How reliable is a HTPC? (1 Viewer)

Please educate me more on HTPC and using your computer to upscale the resolution the a TV/Projector's maximum native resolution. Just how much control does the PC have. Are you guys using your computers with built in DVD players and outputting from a video card to your display device, or are some of you using an external DVD player, sending the video to the computer to upscale, and then sending the upscaled video to a display device? The reason I ask is we all know how reliable computer software is (or is not)! The actual hardware is usually rock solid but when watching movies, do software glitches make regular annoyances?

I know this is not a popular view point, but IMHO if you're using the TV out on one of these cards, you're not really using a HTPC. The TV output is lower quality than most stand alone players, and misses the point of Radeon entirely.
So, Neil, I think the answer to your question is that it can do nearly anything you can imagine-- and as long as you're willing to play around a little, you can get the right combinations of harware and software to create a rock solid and "hiccup free" system.
-Vince

What would be the specs/components of a decent up-to-date HTPC by today's standards?

Well- I'd check out the Meta FAQ over at AVS which links you to some common documents about HTPC (including a Best-in-class hardware list).
The standard accessories seem to be:
M-audio card: The Audiophile 2496 is a good one for SPDIF pass though of digital sources. There are a few multi analog output cars that people are using to decode DD/DTS in the PC and pass 6 channel analog. I prefer to let my preamp have that duty, so I use the 2496.
Radeon based video: Really, many people have stuck with the 7500 series cards as the 8500 had some sort of grayscale problem and the newest cards are still a bit finicky with latest drivers/lastestos/certain software. It looks like Theatertek 1.5 will solve incompatibility issues with the 9000 series stuff- so I might finally move forward to a new card. But, I currently have the LE card, which will probably go down as the most popular Radeon HTPC card (all the options, half the price, heatsink instead of fan)-- and it would still be well suited for the application if they weren't impossible to find.
Input card: A Brooktree (now Conexant) chip based video input card to work with Dscaler. Will allow scaling of external sources (also works a TV tuner).
System and Processor fans like those offered from Pc Power & Cooling: silent system fans.
For HD I use Seagate Berricuda drives which is fast and very quiet. There have been a few new models that have come along with similar silent performance- so AVS might be a good place to consult.
For Mobo and Processor- previously I was using a Epox Epkha8+ with a AMD 1600XP and 512 of DDR. I had some phantom problems with it (refusal to see the network, occasional frame stutter)- so this went into desktop duty (where oddly it has been pretty solid). I am now building around a Asus board and a P4 Northwood processor. I have heard too many HTPC horror stories about AMD/VIA chipsets mucking things up (but to be fair, I have heard as many success stories)-- so I thought I would try to go over to the dark side and see what happens.
Again- the MOBO/Processor stuff evolves pretty fast- and many different configurations have been used.
Some docs which might help (get some coffee first):
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...22&perpage=999
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...14&perpage=999
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...50&perpage=999
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...threadid=31225
Link Removed
-V