HTCP Budget Build for under $250?

[TheOpusFuller]

I'm looking to build a HTCP. I found this guide.

http://www.homemediatech.net/budget-...50-build-3/875

It looks small and wouldn't stand out so much which I'm a fan of. Would this work perfectly for a HTCP to run the Plex Media Server to my TV?

Secondly - Currently I have a crappy old Dell Laptop with an external Harddrive attached with a bunch of movies I ripped from my collection. It works fine minus all the bloatware and sometimes I get disconnected from my Plex Media Server.

A couple questions - Is there any difference if I went the route of that budget HTPC build than my laptop? I feel a dedicated HTPC would be much superior but is it really? I just want something that is always on, always running, and always connected to the Plex Media Server so I can watch media on my TV.

[CuriousGamer]

Assuming the specs are the same it wouldn't be much different.
The NUC would possibly be a bit quieter and consume less power.
It would definately be smaller.
In the past on board graphics chips have produced a worse image quality but thats just about gone now.

If I had to choose between a NUC and an old laptop I would pick the NUC, I recently replaced my old laptop with a custom made HTPC as I rarely used the laptop due to it being a pain to use and put in place.

[TheOpusFuller]

Thank you for the reply. I think i'm going to ask my wife to get me the NUC for X-Mas on a few conditions.

Was wondering if you have any experience in this stuff.

1) From the link I provided, the article explains all the hardware parts needed to get this up and running as a media server. I would still have to purchase the Windows OS, correct, in order to get this thing running?

2) I was looking to use PLEX. but is there a better alternative for setting up a Home Theater PC? The link mentions OpenELEC. Do you (or anyone for that matter) have experience using OpenELEC? All this is completely foreign to me. I don't even know which version of OpenELEC I would need based off the NUC.

3) Curious as to how you would control this Media Server? I'm guessing you hook up the NUC to your TV through HDMI. Do you plug in a mouse into the NUC in order to control the menu options?

I'm wondering if I just pass on this NUC all together and hook up external hard drives to my PS3 and use it that way. It's not as pretty as a dedicated media server but it works. Although, overall I would like a pretty interface and a dedicated media server for all my movies that I'm converting, etc.

Any help would be appreciated!

[CuriousGamer]

I'll try to answer the best I can, I don't have a NUC but it's just basically a PC in a small box.

1) Yes but if you have OpenELEC, XBMCbuntu or another Linux based OS it would be free.

2) I don't have any experience with PLEX but I have used OpenELEC and XBMCbuntu, they are both XBMC (now Kodi) running on scaled down Linux OS. OpenELEC is very much plug and play, you don't see Linux running. The NUC is would just use the Generic 64bit build.
XBMCbuntu is a little bit more powerful overall and you can access Linux easily if needed. I run it myself and getting everything working was a little hassle to someone with little Linux experience. But it boots quickly from my SSD.
You can run both of these from a USB flash drive if you just want to play around with them and see what you think.

3) I use an old Cyberlink remote control with IR reciever I picked up years ago for cheap. I plan to use my Logitech Harmony with it, just need to tweak some of the settings. The NUC has an IR port on it but I don't know what it would support, I'm sure Google knows the answer.
You can play in a keyboard and mouse, I generally just use my keyboard if I need to enter text like network shares.
The NUC doesn't support HDMI-CEC unfortunately.

PS3 is a capable media player but an HTPC would be more flexible with more video and audio CODECs supported along with different containers like MKV. I've got mine setup for HD audio output.
If you have any more questions either reply or PM me, I'll try to answer ASAP.