2009-11-20, 23:56
For the last couple months I've been trying to decide what type of media player/streamer to get. At first I was looking at getting something like a Popcorn Hour...but then once I came across the ION Nettops, I started going in that direction. Since none of the pre-built nettops out there seem to have exactly what I want, and I also have some spare parts sitting around, now I'm looking at building one and installing XBMC.
I'll be using it mostly to play DVD/Blu-ray rips (via file server), but my feeling is also that internet streaming/download is the future of television/movie watching and I want to be prepared for that.
I will most likely be loading Windows 7 due to the Blu-ray disc playing capability. My thinking is I will put a Blu-ray player in my desktop PC and share the drive out.
So I'm looking at getting this motherboard/CPU:
ASUS AT3N7A-I Intel Atom 330 (1M Cache, 1.6GHz, Dual-Core) NVIDIA ION Motherboard/CPU Combo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813131408)
And the following case (none of the cases I've seen have really impressed me):
Winsis Wi-02 Black SGCC / ABS Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 200W Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811234021)
In addition to that, I know I'll need memory, hard drive, etc, but I already have that stuff. I believe the only additional thing I'll need to buy is some type of IR Remote device to be able to use my Universal Remote to control it.
One concern I have - my TV is an older CRT Rear Projection model, so it doesn't have HDMI. I plan on getting an HDMI>Component transcoder, but obviously that won't give me audio. The motherboard I'm looking at has S/PDIF, but I've read that some of these motherboards don't do 5.1 (or 7.1) via S/PDIF, only via HDMI. That would be a problem for me. Is there any way to confirm if a motherboard's S/PDIF out does 5.1 & 7.1?
Any input is greatly appreciated!
I'll be using it mostly to play DVD/Blu-ray rips (via file server), but my feeling is also that internet streaming/download is the future of television/movie watching and I want to be prepared for that.
I will most likely be loading Windows 7 due to the Blu-ray disc playing capability. My thinking is I will put a Blu-ray player in my desktop PC and share the drive out.
So I'm looking at getting this motherboard/CPU:
ASUS AT3N7A-I Intel Atom 330 (1M Cache, 1.6GHz, Dual-Core) NVIDIA ION Motherboard/CPU Combo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813131408)
And the following case (none of the cases I've seen have really impressed me):
Winsis Wi-02 Black SGCC / ABS Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 200W Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811234021)
In addition to that, I know I'll need memory, hard drive, etc, but I already have that stuff. I believe the only additional thing I'll need to buy is some type of IR Remote device to be able to use my Universal Remote to control it.
One concern I have - my TV is an older CRT Rear Projection model, so it doesn't have HDMI. I plan on getting an HDMI>Component transcoder, but obviously that won't give me audio. The motherboard I'm looking at has S/PDIF, but I've read that some of these motherboards don't do 5.1 (or 7.1) via S/PDIF, only via HDMI. That would be a problem for me. Is there any way to confirm if a motherboard's S/PDIF out does 5.1 & 7.1?
Any input is greatly appreciated!
