Home Theatre options, which is best

[PGros2]

I currently have Rogers Communications Inc. providing Home Telephone, Cable TV and Internet Services through their Rogers Ignite TV bundled service.  These work off a single Arris Modem Model G3482ER3, Part No. TG02DCW3482RG and a copper coax drop from Rogers distribution network.  The Home Phone service connects back to the original (51 years old) in-house Bell 2-pair copper wiring using the standard 2-pair copper wire and RJ11.  The Internet Services are accessed by CAT6 RJ45 cabling in-house and by WiFi (2.4G and 5G 8021.11ac).  The Cable TV is fed by the Arris Modem to an Arris wireless pickup device hard-wired (HDMI) to the TV using WiFi 5G.

The TV is a Samsung UN46D8000 “Smart TV” now 10 years old. We find the “Smart” useless because it is cumbersome, complicated and needs multiple tiny control boxes to use. 

I am considering dumping the “Cable TV” aspect of the above in favour of streaming using an Intel NUC box running Windows 10 and the Ignite TV App for Windows provided by Rogers.  We have a tiny Microsoft folding Bluetooth keyboard and a Microsoft ARC Mouse that are very much easier to use than the cumbersome control devices.

I currently have an old Intel NUC6i7KYK doing this “streaming”, but it needs upgrading, so my question is what is the best NUC box to use and which configuration of RAM and Storage?  For streaming and occasional browsing is, or “will”:-

1. a Core i5 or i7 be preferred
2. is 16GB RAM enough
3. is a common 256GB SSD drive sufficient

Keep in mind I am looking at a 10-year time frame.

There is also the question of how Rogers is addressing the future.  Its Ignite TV on the regular “Cable TV” service includes access to Apps such as Netflix.  The Windows version does not include the Apps because it assumes you do this through Windows. The question is “which way to go?”

Lastly, the ability of the NUC feed to provide excellent quality and easy to see video is not an issue, but, backing out of the several streaming feeds back into Windows is – the screen becomes washed out and hard to read the text choices.  Perhaps I need to be advised on the best Windows settings for that issue.  Suggestions would be welcomed.

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello PGros2

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

Please allow us to look into these inquiries and as soon as we have more details available, we will be posting back in the thread.

In the meantime, perhaps other community peers may also share opinions/suggestions.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AndrewG_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hello @PGros2

Thank you for your patience in this matter.

We understand that you currently have an Intel® NUC Kit NUC6i7KYK.

After reviewing this further, the next-generation replacement for the Intel® NUC Kit NUC6i7KYK (Product formerly Skull Canyon) was one of the Intel® NUCs HADES CANYON (e.g.: Intel® NUC Kit NUC8i7HVK/HNK) and nowadays, the natural replacement for that would be the Intel® NUCs Phantom Canyon.

The Intel® NUCs Phantom Canyon should bring you to the present with the latest features and capabilities on this line of products and they should be congruent with the price that you paid for the Skull Canyon. What we recommend is to do your own comparisons so you can review different options and determine what would be the best option for you based on your needs. For your convenience, here is a comparison link between Skull Canyon and Phantom Canyon.

There are additional different Intel® NUCs models available, so you may also check more options as a replacement using the Product Specifications webpage for Intel® NUCs with the "Compare" button at the top of the page.

Regarding the concerns about Rogers Communications* and the options of the services they provide and “which way to go?”, this concern would be better handled by the service provider or by posting this inquiry on a forum dedicated to those products (if available). This is since they are the ones that handle all the technical details and information about those services and differences, and since it is regarding a third-party service, this would be out of our scope.

The same recommendation would apply for the inquiry about "the recommended Windows* settings for the streaming/video playback apps and services". We would suggest checking with the app developer or service provided for recommended settings.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[PGros2]

Thank you Andrew. 

I have 2 NUC8i7HVK units already in use as desktop computer systems, and a NUC11PHKi7C on order.  One of these will replace the NUC6i7KYK (it's a dogs breakfast that old unit, a good first try) for certain once I have evaluated the new NUC.

It seems to me the key to success here is the ability of the video processor(s) to present on a TV screen and I am hoping that will be my solution once I replace the NUC6i7KYK.

I was hoping a less expensive NUC box would suffice for the Home Theatre unit with less RAM (maybe 16GB) and SSD (maybe 512GB) since browsing and A/V streaming would be the only functions it does.  

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello PGros2

Thank you for your response.

The example we mentioned about Intel® NUCs Phantom Canyon was just as a reference following the same "line or family" of the type of Intel® NUCs you have (Skull and Hades Canyon).

Certainly, other Intel® NUCs can perform well the role of an "only" Home Theater PC, for instance, even older Intel® NUCs as the Intel NUCs with 7th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors and newer generations up to the 11th Generation with the latest features and improvements may be used for this goal since they will support 4K resolutions, support HDMI® 2.0 and DisplayPort™ video output, and so on.

This is why the best recommendation would be to check more options using the Product Specifications webpage for Intel® NUCs with the "Compare" button or the Technical Product Specifications for Intel® NUC Products so you can make the best decision based on your needs.

In case you are planning to use external speakers, please note that there are some Intel® NUCs that don't come with Audio jack output for microphone/speakers since those devices are mostly targeted at the business market (e.g.: NUC7i5DNKE, NUC7i5DNHE, NUC7i5DNKPC, etc) and audio output will be through the HDMI® connection.

We hope this helps. Also, since the thread has been marked as "Solved", please kindly let us know if it is ok to close this inquiry now. Otherwise, please do not hesitate to contact us back for additional inquiries.

Sincerely,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[PGros2]

Thank you Andrew.  Does that "G" stand for "Groves"?

I agree this topic can be closed now.  You have been helpful. I will be getting the new NUC11PHKi7C shortly and will test it in place of the NUC6i7KYK.  I expect the newer video processor will help a lot.  I may also move one of my NUC8i7HVK with its Radon GPU to check if that works as well.

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello PGros2

You are very welcome and thank you for your response. We are glad to know that the information provided has been helpful.

We would like to share with you the How to Compare Intel® NUC Products Using the Product Specifications Page (ARK) link in case it may be helpful for further product revisions and comparisons.

We will proceed to close this inquiry now. If you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us back and kindly submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

It has been a pleasure to assist you.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician