What HTPC to choose..?
#1
I am new to this, i currently got an old xtreamer (mk1 / sidewinder http://www.xtreamer.net/xtreamer/overview.aspx) but now i want to upgrade.
(the xtreamer sidewinder i got is slow and have a ugly gui, when running jukebox that came with newest firmware it is even slower)

I want to be able to run xbmc or simulare on it as it got a great interface, lots of nice addons and i like the way it handle watched / unwatched movies amongst other things.
i also want to be able to run SD, HD 720p, HD 1080p, addons like blip.tv day9 sc2casts and should be able to do it flawlessly

I currently have 2 nas in my network so i dont realy care for netflix or hulu(cant even use hulu as i'm from eu) however i want to be able to stream HD from blip.tv addon as stated before.

It should be able to give me atleast 5.1 sound to my soundsystem (so not giving the sound to my tv with the hdmi cable)

All of this should be done smootly. and without noisy fans the less noise the better.


is there anyway to get a system like this for around $240 or less?

i've been looking at:
atv1, atv2, xtreamer ultra(only one that supports xbmc right?), boxee. should i go with any of thease or should i build one myself? if so can anyone recommend a setup?
I got no problem putting it together or anything like that, i just dont know anything about the different cards in this mini size.


//sorry for my poor english hope its not all to harsh
leothlon
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#2
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=94199
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#3
Yea i gone throu that thread afew times but i still can't realy figure it out, from what i said above i am in group 3 right?

it sais atv1+ + Broadcom Crystal HD, but how come atv1 can handle 1080p and atv2 cant? also from what i have read is that the atv "is basicly an ipad in a box" and if has the performance of an ipad will it really be able to run xbmc and 1080p smoothly? and from looking at pictures it doesn't seem to have and sound-out ports meaning the sound will go straight to my tv and not my soundsystem?

Also the thread don't talk about how the prebuilt like xtreamer and such are in comparison with home built
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#4
If I understand correctly, the ATV1 with BCCHD can output 1080p, ATV2 can only output 720p. Both are a little laggy in the GUI.

Both have HDMI and optical audio out, the ATV1 additionally has component connectors.

Xtreamer gets horrible feedback everywhere I have ever read, I would personally not consider it at all. There are some barebones builds in those groups, you'd be able to compare them pretty easily with completely built systems to figure out what group they'd sit in.
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What HTPC to choose..?0