- May 7, 2010
- 2,830
- 0
- 21,960
Approximate Purchase Date: within 2 weeks
Budget Range: Under US$500 if possible (ignoring mail-in rebates; "instant savings" is ok though)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: pure htpc: watching movies/tv series, some on DVD or Blu-Ray, some streamed via NetFlix, CrunchyRoll, Funimation.com, etc.
Parts Not Required: monitor/speakers (will be connecting to existing Olevia 537H TV)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: None
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: 1366x768
Additional Comments: I don't think I need extra performance beyond what's required for blu-ray playback. I'll be putting it on a shelf below the tv, so a horizontal case would work better for me than a mid-tower type case.
Background: I have a JVC DVD player, which I originally only had one complaint about, which was that it didn't make it easy to determine what aspect ratio a given dvd was using. To convert the aspect ratio without dropping pixels, I'd have to get an upscaler, and it seems like I might as well get blu-ray support while I'm at it. However, in many cases I'd lose the closed captions (some dvds have closed captions instead of subtitles) and the multi-disc resume capability that my current player has - it made me want to scream every time I found a line in online manuals that indicated ejecting would clear the resume point. I realize there are BD-Live discs that don't allow stopping and resuming, but IMO that's only appropriate for video games, not movies and TV shows. My second complaint came up recently, which is that many times when I try to eject a dvd from the JVC player, it will only eject by about 5mm or less, then slide the tray back in. After several attempts, it will finally eject properly, but I'm scared it might get worse to the point that I'd have to disassemble the player to recover a dvd.
Here's what I'm considering buying:
Hardware:
APEX DM-317-A Black/ Silver Steel Micro ATX Media Center / Slim HTPC Computer Case w/ ATX12V Flex 275W Power Supply $39.99
BIOSTAR COMBO6P1250 AMD Sempron LE1250 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX Motherboard/CPU Combo $64.99
Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT12864AA800 $34.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3250318AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $34.99
ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BR-04B2T - OEM $39.99
AZiO AWU354 USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter $10.99
GIGABYTE GV-N84S-512I GeForce 8400 GS 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card $32.99
ione KBP20 Silver & Black RF Wireless Ultra slim size design Keyboard $31.99
Total: $290.92
Software:
Corel WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-Ray Downloadable Software $29.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $99.99
Total: $129.98
Grand Total: $420.90
Does this build look like it would work? If not, please suggest alternate items.
Budget Range: Under US$500 if possible (ignoring mail-in rebates; "instant savings" is ok though)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: pure htpc: watching movies/tv series, some on DVD or Blu-Ray, some streamed via NetFlix, CrunchyRoll, Funimation.com, etc.
Parts Not Required: monitor/speakers (will be connecting to existing Olevia 537H TV)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: None
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: 1366x768
Additional Comments: I don't think I need extra performance beyond what's required for blu-ray playback. I'll be putting it on a shelf below the tv, so a horizontal case would work better for me than a mid-tower type case.
Background: I have a JVC DVD player, which I originally only had one complaint about, which was that it didn't make it easy to determine what aspect ratio a given dvd was using. To convert the aspect ratio without dropping pixels, I'd have to get an upscaler, and it seems like I might as well get blu-ray support while I'm at it. However, in many cases I'd lose the closed captions (some dvds have closed captions instead of subtitles) and the multi-disc resume capability that my current player has - it made me want to scream every time I found a line in online manuals that indicated ejecting would clear the resume point. I realize there are BD-Live discs that don't allow stopping and resuming, but IMO that's only appropriate for video games, not movies and TV shows. My second complaint came up recently, which is that many times when I try to eject a dvd from the JVC player, it will only eject by about 5mm or less, then slide the tray back in. After several attempts, it will finally eject properly, but I'm scared it might get worse to the point that I'd have to disassemble the player to recover a dvd.
Here's what I'm considering buying:
Hardware:
APEX DM-317-A Black/ Silver Steel Micro ATX Media Center / Slim HTPC Computer Case w/ ATX12V Flex 275W Power Supply $39.99
BIOSTAR COMBO6P1250 AMD Sempron LE1250 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX Motherboard/CPU Combo $64.99
Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT12864AA800 $34.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3250318AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $34.99
ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BR-04B2T - OEM $39.99
AZiO AWU354 USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter $10.99
GIGABYTE GV-N84S-512I GeForce 8400 GS 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card $32.99
ione KBP20 Silver & Black RF Wireless Ultra slim size design Keyboard $31.99
Total: $290.92
Software:
Corel WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-Ray Downloadable Software $29.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $99.99
Total: $129.98
Grand Total: $420.90
Does this build look like it would work? If not, please suggest alternate items.
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