HD Client Playback with SageTV

[castylx]

Hey Guys/Gals,

So I've got my HTPC done and built, HDTV decoder cards, sagetv running etc..... Now the next step is I'm building 2 extenders for each room. I want to ability to stream divx and playback HDTV (pause, record HD etc... from each room) I'm having some problems understanding the right way around this. I want to build a light client that isnt' loud or huge. I've thought of a couple of ways to do this :

1. Build from a mini-itx system (Via EN12000EG) - I've heard that these systems really can't do HD playback and that I will need more horsepower to actually get it to work. The drivers also don't support the ability to do 720p or 1080i, even though the specs/manuals say they should. Is this true, anyway to get this to work?

2. Build from a Aopen (mini-mac wannabe) - I'm sure this will work, running a core2duo, but I just think it will be a bit expensive.

3. Buy a mac-mini (core duo) - Heard that these really can't do 720p or 1080i.

4. Build from a micro-atx case - I really don't want to do this, I'm sure it will be loud and the heat dissapation will be huge.

I'm a bit stuck and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[lukeduf]

I just got a Shuttle X100 box to use as an HD Sage client. It's small and quiet being made of mostly laptop parts.

It plays 1080i no problem. I had to switch from the Sage decoder to the Cyberlink decoder to get HD video to play smoothly. (It comes with Cyberlink DVD player.)