I've been itching to build a HTPC for a while now...
Here is a good article...
http://www.2cpu.com/articles/113_1.htmlThere are so many things to consider... it's overwhelming...
Right now I like the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500MCE capture card (~$150)
http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.php/cPath/21/products_id/161Dual tuners built in... So you can watch one thing while recording another.
As for software... At first MythTV was the most tempting... but I've never built/maintained a linux box... so I think it would be too much for me to learn all at once. WinXP MCE is also tempting... But there are some limitations and doesn't seem as flexible as my current favorite. SageTV.
Other questions I am wrestling with is... do I really need a dedicated PC for this? Or can I get away with using one for everything. But am I going to get annoyed when I am trying to burn a DVD and something starts recording and both get screwed up. Perhaps there are ways to work around this, like making sure nothing is recording while working on the PC. But it would obviously be nicer to have two machines. However I have a laptop I use quite a bit now for everyday web surfing/email. My desktop mainly gets used as a HTPC now anyways. So I will at least try to stick with one box at first. (another reason why I don't want to go linux) And in a year or two I'll probably want to upgrade anyways(current box is a 1.4ghz athlon xp, 512mb)... so that wil eventually become a dedicated htpc box. Also the setup of my computer room/living room makes it easy to share a pc between the rooms. My current video card will let me do one monitor/lcd and one tv out. Although I'd like to get one that would do 2 monitors and a tv all at the same time... I can't live w/o dual monitors.
As for remotes... the firefly seems pretty sweet. and afterall it's the main input device. I want the best/most usable remote available.
http://www.snapstream.com/products/firefly/default.asp?a=98noise
I hate noise. But I live in the city. So I can't escape it. I'm not spending an extra $200-300 to have a totally silent pc. As long as it's not LOUD. I'll be ok. But my current box is pretty loud, so I'd probably upgrade the PS. and maybe the chip fan - but I think it's the PS fan that's the loud one. ANd lookie here... here is a "silent" PS for under $50. (ok it's probably not silent, but quiet is good enough for me.)
And if you people still want your fancy HTPC case.... here is a ncie selection
http://www.pcalchemy.com/index.php/cPath/23And yeah... if I had more $$$ I'd be all over it.
And there there is the little stuff like an IR blaster...
http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.php/cPath/44/products_id/87$50! What a rip off. But there isn't much you can do if your STB (set top box- cable/sat box) doesn't have the serial cable option which allows the PC to change the channels and stuff.
Then after thinking about all of this I always think to myself... The cable companies offer free (or fairly cheap) PVR's.. even HD pvr's.
If I had an HDTV I would say forget about it! and get the cable companies HD PVR. But I am going to try and wait another year or so before I go out and buy a HDTV.
whew...
If/when I do start building my HTPC I'll post here about my success/failure/insanity...
then there are sound card options... and networks... and about 20 things I haven't thoght about.
--mizary