Re: Vista Media Center Hardware - living room looks & reasonable pri

["Tim Fletcher Dot Com" <tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I agree - I have built a dozen homebrew systems for family/friends. Take a
=
look at the Antec Fusion Chassis (about =A3100) includes a pretty quiet
pow=
er supply .  Choose a mobo etc, A Zalman cooler for the CPU, a blackgold
du=
al DVB-T tuner card and you are away.  The beauty of the Antec chassis -
lo=
oks cool, runs quiet, has a useful VFD that is seen as a USB device, so
eas=
y to deal with and you use a vanilla DVD-writer that lives behind an
alumin=
ium sprung flap which makes life really easy.

I think the last time I priced the bits it was sub =A3450 for the bits
excl=
uding the OS (YMMV).

its not hard, doesn't take long and you get complete control of the bits
yo=
u want.

Good luck,

Tim.




Homebrew is usually best if you have specific requirements. I built
mine around an Ahanix case with similar hardware components to yours.
The biggest advantage was choosing my own motherboard with lots of PCI
slots for CLI modem, DVB-S (aswell as dual DVB-T), and an external power
supply (passively cooled to minimise noise). I also store most of my
content on NAS in another room to minimise the number of
drives=3Dheat=3Dnoise in the lounge.


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