Hi folks,
Looks like building my own Kodi endpoint devices is done.
I have a nice Silverstone HTPC case with the usual “stuff” in it (MB, PS, noisy fans, video card, etc.) and just decided it was time to see about an upgrade.
Looking at upgrade MB’s and CPU’s that would run win11 quickly seemed to go well over $300. And I wanted to only pay … well, a lot less. Previous considerations usually seemed to be far underpowered to handle a large library.
After much stare and compare, upgrade became replacement, as it just doesn’t seem to make sense to have a Kodi endpoint running on that power-hungry equipment.
In short, I picked up the Beelink Mini S12 Pro. It has the Intel N100 CPU w/ 16GB DDR4 RAM and 500GB drive.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C89TQ1YF?th=1
Catching a sale on Amazon, I was able to purchase this for US $169. That deal (with a $40 off coupon) is available now. For how long, not sure. (No, I don’t get anything for referring it. Just a fair price for a good product).
The pros are too many to list, so I will say the only CON that I found is that it cannot power on via IR. Exporting my info separately is slightly slower than the system it replaced but not so much so that it is unacceptable. Scanning for new content is very good, and passthrough to my amp works great.
Since my content is on a NAS, and this only has to present that content, this should serve my needs for a long time.
Highly recommend.