HTPC: Bluray/HD-DVD combo drive added
My HTPC how has Bluray/HD-DVD playback integrated into it, rather than using the external (and noisy-ish) Xbox HD-DVD drive!
I'm disappointed that there is still no great solution for playing Bluray/HD-DVD discs in Windows Media Centre though. To play with PowerDVD installed, you must launch an external program, and responds to the remote commands very poorly. Arcsoft offer a better product for this purpose in their TotalMedia Theatre, but it still launches an external program! What I want is a HD/BluRay decoder, that'll plugin just like DVD's do - but that seems to be awhile away unfortunately.
Despite some peoples fears, Intel's G31 chipset plays back HD-DVD's and BluRay discs just fine (well, so long as you have the right codecs and don't let hardware accelerate it at all)!
If I was building again, would I go for the AMD or Intel versions of my HTPC? No!
How does no answer that question? Since building these HTPC's, for AMD the 780g chipset has come out, and for Intel, the G45 (not G43 or G41, which don't have AVC/VC1 acceleration) are making their way out. The chipsets have superior graphics capabilities. The 780g, for example, I'd actually enable hardware acceleration on, although the jury is out on G45 until we see cheaper boards coming out with it.
So why would I get something different if what I works has? It'd only be if I was starting from scratch - while my HTPC is perfectly capable, those are more capable for down the track…who knows…2160p may only be a few years away