Hi Tristan,
Sorry, I was not as helpful as I want to be. I use an ATOM-based unit with an NVIDIA GPU. I use OpenElec (openelec.tv) as the OS/package. OpenElec can be installed to a USB flash drive (as a Live version) ... that way you can check for compatibility with your hardware without installing. If you set it up in this manner, booting to the flash drive will bring you to Kodi (XBMC's new name), after a few seconds, and you can add and scrape (for info) your video and music libraries.
Check out the site and the screenshots using the link above. As I said, you don't have to be a Linux expert or user to use OpenElec.