A little bit of background (can be ignored)
I am trying to decide which way to go with expanding my current set up. I currently have a TV, a cable box, and a computer which I use to run 3 separate VMs - Work, Personal and and XBMC install (complete with emulators, of course).
The TV has 2 inputs - 1 x HDMI and 1 x Component. The decision I have is whether to beef up the CPU and the RAM on the computer (currently have a quad core CPU and 16Gb RAM - looking to upgrade to a 6-8 Core and 24-32Gb RAM), or to get an Andorid Media Centre to go into the TV and cut the number of VMs I'm running down by 1.
The problem - Component over HDMI
The cheapest solution in the long run would clearly be the Android box, but obviously a beefed up computer has other advantages to go along with it. The big problem I have is the limited inputs on the TV. I know you can buy component over HDMI cables, but I also know that your device specifically needs to support this type of cable. HOW can I find out if a device supports it or not? I can't find anything in the instructions for my cable box, graphics cars, or in the product description for any of these Android boxes that explains if it's supported.
Of course I could 'just' get a cable and try it out with my computer and cable boxes, if it works with one of the devices then the problem is solved anyway and the decision can be made on the other pros and cons. But it's not particularly simple to buy such a cable here. It either means taking a trip to Bangkok, or getting it shipped from abroad - both of which are fairly expensive options (and only ONE of which actually guarantees I'll actually get the cable - shipping here is hit-and-miss)
So is there any resource online with a list of devices that support Component over HDMI? Or does anybody have any experience with Android media centres and can confirm if they support this feature? Or is there some other clue that will let me know if any given device supports it?
I am trying to decide which way to go with expanding my current set up. I currently have a TV, a cable box, and a computer which I use to run 3 separate VMs - Work, Personal and and XBMC install (complete with emulators, of course).
The TV has 2 inputs - 1 x HDMI and 1 x Component. The decision I have is whether to beef up the CPU and the RAM on the computer (currently have a quad core CPU and 16Gb RAM - looking to upgrade to a 6-8 Core and 24-32Gb RAM), or to get an Andorid Media Centre to go into the TV and cut the number of VMs I'm running down by 1.
The problem - Component over HDMI
The cheapest solution in the long run would clearly be the Android box, but obviously a beefed up computer has other advantages to go along with it. The big problem I have is the limited inputs on the TV. I know you can buy component over HDMI cables, but I also know that your device specifically needs to support this type of cable. HOW can I find out if a device supports it or not? I can't find anything in the instructions for my cable box, graphics cars, or in the product description for any of these Android boxes that explains if it's supported.
Of course I could 'just' get a cable and try it out with my computer and cable boxes, if it works with one of the devices then the problem is solved anyway and the decision can be made on the other pros and cons. But it's not particularly simple to buy such a cable here. It either means taking a trip to Bangkok, or getting it shipped from abroad - both of which are fairly expensive options (and only ONE of which actually guarantees I'll actually get the cable - shipping here is hit-and-miss)
So is there any resource online with a list of devices that support Component over HDMI? Or does anybody have any experience with Android media centres and can confirm if they support this feature? Or is there some other clue that will let me know if any given device supports it?