(Part 3) Top products from r/htpc

Over the years I've tried all sorts of HTPC keyboards and mini-keyboards, and keyboard/controller combos. None of them have been perfect, but I keep looking and appreciate your desire to make a better one!

My favorite overall is the Logitech K830. If I had to recommend ONE htpc keyboard to someone, it would be this one. Backlit keys and full function keyboard+trackpad can't be beat.

Here's what I don't like about the Logitech K830

• I wish it had actual function keys. My HTPC is a linux box and I use this keyboard for everything, and I would sure appreciate dedicated function keys (they could be tiny ones like on macbook keyboard...)
  
• I wish it had a higher resolution mouse -- it's not the best PC gaming keyboard...
  
• From a few years of using the keyboard in my lap, mine has started to bend slightly downward in the center.
  
• Rubber feet have long since come off. Wider feet with stickier glue might be good.
  
• I wish it had full size arrow keys instead of tiny arrow keys
  
• I wish it had a larger battery so that it could go longer between charges.
  
  Now... on to other devices I've used to control media centers...
  
  My current favorite TV remote is the ROKU remote. I don't need 50 buttons, and I feel like the Apple TV remotes don't have enough buttons. The roku remotes are just about right, but don't support CEC, I don't need the extra video service buttons that I can't reprogram, and if a roku-clone remote also supported an 'air mouse', I would certainly buy a couple.
  
  I've also tried just about every game controller as an HTPC controller, and my favorite one is the WII controller because it has enough buttons to do everything I really need while holding it in my hand, and I don't need to look at it. If someone made a wii-clone HTPC controller that held a charge more than a few days, with an air mouse mode, I'd buy a bunch of those!
  
  Lastly... tiny keyboards..
  The Rii Mini K12 is too flat for my likes, and it's only slightly smaller than a fullsize keyboard.
  
  I like this mini wireless keyboard because of backlighting: https://www.amazon.com/FAVI-Wireless-Backlit-Keyboard-Built/dp/B0090BTY8Y/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1520276357&sr=1-3-catcorr&keywords=rii+mini+wireless+backlit
  
  However, it would be much better IF the following changes were made:
  
  
• larger trackpad
  
• auto backlight by default
  
• arrow keys set apart so that I can find them by feel instead of looking at keyboard
  
• move escape key
  
• get rid of android keys
  
• maybe make it fractionally bigger...

Excellent build. I have nearly identical requirements to you and my rig is very similar to yours.

The processor I used was the A8-3870k (it was cheaper for me than the 3850 in Canada) and I went with a micro ATX setup because the case of my choice was mATX.

You will have no problems with that processor. It's simply a monster. Plays and processes flawlessly. XBMC runs perfect. I've got my OS and programs on a 120GB SSD so everything is snappy!

1. For the SSD mounting, you can pick up adapters for less than $10 that let you mount them into standard 3.5" bays. However, someone above mentioned using velcro which is a simple alternative and should work fine.
   
   
2. Wifi cards are a dime a dozen nowadays so you'll probably have to get a standard card. Just get one that's wireless n compatible with a solid speed (you can get a wireless n 300 Mbps card for about $30). Your router may not even be that fast so you can adjust accordingly.
   
   
3. I know you said you didn't want a keyboard/mouse but this one is really good I swear: [Logitech K400] (http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Keyboard-Multi-Touch-920-003070/dp/B005DKZTMG). It looks nice and is very useful. You'll need a keyboard whenever you need to tweak things or use the web browser so this thing is great.
   
   I have the K400 and also a cheap [MCE remote] (http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Microsoft-Center-Control-Receiver/sim/B006TPPVKE/2) which is great for non-tech savvy people in my house.
   
   
   Overall I think you'll be very pleased with that build. Have fun!

I definitely considered this HTPC build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i3-4130T 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor | $140.14 @ Amazon
Motherboard | ECS H81H3-I/HDMI (V1.0) Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard | $56.99 @ Mwave
Memory | *Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $47.73 @ NCIX US
Storage | Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $82.11 @ Amazon
Case | Antec ISK 300-150 Mini ITX Desktop Case w/150W Power Supply | $78.24 @ Mwave
Other| Windows 8.1| Purchased
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $405.21
| *Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |

And this NAS unit with one 3TB WD Green to start with. I'm still not sure if that would be better or worse, and it would come in at around the same price.

My home layout has the router necessarily located in my entertainment center, so the only options for "hiding the server" would be to go wireless or running a long wire, neither of which are great. I'd also like to be able to serve multiple 1080p transcodes simultaneously, so I'm very wary of dropping the server CPU.

Yeah that cooler shouldn't be an issue. I've got this low profile Zalman on a 125 watt processor and don't have any issues.

I wish I could provide a good article on the difference between dual and single channel. This is the best I could find, but basically the difference is mostly negligable even when gaming. You could still get two 2gb sticks, but if you ever wanted to upgrade you'd be forced to get two new sticks. Which was why I just recommended a single 4gb stick and then just grab another 4gb if you felt you needed 8gb.

Other than that it looks good. If you wanted you could downgrade to a Pentium G3220 to save even more money. I use a Celeron G1610 for 1080p video and in-home streaming and it works flawlessly. But if you have the money to get a stronger processor I'd stick with it. Up to you.

The Raspberry Pi by itself is just a board. Like a PC, you need other stuff to make it work -- at the very least, a power supply and an SD card on which to install the OS. A kit like this gives you the power supply and a case, or you can go bigger and get a kit that includes power, case, wifi, hdmi cable, and a preloaded SD card. For htpc purposes, you don't need a kit like this, which includes a bunch of components that you aren't going to use (LEDs, breadboard, breakout cables, wires, etc -- stuff that you'd use if you were going to use the pi to build projects, but is unnecessary for a media player).

Don't bother with any heatsinks or fans. The RPi doesn't need them even for overclocking. Case quality can vary, but even the cheap cases are generally decent. You'll want at least a 2A power supply, especially if you intend to plug in external HDDs that don't have their own power source. And if you don't go with a kit that includes an SD card, make sure you buy a good quality card instead. That's your only storage on the device, so you want it to be as reliable as possible. Which means no bargain basement, "10 for a dollar" cheap SD cards. Go with name brands like Samsung.

And finally, /r/raspberry_pi. They're big on the Zero right now, but I'd suggest you go with a 2 B instead (quad core and more RAM makes it worth the extra cost).

5½" high speakers are a tough find with any quality in mind. What sort of width do you have available? There is a chance you can get decent speakers and lay them down on their sides if you have some space.

These Emotiva XRM 4 monitors are a good example of a speaker that is EXACTLY 5½" wide. They are also on sale currently.

Since a HTPC is all you have you can get a setup like this.

• $32 Behringer UCA202 Better than just about any soundcard with proper RCA outs.
  
  
• $96 DTA-100a A good 50wpc T-amp for powering the speakers.
  
  
• $90 Dayton Sub-100
  
  How You wire this 2.1
  
  If you want the amp to auto power on and off you can look at some sort of Smart power strip.

The i3 would have slightly less "performance" when comparing PassMark Cpu scores. The i3 3220T has 3825 vs. the top end AMD A10-5800K at 4703. Take these numbers with a grain of salt though. Both have more than enough CPU and GPU power for an HTPC outputting 1080P. The big difference is heat, noise, and power usage. The i3 runs at lower than 35 watts vs. the A10's 100 watts. I would highly recommend the i3 if it were my build unless you want to do a little gaming as well. The A10-5800K would be awesome for casual gaming. The AMD A4 or Intel Celeron series would even have enough power for HTPC use. I have used the Intel Celeron G1610 on 2 builds and for $45 they are a beast for value and suprised me when I first used one.

I have a 1st gen Dell OptiPlex I3-550/CentOS/Plex server that does a good job. I am just leery about the mobile processor segment. Why use a "U" when they could have used a "T"? I think they cut a corner here for the same price point. Why not use a i3-3220T? After all, we are plugged into a power source. I know the OP is looking for an out of the box solution, and this is close if you don't mind sticking in some ram and an HDD. But if you are going to go that far, I think we can do better.

Intel Core i3-3220T

ASUS P8H77-I

MI-008 Tower with 250W ITX

But I am also a fan of Shuttle PC.

Shuttle XH61V Slim

Throw in the i3-3220T, RAM, HDD, and you have a really nice setup.

There are a lot of options. But for a complete system, it is hard to beat a laptop. Same CPU and everything is included at the same price point (after purchasing the RAM and mSATA HDD) including the OS.

Asus - 11.6" Windows 8 Touch-Screen Laptop

+1
Something like the i3 NUC http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0093LINT2/ could be good for him! The Celeron version is about $150. Either way, you can boot off a good thumb drive for XBMCbuntu. I have not done this, but I have read about it. They are awesome small units that can be discretely hidden. You'll need to hardwire or install wifi I believe...

Edit: I use the i3 unit in my bedroom mounted to the wall behind the TV.

You don't what size / shape you are looking for, but I wasn't looking for a traditional component sized case (since my case is hidden in a narrow cabinet), and have been very happy with this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BCXF4HI/ref=oh_details_o03_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It looks like the Silver model is no longer available, but the black and white ones are (they weren't an option when I got mine).

In particular I like the fact that this case will take a full size graphics card, a full size PSU, and two regular HDD's along with a couple of SSDs.

While it's not for an HTPC, I also have a Home Server in this case:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001H0BA24/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's a much smaller case, but might work.

Only comment I have is that the WD Green drives sometimes have a mind of their own when it comes to power management. I've got one as a storage drive in my PC and I often need to wait for it to spin up (about 3-5 seconds) at the oddest times.

Often, it will spin up only when I try to access a file (as opposed to just browsing the file lists). This, in turn, causes the application opening the file to freeze sometimes.

It's not a big deal on my PC when I'm trying to use CBR Reader or VLC. However, it might be a huge annoyance on an HTPC.

Edit: Try the Caviar Blue from WD instead.

I think it would be simpler to get a power strip like this (edit: or here's a cheaper one), which switches certain outlets on and off based on the power draw from another outlet.

For your situation, you could plug your monitor (edit: or TV, as the case may be) into the control outlet, so that when it turns off, the outlet that the receiver is plugged into turns off as well. Then when it turns back on, the receiver gets power again too.

I am struggling to come up with the right term for the product, I thought it was 'smart power strip', but that phrase seems to be getting muddied by IoT-type power strips.

Belkin also makes a power strip with a remote switch, which would make shutting off the monitor and receiver and whatever else easier, but not automatic.

As far as I know, there is no way to send Harmony commands from a computer if you went with a Harmony Hub

the idea with kodi (XBMC has been renamed) is that the user interface allows for opening those files via remote (another example), in a way that is easy to do from the couch. Hence a high wife acceptance factor. And since Kodi can be installed on a cheap android stick, apps can sit alongside your PC's saved content. example

Some other UI's

The Buffalo ones are nice; not too expensive but good features and interface, I use one at work.

At home I got started with this one: Lenovo IX2 2-Bay Diskless Network Storage (70A69003NA)

It's been great so far, it was cheap at the time and is solid. My only regret is that with only two days I don't have much upgrade room.

QQ-Tech https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BALK9CM/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_0vFJub00VSA7T

I wish I had gotten one with the simplistic navigational buttons on the back for my wife to work the plex. Kind of like the roku controller. Kind of like this one:
Rii mini i25 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J6POGQO/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_eAFJub0VXT1F3

Something like this would be perfect:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/411741/Optiplex_755_Desktop_Computer_Refurbished

And then add something like this for graphics:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007B5YUMQ

You can also add more storage via USB, and if you want this thing to move really fast, buy a cheap 32gb/64gb ssd to replace the boot drive. You'll also have an open PCIe x1 slot, so you'll have the option of adding a TV or cable card tuner to use with wmc.

On 2nd thought I might just go for something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Micca-Full-HD-Portable-Digital-Player/dp/B008NO9RRM

I can easily swap USB drives to put new movies on. Has a super basic interface (pretty much just a file list) and remote. And if somehow something gets messed up, I can just have them unplug it and plug it back in, and we're back to normal.

I've been using the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote (backlit version) along with the Microsoft IR receiver and it has never failed me. I do remember having to tweak a registry setting to get it to work without installing any other software. Other than that though, it's a perfect HTPC remote for me.

edit:added registry tweak link

Case - Antec ISK110 DC Powered

MB - ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+

APU - AMD A-10 6700 4-Core 3.7GHz 65W

Cooling - Noctua NH-L9A Low Profile

Memory - Crucial DDR3 1866 2 X 4GB

Disks(Internal) - 2 X Crucial M4 64GB SSD

Disks(External) - StarTech e-SATA enclosure w/ 2 X 1TB WD Blue HDD

Optical Disk(External) - Vantec USB2 enclosure w/ Sony Optiarc BluRay Drive

OS:

• Win7 w/Media Center + BluRay + Steam
  
  
• Linux Mint 17 + XBMC + Steam (to be replaced w/SteamOS)
  
  
  
  
  
  

OpenELEC might be a good solution for you. Linux knowledge isn't required.

http://openelec.tv/

You'll need a raspberry pi and a microsd card. You can even buy kits that come with OpenELEC pre-installed on the SD card. http://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Complete-Original-Preloaded/dp/B008XVAVAW

Gyration remote. It's awesome but no longer made. You'd need to pick one up second hand. Dell also made a version I believe.

https://www.amazon.com/Gyration-GYR3101US-Media-Center-Remote/dp/B000O7IHOK

FAVI FE02RF-BL. It's seriously awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/FAVI-FE02RF-BL-Wireless-Keyboard-SmartStick/dp/B0090BTY8Y/ref=pd_cp_e_1

This is exactly what I do. Running one of these:

Dell

and one of these [HP Compaq]http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-dx5150-SFF-DESKTOP-COMPUTER-PC-MSI-MS-7050-AMD-ATHLON-3500-2-2GHz-1GB-80GB-/251733091429?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item3a9c762465

both having one of these HD5450

Paid $0 for both computers because most people consider them junk at this point. Paid $60 for both video cards. Bought 2 of these for remotes: Adesso at $15 per

Both play 7.1 surround pass through in 1080p and cost me less than $100 total.

This was the best HTPC remote ever made. Why production was stopped I cannot understand. If you can get your hands on one you are golden.

I just ordered a Silverstone ML04B which is pretty sleak looking, and I believe it has space for an optical drive

On such a small case, should I be focussing on pulling air out of the case or pushing air in?

My CPU fan is an aftermarket - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-CNPS8900-Quiet-Performance-Technology/dp/B0077POH8M/ - it's effective and quiet but with the GPU (GTX 750 TI) in there, there's significantly more warm air in the case which needs to be expelled somehow.

silverstone make nice htpc cases. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DL4BMRC/?tag=pcpapi-20

Yep. Digital signal to other digital signal is no problem.

Gefen DVI to HDMI Cable 6 Feet, Male-Male 6 Feet, CAB-DVI2HDMI-06MM https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002CZHN6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_IHxvyb5CSVKZ1

Then you can just get one of these for audio

Ugreen Gold Plated 3.5mm to 2RCA Audio Auxiliary Stereo Y Splitter Cable (6ft) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LM2Y2U4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_RIxvyb94BT3D5

As far as replacing the 'cabinet' (assume you mean computer case), that may be a little harder. You need to find out what size motherboard you have in there (ATX / mATX / ITX) and if the power supply is a standard size. I know sometimes prebuilt suppliers like dell use strange form factors designed only for their own hardware / cases.

Silver stone makes really nice htpc cases. But again, you're probably going to want a mATX / ITX motherboard to fit in some of the smaller form factor cases. Might be a problem if yours is ATX

I use a Micca Speck G2 in our travel trailer. It plays MKV, MP4. I just loaded the content to a 1TB drive (later to just a 128 GB minimal thumb drive).
I hdmi into from it to TV.
Simple interface, it just works.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008NO9RRM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have one, it's Bluetooth and got it on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BALK9CM

If you plan on upgrading for Steam big picture mode consider this case with a graphics card down the road.
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Elite-120-Advanced/dp/B00BCXF4HI/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=RKU2NJ1VKQ2F&coliid=I1TYA89UVB06X7

J-Tech Digital Premium Quality 1080P HDMI To HDMI + Audio (SPDIF + RCA Stereo) Audio Extractor Converter (JTDAT5CH) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BIQER0E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_inPMDbMPNV94D

https://www.amazon.com/J-Tech-Digital-Premium-Extractor-Converter/dp/B00BIQER0E/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1538014979&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=HDMI+audio+extractor&dpPl=1&dpID=51OckVyi8YL&ref=plSrch

Yup:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000B6MLSM

Consider a USB sound card.

Another one

Quick Search found NUC with thunderbolt. Downside is its last gen NUC with only i3. I'm not knowledgeable enough on that to know if it will handle what you're wanting. If you have to have that form factor with thunderbolt and something higher than the i3 you may have to get the Mac Mini. Why not USB 3.0 though?

I'm just starting to research something similar for a friend. What I've made note of so far is a little above your $200 threshold but not by much.

Noctua Low-profile Quiet CPU Cooler NH-L9A $40

Antec ISK 300-150 Mini-ITX $75

AMD AMD A6-7400K $55

ASRock A88M-ITX/ac $75

I also looked at the below with an embedded CPU but doubt I'll go with it because of the lack of on board WiFi. My build has to have Wifi so if I have to spend for an adapter I might as well go with the AMD solution that already has it.

ASRock Q1900B-ITX $70

You'd still need memory, I was going to steal a single 4GB stick from another build. The Asrock A88M has an M.2 slot but I haven't investigated if it's bootable or not as I'd be using a spare 2.5" SSD I have.

I included the Noctua cooler because I don't know the size or noise level of the stock AMD cooler, if it would fit in the small box I'd be using. If you're using a larger box you could eliminate that $40 item.