I recently went through the excercize of pricing a list of recomended components of a low cost purpose built HTPC. Without making too many compromises it looked like $1000-$1200 plus operating system. It could be done for less but It seemed like that would start to compromise more than I would have liked. One of my motivations was to be able to incorporate BLU-Ray/HD DVD(not included in above cost estimate) and HD DVR capability so its on hold for me until that is both possible and sorted out. Quiet running and excellent heat managment are key elements in selecting components.

Mark