Stealthy HTPC: Two Cases To Hide Your Inner-Geek
Most Tom’s Hardware readers are technology-savvy enough to appreciate the concept of a home-theater PC (HTPC), but many of us still don’t have one. There are plenty of good reasons not to own one, from stifling DRM policies to the cost compared to increasingly-functional gaming consoles.
One of the most difficult obstacles for the industry to overcome is that many potential users simply don’t want to see yet another PC in their living room. Of course, in this context, we're reminded of the boring beige box making more noise than a theater-based component really should.
For some of us, computers that look like 1980s hi-fi components don’t go far enough towards hiding the geeky underpinnings. So, we sought out a couple of cases to address the classic "wife approval factor," which, given that the stigma of having too much tech can affect any type of relationship, could be updated to read “social-acceptance factor.”
Casual observers will probably overlook the two cases we found, not even recognizing them as PCs. The wooden unit could visually pass as a retro-themed radio, while the black unit, if properly placed, could be mistaken for a somewhat flashier-than-normal subwoofer.
Aesthetic opinions vary, while our greater interests are hardware capacity and performance. Let’s take a closer look at what these two puppies can do.
(C2D E7400, 4GB DDR2-800, 7200RPM 2.5 inch 320GB Hitachi, Wireless N, Earthwatts 380 watt psu, low profile 9800GT, all with a wireless adapter for 360 controllers inside it. Looks totally stock (except from the back) and is the sickest thing for streaming movies and TV from my i7 build upstairs.
Suppose you'd just have to ask them which dvd drives are compatible when shopping for the internals!
The button spacing is a fairly universal problem, since the case's button only has a little over 1/8" travel and the space is around 1/8" to the button of most drives. You can put something else between the two to fill the space, it doesn't have to be a cabinet door bumper.
Yeah, but well. I've got my htpc running in a cylinder of what translate.google.com calls corrugated sheet metal. Looks like a metal bass tube on feet, and I don't expect to replace it. But I still love that wood chassis. The lian li doesn't look very attractive. Think the old aerocool m40 I gave my parents looks a lot better, and I don't consider lian li quality anyway. The lian li that hosts the 920 already has a broken lid that used to cover the top usb, and the power button appears to 'just be hanging there' instead of being fixed properly. Can't beat silverstone in anything really. It's merely expensive like thermaltake, but without distinguishing qualities.
Don't forget the 5x7 car stereo speakers.
Are you thinking of home theatre amps or car stereo amps?
I'm thinking of a home theatre amp.
If anything, it could look like a microwave, but definitely not a subwoofer!
As far as the article goes, I quote,
"The HTPC 8000 supports full ATX and micro-ATX motherboards, with barely enough room in front to support long graphics cards (such as the GeForce GTX 285)"
But it does fit, my XFX GTX 285 barely fit into my Lian Li Mid tower case but it fit.
I love gaming on my HTPC - it is insanely fun playing L4D on a 52" HDTV. No, it can't play Crysis but that's what my main rig is for.
Really? My wife would throw that thing out of the window. To each his own, but I find it hopelessly tacky. Not to generalize too much, but I think it will probably do better in the US than anywhere else.
Our Silverstone case HTPC blends in pretty well. If you squint it looks like a power amp or something.
Recording HD content, while playing a blueray movie, having a Monopoly game minimized and dc++ running in the background?
As the intro said - some think of htpc as something that plays movies and music - and others think of something that pretty much makes the rest of the equipment obsolete. Combine the wood chassis with the motherboard with onboard 5.1 surround amplifier, a dvb tuner or two and a 4870/260 and you've got something you could replace everything with. Connect it to your projector or 40" monitor, and you don't need your dvd/ps3/blueray/wii/receiver/amplifier system anymore. Just imagine the cable mess that'd no longer be there?
While it's a nice review on these two particular HTPC cases, I absolutely cannot simply blow off the Blu-ray and HD aspects for ANY HTPC build and consider it legitimate. If an HTPC is incapable of recording in high definition and authoring (god forbid simply playing) Blu-ray, then it's not of much of a "Home Theatre" PC to me. This is almost 2010! Time to stop playing with the kiddies and pony up with the big boys.