21

Hi everyone,

My family has been running a MiniMac for the last 8 years with the main TV. We use mainly iTunes, but have started to use Google movies too (and of course we have some ancient DVDs hanging around too!). All the movies/TV shows are stored on our 3TB Seagate. We also leave the main screen on most of the time as all our family photos are the screensaver (which BTW is an awesome way to see photos). Sound system is a basic 2.1 setup.

Anyway, I want to move to a new PC as the MiniMac can't do Google Play or other streaming movies well and it's just old.

So can you please recommend me a PC/solution that will be able to play HD Google Play, iTunes and DVD (maybe also bluray?), movies and will last us for another 8 years? I don't want to spend more than a few hundred and would love to go cheaper (happy with 2nd hand too), but please let me know if that's not reasonable!

Computing

Comments

  • klaw81 on 18/07/2016 - 08:58
    +3

    The cheapest and simplest solution might be either a streaming stick/box (Chromecast, Apple TV) but that doesn't give you access to DVDs or BluRay.

    An XBox would give you an optical drive (and you have a bonus games console) but from a quick Google search, doesn't play nicely with iTunes.

    A cheap mini PC might work, if you add an external USB optical drive. Exmaple: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/XGODY-MINI-PC-Windows8-1-Android-… The trick will be to find one that's recommended by the HT community as being good value, decent quality etc. But with such low specs, I doubt it will last you 8 years.

    If you want something that will work well for a long time, you are probably going to have to spend some more - I'm betting the Mac Mini wasn't that cheap. Look for a NUC or similar - something with a decent fanless CPU, a reasonable amount of RAM and space for a proper SSD. It will probably cost around $600 but it will last a lot longer.

  • Mumbles on 18/07/2016 - 16:30

    +1 for Klaw81's ideas. The best value for money + decent quality solution would be:

    1) A smart TV which has access to the Google Play Store. Ensure it can play your movie formats (MKV, H.265, etc) over its Ethernet port and/or Wifi.
    2) Apple TV.
    3) To play DVD's a 2nd hand Sony Play Station 2. To play Blurays you'll need a PS3.

    This solution will provide you with remote control and high quality video/audio decoding for the amount of dollars expended.

    The problem is the inability to upgrade so its likely this setup will not last 8 years. Once you encounter a video compression or streaming service not compatible with your Apple TV or Android Smart TV then you'll have to replace those devices again.

  • MJ1 on 18/07/2016 - 16:43

    Thanks for the input. Apple TV sounds good, but I don't have any other apple devices, so does that mean that I can't play Google movies (I think(!) you have to play the Google movie on your ipad or iphone and then Airplay it to the Apple TV)?

    • klaw81 on 19/07/2016 - 06:59

      Yes, you're correct - you'd need an iOS device to watch Google Play content on Apple TV. And you also miss out on DVD/BluRay content. With that level of limitation, it's not good value for you.

      A Chromecast gives you a similar problem - you can easily watch Google Play content, but you're locked out of your iTunes content, and no optical drive. But at least it's less than half the price of an Apple TV.

      A PC is definitely the most platform agnostic - it can run a browser to access any content you want. But it's not as easy to navigate, and it's more expensive.

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