[Twizter]

Hi guys, I have just registered myself after digging through the forum for the last week but have a few questions of my own.
I do want to have a HTPC of my own (duh ) but am still in a dilemma on going for a Zotac box or build one myself.
My TV is a Panasonic Full-HD plasma tv and many of the rips I have are 1080p quality. Some of them in MKV format, others a 1:1 BD rip. All of these on several external HDD's from 1TB to 2TB.
It doesn't need to have an optical station but USB3 would be nice. WIFI and wired ethernet should be part of the package.
it should decode all audio formats as this PC is connected to my Denon receiver where my Klipsch 5.1 reference speakers are connected to.

But then: options.
Option 1:Zotac Box. What recently introduced Zotac box could do the above without any hickup?

Option 2: building my own HTPC. The budget I have put aside is €400 to €500 (max). I understood that Win7 should be the OS because of the audio formats etc. I want to keep the case as small as possible with a stylish look BUT not to many distracting lights as there are disturbing when looking to a movie in a dimmed room.

Who can help me out on this one please?

PS: Thx Eskro and Poofyhairguy for the contributions you have made here already, learned a lot the last days

[bigbw]

suspect you will get more answers then you can use, everybody has their own opinion.. I have a zotac running xbmc live, no operating system even loaded. It plays everything i throw with no issues, from plain dvd rips to blurays movies in MKV to bluerays ripped to wmv files.. I have not had much luck with bluray ripped to ISO, but not a big issue with me.. It is hooked via optical to my Yamaha receiver and plays audio files just fine.. I got the zotac box for $250 including 250gb hd and 2gb ram..

[bigbw]

suspect you will get more answers then you can use, everybody has their own opinion.. I have a zotac running xbmc live, no operating system even loaded. It plays everything i throw with no issues, from plain dvd rips to blurays movies in MKV to bluerays ripped to wmv files.. I have not had much luck with bluray ripped to ISO, but not a big issue with me.. It is hooked via optical to my Yamaha receiver and plays audio files just fine.. I got the zotac box for $250 including 250gb hd and 2gb ram..

oh yea, i am using an hp media center remote and hp ir receiver, both worked out of the box, less then $30 from ebay..

[macer]

I understood that Win7 should be the OS because of the audio formats etc.

If you play only Blu-ray rips(not real blurays), and don't use Amd graphics you can try Ubuntu - it is great OS, XBMC should work without problems on it
And it is free

Or OpenELEC, it is embedded distro with XBMC

[eskro]

look, i think about it this way, at the same price point,
a custom build will always be more powerful then a pre-built system..

so from there, it depends if you want to build it yourself or your not into it...

[Twizter]

As I am building PC's since the XT time (8088 processor) do I have no problem building a system on my own .

Many of the configs I came along here were with discontinued mobo's and processors so that explains why I have put "anno June 2011" in the title of this post

[Twizter]

Ow, and which of there is actually a newer (better) release:
http://www.alternate.be/html/product/Bar...ocket+Atom

http://www.alternate.be/html/product/Bar...ocket+Atom

[eskro]

weren't u going the custom Build route? OO

[Kirky99]

For basic HTPC setups, it's tough to beat a pre-built system for look and ease... The Zotac boxes, along with the Revo and Asus Eee boxes are darn small and from what I understand do everything (and more) you need them to do. The power consumption is tough to beat too (20-30 watts with a spinner).


In your budget, I'd probably go the pre-built route.

If you started your topic saying, I want to spend as little as possible, I'd probably direct you to a custom build. Eskro has a number of great custom builds linked in his signature, if you like that route, go for it.

I'm really liking my openELEC Atom/ION system though. No moving parts, quiet as a mouse and has been playing back everything great. Sure beats all the struggles I'm having with a custom build trying to get everything just righ (mainly OS/software stuff).

BTW - Forget WiFi, HD playback iffy on anything less than ideal conditions mostly. Yes it works, but I wouldn't spend extra to get somethin wireless capable. I've got a wireless HTPC in the bedroom and I never know how the movies are going to play. Sometimes they are fine, sometimes it's a mixed bag of shuddering and buffering and everything in between.

[eskro]

well, for OpenELEC, yeah, an ATOM/ION is cheap and works fine....

so i guess you could aim for the --> ZOTAC ZBOXHD-ID40-U ($207)

only thing left to do is get 1GB of RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820134342
+
a small USB Flash Drive and your set http://ow.ly/1tQdwd