The HTPC price point was not geared towards being the cheapest HTPC but probably closer to a mid-end HTPC. Also, since I intended it to be used with Linux Ubuntu which can not be licensed to use a blueray disk player (in fact all Linux flavors are not qualified to use blueray). I also wanted enough horse power to transcode media files real time which takes a bit more CPU horsepower then just watching hulu.com or youtube.com.

The prices below are just for reference at the time I made the purchase various items had free shipping and rebates which are excluded in the price below. Also, some items are on sale from time to time also saving an additional 10 to even 30 percent!

• Case ($50): hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC 7K09 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
  
• Keyboard ($60): Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro for PS3
• Bluetooth Adapter ($20): AZiO BTD-V201 USB 2.0 Micro Bluetooth Adapter (Class 1, V2.0 + EDR)
• Main Board ($130): GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro ATX Intel
• CPU ($168): Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
• CPU Cooler ($51): ZALMAN CNPS 8700 NT 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
• RAM ($47): CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 Desktop Memory
• IR Remote ($20): eDATA DEC-200B Vista Certified Infrared Remote Control W/ Receiver & Blaster
• DVD Player ($20): ASUS Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Model DVD-E818A3T
• SATA Splitter ($2): OKGEAR 8" SATA Power Cable Model GC8ATA22
• Hard Disk ($47): Western Digital WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
• Total Cost: $615

A Cheaper Alternative (Budget HTPC)

In this setup the keyboard and mouse are only used to setup the system (so if you have spare ones around used them save an extra $22). Ubuntu can be configured to boot into and shut down from the Boxee media center. Boxee is 100% controllable with the IR Remote in fact many say it is more user friendly when using it with a remote.

• Case ($50): hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC 7K09 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
  
• Keyboard (Optional $22): Microsoft Keyboard and Mouse (Wired USB)
• Main Board ($130): GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro ATX Intel
• CPU ($70): Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
• CPU Cooler ($0): Stock Intel CPU Cooler (Included with CPU Purchase)
• RAM ($30): G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 Dual Channel Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ
• IR Remote ($20): eDATA DEC-200B Vista Certified Infrared Remote Control W/ Receiver & Blaster
• DVD Player ($20): ASUS Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Model DVD-E818A3T
• SATA Splitter ($2): OKGEAR 8" SATA Power Cable Model GC8ATA22
• Hard Disk ($36): Western Digital Caviar Blue WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
• Total Cost: $380