looking to buy new htpc

[boognish]

hey all, Im thinking of upgrading my home theater system. Right now i have a 7 year old computer with 512mb ram chugging along to do everything i want it to. obviously it is not optimal and affects new things i want to do with it.
im looking for a less expensive all in one computer. I was looking at this one
ebay link

what do you all think of this? and what addons would be really beneficial for the system?
I know we all have different needs and tastes but just thought i would get some opinions on this one or suggestions for a different one.

A huge thanks in advance as I start my journey of searching

[mightyt]

Here's my 2 cents ...

1 - If you are staying with Vista, I'd go with 2gigs RAM.
2 - You'll probably want more than one tuner card.
3 - You will likely want more storage.
4 - If you have Cat5 already then great, if not, I'd recommend Wireless N.
5 - Wireless KB & Mouse are handy.
6 - Oh, and quiet is good since I expect a box that looks like this will be by the TV and not tucked away somewhere else.

Also, try and find out who makes the MoBo ... From a reliability perspective, it matters ... Been there, done that

Lastly, 300w PS would concern me a bit .... Especially if you intend on adding to the box over time.

All that said, it actually seems reasonably priced. I bought a similar Silverstone case (well one less DVD and with an LED) say 2 years ago for $220.

Good luck and enjoy ... T.

[lovingHDTV]

How do you plan on using this HTPC? It is for playback or just to run SageTV as a server. Those are two completely different tasks and can be configured differently.

If your looking for a machine to playback I'd suggest you look at one built on Intels new HTPC chipset the G45. It is a very new, but has incredible potential.

You can look over at avsforum and follow the threads on the new board.