Mini PC for use with TV - advice please! How can I do this?

ozaz

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Dec 11, 2013
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Mini PC for use with TV - advice please!

I'd like to purchase a mini PC to hook up to my living room TV. I've used various internet media streamers (Apple TV, Roku, etc) but have never used a full PC in this way, so would be grateful for some guidance on what is sufficient. I don't really have a limited budget, but I don't want to spend more than necessary.

I won't be doing any gaming and I won't be doing anything with the PC other than using it to watch video content. Some of this will be on the local network (stored on a NAS). But mostly I will be using it to stream video from the internet (Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube etc). I'd like to be able to stream in HD. I'd also like to be able to stream live video from websites of various TV networks (mentioning because I don't know if this is any more demanding than streaming pre-recorded HD content from the services mentioned above).

I'm not interested in bare bones PCs - I wan't something that will work out the box.

From my searching I've identified 3 possible classes of device to consider:

1. Fanless mini PC running an Intel Atom Processor. e.g. something like Minix Neo Z64 (Windows version)

2. Mini PC running an Intel Celeron Processor. e.g. something like Lenovo Q190

3. Mini PC running a Core i3 processor. e.g. something like Acer Revo One (RL85)

I'm sure a Core i3 machine will be more than sufficient for my needs, but what about the other two classes? As mentioned above, I'm inclined to avoid overpaying if my needs can be met with the cheaper options.

If anyone also has any more specific advice, I'd be very grateful.

Thanks!
 

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