htpc (blu ray)

[steveo]

thinking of getting a blu ray player together now i have priced one up around the q6600 for around the £500 mark but am just wondering what spec would be needed for such a machine doesnt have to do gaming as i have my main pc and xbox for that, or would i just be better of getting a ps3 with the small hard drive and upgrading the harddrive on it myself

 

[AbsenceJam]

You don't need a Q6600 in a HTPC, all you need is a GPU/IGP that offloads the decoding and then you can use any CPU. You can get the necessary CPU/Mobo/RAM for less than the Q6600 costs alone.
If you just want to play BD's/DVD's then the PS3 is an excellent choice, I use one as well as my HTPC and you do get a lot for your money. I've never tried playing downloaded stuff on a PS3 and if you want to do so you'll have to do some conversion first but it seems quite straightforward.

 

[El_Watcher]

What you need is a lot of patience to wait for the software support to improve.

If you want a device that can play any media, and might also play most Bluray, make the HTPC.
If you want a device that can play a lot of media (most if streaming from another PC), and will play all Bluray, then get a PS3.

 

[Biffa]

I've been pricing it up for weeks, its just over £300 for ray htpc if you go the amd 780G and 4050e route