HTPC on the $300 Budget

[BoredSysAdmin]

Great Deal for Boxee/Xbmc HTPC from Lenovo - $350 for ION Nettop including keyboard/mouse and licensed Windows 7 Home OS.
http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/220895

 

[endbegin]

I am trying to find a solution to play my local MP3s and stream audio off the internet - would these atom-based computers be a good option? How about a netbook instead?

Currently I have speakers hooked up to my receiver in the living room, but in order to play music, I have to move my laptop back and forth from the home-office to the living room.

I guess I'd need a monitor/keyboard/mouse for this too, right? I don't own a TV (yet). I'm waiting to see what products GoogleTV brings.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I am trying to find a solution to play my local MP3s and stream audio off the internet - would these atom-based computers be a good option? How about a netbook instead?

Currently I have speakers hooked up to my receiver in the living room, but in order to play music, I have to move my laptop back and forth from the home-office to the living room.

I guess I'd need a monitor/keyboard/mouse for this too, right? I don't own a TV (yet). I'm waiting to see what products GoogleTV brings.

http://www.boxee.tv/box
$200
Pre-Order is going on now.

 

[endbegin]

I apologize if I am missing something that is obvious ... I don't want to be moving my laptop around for music, so that would mean I'd need to buy a computer first which would store all my MP3s and play streams from mog.

Seems like the Boxee unit is a replacement for having a mouse and keyboard in addition to making it easier to access TV shows, Netflix, etc.

Sorry if I am a bit confused ...

 

[endbegin]

OK, being doing a fair bit of reading ... seems like the Boxee Box is the solution for my needs. And when I eventually get a TV, it seems like I will be all set there too. So thanks for pointing that out.

I realize that the box isn't released yet, but given that it has an optical output, is it reasonable to assume that its sound quality will be the same as, say, the optical out of the Squeezebox touch?

(I realize that the Squeezebox is audio only, and more expensive)

I wonder what Logitech and GoogleTV will bring ... guess we'll know in two days.

 

[endbegin]

FYI: In order to stream music wirelessly to the Boxee Box from say a laptop, it cannot be done without a TV screen.

This is according to Boxee's customer support.

 

[bandphan]

FYI: In order to stream music wirelessly to the Boxee Box from say a laptop, it cannot be done without a TV screen.

This is according to Boxee's customer support.

Why wouldnt you want a display for streaming?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

FYI: In order to stream music wirelessly to the Boxee Box from say a laptop, it cannot be done without a TV screen.

This is according to Boxee's customer support.

You could install boxee (software) on the laptop and use it as your htpc

 

[endbegin]

Why wouldnt you want a display for streaming?

The display would be the laptop's display. Having another display seems superfluous - I'm referring to audio only here.

 

[bandphan]

The display would be the laptop's display. Having another display seems superfluous - I'm referring to audio only here.

k. my reading skills are off lately. BTW dual core atom processors and GPUs have gone down a lot

 

[Shiitaki]

Simpler and cheaper option for playing digital media

Instead of using a htpc and dealing with the inherent issues a real operating system can have, may I suggest the WD TV live hd plus. The one with an ethernet port and netflix on the box is the one. It will play stuff from a usb device, your network shares, a DLNA server, as well as popular internet content. Plays almost any unprotected format. The only limitation is that anything higher than 48/24 is down sampled to 48/24. It's user interface is good, though not quite as slick as an Apple GUI. The Apple TV is another option if you are already using Itunes. The WD media box is more versatile though. There are no drivers, keyboards, mice, etc. The cheaper ones lack the network capabilities, so if you don't mind copying your files and sneaker netting, you can save some coin. A usb powered external notebook hard drive works great.