Hi everyone!
In the next year or so, my project is to rip all my blurays and put them on a 4tb external USB hard drive. I’ve already done it for all my DVDs, but I still have to buy an external bluray player in order to finish the job. My budget for the bluray player is CHF 75.- used, so around 75$. All this is done through MakeMKV.
Then, I’d want to have a small Linux PC that I’d use as a media center. My budget is under CHF 100.-, so around 100$. I’ve noticed that you can get 2014 MacMinis with i5 or i7 for that budget, but I’m open to any other brand.
What I’d want the PC to do: -Play all my movies stored on my external USB drive. I don’t think I have 4k movies, but I can’t exclude that some of my Blurays will be 4k in the future -Display my family pictures and videos stored on kDrive (a cloud by Infomaniak) through Firefox and WebDav -Play my music on my Yamaha Amplifier through Firefox and Tidal -Use the wifi for updates, browser based stuff, etc…
The PC would probably not be used for anything else for now, but it needs to be able to become a desktop PC again in the future if needed.
I’d want to operate the PC with a bluetooth mouse and only have to use a keyboard from time to time.
I’ve heard about Jellyfin, Libelec, Kodi and other stuff but I don’t really know what they are.
Thanks in advance for your advice!
I wouldn’t use an old MacMini for much because they aren’t actually power efficient, but any n100 for Ryzen5 minipic with Kodi on it would work just fine for you want. There are plenty of altern6to Kodi, but it’s so simple, it’s hard to pass up.
Could you give me an example of an n100 for Ryzen5 minipc? The power consumption wouldn’t be such a big problem as I’m never letting computer run when they are not in use, so it would only be on when we watch or listen to something.
Still the lower the power consumption, the better if it’s at an acceptable price and the thing can be upgraded/repaired if needed.
As long as it doesn’t use more energy than my current media center (a Playstation 5), I’m fine with it.
Minisforum makes good stuff, but only buy their Refurbished items if you don’t need something specific.
Lots of people buy Beelink minipcs for n100 boxes, but looks like the prices are all jacked right now. [This should only be about $150 maybe.](https://www.newegg.com/beelink-barebone-systems-mini-pc-intel-n95/p/2SW-0012-001Z2?Source=socialshare
From what I’m seeing, you can’t really get these in Switzerland sadly. The second hand market consists mostly of MacMinis, HP EliteDesk 800 G3/5, Intel NUC stuff…
I have to admit that I don’t know if any of these are good except the MacMinis (because Apple) and HP EliteDesk (because we used them at work for years).