A month or so ago, I was asked to build a new computer. It’s specs were simple. Good websurfing, DVD and BluRay Playback, and no visible wires. Here are the results.
What we have here is an Athlon II 240 (2.8 ghz dual core), 2GB of ram, and a 320GB HDD. Plus the all important Bluray drive. The Video is the onboard Radeon HD4200, with a pci-Ex16 slot for a better video card later if wanted. Plus a wireless keyboard with trackball integrated.
All that stuff is cool, but the part that I liked the best was the case. nMediaPC Black Aluminum 1000B HTPC Case. About $80 on Newegg.com Isn’t this case fantastic! It looks like, and is the same size as my Kenwood home theater reciever. The Bluray drive fit nicely behind the little flappy door, and all the components inside are standard mAtx parts. And a standard size Antec power supply.
The Picture is Clear as a bell @ 1280x720. And Bluray titles play with HDCP function. (We tested with “The Last Starfighter”)
The TV is wall mounted (obviously), and the power and HDMI cables are run inside the wall. Right next to the HTPC is a DVR (Time Warner), and both components have all their assorted cables completly hidden! The PC runs on Wi-Fi (that little stubby antenna) and its antenna sits in between the PC and the DVR, out of sight.
This may not be the fastest computer on the block, but the case and the setup in the room with the big screen and the wireless keyboard make this the classiest setup I have been part of.
And it is so clean and neat inside!
