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[epsilonjon]

Hi everyone.

My old HTPC has recently died and i'm struggling to decide what to do about getting a new one, as I don't know too much about computers.

My main requirement is that it can run MC flawlessly in theatre mode, and is as close to silent as possible for a maximum budget of £500. Is this realistic for this budget?

Ones i've been looking at are the ASRock Vision 3D 137D which retails on Amazon for £500, and i've read another thread on this site by someone who is happy with it. My only problem is that it is at the maximum end of my budget and also does not come with an OS. I have the Vista DVD from my current laptop which I could install, but I guess the ASRock was designed to be used with Windows 7?  ?

Then there is the Acer Revo RL100 (http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-mac-desktops/acer-revo-rl100-926757/specification) which is only £300. My main concern with this one is that it will not be able to run theatre mode very well. Has anyone had any experience with this machine?

I've also been looking on ebay at models such as this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300609721501?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 which can be upgraded more easily at a later date if need be, but this is probably a bit of a risky strategy?

Can anyone offer some advice and more recommendations, as I'm really terrible with these big decisions  ?

Thanks!
Jon.

[glynor]

It would be ever-so-slightly above your limit, and you'd have to use that Vista disc, but here would be a great option:

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_mac/family/mac_mini/select

The base model is £529.  It has a 2.3GHz Sandy Bridge CPU, and is silent.  They run Windows just fine.

[imugli]

I don't know about the 1.3ghz Athlon, but I run MC in Theatre View on a 1.6ghz intel Atom 330 / nVidia ION GPU without problems. I need to forego OSD transparency but big deal. Also need to ensure graphics are farmed off to the ION GPU as much as possible.

The caveat is that I don't know how it would go encoding multiple videos from say DVD to mp4 for stream over DLNA.

So as a server streaming to multiple end points simultaneously, I don't know. For day to day use and playback, it's fine.

[Mars]

This one is in my birthday's wishlist http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003UU02OG/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0043D29H2&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=109QX44YKJKATMPWXGP9 . It has similar specs to the ones mentioned by imugly and fits your budget. What do you think?

[imugli]

This one is in my birthday's wishlist http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003UU02OG/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0043D29H2&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=109QX44YKJKATMPWXGP9 . It has similar specs to the ones mentioned by imugly and fits your budget. What do you think?

That looks like a nice little toy. Think it just got added to my "Birthdays List" as well