Finding the right Pi for me

[AmateurHunter]

Hey everyone!

So, I'm currently looking into getting my first Raspberry Pi and wondering which one I should shoot for.
My use case is very easy and limited: Stream 1080p video content through my home cinema system from a web source or my PC using Kodi, as well as play some music from time to time. I currently have a full blown PC set up for doing this, but would like something smaller, quieter and more power saving.

I've been reading that the Pi 4 has a few issues doing this. Does this still hold true? Because most information I could gather was pretty convoluted and/or seemed outdated. I'd prefer the Pi 4 for its true Gigabit LAN, but would rather go for the 3B+ if the streaming and playback experience was better on that one as they're comparable in price here in Switzerland.

[bjtheone]

The core hardware (cpu/gpu/ports) is better on the 4 than the 3B+. As expected this translates to faster performance. However, the 4 also came with a mandatory OS upgrade to Buster and has made some significant changes to the graphics stack. Some of the purpose built AV distros are still getting completely sorted. LibreELEC just came out of Beta in September. Kodi runs fine as an app on Buster.

Support is only going to improve and the experience is only going to improve on the 4. It is pretty much maxed out on the 3B+. Personally I would get a 2 GB Pi 4.

[rin67630]

The core hardware (cpu/gpu/ports) is better on the 4 than the 3B+. As expected this translates to faster performance. However, the 4 also came with a mandatory OS upgrade to Buster and has made some significant changes to the graphics stack. Some of the purpose built AV distros are still getting completely sorted. LibreELEC just came out of Beta in September. Kodi runs fine as an app on Buster.

Support is only going to improve and the experience is only going to improve on the 4. It is pretty much maxed out on the 3B+. Personally I would get a 2 GB Pi 4.

If you ever get a chance to buy today a 3B+?
It is pretty nowhere available, now even the Zeroes are out of stock...

[dustnbone]

I've been running LibreELEC on a 2GB Pi4 for a few weeks now as my HTPC, and it's been pretty flawless.

H.264 and HEVC video both play fine at 1080p, the UI seems as responsive as on any PC I've ever used for this purpose and it's been rock solid stable the whole time. The only reboot it's had was when LibreELEC wanted to install it's updates and wouldn't stfu about it.

All media is streamed from a server on my local network, aside from the Youtube and Twitch plugins and a couple of RSS video feeds, so I can't speak to things like NetFlix working.