Still Looking for an HTPC

I’ve been looking for a while for a good HTPC (Home Theatre PC) solution. I still didn’t buy anything because I couldn’t find something that will give easy access to the available online content and replace the cable box that is connected to my HDTV (and for cable bill as well…). Two interesting announcements this week show that more vendors are trying to provide a solution for this and take the lead over Apple that still doesn’t deliver with Apple TV.

image The first announcement came from Boxee. They finally confirmed the rumors that a “Boxee Box” is coming soon. They plan to reveal more information on December 7th during their Boxee Beta unveiling in Brooklyn. This looks very promising and since it’s an open source project it could lead to a good solution if the hardware will support everything that is needed (HDMI, easy remote control etc).

image The second announcement came from Dell, when they revealed the Inspiron Zino HD which basically looks like a black Mac Mini but unlike the Mac, it comes with HDMI port, and can be upgraded to Blu-Ray, 1TB HDD, 8GB RAM and more. Price starts at $229 and this could be a great customized HTPC that will provide good functionality by simply using Windows Media Center along the Hulu plug-in, XBMC or the Hulu Desktop.

3 comments:

Traveling Tech Guy said...

You should have gotten the Mac Mini when I told you to - 2 years ago :)

Damian Rochman said...

It is far from beeing a good solution and very expensive...

Traveling Tech Guy said...

You can get it for less than $400 and it does everything the Dell does. It has a remote and imho, is one of my best tech purchases ever.

Once you go Mac, you never go back :) (other than crappy laptops ;))