Home Theater PC

[Catsrules]

OK i am trying to find a PC that I can use as a home theater PC.
$500 or less
Needs to be able to play Hulu (Hulu is asking for 1.8GHz dual core)
Needs to be able to record and play HDTV. I will be using Media Center for the program
Small as possible.
HDMI with audio
And Windows 7

Any suggestions

I have been looking at the Inspiron Zino HD from dell. It is ok but it is a bit on the crapy spec side I wouldn't mine going bigger for better specs.

Thanks

 

[vanekl]

The cheapest Dell Zino HD that meets all your requirements lists at $625. I haven't seen anything less expensive that meets all your requirements unless it was a piece of crap.

You could put together a very nice Linux system, however, for that price and without cutting corners.

 

[Catsrules]

Hmm Linux sounds interesting. what OS of Linux would I want?
And Would be compatible with Windows Media Center files?

 

[vanekl]

Mythbuntu is an OS that can record TV programs. You can install XBMC on it and play all of the most popular video formats. Linux has a number of video players besides XBMC -- mplayer, ffmpeg, xine, and even Boxee. Linux prefers Nvidia video cards for playing video.

 

[Catsrules]

Ok I will haft to give that a try, because media center on 7 is giveing me trubble with recording.

thanks

 

[Catsrules]

Best answer selected by catsrules.