A little bit more Pi?

Hello,

I recently made a post asking for advice on a NAS, and I'm happy to say that after an overwhelming response I went with a commenters advice and brought myself a HP Microserver (N54L) while it was on the cashback offer...

It finally arrived today, and I've not got around to setting it up yet but that's another story...


My main question is, a friend of mine uses a Raspberry Pi as an XBMC device, and I must say it works really well (most of the time) ....the built in CEC is a great perk...

The only reason I don't order one right now is the fact it's just a little too laggy ... not in media playback which is fine ... but in the option navigation and media library display .. when he turns on the stats for the Pi the CPU is constantly maxing out when navigating menus

I've looked at other devices like the Zotac box as well as trying to build my own one with either a NUC or a mITX board but they all work out to 10x the price of the Pi... And none of them have CEC ability

I wondered if there were any devices similar to a Pi ... but with an increased CPU? - I don't need it to play games, it would be purely TV/Film/Radio/Youtube


If any one could suggest alternatives I'd be greatful
Thanks



PS. If any one would like to shed some light on why CEC is so non-existent in hardware I'd be really interested to know - Some sort of intellectual property issue?



Thanks