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I was just about to start collecting the parts for the comp to go under the T.V.

This was what I had planned:

AMD X2-3600
AMD 690G board
320GB HDD
2GB DDR2-667
Microsoft Media Center KB (with integrated mouse)
Antec NSK1300 case

Total would be ~$420

Then I saw this today and man is it tiny.

I need to make a decision by the weekend. Which would you prefer?

I'm quite pleased with the shuttle HTPC I built myself last december. It's been quite a good experience all the way around.

Would prefer to build the HTPC, plus if something breaks, its easier to replace it on your own.

Would you be multitasking much with your HTPC? If not, 1GB RAM is pretty sufficient.

Having built and used 2 htpc's now, don't get a case that can't take a full height card.

If it has drive bays/psu's/braces impeding MB access or where coolers go don't get it. Small is one thing, but being able to use the case and update the thing is worth something to me. Get A case that has a reset button... I got one that don't have a reset button and climbing behind the thing to unplug it sucks.

While the prebuilt is a good buy, your probably stuck with a case you can never reuse. I am so sick of the Dell cutesy pieces of hot crap that I have to just chuck out and start over, because most everyting in them is so tight.

Is the GeForce 6150 integrated graphics on the Acer capable of doing ANY HD rendering?

I don't think it does. You can get an ATI 2400 w/ Passive heatsink for $60 at newegg.

I should have pointed out initially that this would be really for watching movies mostly (75% of the time) and my wife doing whatever (Facebook) . . . AWAY . . .from my machines.

Its skinny, but IMO it looks awful.

If you actually see it you may change your mind.

Build it it is!!!!

Now to the innards:

- The case is the Antec NSK1300 for sure.
- The KB is the MIcrosoft Media Center KB for sure (already purchased)
- 2 Gigs DDR-667 (already purchsed)
- Trendnet Wireless NIC (already purchased)
- T.V. Tuner (already purchased)
- HDD will be a WD 320GB SATA2
- haven't truly decided on a CPU yet (will do next week)

Questions:
Is Vista Home Premium a good buy for an HTPC that will mostly be used for watching movies?

How would it interact with a T.V. Tuner card? Or my KB for that matter?

Mobo:

I have 2 in mind
- GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H
- BIOSTAR TA690G AM2

I'm leaning towards the Gigabyte board but can be convinced to go with the Biostar. Which would be considered to be more stable?

What tuner do you have? If you are using a newish one, Windows Media Center for Vista works great with it.

I have the Leadtek Winfast TV2000Expert card.

After asking the question before and the decisive answers here, I bought a Sempron 3200 on the weekend for $32 and a Lite-On SATA DVD-ROM drive for $20.

All I need now is a case, mobo, and HDD . .then I'll be ready to build and take some pics for viewing. I really hope the Antec NSK1300 is easy to work with.

Posting this here since this thread is getting replies about HTPC pieces. I too am looking to build an HTPC. Basically, I'm looking to replace my DVR from Time Warner, but it seems the main stickler is: encrypted channels.

In looking at cards, I could get a DTV tuner from Time Warner (no PVR capability), output via coax and send that to a tuner card. I 100% lose the ability to tune channels (natively), but I *should* get the encrypted channels, right?

If this solution is possible, is there any card that *will* work with this? Ideally, a solution involving some IR blaster wouldn't be bad at all, but I think it's my only choice.