RE: htpc recomendation again

["Phil Harris" <phil@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>=20
> I'm looking to order components today to build a htpc which=20
> will run video to a 42" plasma to play DVD's and into a high=20
> quality audio amp (7.1 amp).

Please define what you consider to be "high quality" as if all
you want to
do is play DVDs into a plasma display (via what sort of connection? HDMI,
DVI? VGA? Component Video?) and an AV amp (via optical or electrical
digital) then you can get away with spending *FAR FAR* less than building a
HTPC on a DVD player with the appropriate outputs and it's going to be much
quieter / cooler / cheaper than building an MCE PC.

I have a Momitsu 880N which has DVI, component, s-video, SCART and
composit=
e
outputs - the DVI and component outputs are upsampled to whatever format
yo=
u
specify (720p or 1080i on component or whatever resolution the display says
it is on DVI) in the digital domain (before output stages are reached) and
the picture quality is superb ... All for about =A3250 (and the player has
=
a
network interface too so streaming DVDs off the network is also possible).

> =A0Oh, and as I'm very fussy It needs to be near silent.=20
>=20
> So, if someone could please recommend exactly which bits of=20
> kit to order I'd be really grateful. =A0I'd rather not build my=20
> own but I guess it's the only way to go?=20
>=20
> So if you have recommendations for what box to buy and what=20
> bits to put in it please. =A0Oh, and what kind of disk do I=20
> need - SATA? =A0Also, I see you can get graphics cards up to=20
> =A3300 and more - do I need one of those or just a more=20
> 'regular' =A360 one? =A0Are the expensive ones so much better? (for
DVD).

Not quite sure why you would think a hard disc will affect DVD playback?
Even if you're thinking of streaming DVDs from the built in hard disc then
even the cheapest hard discs will be much quicker than you need.

> The case won't really be seen as it's behind the TV so I'm=20
> not bothered what it looks like.
>=20
> And I want to go with Pentium D ? don't I?

I would guess that for cool and quiet you would want a Pentium M rather
tha=
n
D but I'm using an Athlon 64 in my HTPC and it deos the job admirably.

> I'm not sure about graphics cards - do I want to go for PCI,=20
> Express or AGP ??

You go with whatever does the job you want to do - for a HTPC you don't
nee=
d
a high spec board with 256Mb RAM and huge fans, you need something that has
hardware MPEG decoding and runs cool and quiet ...
=20
> I was guessing to spend about =A3700 or so but will go to more if
needs.
>=20
> Credit card burning a hole and a bank holiday on the way......


Why spend money unneccesarily?

Phil