Opinions & Suggestions Wanted

Here is a link to a site that lists the components for my current project. http://villa.lakes.com/daris/
The basic idea behind this system is a "Home Entertainment Computer". It's gonna be ripping/playing mp3's, recording and converting video/tv shows, and occasionally for game playing (strategy and rpg's mainly). So go take a look and let me know what you think.

I am also working on a HTPC. See my post about Black Desktop cases.

I would suggest for that RAID setup - the IBM DeskStar (GXP?) drives as these are optimized for RAID striping and I use 2 for realtime MPEG2 video capture from my Matrox RT2000 and they are FAST and quiet!

Also look at the upcoming WinTV-PVR from Hauppauge (http://www.hauppauge.com/html/wintvpvr_datasheet.htm) to add Tivo like functionality. Does MPEG1 and MPEG2 realtime capture!

Here is my list so far:

EN-6326 Slim Desktop (16.2 x 4 x 15.7) - will need to paint
http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/doc/series7.html
(not sure about this case yet, is 4" enough for standard PCI?)

Mini Wireless Keyboard w/ Mousepad
http://www.directron.com/wireless.html

MSI StartForce 816 or Prolink PixelView - GeForce2 MX

Hauppauge WinTV-PVR
http://www.hauppauge.com/html/wintvpvr_datasheet.htm

Not yet sure about what MicroATX motherboard to use. I would like it to have audio, LAN, and RAID built in.

Also now looking for a black DVD drive. I hear Asus has the best DVD for HTPC since it is quiet and speed can be adjusted, but I don't know if they make it in black.

Also if you haven't yet visit go to these must HTPC sites:

http://www.avsforum.com
http://iwantptv.com

Jeff

I was originally going to go with 4 IBM 75GB drives in a RAID0+1 setup but have been hearing to many horror stories about that drive developing bad sectors (it sounds like mainly the ones manufactured in Hungary are having all the problems). I guess I just feel more comfortable going with the Western Digitals (besides they are matched in speed and actually are faster in some tests). I am keeping my eye on the new IBM products coming out though.

I think I'll have to stick with my ATI AIW Radeon though, I like its architecture and I shouldnt have to upgrade that anytime soon plus I get the TIVO functionality also.

If your looking for a cool black case you may want to look at http://www.fongkai.com/chassis/fk320/Fk-320.htm
Not sure if it meets you size requirements but it looks pretty groovy. It was my first choice for a case but it just didnt have the expansion capabilities I was looking for.

One other thing I think that you may be interested in is this: http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/fi [...] 12,00.html
I know I wouldnt mind having High Definition TV on my computer for less than $500. Something else for me to keep my eye on.


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by memnoch411 on 02/03/01 10:44 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

I haven't seen many comments on these dvd/cdrw combo drives one way or the other. The particular drive got a good review over at storagereview.com but I am still a little shakey about it. Do you have a link to somewhere that gave some feedback on this particular drive or for any other in its class?
thanx for the comment.