Well I finally made the next big step in my HT setup and built a HTPC yesterday.
I also picked up a Xbox Elite and have everything networked together along with two other Windows/Linux boxes.

My first HTPC impression was that it’s way easier to build a computer today than it was 20 years ago. Everything just works, well if you remember to load the audio drivers. Choosing what to buy, however, was a real chore. Here is what I finally bought.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wis...e=htpc%2Fgaming

No HD DVD player, I’m just not ready to take the plunge yet but this HTPC should be able to play HD without any problems when I go that route. I must admit that I am getting an urge to buy an HD player, projector and screen. I downloaded some 1080p clips and was quite impressed with how they looked. My Samsung DLP would still be my primary computer monitor but a bigger screen and HD would be cool.

A have a question for those of you with more experience/equipment.

I bought a PPA Int’l 4 port HDMI switch since my Denon 2807 has only 2 HDMI inputs. However it was a piece of junk. It wouldn’t pass the Xbox 360 signal and the remote was lower quality than a Cracker Jack toy.

Does anyone know of a quality HDMI switch preferably 4 or more inputs?

Dean, hopefully someone with personal experience can reply, but I've read several reports by satisfied users of the MonoPrice switcher , besides those shown on the MonoPrice site.

I've been hoping someone would post a shopping list for a proven htpc- at about half that price.
I suppose it depends a lot on planned uses. Care to elaborate?

Thanks John unless someone else chimes in with a personal testimonial I think that one is the ticket. One of the customer reviews even said it worked with the Xbox 360 and this one is 1/3 the price of the one I bought locally.

Dean

Originally I was going to build separate gaming and HTPCs. However, I decided for now it was more cost effective and practical to build a combined gaming/HTPC. When I was considering separate boxes I was considering this setup:

http://www.custompcguide.com/budget_htpc.html

Since I decided to put together a combined machine I used the following link as a starting place to make sure what I was building was HD compatible.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=710828

When I planned this machine it was originally just for SD ripping/serving and gaming, but now that I’ve seen some HD clips I’m thinking about upgrading to HD.

As far as I can tell HDMI switchers really suck right now; there's not many that'll work with all your components and there's always one thing that won't work... I'm talking about "cheap" switchers of course... I'm sure someone will chime in with a good one.

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Dean, hopefully someone with personal experience can reply, but I've read several reports by satisfied users of the MonoPrice switcher , besides those shown on the MonoPrice site.

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Thanks John, I ordered the 5 port version (HDX-501) of the switch you recommended and it works great. It passes the signals from the Xbox, PVR and Oppo flawlessly. It was also a listed device for Harmony remotes so it was easy to program.

I think I’m going to have to use Monoprice more often. This 5 port switch was 1/3 the price of the 4 port switch I bought locally, that didn’t play well with the Xbox, and it works perfectly.

Thanks again,
Dean