J&W Minix 785G Mini-ITX 785G-SP128MB Motherboard Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this to build my HTPC in an APEX MI-100BK SFF case.It does what it says it will do.Temps can get high in a small case - be sure to ventilate well.Chokes on the bottom of the board were hitting the case floor - fixed with a couple of small washers.So far so good.Blu-ray and HDTV record/playback is a breeze.Adobe Flash HD creates lots of heat, even with 10.1 beta, but it plays smoothly.

Click Here to see more reviews about: JandW Minix 785G Mini-ITX 785G-SP128MB Motherboard

Product Description:
Big things DO come in small packages! With the Mvix Minx's 785G-128M Motherboard you can build a fully functional media center or gaming powerhouse. Featuring an embedded ATI Radeon 4200HD connected via DVI / VGA or HDMI port, you can take your HD media experience beyond imagination. Bundled with 7.1 HD Audio via HDMI, Optical or AC3 output, this motherboard supports AMD Athlon II and Phenom II AM3 Quad-Core processors (up to 95W), 8GB of DDR2 RAM and Blu-Ray (w/ HDCP) Playback. The board comes equipped with 10/100/1000 Ethernet port, solid capacitors, a PCI slot and 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (Supporting RAID 0,1,0+1). And yes...it is compatible with Windows 7!

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Zotac IONITX-A-U Atom N330 Dual Core 90-Watt PSU WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been waiting for this motherboard for a long time; finally a MythTV frontend which can quietly play high definition video and sip electricity while doing so. And one with so many ports on the back: HDMI, DVI and VGA for video; TOSLink Coax, SPDIF optical, HDMI and analog for audio. Gigabit Ethernet. Plenty of USB ports and one eSATA port. A feast of port flexibility.

While people have been talking about the Wake on USB function of recent revisions of this board; I find the Wake on LAN BIOS option more interesting. You can get an iPhone or other smartphone app which can wake the device via WiFi, making it easy to keep the computer in a low power state and only pulling Watts when needed.

My setup:
I've installed the 64-bit version of Mythbuntu 9.10 on a 60 GB Seagate Momentus laptop drive I had lying around.
2GB of PNY brand RAM allow me to allocate half a GB to the video card (BIOS setting); recommended for maximum video performance.
And a small Mini-ITX case complete the very simple hardware assembly.
I also installed XBMC, and that seems responsive and beautiful.
I first usedthe VGA connector for video, and the coax port for digital audio, but in the end, I ended up using an HDMI switch and getting both audio and video over that port which worked well.

I removed the included WiFi card, as I will be using hard wired Ethernet and would prefer to not include whatever minor Wattage the little card draws in standby.

I would not run this board fanless. I played a 1080i MPEG2 over the air video on it without a case and my infrared thermometer read the GPU temperature at 60

SilverStone LC19B-R Aluminum Front Panel/1.0 mm SECC Body Micro ATX Media Center/HTPC Case - Retail (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)There are very few 1U HTPC cases on the market today; they're all either hulking monstrosities or Shuttle boxes that don't sit well with your other components. This case is of solid yet light construction, and makes the most of the tight internal space.

Power supply uses an external box, which is annoying but not really a bad thing because it removes a lot of heat (an HTPC's biggest enemy) from the case. The PSU connector may feel loose, but doesn't actually come out without some effort. Similarly, the front panel door feels loose and sloppy despite its metal construction and hinges.

Because it's such a flat space, don't expect to be able to use your stock CPU cooling; you'll need an EXTREMELY low-profile CPU heat-sink/fan; and most that call themselves low-profile don't come close to fitting. I've only found two that are actually low enough, and went with the SILVERSTONE Nitrogon NT07-775 CPU Cooler, which fit perfectly.

If your motherboard has the SATA ports in the front right corner (like most do), definitely buy 90-degree SATA cables, because the front panel drive mount sits right on top of them, and won't fit with a straight SATA cable connected.

Minus one star because it doesn't have (or have space for) a front-panel IR port.

Due to the limited space/airflow, I recommend using an SSD drive in this box. It also keeps it amazingly quiet.

Click Here to see more reviews about: SilverStone LC19B-R Aluminum Front Panel/1.0 mm SECC Body Micro ATX Media Center/HTPC Case - Retail (Black)

Product Description:
With an increasing number of mobile CPUs moving to desktop systems, SilverStone engineers once again saw a great opportunity to create a case that would truly take advantage of this movement. The result is an amazingly slim 68mm (2.68 inches) tall enclosure that is still capable of accommodating a Micro-ATX motherboard and widely available storage components. For people who prefer to build a system that is easy on the eyes (and occasionally, out of sight) with power to do almost anything, the LC19 is perfect.

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Zotac Atom N330 Dual Core WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard IONITX-F-E Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this after reselling my similar Zotac IONITX D-E (a.k.a. IONITX A-U, only no PSU included), as it simply didn't do it for me as an HTPC. The main issue with the D-E/A-U was that there were no PCI-E slots for a TV card of my choice.

That all changed with the F-E, which was released just a few months later. It's got the PCI-E slot that makes all the difference.

TV CARD:
If you have digital cable, you could technically just use the HDHomeRun (analog cable/NTSC not supported): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010Y414Q?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

We, on the other hand, only have analog cable. Therefore, it needed to work with my current TV card, which is an analog/digital hybrid: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E2T6Y4?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8CASE
I use my board with this APEX case, which works quite well: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WCQYU6?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8MEMORY
The best memory to grab for any of these Zotac boards is Crucial's XMS sticks.

Go for the 2GB (2 x 1GB) if you don't intend to ever watch Blu-Ray movies:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CDLCGG?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

Go for the 4GB (2 x 2GB) if you DO intent to watch Blu-Ray movies:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TPXULC?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

Hope this helps! :)

Click Here to see more reviews about: Zotac Atom N330 Dual Core WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard IONITX-F-E

Product Description:
Experience fluid and vivid high-definition video playback with the ultra-compact ZOTAC ION platform. The mini-ITX form factor ZOTAC ION combines a high-performance NVIDIA ION graphics processor with a power-efficient Intel Atom processor for the ultimate eco-friendly platform that has no troubles handling regular web browsing, e-mail, & productivity and HD video playback tasks.

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Zotac Atom N330 Dual Core WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard IONITX-F-E Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this after reselling my similar Zotac IONITX D-E (a.k.a. IONITX A-U, only no PSU included), as it simply didn't do it for me as an HTPC. The main issue with the D-E/A-U was that there were no PCI-E slots for a TV card of my choice.

That all changed with the F-E, which was released just a few months later. It's got the PCI-E slot that makes all the difference.

TV CARD:
If you have digital cable, you could technically just use the HDHomeRun (analog cable/NTSC not supported): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010Y414Q?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

We, on the other hand, only have analog cable. Therefore, it needed to work with my current TV card, which is an analog/digital hybrid: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E2T6Y4?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8CASE
I use my board with this APEX case, which works quite well: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WCQYU6?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8MEMORY
The best memory to grab for any of these Zotac boards is Crucial's XMS sticks.

Go for the 2GB (2 x 1GB) if you don't intend to ever watch Blu-Ray movies:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CDLCGG?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

Go for the 4GB (2 x 2GB) if you DO intent to watch Blu-Ray movies:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TPXULC?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

Hope this helps! :)

Click Here to see more reviews about: Zotac Atom N330 Dual Core WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard IONITX-F-E

Product Description:
Experience fluid and vivid high-definition video playback with the ultra-compact ZOTAC ION platform. The mini-ITX form factor ZOTAC ION combines a high-performance NVIDIA ION graphics processor with a power-efficient Intel Atom processor for the ultimate eco-friendly platform that has no troubles handling regular web browsing, e-mail, & productivity and HD video playback tasks.

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Intel DG45ID Media Series G45 micro-ATX Intel Graphics HDMI+DVI 1333MHz LGA775 Desktop Motherboard Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been building computers since NT4, and I'm amazed how technology has come, so far. I'm specifically impressed with the Intel DG45ID MOBO. Built specifically for Media Center use. This MOBO works really well with my Vista x64 Ultimate. I watch Blu-ray, HD DVD's, and online movies. I set this up with a quad core processor, 8GB RAM (Corsair), on an Antec case. The built-in HDMI (video card) passes audio and video. I've tested other MOBO (not an Intel), & their built-in HDMI (video card), does not pass audio. This video card can only achieve 1080p, at 60hz. So if you have a 120 Hz TV, it will bump down to 60 Hz.
Good luck with watching Netflix movie, using this video card. There's some DRM, management rights issue.
There are no legacy peripherals/hookups on this MOBO; all SATA, USB, Firewire connections. I don't know how the integrated RAID controller performs, since I'm currently not using it. The only suggestion is to have integrated wifi included on this board. I'll purchase this MOBO again, if someone wants me to build them a Media Center.

*** April 2009 Update ***
I purchased and hooked-up the Sony STRDG820 Receiver. The Sony works really well with my HTPC. I'm still using the integrated HDMI in the MOBO.
Last week I updated the BIOS. I found out that I'm way behind and I could not update using Express BIOS update. I had to update using Recovery or Iflash. I don't have a USB floppy, so I updated using my USB stick. The app that I used is the HP USB Disk Storage. You can download that app for free. You should be able to create a DOS startup disk, with the downloaded BIOS, .BIO extension file from Intel.
BTW: I'm using the Corsair XMS2 PC2-6400 800 MHz 240-PIN DDR2 Dual-Channel Memory Kit - TWIN2X4096-6400C5. I have 8GB RAM, and BIOS setup for auto; my current memory speed is 800MHz.
Also, I'm not experiencing that weird DRM Netflix issue anymore.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Intel DG45ID Media Series G45 micro-ATX Intel Graphics HDMI+DVI 1333MHz LGA775 Desktop Motherboard

Product Description:
With the growing popularity of user-generated media, peer-to-peer sharing and the uploading and viewing of streaming video, photos and more, it's no secret that the creation and sharing of digital entertainment is on the rise. From tech-savvy hobbyists to professional designers, today's users need hardware that can run the advanced multimedia tools needed to create and enjoy audio, video and more.
Amazon.com Product Description
With the growing popularity of user-generated media, peer-to-peer sharing and the uploading and viewing of streaming video, photos and more, it's no secret that the creation and sharing of digital entertainment is on the rise. From tech-savvy hobbyists to professional designers, today's users need hardware that can run the advanced multimedia tools needed to create and enjoy audio, video and more. Intel® Media Series Desktop Boards Product Highlight
Incredibly versatile, Intel® Media Series Desktop Boards are designed to support high-bandwidth interfaces and are ideal for running demanding entertainment, education, and gaming applications. Big, unwieldy media files can quickly overcome mainstream desktop PCs. Intel Media Series Desktop Boards allow users to experience HD videos in surround sound, design school projects or presentations, or upload vacation videos right out of the box, and with superior speed and efficiency.

Graphics
Intel® Desktop Media Series Boards offer users an excellent visual experience thanks to the Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD with Intel® Clear Video Technology. This built-in support for full 1080p high-definition visuals eliminates the need for an additional graphics card while offering support for today's most popular video outputs including HDMI and DVI. This feature enables incredible visual media capabilities including video and image editing, streaming video viewing, and HD home theater entertainment. Ever flexible, Intel® Desktop Media Series Boards also offer a PCI Express x16 graphics connector to support the latest high-end graphics cards for a great 3D gaming experience.

Onboard Audio
Utilizing the Intel® High Definition audio chipset, the Intel® Media series delivers rich, realistic 360

Intel Media Series Mini-ITX Motherboard Supporting Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RAID) BOXDH57JG Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I replaced all the office Pentium/CRT units with Atoms/LCD displays and saw our power consumption cut by 50%. But a recent client required us to work with several Excel sheets with a total or 300,000 rows and the Atom started to bog down and VLOOKUPs started freezing on me.

I stumbled upon this great board in Amazon and promptly setup a test unit with a Core i3-520 and 4Gb RAM - the speed at which those Excel files loaded/worked blew me away.

I'm using the on-board DVI output coupled with a low-profile Radeon 4350 video card for a dual-monitor setup. For applications that requires raw processing power, productivity is definitely way better than the Atoms without sacrificing power efficiency.

The Core i3, on-chip HD graphics capability, HDMI port, and power-efficient design makes this a much better choice as a HTPC than the Atoms as it doesn't choke on 1080p or Blu-ray movies.

A great compromise between power consumption, processing power, and price!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Intel Media Series Mini-ITX Motherboard Supporting Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RAID) BOXDH57JG

Product Description:
With the Intel Desktop Board DH57JG, you can take advantage of a compact, space-efficient system without sacrificing performance. The Intel DH57JG features the tiny Mini-ITX form factor, supports the latest Intel Core i5 processors, and offers a variety of features. The Intel DH57JG is ideal for home theater PCs with its small size and home entertainment features such as an integrated HDMI port.
Desktop Board DH57JG

Form Factor: mini-ITX
Processor Socket: LGA1156


Chipset: H57 Express Chipset


Memory: Two DDR3 (1333/1066 MHz) SDRAM DIMM sockets; 8 GB max



The DH57JG has plenty of expansion capability. View detailed schematic.

Harness the power of Intel Core i5 Processors. View larger. Supports Intel Core i5 Processors and up to 8 GB DDR3 RAM
The Intel Desktop Board DH57JG features the Intel H57 Express Chipset and is designed to work with Intel's newest Core i5 and i3 series processors in LGA1156 sockets, as well as with Intel Pentium processors in the LGA1156 package. When paired with Intel Core i5 or Core i3 processors, it will give you outstanding performance while being energy efficient.


For fast computer performance, the motherboard supports dual-channel DDR3 memory with two connectors for 1333/1066 MHz memory. This allows for a maximum of 8 GB RAM.


Compact Size Fits Virtually Anywhere
Ideal for those looking to build a small PC that fits in a small space, the DH57JG features a mini-ITX form factor that measures just 6.75 x 6.75 inches. Building a system with it will give you the flexibility to store your system almost anywhere in your home.


HDMI Output; Ideal for Home Entertainment
The DH57JG is ideal for enthusiasts wishing to build a home entertainment PC. It produces minimal noise and heat, and has an integrated HDMI port for 1080p output support for remarkable video when connected to an HDTV. In addition, it is dual independent display-capable with HDMI and DVI-I graphics ports.


The DH57JG offers not only exceptional visual performance, but superb audio performance as well. Ten-channel Intel High-Definition Audio with Dolby Home Theater is supported, enabling high-quality audio that rivals the performance of discrete solutions.


Intel Rapid Storage Technology Keeps Your Media and Data Safe
Plenty of safe, reliable storage space is needed to hold the unprecedented quantity of digital media available today. The DH57JG has four onboard SATA ports supporting Intel Rapid Storage Technology for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10; so you'll be ready for an increasing media library as you acquire more movies and music.


PCI Express Slot and USB Ports for Expansion
Despite its small size, the DH57JG gives you plenty of ports for expansion. A PCI Express 2.0 x16 graphics port lets you connect a high-speed graphics card. There are 12 USB 2.0 ports available for all your peripherals and accessories. In addition to the four SATA ports, there is also one eSATA port for fast, external storage. An integrated Intel PRO 10/100/1000 network connection port is also included.


The Intel Desktop Board DH57JG meets ENERGY STAR and ErP specifications and is RoHS-compliant. It is backed by a three-year limited warranty.


What's in the Box
DH57JG Desktop Board, SATA cables, board and back panel I/O layout stickers, quick reference and product guides, driver and software DVD.

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Antec Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The case is great.It has a lot of nice details such as rubber pads to absorb vibration and a mounting system for hard drives that isolates them on soft bushings to minimize drive noise.Ventalation

The power supplu is mounted upside down in a separate compartment from the motherboard.There is an extension for the 24 pin power cable, but the P4 cable might be a problem.I would buy a p4 cable extension or Molex to p4 cable with this case, unless you are sure that your cables will reach.

The VFD loks kind of cheap and the remote looks and feels cheap.The Soundgraph iMon software that drives it is limited.I would consider buying the non-VFD version and a different VFD.

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Product Description:
Combining silence, convenience, and style, the Fusion Remote Black is an excellent enclosure for a home theater PC. With its triple chamber design and dual 120mm fans, this case runs quietly and coolly. The Fusion Remote Black boasts an included remote control and media management software for maximum ease of use.

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Antec Fusion 430 Veris Media Center microATX Desktop PC Case with 430-Watt PSU (Silver) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Volume knob of the th case was broken when openning. The Package or Original box.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Antec Fusion 430 Veris Media Center microATX Desktop PC Case with 430-Watt PSU (Silver)

Product Description:
The Antec Fusion 430 Veris Media Center Micro ATX Desktop PC Case features a lustrous silver finish that perfectly blends with your modern home theater and stereo equipment. Designed for high-quality performance, the Fusion 430 comes with a 430-watt power supply and features an IR receiver that is compatible with Windows XP MCE and Windows Vista. Additionally, it has an LCD display and volume control knob for full control over all your media in just one case.
The Fusion 430 features a triple-chamber structure that separates the heat and noise of power supply, hard drives, and motherboards for a cooler, quieter operation. Its advanced cooling system consists of two side-mounted 120-millimeter TriCool three-speed fans. The Fusion 430 features three drive bays--one front-accessible 5.25-inch bay and two internal 3.5-inch bays. And should you decide to expand your system, the Fusion 430 has four expansion slots. This media case is designed for motherboards up to Micro ATX form factor (9.6 by 9.6 inches). It measures 5.5 by 17.5 by 16.3 inches (HxWxD), and weighs 18.7 pounds.Other features include:

Front bezel with LCD display and volume control
Removable HDD brackets with extra soft silicone grommets
Durable 0.8-millimeter cold rolled steel construction
Front-mounted ports provide convenient connections: two USB 2.0 ports, one IEEE 1394 (FireWire, i.Link) port, audio in/out port (HDA and AC'97)
Low-profile desktop height for an easy fit

What's in the Box
Fusion Silver 430 desktop PC case, power supply, and IR receiver.

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Acer AspireRevo AR1600-U910H Black/White Desktop PC (Windows XP Home) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I know some people will use this aa a small form pc for everyday use, but I'm only reviewing this from a HTPC perspective.Right now its connected to my network wirelessly and Im streaming my movies to my flatscreen tv.Its great for viewing Hi def content, I thought theres no way a processor this slow could ossibly playback through HDMI clearly.I was pleasantly surprised, after a bit of setup it streams ANY format thrown at it through HDMI.I loaded windows vista on this because of windows media center wich really helps with managing all my movies, music and pictures.The only issue is viewing flash video online, dont get me wrong it plays the video reasonably well but you will notice the stuttering at times on the video.Flash currently is not configured to run on these new processors so viewing flash online will be an issue until flash 10.1 wich will be released some time early next year.The processor isnt strong enough to handle high end computing tasks like video editing or photoshop, but this isnt what this pc is made for.Coupple of notes about setup, it comes with windows xp home but that OS may not provide as much sophistication as most people would like, I installed vista on this pc pretty easily.You must have either an external dvd drive or a usb drive with at least 4 giggs of available space.If your using a usb drive you must load the OS dvd on a diferent pc and then copy the files over to the usb drive, afterwards connect to this pc and start setup while in windows xp.Also please remember to load all the drivers needed if you install a new OS.[...]

Click Here to see more reviews about: Acer AspireRevo AR1600-U910H Black/White Desktop PC (Windows XP Home)

Product Description:
Ultra-Slim PC Perfect for Everyday Computing: The Portable AspireRevo is the perfect mini PC providing everywhere connectivity to surf the web, view/edit photos, watch HD movies, listen to music and more.Compact Design: Its compact 1L size makes it easy to stand discreetly on a desk or mount (mount sold separately) to the back of a monitor to save space. Grab it to go for remote entertainment with friends or for travel.Optimum Performance: Designed for low energy consumption, the Intel Atom Processor combines performance and efficiency to let you explore the Internet and enjoy entertainment and games.The AspireRevo keeps you in touch all day via Gigabit Ethernet LAN connectivity.Six USB ports and a Media Card Reader make transferring your photos and other files as fast and easy as ever.

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Q700 Sff E5400 500GB Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased the Lenovo Q700 to use exclusively as a home theater PC.Its small size and black finish make an unobtrusive addition to the livingroom decor.My only complaint about its appearance are the bright blue flashing lights on the front which indicate power-on/sleep state, and disk activity.I'm looking for some translucent tape to cover the LEDs to reduce their intensity.

The Q700 is very quiet.The internal fan and hard disk drive produce a barely perceptible sound; nothing to spoil the movie watching experience.

It comes with a nice remote control for Windows Media Center, but like the remotes for my other HT components, it's been replaced by a universal remote (URC RF20). The supplied keyboard has a nice feel and a look of quality, but the keys have to be pressed down hard to ensure registration.I replaced the included keyboard and mouse with more appropriate wireless versions which I can use from the sofa on rare occasions.The Windows interface grahics and text is a bit to small to read comfortably from a distance of 10+ feet even on a large screen TV.

The Q700 comes loaded with Windows 7 and Windows Media Center.This was my first experience with either and I'm impressed with design and performance of these Microsoft products.My one wish is that it be possible to more easily customized the WMC menus to better match my HTPC setup.I prefer the MediaBrowser add-on for accessing my movie library.I was able to hide the unneeded WMC "Movies" menu item, but only by editing the Windows registry. This is not something a novice should expect to do.

The Q700 performs well as an HTPC.I cannot think of any situations where the Intel Dual Core was unable to keep up with the processing load.Any lack of responsiveness in the WMC interface can be attributed to the universal remote, not the PC itself.

The built-in TV tuner is very good.It performs as well as the my Samsung HDTV tuner. I use it as my primary tuner so that all TV functions are included in the WMC interface.I wish the PC was equipped with a second tuner so that I could watch another channel when a TV program is being recorded.As is, one has to switch over to the HDTV tuner to watch a different channel, a more complex operation than I prefer.

Another minor complaint about the Q700 is that the analog audio outputs are not parallel to the HDMI output.If a line is plugged into the green audio output jack on the back of the Q700, the audio to the HDMI is interrupted.The same is true for the front audio (headphone) jack.I wanted to feed the analog audio output to the whole house audio amplifier.As is, the lines have to be manually plugged in whenever whole house audio is desired.

Depending on your intended use of the HTPC, the 500 GB hard disk drive may not be adequate for storage of music and video.My movie library contains only 160 DVD quality movies which consume about 600 GB.I don't know how easy it is to replace the Q700's HDD with a larger capacity drive.I decided to include network accessible storage (NAS), expandable to several terabytes, to accommodate my expanding movie and music library storage requirements.

In my opinion, buying an HTPC like the Lenovo Q700 is preferable to using a standard desktop PC or tying your home theater into your office PC using an extender.A standard desktop PC is too noisy and consumes a lot of power compared to a device like the Q700.Using an extender (like the HP X280N, if you can find one these days) will reduce overall performance of your system and make unavailable some WMC features.

I highly recommend the Lenovo Q700 as an HTPC.

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Product Description:
Take your music, gaming and movie experience to a new high with the compact Lenovo IdeaCentre Q700 30151NU Desktop PC. The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q700 30151NU Desktop PC, with full HD support and smooth playback enabled by an Intel® Pentium processor, can be connected to your television with a single HDMI cable. Cinema enthusiasts can integrate this versatile PC at home with their own surround sound audio equipment via the dedicated S/PDIF port for flawless digital audio output.

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LUXA2 LVA30052N1Z Aluminum LM300 7-Inch Touch Screen Pro ATX , Micro ATX, Mini ITX Media Center /HTPC Case (Black/Silver) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Before I get into detail, let me first say the 5 star overall rating I gave this is based on pros and cons compared to other so called "HTPC" cases. This is the only case I've come across that in the end does not look like a computer. It is VERY aesthetically pleasing, pictures online do not do it justice. It is also, by far, the most solid construction I have ever seen in a computer case. This case is built so solid, I am confident it will be with me for the rest of my life. These things were important to me above other factors such as an included cable, which I can just replace. There are however some things that could be improved. Now on to the Attributes I rated.

Construction Quality - Solid as a rock. The exterior and top panels are all made of 5 millimeter thick aluminum. Not only is this strong, but it goes a long way in keeping the computer quiet. By being so thick the panels do not resonate. The side and front silver colored panels are bead blasted for a matte finish. The top panel is uncolored brushed Aluminum. The black panel in the front is also brushed Aluminum, however it has been anodized. The bottom plate appears to be a heavy gauge stamped steel with a black finish. There are 4 rubber feet to support the case. The optical tray cover and memory card reader cover are both heavy Aluminum and open and close slowly and accurately. Nothing on this case rattles.

Ventilation and cooling - Cooling is sufficient for what this case is intended for, but a few revisions could be made in my opinion. There are no intake fans on this case, and a single 120mm rear exhaust is the only thing moving air. A good power supply with a 140mm fan built in such as the Corsair TX Series really helps. I saw in a video review that you can fit the tallest of CPU cooling solutions in the case. That is true, but only if you don't install an optical drive. My blue ray drive hit the fins on my Thermalake V1 Cpu Cooler. Certainly no 140mm cooling solutions will fit, and I'm not sure how many if any, 120mm solutions would fit. On a positive note the stock CPU cooler is suffice, keeping the CPU around 39oC(Max for Intel Core 2 Quad/ i7 is 100oC, your cpu may differ). If you install a basic Graphics card the ventilation is good enough. If you are like me and have a very high end GPU it will not be. I plan to water cool the case because of this which leads me to a negative. There are no provisions for running water lines out of the case. It can be done, but will need custom work. There is enough room under the drive tray for a crafty individual to install 2 120mm fans. I plan on putting 2 800 RPM fans to circulate air over my drives and move hot, stagnant GPU air around the case to be exhausted.

Hard Drive/Expansion - Luxa2 provides provisions for only two hard drives. Other HTPC cases offer provisions for the installation of 4-6. Personally this is not a downfall for me, as I prefer to keep my mass storage in separate housings. This is so they are not being powered on every time I am on the computer, and so they are not exposed to any more heat then necessary. A crafty individual could however fit more drives if they chose to. A third drive cold be fit by screwing two short lengths of aluminum angle stock on the bottom right side of the drive tray, directly under the hard drive and in front of the power supply. There are a number of places to tuck away an SSD as well. If one used an SSD for the operating system and tucked it in front of the power supply, you could still fit two 2 terabyte drives in the spaces provided. The case fits up to standard ATX motherboards, and has seven expansion slots. One is dedicated to pass through the touch screen VGA connector. There is enough room for the largest of graphics cards, as I had no problem fitting my VisionTek Radeon HD4870x2(which I will be water cooling). I also could easily fit my Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3 Deluxe Sound Card which is as big as many video cards.

Included Accessories - All of the provided cables to connect the case to the mother board are approximately twice as long as they need to be. This makes cable management harder then it needs to be. The front panel audio conector splits off at the end to provide connections for HD audio and the Legacy(outdated) AC'97. No one uses AC'97, so one less loose connector would be nice. I will be customizing or purchasing new connectors all around to fix this, however it should have been provided at this price. The mess of wires it creates impedes what little airflow there is.

Peripherals - The touch screen is of higher quality than I expected. With just a few tweaks to the GPU settings the screen has good contrast, and can be seen at any angle I've looked at it from. More importantly the touch screen is perfectly functional. The Volume knob makes clicking sounds when turned. It sounds "cheap". Most won't be using the knob or front controls often however because of the remote. The remote is not the best layout, but it does work as both mouse and keyboard. It took me a week to get used to, but its fun to use now. If you are not happy with the remote, there is an Infrared sensor on the front of the case, and other Media Center compatible remotes should also work. The power button is a dull white LED light, not distracting at all. There is one bright blue led behind the lower panel, however when it is closed you can not see it at all. The iMon software is more useful than other reviews would have me believe. Its navigation can seem confusing or backwards at times, but no more or less than other media center front ends. Like anything you just have to get accustomed to the controls. I do suggest not using the software they provide and going straight to Soundgraph's support page to download the newest version, otherwise it will prompt you to update right after installing.

Overall I'm very happy with the case. I know my 5 star overall may not coincide with the breakdown ratings, but every other case has its downfalls as well. Compared to other cases I considered, this one just stands apart from the rest. I feel good when I look at it, and I use the touch screen to play music (more than I thought I would)without having to turn my TV on. The best part is that it doesn't *look* like a computer. My friends have seen it and said "Hey, whats that?" They knew it was part of my theater, but had no idea it was a PC. Other cases just look like boxes, and don't use as thick of metal throughout. It looks like it belongs next to high end stereo/theater equipment, isn't that the idea? Hopefully this helps answer some questions some may have about this!

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Product Description:
Product Name LM300 Touch Pro P/N LVA30052N1Z Case Type Home Theater Media PC Media Kits Built-in all new revolutionary 7-Inch touch screen hot keys module Touch Screen Screen Size : 7-Inch Wide LCD Screen Ratio : 15:9 Maximum Resolution : 1024 x 768 Screen Output : D-Sub Power Input : 12V DC Touch Screen Dimension Height: 203.5mm (8.01 inches) /food stand included: 218mm (8.58 inches) Width: 460mm (18.11 inches) Depth: 410mm (16.14 inches) Weight 9.79kg /21.58 lbs. Cooling System Rear : 120 x 120 x 25 mm /4.72 x 4.72 x 0.98 inches Silent Fan, 1300rpm, 17dBA Drive Bays - Accessible - Hidden 3 1x 5.25-Inch 2 x 3.5-Inch Material Aluminum extrusion Color Front Panel: Black /Body : Silver Front I/O USB 2.0 x 2, IEEE 1394 Firewire, HD-Audio, multi-card reader Card Reader Slot MS/Pro/Duo, CF/Micro drive, MMC, D,SM….23in1 multi-card reader Expansion Slots 7 Motherboards ATX /Micro ATX /Mini ITX PSU Standard PSII Power Supply (Optional)

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