No pics, but a sweet new project.

What do dads need to keep themselves sane?
1. Fun projects
2. Get new toys and tools every now and then.

If you accept this to be true, and then consider the fact that the capacityto go outside the home for media-based entertainment is significantlydiminished when you've got a very small kiddo in the house, this particulardad has hatched an evil plan.

Now, given that,
1. I want a Blu-Ray player
2. I want an HD Tivo, or at least a higher-capacity SD Tivo,
3. I'm sick of paying Tivo fees

Then my choice of projects is clear: I'm going to build myself a sweet mediaPC / home theater PC. Thing is... the more I search for cohesive information on this, the more frustrated I get. There's mountains of conflicting information, and it seems like the only real soup-to-nuts builds documented out there are years out of date. SO. I think I'll be filling in that gap here, by documenting every component and piece of software purchased along with every single thing I needed to do to get this box running and doing everything I need it to do, with hope that some poor bewildered soul out there can follow along and build themselves a working HTPC / MediaCenter box.

//Warning: Tech stuff ahead.\\

What I've got so far:

1. Antec Fusion 430 Black case. I found one on Ebay, slightly dented butotherwise NIB and unusued, for $90. I really liked this case because I plan to put this down with my other AV gear, and I really wanted a box that had the same look and feel as my receiver. Plus, this case is designed and built around being quiet and running cool. It comes with a beefy 430w power supply and two fans.

2. ASUS P5Q-EM motherboard, purchased new from Newegg for $130 + free s/h. The mobo was one of the most difficult choices for me. It seems the biggest debate running in the world of HTPCs is what it actually takes to decode Blu-Ray disks at an acceptable rate. One camp contends that you need a beefy videocard. The other contends that you're okay with decent onboard video, provided that you're running a stout enough main processor. I threw my lot in with the latter camp. I liked the P5Q-EM had a fairly stout onboard graphics chipset (Intel GMA X4500HD), a 1600/1333FSB, 4x240 pin DDR2 ram slots, two PCIE slots, and an HDMI out. It's more expensive than other mATX mobos aimed at HTPC use, but the added expandability made it worth itfor me.

3. Intel Core2Duo E7200 processor. This is a dual 2.53ghz processor. I'd honestly planned to go with something a little quicker, but when it popped up on slickdeals.net for $79 with free shipping, I had to spring on it. It's a good overclocker, so if I need a little more speed, it can be had pretty easily. It's also a 45nm chip, so it should run cooler. This will be important, as my entertainment center will have to be relatively closed up, so the case won't get as much fresh airflow as I'd normally like.

4. Western Digital 'green' WD10EACS 1TB hard drive. I found it on sale at newegg for $110 with free shipping. I don't care so much about this drive being 'green' as I do it running quiet and cool. This drive will selectively scale down from 7200rpm to 5400rpm when needed, decreasing energy usage, temps, and noise. Reviews confirm these claims. I figure the 1TB capacity will allow me ample room to 'back up' Blu-Ray disks and/or record TV at top quality, without having to be too terribly picky about what I keep.

5. G.Skill 4GB (2x2gb) DDR2-800 memory. Got it from newegg for $60. Sure, my mobo supports faster memory, but per benchmarks at Toms, the difference isn't enough to make up for the price difference. I'm running G.Skill memory on my desktop and love it. And, for crying out loud, 4TB of memoryfor $60. Timing is decent at 5-5-5-15, too. Now, note: I won't be running Vista64, as my hookup can only get me 32, so I'll only get to use3gb of that. But I think it'll be sufficient until I can upgrade later on.

6. LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray / HD-DVD player + CD/DVD burner. I consider thisto be the crown jewel of my purchases. I ended up on the losing side of the HD battle, and have a small collection of HD-DVDs. Rather than sellthem off on Ebay, or continue using my XBox 360 player, I figured I could buy one of these and not really worry about what kind of disk I was popping in the player- this guy handles Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, and DVD. I picked this one up new on Ebay for $114, a significant savings over the newegg price.

7. Hauppage HVR-1600. This is no longer the newest or hottest TV card on the market, but I found it on slickdeals for like $30 or so last year. I figure at that price, it's got to at least be worth a try. This card will record one analog source (ie, cable) and one digital source (ie, over-the-air HD broadcasts) at a time. I figure that, if my mobo will let me, I'd like to move to a two-card solution, so I can record 2 of each. But I'm not going to even dream of diving in on that yet.

8. Windows Vista Ultimate (32bit). Yeah, I'd rather run 64 bit, but as a part-time MBA student I can get a legitimate copy of this from my University for $14. That's just too good to pass up.

Other thoughts: I actually plan to make good use of Hulu.com and Netflix's 'watch instantly' service, provided they look okay on the TV. I'm sure quality won't be anywhere near HD, but really, does the Colbert Report need to be?

For those of you reading for cute Tori pics, I apologize for the interruption, but I do think that this will provide the internet with some uniquely useful information, stuff which dads everywhere can use, especially with Chrismas coming up. So, hang in there with me during the next few installments. :-) (and yes, I will be getting up some new pics very soon!!)

Jake