HTPC Heaven (Update 3)

Electronics convergence at the George Household has reached a new level.  The idea of a HTPC(Home Theater PC) as a general content player has been in my mind since 1997.  My first build was in 1998 but it was merely a CD/DVD player, Web Browser, and MP3 player.  I wanted more.  I wanted something that would replace every device that connected to my TV, except for the receiver/amplifier.  I also wanted all of these capabilities with zero monthly equipment related costs; such as leasing fees(i.e. for cable equipment) or guide listing fees(e.g. Tivo).  The dream of a fully converged device for consuming all varieties of content was realized, albeit at a price:  $2 per month for a cable card.  The search brought me to the following ingredients, some old, some new, all stirred carefully:

1. Shuttle SP45H7
2. Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 (2.66Ghz * 4 Cores)(8MB L2 Cache)
3. Corsair XMS2 8GB RAM (4 X 2GB DDR2-800 DIMMs)
4. Seagate 1.5TB (7200RPM)(SATA II)(32MB Cache)
5. Generic Flash Card Reader (Reads Everything)
6. LG HD-DVD/BLU-RAY/DVD-ANY Writer
7. MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
8. Cyberlink PowerDVD 9 Ultra(Integrates with Media Center)
9. MS MCE USB/IR Receiver
10. Logitech Harmony One
11. HDMI 1.3a C2 Cables
12. Onkyo TX-SR607
13. ATI External Digital Cable Card Tuner
14. ATI Radeon 4350 (Passively Cooled)
15. Linksys A/B/G/N Simultaneous Dual-Band USB Wi-fi Adapter
16. Sony Grand Wega XBR KF-50XBR800
17. Linksys A/B/G/N Simultaneous Dual-Band Wi-fi Router
18. Adesso SlimTouch Wireless 2.4Ghz Mini Touchpad Wireless Keyboard

While each item above carries with it considerable thought, the point is that the above parts integrate well, are quiet, stable, and serve as a genuine cable box DVR replacement, even for your grandmother.  If it didn’t work this easily, day in, day out, with remote control ease-of-use, the whole build process would have been a failure.   Here’s what it can do for you:

1. Netflix Streaming
2. Amazon VOD(Video on Demand) Streaming(Requires Keyboard)
3. iTunes VOD Streaming(Requires Keyboard)
4. Hulu VOD
5. DVD, HD-DVD, & Blu-Ray Player
6. HD Cable Tuner & DVR(Including Premium Channels)
7. Photo Viewer
8. Music Player
9. Movie Library Player
10. Web Browser
11. Microsoft Video Streaming
12. PC Gaming(Requires Keyboard)
13. Content Streaming(UPnP)(Recorded TV, Other Video, Photos, Music) from HTPC to any PC/UPnP Client

Stay tuned, lessons learned, pitfalls, and of course information on the next HTPC build coming soon…

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