I wish to build a media PC for my father. It would be used to play a variety of embarrassing 80s music alongside 2K DVDs. I already have an old FM1 socket motherboard alongside an APU. I believe that I will be able to find a cheap PSU and case by myself. However, I want to ask the Internet communities what would be a good option in terms of a sound card for 5.1 surround sound.
Also I want to make this media center controllable by a standard universal TV remote. I understand that there are all-in-one media centre options available to Linux, what I would like to know in this regard is are there any sensors that can detect TV remote input? and are there any media centers that are optimized towards the simple input of this type of device?
Yes, Kodi and an intel NUC is a good option for media centre systems. Several of the NUCs come with IR receivers built-in. I would check the device compatibility list though beforehand to make sure you find the appropriate remote control to use with them. You would also need to pick up a USB external disk player to play the DVDs but these are relatively cheap nowadays. Using a smartphone to control it would save the cost of the remote though like @LinuxMaster9 posted.
Thanks guys, these are all really great suggestions, I already have a PC available, so I may bypass the NUC, but other than that Kodi looks like a great fit. And it just so happens that my father got a new Android phone from work last week, so I am all set there.