It has been a while since I have blogged about my HTPC project. I must say the project has progressed really well and I am happy with my HTPC. There have been a lot of enhancements done to my HTPC. Here are the ones I would like to mention:
Hardware
Blu-ray drive: My HTPC finally has a blu-ray drive, and it is rocking! Thanks to my generous girlfriend who bought me this for the Valentine’s Day. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151222
Computer Case: I also replaced the outer case with one that is more spacious and ventilated. The old case was too cramped to put a blu-ray drive and play blu-ray movies. Fortunately, I got a really good deal on newegg.com for a case that’s awesome! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147060
Solid-State Drive: Besides, the blu-ray drive and a new case, I also put a Solid State Hard Drive in the system and this has really boosted the performance of the system, especially the booting and shutdown. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005F30IJK/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details
USB3.0 Card: I had to replace the USB3.0 card as it had issues of intermittent connectivity losses. The one I have now works great. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UDCPEI/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details
PC Remote Control: The remote control finally arrived and works great with Windows Media Center, Boxee and XBMC.
Sound Bar: I got a cheap Vizio sound bar for less than 50 bucks at Goodwill. The model of the sound bar surprisingly is fairly new and works great! http://www.vizio.com/vsb205.html
In all I have invested about $450 in my HTPC but I am satisfied with the results. What next would be to replace the replace the motherboard and processor, but that’s not until the end of this year.
Software
I have reverted back to Windows Media Center as the main system for my HTPC. The reason to choose it was that neither XBMC nor Boxee supports playing blu-ray movies off the disk. Windows Media Center though does not natively support blu-ray playback, an extension by ArcSoft can provide the functionality from within Windows Media Center.
Connectivity
This week I will be getting rid of my cable including cable internet replacing it with DSL. Why? Price! Time to fully embrace the HTPC 🙂