Minimal win7 HTPC - what's available?

[offroad]

I have an HTPC already for my plasma tv. But would like to get another for my girlfriend.

1) has to have wired Ethernet
2). Has to run win7
3). Has to run WMC with no issues.
4). Has to run a Bluetooth mouse and windows remote
5). Has to have an HDMI output.

Yes I suppose I could find an old laptop that can do this. But where could I find a minimal laptop or box that can do this? Can I get one for less than $200 ?

It seems this gets a little tricky when it is easy to get a system that will not function well. Maybe frame rates or other display and decoding fails when the CPU can't handle it.

Any references out there for successful minimal win 7 WMC solutions?

[milli260876]

Zotac zbox...

[offroad]

Zotac Zbox - no WIN7, no Hard Drive, No Remote. is this really worth it?

For $200 I suppose its worth it, but have seen other multicore systems on WOOT.COM for only $300 with WIN7 already on them and obviously a hard drive included. Would still need a remote, and a HDMI card.

[LuckyDay]

The appeal of the Zotac is really the size more than the price/performance. It's a nice little media center pc, but a few of the models are underpowered. I wouldn't get anything less than the Intel Dual core option, and wouldn't touch one with the GMA graphics.

There is a model though that comes with everything you'd need (outside of a tuner if you want that).
http://www.microcenter.com/product/3960 ... one_System

Still a little on the high end, but the key for some people is the small profile over having a giant tower sitting next to your TV.

[offroad]

Am surprised people are sensitive to a black tower. When the proprietary Comcast tuner. Or a stand alone blueray player. Or amplifier and speakers all take a lot of room. There are many ways to be creative with hiding a tower. Worth the $200 in price savings from trying to a small footprint.

[Mike88]

I re-used an old Dell mini tower case & placed it in the corner behind an end table. I have the USB IR receiver on a short cable sticking out & barely visible. It's quiet & it's out of sight & it was free.

[offroad]

Good idea on the mini tower. Will do a search for mini tower with WIN7 64 professional installed. Something with a dual core. If it can run that version of windows it likely has WMC installed. Adding on the other parts should be Easy breezy.

[LuckyDay]

Am surprised people are sensitive to a black tower. When the proprietary Comcast tuner. Or a stand alone blueray player. Or amplifier and speakers all take a lot of room. There are many ways to be creative with hiding a tower. Worth the $200 in price savings from trying to a small footprint.

Wife + smaller apartment = not nearly as many ways to easily hide a full size PC tower.

I wouldn't personally buy something that tiny or have any need for it, but I can imagine scenarios where it would make sense, like a Kitchen, kid's room, guest room, etc. where you don't want to worry about concealing a bigger case.

I've thought about buying a mini-itx case like this for use in my basement to stick on my work bench:
http://www.amazon.com/Wesena-ITX1-s-Sil ... i-itx+htpc

[Mike88]

FWIW my mini tower case (about 15" high) takes a standard uATX mobo. It has 2 tuner cards, a video card, a HDD & an ODD. It also has room for another HDD and a SSD. Hiding it just worked for me. You could buy a cheap mini tower case & I've seen some advertised for $20-$30. If it looks acceptable you could possibly place it next to your TV stand.

[JazJon]

Zotac zbox...

The ID82 didn't cut it, Video playback was choppy. (Intel HD 3000)

Get the latest Mac Mini that was released a few weeks ago. You can go i5 / i7 and it finally has USB 3.0 (so get a external drive, I have 3tb) And the Intel HD 4000 seems to get the job done just fine

1) has to have wired Ethernet
yup!

2). Has to run win7
Yup! I'm on Win8

3). Has to run WMC with no issues.
So far so good!

4). Has to run a Bluetooth mouse and windows remote
Built in!

5). Has to have an HDMI output.
Yup!

[LuckyDay]

Zotac zbox...

The ID82 didn't cut it, Video playback was choppy. (Intel HD 3000)

Get the latest Mac Mini that was released a few weeks ago. You can go i5 / i7 and it finally has USB 3.0 (so get a external drive, I have 3tb) And the Intel HD 4000 seems to get the job done just fine

1) has to have wired Ethernet
yup!

2). Has to run win7
Yup! I'm on Win8

3). Has to run WMC with no issues.
So far so good!

4). Has to run a Bluetooth mouse and windows remote
Built in!

5). Has to have an HDMI output.
Yup!

Mac Mini is a nice little machine but I'm pretty sure it doesn't fall under the couple hundred dollar budget he was looking for.

[offroad]

Still looking

If you concurrently run PLAYON to have access to HBOGO and AMAZON VOD and PANDORA via WMC you will run a client under WMC called TUBECORE. That will require a quad core machine, running over 3.0 ghz at least.

Liking TUBECORE but you need a robust HTPC with WMC to work it all out.

[blueiedgod]

You can build an Atom or comparable AMD based machine that will run basic "DVR" functionality for under $200. Just look for deals. slick deals is a good place to start. But, you have to know what you want and when a deals comes up you will have to buy it right there and then, because of the slick deals effect many things sell out in minutes

[slowbiscuit]

And suffer with crappy performance if you cheap out that much...

[offroad]

And suffer with crappy performance if you cheap out that much...

thinking thats the bottom line. the complexity is too much for a cheap small computer. You literally need a $500 machines (including tuner card, and HDTV video card).

[adam1991]

Zotac zbox...

The ID82 didn't cut it, Video playback was choppy. (Intel HD 3000)

Get the latest Mac Mini that was released a few weeks ago. You can go i5 / i7 and it finally has USB 3.0 (so get a external drive, I have 3tb)

I think Mac Mini plus one of the upcoming MiniStack MAX enclosures (http://www.newertech.com/products/ministackmax.php) would be a superb unit, although expensive. Small and quiet, though. Do the USB connected Ceton, and you're there.

Put a large drive in the MiniStack and boot from that straight into Windows--but wait, can Boot Camp do its thing on an external boot drive? Used to be, not.

If not, then you're stuck booting to the internal drive for Windows--and since WMC can't record TV to an external drive....

[LuckyDay]

If you have the know-how you can also build a Mac for cheaper than you can buy one.

And if someone is having choppy video with an Intel 3000 they've got other issues, I ran 1080p with the original Intel HD no problem.

[adam1991]

You *used* to be able to hack your own Mac. Apple keeps closing the doors. I'm not so sure you can do it anymore.

And even when you could do it, it was nothing more than a lab exercise. So much stuff didn't work, it wasn't worth it.

[brucin]

I think $200 is a little unrealistic for a HTPC.

You could put something together for around $500 to $600.

I used a

nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum panel & Steel HTPC 1000B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

GIGABYTE GA-H57M-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel H57 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (now discontinued)

Intel i3 processor

Rosewill Stallion Series RD450-2-DB 450W ATX V2.2 Power Supply

Sony Bluray R/RW drive

Western Digital WD Blue WD3200AAKX 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1850 MC Board Only PCI-E x1 – OEM - OEM

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C8

HGST Deskstar 7K1000.C 0F10383 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (now discontinued)

The whole thing came in just under $600 and looks nice in the equipment rack under the TV. I know the price difference between this and what to original poster was looking to spend is substantial but in order to get the full HTPC experience this is what you have to spend.

It also helps that I have a friend who put the thing together for me for a few beers and dinner.

[Motz]

I personally own the following and absolutely love it:

Mobo:
Biostar A880GZ: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... ar%20a880g

CPU:
Athlon II X3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103886

Case:
Silverstone ML03B HTPC

Memory:
Crucial (2 of these) 4gb total: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VZ ... 02_s00_i00

Throw in a hard drive (ssd) as main drive, recording drive, power supply and some tuners and you are good to go.