Cheap HTPC

syke · 11 Feb 2007 at 17:44

Chingoo said:
You can put a 750Gb Hard-drive in a modded Xbox if you like, personally I have a 320Gb Seagate but thats pretty much filled up with all my Xbox games so that I don't have to keep getting the discs out. For films I simply stream them from my media server/downloader which has 2TB of storage

And it does play HD but not anything greater than 720p

I'd rather have a PC .. less hassle

Chingoo · 11 Feb 2007 at 17:48

Syk3 said:
I'd rather have a PC .. less hassle

In the short-term a PC may seem less hassle but once the xbox is modded (childs-play tbh) and XBMC is installed it is FAR FAR better than a PC based media rig imho. I have tried XP Media Center, Media-Portal, MythTV ..etc and nothing comes close to XBMC for usability and stability (with the exception of a correctly configured Media-portal)

james.miller · 11 Feb 2007 at 17:50

stop pimping an xbox. its illegal. no mod chip talk is allowed here for that reason. They were good, but they dont cut it for hidef.

Chingoo · 11 Feb 2007 at 17:53

james.miller said:
stop pimping an xbox. its illegal. no mod chip talk is allowed here for that reason. They were good, but they dont cut it for hidef.

The Cromwell BIOS which is supplied on many modchips is 100% legal

james.miller · 11 Feb 2007 at 17:54

modding the console is not. end of. you cant talk about it here. you'll have to take that up with a mod if you dont like it.

No links or requests for "warez"
Providing or asking for information regarding "warez", "gamez" or any other software protected by copyright is forbidden. This includes discussion of 'chipped' or modified games consoles.

you should read that f.a.q sometime.

Chingoo · 11 Feb 2007 at 17:58

james.miller said:
modding the console is not.

Complete and utter rubbish! Modding an Xbox with a chip that has the cromwell BIOS blown on it is 100% LEGAL. Hence why thousands of company’s make a small fortune doing it in America everyday with absolutely NO legal ramifications.

With all due respect mate you don't have a clue what your talking about!

james.miller · 11 Feb 2007 at 18:03

without throwing this thread off topic too much, a judge ruled that here, in the UK, it is illegal. This isnt the us, this isnt italy. this is the uk where has been considered illegal since 2004. Dont try and tell me i dont know what im talking about when you cant even follow the basic rules of this forum. now please, if you have any questions take it to a mod

Syk3 said:
Looking to buy a cheap HTPC for my room.

Just wanting it to play DVD's and Downloaded Movies etc, so doesnt need to be that great of a spec, although will be used for Internet Browsing etc.

Been looking at the Mac Mini but not sure yet.

Budget is £500-600 including 19-22" Monitor.

Operating System not needed. Keyboard/Mouse preferably in budget, and wireless too if possible.

What do you guys recommend?

Needs to be quiet, and good enough to play movies & general use occasionally.

TIA

Adam

if you're wanting to do it on the cheap, it might be to your advantage to raid the parts bin of the members market. you'll find the odd bargain on there. certainly you dont have to buy new

my only real suggest is have a good think about what you really want it to do. because its eay to build a system and the find out it doesnt have the grunt you wanted it to. what im saying is,if you're planning on HD in the future, build your htpc to play it now. Otherwise you'll be selling it again rather quickly and making it all a bit pointless really

If i were to build another htpc, id build it with the biggest hd space i could afford and with enough guts to play 1080p material, which these days isnt at all hard to achieve