EggXpert

I'm currently on the planning stages of a budget build htpc, that can play blue-ray dvds. First question is: Is there anything wrong with using these parts for my build to use the blue ray player?

CASE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121027

MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135066

CPU : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

MEM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146526

HD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

DVD DRIVE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106325

OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116480

My other question is: I would like to also watch tv on my htpc. I currently have Dishnetwork and am wondering if you guys can give any recommended tv tuners that fully works with Dishnetwork. Also, I have a Dishnetwork receiver that lets me use two different channels for two different tvs. If i were to plug the coax into the tv tuner, will that hinder its use?

If I didn't make myself clear enough, please let me know and I'll try to reword my question. Thank you!

That should work. 

You almost certainly want Vista Home Premium...this has a Win7 free upgrade.  Basic is ridiculous and you may have trouble getting HTPC software to run on it.  Premium comes with Microsoft's Media Center as does Win7's Premium.
 

I would think about buying a single stick of 2Gb DDR2 at 800MHz.  That way you can add another 2Gb later if you decide you need it.  Single channel is virtually no slower than dual channel RAM with DDR2 or DDR3, because the bottleneck is in the FSB, not the RAM. 

I don't feel like adding your up but I assume it is much less than $450, which is the price of a system I cam very close to buying the parts for.   I currently use a small Shuttle case...but it works so I backed off.

The below has a very modern nVidia 9400 onboard graphics with 4Gb DDR2 on a modern mini-ITX Gigabyte motherboard with dual core Intel Atom CPU. 750Gb WD low power HDD known for being cool and quiet.  Here is the Blue-Ray/DVD/CD reader you listed.  The case measures a tiny 8.7" x 5.1" x 11.8" and comes with a PSU that I would chuck and use the 90W DC transformer PSU that comes with the motherboard.  Built in wifi b/g/n.  Tossed in a card reader as well.  This is a low power using wonder in a small package.

Product Description	Savings	Total Price
APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply - Retail Item #: N82E16811154091Return Policy: Standard Return Policy	-$12.00 Instant	$55.99$43.99
Western Digital Caviar Green WD7500AADS 750GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM Item #: N82E16822136359Return Policy: Standard Return Policy	-$10.00 Instant	$69.99$59.99
Nippon Labs Delux 3.5" Internal All In One Card Reader/Writer with USB2.0 & eSATA Ports Model ICR-BB - Retail Item #: N82E16820816001Return Policy: Standard Return Policy	-$5.00 Instant	$24.99$19.99
AllComponents 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AC2/800X64/4096-KIT - Retail Item #: N82E16820159021Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy		$48.99
ZOTAC IONITX-A-U Atom N330 1.6GHz Dual-Core 441 NVIDIA ION Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo - Retail Item #: N82E16813500027Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy		$199.99
LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA Model iHOS104-06 - OEM Item #: N82E16827106325Return Policy: Standard Return Policy		$59.99
		$432.94
	Shipping:	$19.01
		$451.95

FascistNation:

That should work. 

You almost certainly want Vista Home Premium...this has a Win7 free upgrade.  Basic is ridiculous and you may have trouble getting HTPC software to run on it.  Premium comes with Microsoft's Media Center as does Win7's Premium.
 

I would think about buying a single stick of 2Gb DDR2 at 800MHz.  That way you can add another 2Gb later if you decide you need it.  Single channel is virtually no slower than dual channel RAM with DDR2 or DDR3, because the bottleneck is in the FSB, not the RAM. 

I don't feel like adding your up but I assume it is much less than $450, which is the price of a system I cam very close to buying the parts for.   I currently use a small Shuttle case...but it works so I backed off.

The below has a very modern nVidia 9400 onboard graphics with 4Gb DDR2 on a modern mini-ITX Gigabyte motherboard with dual core Intel Atom CPU. 750Gb WD low power HDD known for being cool and quiet.  Here is the Blue-Ray/DVD/CD reader you listed.  The case measures a tiny 8.7" x 5.1" x 11.8" and comes with a PSU that I would chuck and use the 90W DC transformer PSU that comes with the motherboard.  Built in wifi b/g/n.  Tossed in a card reader as well.  This is a low power using wonder in a small package.

Product Description	Savings	Total Price
APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply - Retail Item #: N82E16811154091Return Policy: Standard Return Policy	-$12.00 Instant	$55.99$43.99
Western Digital Caviar Green WD7500AADS 750GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM Item #: N82E16822136359Return Policy: Standard Return Policy	-$10.00 Instant	$69.99$59.99
Nippon Labs Delux 3.5" Internal All In One Card Reader/Writer with USB2.0 & eSATA Ports Model ICR-BB - Retail Item #: N82E16820816001Return Policy: Standard Return Policy	-$5.00 Instant	$24.99$19.99
AllComponents 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AC2/800X64/4096-KIT - Retail Item #: N82E16820159021Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy		$48.99
ZOTAC IONITX-A-U Atom N330 1.6GHz Dual-Core 441 NVIDIA ION Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo - Retail Item #: N82E16813500027Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy		$199.99
LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA Model iHOS104-06 - OEM Item #: N82E16827106325Return Policy: Standard Return Policy		$59.99
		$432.94
	Shipping:	$19.01
		$451.95

 Great find! I'm loving both the motherboard and the case that you showed me, I'm hoping that this will be more than enough to watch Blue-Ray on my HDTV. The only downside I see is that the total now would be price, which was a total of $334.80 (S&H + Tax included) and now to a $451.95 budget price.

 Because of this, my new question now would be if these motherboards (the old and new presented) will be capable of playing and letting us watch in HD? Also, on the Zotac motherboard, is that a tv tuner at the back?

thatsedrich:

Also, on the Zotac motherboard, is that a tv tuner at the back?

That would be where the antenna plugs onto the motherboard for WIFI.

Product Description	Savings	Total Price
Western Digital Caviar Green WD7500AADS 750GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM Item #: N82E16822136359Return Policy: Standard Return Policy		$69.99
BIOSTAR A785GE AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail Item #: N82E16813138156Return Policy: Standard Return Policy	-$10.00 Instant	$69.99$59.99
Nippon Labs Delux 3.5" Internal All In One Card Reader/Writer with USB2.0 & eSATA Ports Model ICR-BB - Retail Item #: N82E16820816001Return Policy: Standard Return Policy	-$5.00 Instant	$24.99$19.99
A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1B16K - Retail Item #: N82E16820211188Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy		$54.99
AMD Phenom II X3 705e Heka 2.5GHz Socket AM3 65W Triple-Core Processor Model HD705EOCGIBOX - Retail Item #: N82E16819103683Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy	-$13.00 Instant	$129.00$116.00
LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA Model iHOS104-06 - OEM Item #: N82E16827106325Return Policy: Standard Return Policy		$59.99
hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC 7K09 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail Item #: N82E16811121027Return Policy: Standard Return Policy	-$5.00 Instant	$59.99$54.99
		$435.94
	Shipping:	$19.99
		$455.93

You're on the right track with your intel build, it should be able to play BluRay movies fine. The MiniITX build is nice because it does have a tiny form factor and it uses very little power. I thought I'd post a micro atx build similar to the cost of the ITX. It has a triple core processor that is much more powerful than the dual-core atom, but it still only draws 65W. Also, I included the 785g chipset mobo from ATI. This is basically HD 4200 graphics, and about as good as it gets for integrated graphics on micro atx boards for under $100. You can lower the cost by dropping from 4gigs to 2, smaller HDD, slower (dual core) proc etc.. If you are wanting a 64-bit OS like Vista 64 or W7-64, be sure you have 4gb.

You won't notice much of a difference on video playback on BluRay movies, but in my experience, the faster processor makes the movie experience more enjoyable.  If you ever want to watch downloaded HD movies, you can do so without having to set up codecs for hardware acceleration.  The faster proc also makes menu navigation much smoother and more liquid.

REGARDING THE TV TUNER PART OF THE QUESTION 

Just wanted to say most of the computer tuners only work with a direct connection from an over the air antenna or direct connection from a cable (not satellite) from a wall, not via cable or satellite signal scrambler / set top box, and they only let you watch / record free/network channels such as CBS, NBC, PBS etc.

They are VERY few tuner cards that allow you to tune into subscription channels such as MTV, but those tuners need to be fitted with cable cards from cable companies plus most of those tuners are only available on OEM computers (such as HP and Dell computers).  There was a rumor a few months ago that tuners that can work with cable cards were made available to system builders that were not OEM manufacturers, but I am not sure where it went after that. I HIGHLY doubt there's something for SATELLITE.

If you want to watch and record all TV channels you get via your satellite subscription, one device that may work is Hauppauge's HD-PVR. This is NOT a "tuner". It is a "video capture device" and therefore, even if you have two tuners on your satellite box, whichever channel that you are watching will be the only one you can record as that is the picture your satellite box is outputting. You hook up the component output of your satellite box to this device and use an included software to watch and record. You may or may not have to unplug HDMI for your television from your satellite box in order to allow the satellite box to output through the component to this device when you watch TV on your computer.