[ZACH]

I am building an HTPC for my parents, needs to be simple and stable.

Does not need to do 1080p (occasional 720p)
Remote needs to be RF

Not sure if I want to do XBMC Live or Boxee (I personally don't like the Boxee interface, but the ability to stream from Hulu, etc. would make things easier for them.)
If I go Live, then I need to add content to it for them (I live about 35 minutes away), with Boxee they have more options without my intervention. Any other suggestions are welcome.

These specs are assuming using XBMC Live (If Boxee then smaller HDD and a faster processor)

Case = APEX DM-317-A Black/ Silver Steel Micro ATX
Motherboard = ASRock N68-S
Graphics Card = ZOTAC ZT-20301-10L GeForce 210 512MB 64-bit DDR2
Processor = AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz
Memory = Kingston ValueRAM 1GB 240-Pin DDR2
Hard Drive = Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB
Remote = KEYSPAN ER-V2 Silver RF Wireless RF Remote
DVD Drive = LITE-ON Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM

Total = $303 without shipping

[poofyhairguy]

Good machine. Will do 720p with ease, 1080p with XBMC Live. Only one major suggestion: get rid of the 1TB drive. Why?

You need to figure out where your parents will get content. If you are gonna hook them up with a sabnzd+ sickbeard setup for content, 1TB is WAY to small. It will get filled in a few months at best.

If you are going the streaming route then ditch the hard drive altogether and get a SSD.

I personally believe 1TB drives are useless for modern HTPCs. WAY too small for holding media, and WAY too slow for holding an OS. 2TB or SSD everytime.

My small suggestion? If I am in your shoes, it is obvious the big problem is how they can easily get content. If you are not comfortable with helping them setup an auto-pirating device I personally don't think Boxee provides enough content to be useful.

I know that Plex is considered to be the devil around these parts, but NOTHING beats its media server. With a hackintosh that can do Plex (so basically an Intel version of this build) that cool media server streams almost every streaming site to their TV in a manor that even an idiot can use. Not saying your folks are idiots, but they are probably like mine- they just want things to work. Plex does that for streaming sites.

[Flomaster]

just this month alone I have downloaded : | This month: 374.10 GB | This week: 44.93 GB | In Que: 101.23 GB

-=Jason=-

[poofyhairguy]

I did over 1.5TB last month. Usenet rocks.

[Flomaster]

and you know this... torrents are a thing of the past. with torrents i've never maxed out my 7MB/s connection 24/7 before like usenet does. my ISP has me on a watch list for "excessive downloading" but they can't prove exactly what I am downloading.

sorry to derail the thread..

-=Jason=-

[ZACH]

I know that Plex is considered to be the devil around these parts, but NOTHING beats its media server. With a hackintosh that can do Plex (so basically an Intel version of this build) that cool media server streams almost every streaming site to their TV in a manor that even an idiot can use. Not saying your folks are idiots, but they are probably like mine- they just want things to work. Plex does that for streaming sites.

I've never heard of Plex before. It looks like XBMC but with integrated live streaming and runs on OSX. Is that about it?

I have never had any experience with OSX. I would rather deal with Linux if possible, put I am intrigued by the concept, it looks like a better option than Boxee at least.

[ZACH]

After doing a little research I don't think I want to go with Plex, it sounds great, but I don't want to try to setup something for them that I know nothing about. I am thinking XBMC Live switch to a small SSD and stick a 2tb drive in there main computer and stream content from there. There main comp is Ubuntu so it will be easy with NFS.

Can anyone spec a cheaper setup that will work for this than I have?

[CrashX]

Why not get them a boxee box ( $199 ) ?

Another option:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product ( $210 ) + 1GB RAM ( $20 ) + 320GB Harddrive ($45)

[ZACH]

Why not get them a boxee box ( $199 ) ?

Boxee Box is an interesting idea, was hoping for something sooner, but maybe.
Also if I build something myself I can troubleshoot future problems easier, and have more flexibility.

Another option:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product ( $210 ) + 1GB RAM ( $20 ) + 320GB Harddrive ($45)

+ $43 for the remote = Total $318

I like the Zotac so maybe I'll give them my HTPC and get that for myself with a ssd

[CrashX]

Boxee Box is an interesting idea, was hoping for something sooner, but maybe.
Also if I build something myself I can troubleshoot future problems easier, and have more flexibility.

Boxee box will ship in two weeks though ..

[mr.sparkle]

I did over 1.5TB last month. Usenet rocks.

Ditto. I'd add usenet to your signature, Poof.

[ZACH]

I think I might get the Zotac Zbox, I have 2gb memory and a 80gb 2.5" sata drive that I can throw in it for now (I will switch to a SSD later). I'll run XBMC Live on it and keep it for myself. I'll give them my current HTPC, set up with Ubuntu Desktop and have the Boxee and XBMC icons right on the middle of the desktop. They can use the remote to select which they want, I can put a 2tb drive in it for storage and setup SABnzbd+ and Sickbeard on it too.

[poofyhairguy]

They can use the remote to select which they want, I can put a 2tb drive in it for storage and setup SABnzbd+ and Sickbeard on it too.

Sounds great. With divx level content it will take a while to fill a 2TB drive. That really sounds like a good plan....

[ZACH]

Parents (my old with some additions)
Case: I think its this one: Hec with a 270w PS
MoBo: ASUS M4N68T-M
CPU: AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz
Memory: Crucial 1GB
Hard Drive: 200gb
Video Card: SPARKLE SX94GT512D2L-NM GeForce 9400

Going to add a Western Digital 2TB
and exchange the video card with a ZOTAC ZT-20301-10L GeForce 210 because I can't get the audio to work through the HDMI, was not a problem for me because I ran the audio into my Surround Sound. My parents need it to go into the TV.
Remote: KEYSPAN ER-V2 RF


Going to replace mine with this:
Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11-U Intel Atom D510
I have a stick of 2gb 200pin memory from a laptop
I also have a 2.5" 80gb SATA for now, will switch to a SDD later
Remote: KEYSPAN ER-V2 RF