I have been a Mac user since college. I am also quite a geek, so I am not totally ignorant of the developments in the PC world. I am ignorant enough however that I need some help here.
We'll be moving in about 6 months which will necessitate the replacement of our whole HT setup (no basements where we're going). I'm thinking strongly about using a HTPC this go around, as I don't want to pay for a DVR service and like the upgradability. It's too early to buy yet, but I was somewhat tempted by Office Depot's firesale on the HP Pavilion Slimline s3321p.
What do I need to be looking for? I will be using this to play DVDs, whichever format wins out in HD discs (looking like Blu-Ray), as a DVR, and to serve up our iTunes music and videos. I also have an Xbox 360, but I'm thinking we'll only have one TV so the ability to use it as a media extender is kind of a non-issue. It doesn't have to look like a rack component as I usually hide equipment in cabinets, but I would like it to be quiet. Thanks a lot.
We'll be moving in about 6 months which will necessitate the replacement of our whole HT setup (no basements where we're going). I'm thinking strongly about using a HTPC this go around, as I don't want to pay for a DVR service and like the upgradability. It's too early to buy yet, but I was somewhat tempted by Office Depot's firesale on the HP Pavilion Slimline s3321p.
What do I need to be looking for? I will be using this to play DVDs, whichever format wins out in HD discs (looking like Blu-Ray), as a DVR, and to serve up our iTunes music and videos. I also have an Xbox 360, but I'm thinking we'll only have one TV so the ability to use it as a media extender is kind of a non-issue. It doesn't have to look like a rack component as I usually hide equipment in cabinets, but I would like it to be quiet. Thanks a lot.
