Kanes Domain

I've had some degree of difficulty setting up a reliable HTPC system in the girlfriend's house. The problem with this is is has to be reliable, user friendly and practicaly instant on. Here are some things I've discovered that might help you in the future:

• Don't use Linksys wireless routers. They drop out far too much. I've had a couple now and they are less stable than an Italian taxi driver stuck behind two nuns in a morris minor. The Wireless N range and speed is great, but I'm gonna have to go back to the Belkin Wireless-G router that is so much more reliable.
• The 360 as a Media Center Extender is good... on Windows 7 with the DivX 7 MKV beta installed. Only issue is the random network dropouts (Can't blame the Linksys for taht, as it's all through the gigabit switch). I'd say that would be option 2.
• A small Phenom system with a DXVA graphics card is definately good. Bit loud, but stable and fast if configured right.
• Don't buy a cheap NAS. I got one and had nothing but trouble. 4 days to copy a terabyte across gigabit LAN is really not good. The constant drop-outs and crashes made me get rid of it. Shame I had to open it to replace the drive :P
• Don't buy an HDTV with only DVI. HDMI would have made all my cabling a hell of a lot easier. Seeing as I bought it before I realised HDMI and DVI were electronicly compatible......
• Logitech speakers = good. I have a Creative DTT3500. After years of constant use, the digital input is fubar'ed, only working while the unit is heated up, and even then intermittently. The Logitech Z550's are fantastic.
• Hauppage TV cards = bad. Of the ~20 I have bought over the past couple of years, 2 work. 2. Out of 20. Not good.
• Play TV on the PS3 is nearly there. Once series linking is in, I will definately switch to that.
• MediaBrowser for Windows Media Center kicks ass.

Anyone want more info, just ask!

I'm getting an Acer Aspire Revo R3610 and I'm gonna see if that will do the job of replacing hte noisy MCE PC