Ready-to-use HTPC Options

There aren't that many options. Try "Media Center PC" in Google. Your options will be right there.

It depends on your goal of what you're planning to do with the HTPC. Sadly, a complete solution that does "everything" out of the box simply does not exist. As a matter of fact, you cannot even build your own that does everything "perfectly" - the technology itself is still far from perfect currently.

There are a range of selections both hardware and software wise to consider and they pretty much all have some advantages/drawbacks. For example:

Do you need blu-ray playback? Is perfect 24p handling a must? Is bit-perfect streaming of lossless sound a must? This aspect will affect your choices of CPU, graphic card and media playback software. Also keep in mind technology in this area is still undergoing constant changes, for example the recently introduced "3d blu-ray". This means your hardware/software may become "outdated" a lot faster than you expect if you're always after the "latest buzz".

Do you need to rip movies (blu-rays or standard DVD's?) to hard drive? How much storage do you need for this purpose? This will greatly impact your decision on the casing and storage solution (which itself is a big topic) as well as media ripping and management software.

Do you need misc other functions such as cable/satalite TV tuners support? All of them will induce further complications.

As you can see, there are many factors involved in the HTPC segment. Frankly, if you're not willing to "play and experiment" with various computer related stuff (both hardware and software), HTPC is probably not for you. That's why you see so many "individual components" talks. For many people here HTPC is like a hobby, or a toy. If something exists that automatically does "everything" out of the box, then there will be "no fun".

there isn't a out of the box htpc like a out of the box home theater system.

the closest thing you could go with would be buying a computer. dell has a few small form factor computers you could use such as the dell zino. i think boxee has something and there is a 3rd one i can't remember off hand. they have some limitations/challenges though.

with those, you will still need to configure the software. and figure out if they offer the hardware capabilities you want.

could just get a dvr + blu-ray stand alone player. prolly the easiest and quickest way you can get set up and go.

I'm waiting to see how the new ASRock turns out myself...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1252230

But, as with any HTPC, you'd still need to load/unload/tweak some software to get it to work with everything properly...

Even regular desktops range widely in capability and price. It's hard to make a recommendation without knowing what you want your HTPC to do for you. There's no such thing as one-size-fits-all.

For some pre-built options that can work well as a HTPC, you might want to check out this discussion from a couple days ago:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1255086

I think you will learn more if you clarify your question by stating why you want a HTPC, (for example: rather than a workstation or a stand alone blu-ray player). Here is a list of the range of possible purposes for a HTPC that I collected last year, (some of this is outdated):

What is an HTPC?
HTPC stands for Home Theater Personal Computer. It is understood to be a synonym with "Media Center PC", however the HTPC name implies use with a full home theater setup. Really, the best definition for an HTPC is any computer with special harware and/or software to make it more suited to audio and video playback and/or use with audio and video equipment than a normal computer. I think the best explaination for what an HTPC is is what it is used for.

What can an HTPC be used for?
-Playing/Ripping/Burning/Cataloging DVDs
-Playing/Ripping/Burning/Cataloging CDs
-Playing/Ripping/Burning/Cataloging Blu-ray disks
-Playing/Ripping/Cataloging HD-DVDs
-Playing/Ripping/Burning DVD-As
-Watching, timeshifting, and recording analog TV (OTA and analog cable)
-Watching, timeshifting, and recording digital TV (ATSC, DVB-S, DVB-T)
-Watching, timeshifting, and recording unencrypted QAM (unencrypted digital cable)
-Listening to and recording FM radio
-Upscaling video to the native resolution of a display and processing in realtime
-Equalizing audio
-Playing/Storing/Remotely Acessing/Transcoding MP3s, OGGs, WAVs, and many more audio formats
-Playing/Storing/Remotely Acessing/Transcoding WMVs, MPGs, MOVs, and many more video formats
-Home theater gaming
-Listening to internet radio
-Watcing internet television
-Managing multizone audio
-Viewing/Organizing photographs
-Recording/Viewing HD video via HDMI
-Recording/DACing audio via S/PDIF
-Controlling equipment that uses IR (TVs, projectors, receivers, etc.)
-Turning lights on/off, locking/unlocking doors, opening/closing curtians
-Karaoke
-Home theater web browsing
-Internet video chat
-Acting as a Jukebox
-Emulating arcade games
-Saving money!!! (an HTPC combines all these features in one machine, often costing less money compared to separate or proprietary equipment)
-Etc.

Some of these require special hardware that is not found in a normal computer, but others just need certain software, some of which is free. If these features interest you, an HTPC may be right for you.

the basic model dell 580 on this page is perfect (click the multimedia tab)

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/s...dhs&redirect=1

you can add tuner cards and an extra hdd later if you want them.

Both audio and video get passed via the same HDMI connection in most new systems. Which one(s) were you referring to?

This isn't going to help you on your quest, but hopefully it will help you feel better about it.

The reason why there is no out-of-the-box perfect HTPC is that a lot of the things we do with them (specifically the things you listed) aren't technically legal. If you live in the US (or one of many other countries that have similar laws) you are not allowed to rip DVDs or blu-rays. Even if your paid for the disc, you do not have the right to break its encryption in order to copy it to a hard drive. You're not allowed to store movies on your server, you're not allowed to stream them to different TVs throughout your house, and you're not allowed to transcode them into convenient formats for your portable media player. Because it's illegal, and manufacturers don't want to get sued out of existence for doing it, that capability is never included on commercially available boxes.

And that's not all. Even stuff that isn't technically illegal by itself has been purposely made exceedingly difficult by the industry because they just plain don't want you to do it. If you want to record cable with a cable card, you will have to buy one of only a handful of expensive tuner cards that support them, and then you'll pull your hair out getting the cards from your cable company and getting them activated. And after all that, they still won't have full functionality because the cable companies are dragging their feet adopting new two-way standards. They do this because they don't want you to use a HTPC, they want you to pay rent on a cable box instead.

If you want HD 7.1 audio over HDMI from your BD rips, you'll need a video card that supports it, special (non-free) software to play it, and a lot of patience getting everything to work with the front-end of your choice. This is because of the new "protected audio path" system used by the movie studios that is supposed to prevent you from doing exactly what you want to do - use your purchased media on the device of your choice.

OK, so I lied about that "making you feel better" stuff. But that's the way it is, and that's the way it's going to stay for the foreseeable future. It stinks, but for many of the people here, it's worth the hassle. If you don't want to deal with expensive cable boxes or DVRs with limited space or digging through stacks of discs to find the movie you want to watch, you have to put in the time and effort to get a HTPC system that will do everything. Believe me, if there was a turnkey solution, we'd all be using it instead of going through all the hassle that we do just to watch TV the way we want.

+1 - the 580s is a small form factor pc that has everything you would need for a HTPC for $500 ready to go.

True, but you could always get one off Newegg and swap it out for like $100.

I know it's not finished, but hey, it's a pretty darn good deal.