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After doing a bit more reading and penny crunching, I've revised my previous HTPC build.  I've changed the case to another popular mini itx case, thats is also a bit cheaper then the Silverstone SG05, and can also support a full size optical drive, in case I want to put a blu-ray reader or burner in it.

HTPC (Integrated Video):

Now, there's no hard drive included in the above list, but, there's a reason for that.  As much as I would like to use a SSD, either an OCZ Vertex 2, or Intel X25M, it just adds to much to the overall price.  So, for now I'll be using a spare 160GB 3.5" drive I have, and hopefully it'll be quiet enough.

And, as for video, the integrated HD graphics will be fine for now, since I'll always have the option of adding in an ATI HD 5570 if its required.  The 5450 would also suffice, but, from what I can gather from AnandTech, the 5450 can not handle the entire post processing suite, where as the 5570 does.

Anyways, hopefully in the coming days I can finally place an order for some parts and get to building.  The prices I used are the cheapest Canadian prices I could find as of this posting.

For the longest time I've wanted to build a dedicated HTPC but have just been using my desktop pc (E6600, 2gb Ram, Win 7, 8800GT) as my HTPC since all my component are close by.  At one point I was ready to buy parts for an LGA775 based HTPC, but held off since LGA1156 mini-ITX parts were not far behind.  Fast forward some months, or more, and there's even more on the market now, and I still don't have a dedicated HTPC.

After visiting various review sites, and of course the HTPC section at avsforum (where there is an excellent guide written by renethx), I've come to one of the following options for an HTPC.  Now, while I'd much prefer to have this machine sit connected to my parent's Samsung LN52A850 TV, it'll probably have to settle being connected to my TV which is a Toshiba 62HMX85 (something I sorely want to upgrade). » Read more...

My computer case has 3x3.5" and 4x5.25" bays, so its capacity for hard drives is very limited, even with a 4-in-3 bay device pushing drive capacity to 7.  Then there's my motherboard which only has 5 SATA connectors (yes, I really need to upgrade that one of these days).

So, to get more storage capacity, I had a two options.  Build a dedicated machine using the widely popular Norco RPC-4220 rack mount case (has 20 hot swap capable bays),  or get a DAS (Direct Attached Storage).  Since building a machine in the Norco case, or even using a case that has 9x5.25" bays and getting 4-in-3 bays gets rather expensive, the best temporary solution was to look at DAS units.  I've been eying these for quite a while, and when newegg.ca had the Sans Digital TR8M-B on sale for $199 (from $309), well I guess it really turned into the best solution.

Well, it finally decided to arrive, all the way from Los Angeles, California on July 19th (ordered on July 12th), and since I wanted to get everything up and running (in other words I seem to have little to no patience), this isn't a full review, more-so just a quick first impressions on the unit.  I'll see about getting a full review on the unit up since there really doesn't seem to be anything out there. » Read more...

Peter Jackson's famed Lord of the Rings has finally come to blu-ray, well, it did on April 6th.

Recently picked up a copy from FutureShop online for a measly $18.99 (+shipping&tax) instead of the normal going price of $49.99.  At ~$7 per movie it was a bit easier to swallow considering this first release is only the theatrical versions.

Yes, I did say $18.99.  Back on March 26th, it was noticed on redflagdeals.com that there was a possible price error on this item, and well, for that amount, I decided to bite, knowing full well it probably would be canceled and they would just send out a coupon code or something.  They did this with a price error on the newer 300 blu-ray.  Well, to everyone's surprise, FutureShop actually honoured the price error, but only on one copy.  So those who tried to buy 2, 5, 10, 100+ copies were allowed to re-buy a single copy at the price error, and those who ordered just 1, the orders were kept active.

So it arrived a couple days ago, and the first thing I noticed, the printing and the embossing don't even lineup.  Guess someone screwed up in manufacturing the box sleeve, oh well.

The movies themselves are 3 discs each (the movie on blu-ray, extras on DVD, and digital copy on DVD) making a grand total of 9 discs.  It comes in 2 cases, one containing the movies & bonus discs, and the other containing the 3 digital copy discs.

I have not watched them yet, gotta find time to watch 9 hours of movies or 3 consecutive days to watch each one, but I did checkout the trailers on the first disc, and they look great to me.  I have read that there are complaints with the 1080p/VC-1 encode of the Fellowship of the Rings, while the other 2 get a bit better.  Once I manage to watch them, I'll be able to judge for myself.

1080p, with a DTS-HD 6.1 audio track, can't wait!  So who's got the popcorn?

One good thing about eBay, is the ability to get some photographic accessories on the cheap.  Unfortunately, since these parts also come from Hong Kong usually, they also take a while to get to you.

So over the course of a few weeks, I decided to finally order some stuff to get my flash off camera.  Picked up a set of wireless triggers (RF-602) which to my surprise when I received them, were built really well and have had no issues thus far.  They're quite popular over at POTN as a cheap alternative to the more expensive wireless systems.  One nice thing about this wireless trigger, it can also act as a wireless camera trigger, which is a nice bonus. I also picked up a wired cable, a Phottix OC-E3 (at least according to the eBay auction, its an OC-E3 for sure, but no branding anywhere).  The cable is quite hefty, and about 20" long coiled.  Was also surprised at the quality of it.  Tested it out and I retain full control over my 430EX2, so now I just need to get some sort of flash bracket and I'm all set for macro photography at long last.

As I said, I've been pleased with the 2 items thus far, and hope to get more use out of them!

Just a quick note to those who are interested, Microsoft opened the flood gates for the public to get its hands on Windows 7 RC (Release Candidate) finally.

The RC is available for download in English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish, in both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) forms.  One important thing to note,

The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start.

I'm off to download and get a VM up and running before putting it on a physical machine; just wish that Aero worked in VMware.

Link to Microsoft