Just moved into a new place with an upstairs (oh nos!) and am looking to replace my old HDMI-from the desktop solution with something more robust. Is wireless streaming of compressed 1080p content via a dual band n router an option yet? Or is the attic my only option? I'll be purchasing the HTPC as the first step in a system including a router and file server. As far as money is concerned, I like quality and flexibility, but see no point in wasting money.
Requirements
HTPC
Picking up the Seasonic x650 Danny suggested in another thread just because why the hell not, that's an amazing deal. I'll probably end up switching my desktop PSU out and using it in the HTPC.
$80.99 - Thermaltake Black SECC Japanese steel LANBOX Lite VF6000BNS Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
$46.99 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
$86.99 - ASRock H67M-ITX LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
$134.99 - Intel Core i3-2100T Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 35W Dual-Core Desktop Processor
$109.99 - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive
$99.99 - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
46.99 - LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Disc Reader Model iHOS104-08
Input
I refuse to pay more than $150 for a remote and even that seems a little insane. I'd rather use Gmote but would like a better solution. iPADs seem like more efficient uses of money than a Harmony, but I'm not sure about the software? I will be getting a keyboard with a trackball of some kind for surfing. I'd also like some sort of universal remote that can turn my Samsung on and off, as well as my Soundbar.
$38.99 - IOGEAR GKM561R Black 2.4GHz Wireless HTPC Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel
$24.99 - Rosewill WMC Remote control/Rcvr RRC-127 for Win 7
Wireless Router
Really don't want to mess around here. I want something that will last me a while and save me from having to run ethernet cable downstairs (this is at least worth $60-$70 to me) and then buy a gigabit router anyway, but if wireless won't get the job done, I'd like to know sooner rather than later.
$135.99 - TRENDnet TEW-692GR 450 Mbps Concurrent Dual Band Wireless N Router
File Server
Windows Home Server. Quiet. Possibly AMD because they seem to have some fairly nice integrated solutions. That's about as far as I've gotten on this one.
Requirements
- Stream content from a new file server
- Play compressed 1080p content
- Surf the net downstairs (mentioned for input suggestions)
- Play music from the kitchen (ditto)
- Blue Ray playback
- Possibly some light gaming with a ps2 remote/emulators
HTPC
Picking up the Seasonic x650 Danny suggested in another thread just because why the hell not, that's an amazing deal. I'll probably end up switching my desktop PSU out and using it in the HTPC.
$80.99 - Thermaltake Black SECC Japanese steel LANBOX Lite VF6000BNS Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
$46.99 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
$86.99 - ASRock H67M-ITX LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
$134.99 - Intel Core i3-2100T Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 35W Dual-Core Desktop Processor
$109.99 - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive
$99.99 - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
46.99 - LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Disc Reader Model iHOS104-08
Input
I refuse to pay more than $150 for a remote and even that seems a little insane. I'd rather use Gmote but would like a better solution. iPADs seem like more efficient uses of money than a Harmony, but I'm not sure about the software? I will be getting a keyboard with a trackball of some kind for surfing. I'd also like some sort of universal remote that can turn my Samsung on and off, as well as my Soundbar.
$38.99 - IOGEAR GKM561R Black 2.4GHz Wireless HTPC Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel
$24.99 - Rosewill WMC Remote control/Rcvr RRC-127 for Win 7
Wireless Router
Really don't want to mess around here. I want something that will last me a while and save me from having to run ethernet cable downstairs (this is at least worth $60-$70 to me) and then buy a gigabit router anyway, but if wireless won't get the job done, I'd like to know sooner rather than later.
$135.99 - TRENDnet TEW-692GR 450 Mbps Concurrent Dual Band Wireless N Router
File Server
Windows Home Server. Quiet. Possibly AMD because they seem to have some fairly nice integrated solutions. That's about as far as I've gotten on this one.
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