[FnMag]

I've read the stickies and the whole eskro thread as well as poofyhairguys recommendations. I've searched through all the threads for what I think I want, but some of the ones that give me the most information are pretty out of date as far as what is currently available which only makes my confusion worse.

I have Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBOGo & HULU memberships - Yes, I love movies !!

Here is what I have = multiple HDTV's in the house. The living room tv already has a Wii, cable box and a Roku 2 XD attached.
Bedroom has Samsung 42" with the SmartHub so it already has all the stuff to watch my memberships. I also have a 27" on my desk that I connect my laptop too if I need some piece and quiet from the Wife and Kids. The Kids rooms have cable/video games and they don't get to watch my movies. (greedy, I know ;-) ).

I am currently ripping all my DVDs to a WD My Book Essential 2TB USB 3.0 drive and this is going to take a while at the pace I am going.

I want something that I can hook to the living room tv or move it to the 27" if I have to that will allow me to watch my movies from the 2TB drive. <=-- This is my main question !

I would also like to record shows from my cable box and am guessing I would need a PVR to do this ? --=> Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder is what I picked out.

As far as the Nettop. I can't decide if I want to go Zotac, build my own or snag the old HP full tower out of the closet.

I'd prefer to order through Amazon.

Here is what I came up with if I were to build my own:

MI-008 Tower Black P4 Chassis with 250W Itx Psu+sata Power Supply
ASRock Socket FM1/AMD A75 FCH/SATA3&USB3.0/A&GbE/Mini-ITX Motherboard A75M-ITX
AMD A6-3500 APU with AMD Radeon 6530 HD Graphics 2.1/2.4GHz Socket FM1 65W Triple-Core Processor - Retail AD3500OJGXBOX
Kingston Technology HyperX 4 GB Kit (2x2 GB Modules) 4 Dual Channel Kit 1600 (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM KHX1600C9D3K2/4GX
SilenX EFX-12-15 Effizio Silent 120mm Case Fan


The A6 Pack.

Or, should I go Zotac:

ZOTAC ZBOX Intel Atom D525 1.8 GHz Dual Core Barebone Mini-PC ZBOX-ID41-U or Zotac Atom Dual-Core Mini PC Barebone System ZBOX-ID80-U
with
Crucial CT2KIT25664BC1067 4GB 204-PIN PC3-8500 SODIMM DDR3 Memory KIT (2GBx2)
SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC064B/WW

I realize that the A6 Pack is the way to go, but would either of the Zotacs be a better choice for what I am needing ? Cost/Needs ratio...

Thanks Everyone !

[GortWillSaveUs]

While I recommend the A6 Pack,..if you are leaning toward Zotac,....I'd recommend Acer Revo RL70-UR10P instead. This device is awesome,..and it gives you the option to move it around the house,..or even take it "on the road".

[FnMag]

It doesn't have USB 3. Will the USB 2.0 be fast enough for data transfer ?

[GortWillSaveUs]

It doesn't have USB 3. Will the USB 2.0 be fast enough for data transfer ?

Are you looking to to store movies on the device itself, or stream from a server?
Personally,...I keep everything on the server.

But I have a friend that has a camper and he loads his most watched and favorite movies with no problems.
Then he can watch his movies when "camping".

[FnMag]

They are in the WD 2TB USB 3.0 drive

---

If I decide to build The A6 Pack , Will I need to purchase SATA cables ?

[Dougie Fresh]

If you'd like an A6-PACK barebones there is one here: E-i5 A6-PACK barebones.

Even if you want to keep everything on your 2TB drive (which will run out of space soon -- trust me) consider a home server or NAS you can attach it to and get it on your network. Also, after all your hard work how are you going to back it up? <-- super important

[FnMag]

I don't mind building, been there done that. Time is the hard part. I will still have the DVDs themselves. I guess I was wanting the easy solution of clicking and buying... and the reason I specified Amazon is that I have only one credit card and it's an Amazon gift card that I add money too each paycheck for my fun fund (being debt free has some advantages and some disadvantages ie: no credit cards).

[bluray]

I don't mind building, been there done that. Time is the hard part. I will still have the DVDs themselves. I guess I was wanting the easy solution of clicking and buying... and the reason I specified Amazon is that I have only one credit card and it's an Amazon gift card that I add money too each paycheck for my fun fund (being debt free has some advantages and some disadvantages ie: no credit cards).

If you want a very powerful, very good looking, very small form factor case and ready for XBMC out of the box, this "H520s Desktop Computer" with Intel i5 inside is an excellent option.....or this less expensive version "Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor G640". I doubt that you can find another full loaded Intel i5 at this price. Intel iGPU should be able to handle blu-ray 1080p video and HD audio with ease....

It's available on Amazon too, but slightly higher price than MicroCenter.....

[RaggSokk3n]

I don't mind building, been there done that. Time is the hard part. I will still have the DVDs themselves. I guess I was wanting the easy solution of clicking and buying... and the reason I specified Amazon is that I have only one credit card and it's an Amazon gift card that I add money too each paycheck for my fun fund (being debt free has some advantages and some disadvantages ie: no credit cards).

If you want a very powerful, very good looking, very small form factor case and ready for XBMC out of the box, this "H520s Desktop Computer" with Intel i5 inside is an excellent option.....or this less expensive version "Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor G640". I doubt that you can find another full loaded Intel i5 at this price. Intel iGPU should be able to handle blu-ray 1080p video and HD audio with ease....

It's available on Amazon too, but slightly higher price than MicroCenter.....

Seeing how the I5 in that setup is a year old and only contains hd2000, wouldn't the new i3 3xxx be better?

[GortWillSaveUs]

They are in the WD 2TB USB 3.0 drive

---

If I decide to build The A6 Pack , Will I need to purchase SATA cables ?

No,..the mother board comes with one.
So unless you want to install more than one HDD,..or add a BDROM,...you won't need additional SATA cables.

---

(being debt free has some advantages and some disadvantages ie: no credit cards).

I really admire that! Not many people have the perseverance to even try!
Many people want to be debt free,..but most people don't want to live within their means.
The easier path is to not get into debt in the first place.

[FnMag]

Thank you Gort, it took a long time and a lot of sacrifice to get that way. Unfortunately, I am trying to get my wife to do the same as me now. It was really awesome to walk into a car dealer and tell them I want "That" car and have them ask if I wanted to finance through them and say "No", here is a check for what I want to pay for it. They took the check and I paid $5k less than asking.

So we do the best we can with what we have and she lets me put a little money away every paycheck to buy my "toys" but at the same time it is there for a rainy day too - kids, etc.

Anyway, back On Topic.. I'm on lenovo's site right now checking things out. I like Lenovo, I have a Y570!

[FnMag]

After a few hours of going back and forth between acer/dell/asus/hp bla bla bla, I pushed the button on the Acer RL70-UR10P Desktop. I think it will do what I want and stay small, reliable and inconspicuous. Thanks for the suggestion and I look forward to further picking the brains of the fine people on this forum !

+1 Gort as soon as I can.