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Mine is the original hush http://www.hushtechnologies.net/ with a VIA Epia-M10000.
I already have an external WD 250 Gb ieee1394 hard drive and a DVB-S card.

I would like an internal WiFi card and a slot-in DVD writer. And a 101cm Sony LCD TV capable of running at 1440x900. I would also like to trade my keyboard/mouse up to a Logitech Di-Nova wireless. Last of all I would like a PSP to use as a remote for VDR http://www.cadsoft.de/vdr/.

OTOH, an appropriately small, low-powered, silent computer by the TV, with a noisy file server in the closet, makes a fantastically nice movie jukebox.

So, actually, there is something to the argument that people don't want one because they're technically uninformed. That's only part of it, because when people I know actually look into getting one for themselves, they get put off by the cost and complexity.

I wouldn't know anything about whether MS Windows MCE sucked any more or less than MS Windows [anythingelse]. I run Linux.

I CAN tell you, though, that you're WAY over-specing this MC box.

Getting a large-format, HD-capable display is not cheap... granted. You'd get that anyway. Spending an extra $50 to make sure it has DVI and VGA inputs? No biggie. So, as far as your display and sound reproduction go, you're in pretty much the same boat whether you go HTPC/MC or HD-capable DVD player and tuner.

As far as PC specs needed to do "home theatre" stuff goes... Until the electrolytic VRM caps decided to fail, I was running Celeron 533 with 384MB RAM as my HTPC and didn't have any trouble. Software decoding of DVDs? Piece of cake. Granted, I didn't have a tuner card, but could have added a WinTV card and built it into a PVR as well.

My current HTPC is an old AthlonXP w/1GB RAM and a lo-cash video card. It drives my 1280x768 26" LCD TV just fine.

If you're starting from scratch, for about $1000 you can get a pretty sweet box from http://hushtechnologies.net/ that'll read and write DVDs, play movies, serve music and whatever else you have in mind... and it's fanless, so it's dead-quiet.

As far as keyboards and mice go, for HTPCs, the only good choice is Gyration (http://www.gyration.com)

I've been using PCs as the heart of my entertainment system for about 3 years now and have no complaints... of course, I'm not running MS Windows. That might have something to do with it.

Buy Mac Mini. Unpack. Attach to wall outlet. Turn on.
Finished.

The x86's ultimate Hardware Mess (How many Sockets have we now? Thirteen?) is one of the prime reasons I've started switching from x86/Debian to Apple a year ago. Good OS, Hardware consistency all the way through, safe, predictable and usable. Absolutely zero driver-crap Windows and Linux is plaqued with. No need to shell out aprox. 2000$ and add another 20 hrs. of private Linux Install Party just to get a decent, quiet mini system.
If x86/Linux doesn't turn out to be prime choice in a few years from now it will be because Apple passed it just before the finishing line. And x86 hardware mess will be the reason for that.

Why would you bother with that? The Hush PC (no affiliation) looks much better for most silent applications, especially HTPC - it's small, (the case in the article looked huge) it looks good and it's silent. Shame it looks like it's hard to upgrade, not to mention massively expensive. And, contrary to TFA's claims, it has been around for a few years now.

http://www.hushtechnologies.net/ has lots to choose from with no fans. I would have paid the price premium a couple years ago if I'd known how noisy my Shuttle would be.

Try Hush

One thing that did surprise me about the Mac mini was the noise level, both good and bad. Most of the time the machine is very quiet, basically silent; I expected more regular fan noise given the cramped quarters inside the box. On the other hand, under the heaviest extended loads--ripping a number of CDs in a row while performing other processor-intenstive tasks, for example--the fan ramps up to a surprising volume. Nothing compared to the wind tunnel levels of a crashed Power Mac G5, to be sure, but louder than I expected. Similarly, the Mac mini's optical drive is about as loud as its PowerBook cousin--it can get noisy when ripping songs in iTunes. (Thankfully, it's nearly silent when watching DVDs.)

Well, that's hardly encouraging. That it's even being mentioned by MacWorld, whose job is generally to cheer for Apple products, is significant.

Small form factor PC's have struggled mightily to reduce noise, with minimal but increasing success. Apple might have learned from the PC sector's improvements and produced a design with better heat exchange. One obvious direction is being pursued by Hush.

On my blog I have posted this:

In my first Build Challenge I set forth a challenge to build a x86 PC to compete with the Mac mini. I didn't get any great systems listed but we did have a good laugh about how sexy Macs are.

I've posted on other sites including The Tech Report and most of the responses tried to compare full sized x86 PC to the mini. I've said how this is crazy. I just want to compare the mini with SFF x86 systems.

That begs the question just what is a SFF system? I can't find a good definition on the web so I'll set my own.

SFF acronym for Small Form Factor: Computer system that is smaller than 925 cubic inches.

SFF system range greatly in size from the Shuttle SB59P at 915 cubic inches to the Cappuccino EZ3 at 63 cubic inches. The Mac mini is on the smaller side at 84.5 cubic inches. The price range also varies greatly as do performance and style. Lets leave out performance since it isn't really an issue for most people in our post megahertz era.

To narrow the challenge follow these criteria:
Size: Must be under 925 cubic inches
Price: Must be under $1200
Style: Must not be ugly

I guess we could argue that last one but I'll accept anything that at least tries to be attractive. Also it has to be ordered built and tested with Windows. Most people don't want to build their own systems and since you can't with the Mac mini it wouldn't be fair to compare it to bare bones systems. Also the systems should match the mini's configuration: 256MB RAM/40GB Hard Drive/Combo Drive.

No single SFF x86 PC meets the mini on all the factors so I'll compare it to three:

Cappuccino EZ3
Size: 63 cubic inches
Price: $823
Style: 5 out 10

Even smaller than the mini. But more expensive and close to ugly.

Shuttle L 5600h
Size: 680 cubic inches
Price: $515
Style: 7 out of 10

Much bigger than the mini. But larger hard drive by default.

Hush Mini ITX
Size: 452 cubic inches
Price: $1159
Style: 9 out of 10

Great looks. But still bigger and way more expensive.

Compare these to the:

Mac mini
Size: 84.5 cubic inches
Price $499
Styles 9 out of 10

And I hope you can see why the Mac mini is the best system overall and the only one that is more than the sum of it's parts. Now for some the fact that it doesn't run Windows means they would never choose it. For others the fact that these systems run Windows means they would never choose them. Let's not have any flame wars over the OS. And I'm leaving out the bundled software that comes with the mini as a factor in the price. But it is a nice plus that you get iLife, iWorks, and Appleworks.

Please post any systems that are better than the three I've listed that meet my criteria.

http://www.hushtechnologies.net/ has some excellent boxes. Theyre not cheap though, but very good and silent at around ~21 dB @ 1 meter. Google for reviews if youre interested.

It looks like a cheap stereo-set! All those flashing lights! I like Apple because they look clean and uncluttered. If I wanted something similar in x86-world, I would look here.

really: form follows function. Say no to flashing lights!

Maybe something like this: http://www.hushtechnologies.net/start.html

What are you talking about? You can definitely run those in passively cooled systems. In fact, they are commercially available.

Check out Hush Technologies

Any of the Via based PCs should do the necessaries. They're mostly very quiet, with minimum fans in the case, and probably have a decent disk that doesn't make much noise. Via mobos also support CF cards and the like, so you could even make it diskless, if you want.

http://www.hoojum.com/
http://www.hushtechnologies.net/
(and many more besides for you non-europeans)

So, if a company of Apple's size, brashness, and marketing muscle does it, it's "forward thinking", but when an innovative PC vendor does it that you happen not to know, then it doesn't count as "forward thinking"?

And now. . . A mass-produced CPU from a large manufacturer that comes with liquid cooling. Who else is doing that?

Actually, PC vendors are doing even better: the Hush PC not only uses heat pipes, it is completely silent and comes with up to a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 in a sleek and compact, gorgeous looking metal package. And it's been shipping for a while. It looks to me like Apple is behind the curve rather than "forward thinking".

but they are bringing it to a large part of the market that never saw this before.

Isn't that kind of self-fulfilling? I mean, the only thing the Apple market ever sees is what Apple sells them.

Looked into finding a cool CPU yesterday because I'm doing some web-research on buying a silent and cool running system for my extremly demanding and sister. She will use it for music and school (medicine). Haven't decided on the components yet but this is what i found:

I am a big fan of DIY PCs, but really nothing can beat the new Mini-ITX all-in-one boards. Absolutely everything you listed is integrated. No fans to be seen. (heard!) And in a tiny, beautiful package.

At some point in the near future I'll be picking up a few dozen of the EPIA-10000 motherboards that the hush pc is based on for a little project.

you may want to look at someline along the lines of this. although its a bit pricey for my liking...

You might be interested in this system from Hush Technologies in the UK:

Hush Mini-ITX

The entire case acts as the heat sink.

It's a pretty sweet machine (albeit slightly expensive) for a media-PC solution.

I too have been looking into putting together a small media server/web services
machine. A little research turned up, Mini-ITX.
I would start here, its a pretty good site that has a lot of information of
what you can do with mini-itx and features note worthy products as they come
out. Personally I think what you need is a HUSH.
Its the size of a dvd player, its completely silent and its so low power that
the power supply (95watts I think it is) is external. It might not be the cheapest
itx option out there but it fits all your (and mine) requirements and adds the
nice look factor aswell. They seem like a pretty good shop and they even let
you buy it without an OS, which I'm sure you'll (and me too but for different
reasons) appreciate. If you do get one I suggest getting it with 128ram and
buying more ram elsewhere, they're based in Germany and the value of the Euro
really shoots up the price of ram (and everything else I imagine). Btw I don'
work for these guys so don't assume I do, but I'd gladly trade a free one for
advertising these guys as often as possible.

And before anyone says it, I have imagined a beowulf cluster of these :)

# 50% drop in system noise

I guess that depends on what models you compare it to...

Nope, this model is based on the M board, as can by seen from the Buy Now link.

Cheers,
Ian

Which you can check out here.

It comes with a hard drive, and uses the 933Mhz Epia solution without needing a fan. Granted, the case gets a little warm (as the whole thing effectively acts as a heatsink), but that doesn't stop it from being very cool :)

For a review of the gold version, click here.

Actually i know of one right now. Hush Technologies This case is designed for the Via ITX style motherboards, at least its a start. Myself i'm looking forward to getting one.

1) Create cool (literally) CPU.

Most of the time I just use a browser, email client and xmms. I also ssh into school to run Mathematica. I don't need a CPU capable of frying eggs thank you very much. An Astro desktop system would be perfect for me.

2) Refuse to sell to someone wanting to build their own desktop system based on your CPU.

I just wan't a CPU and mobo damn it. Why is this so hard to understand. I already have all the other components. I'd be willing to pay $400 for the privilege of having no fans. For the love of god please take my money.

Hmm, mabey they are having problems fabbing enough chips?

3) Fire more employees

I don't understand why they are ignoring the silent desktop market. Check out www.silentpcreview.com and www.hushterchnologies.net The market is there and it is growing. How much would you pay to get rid of the noise your computer makes?

4) Profit!!!