I believe you’ll see more and more content partners that charge for their services on Boxee (like Netflix, MLB, Crunchyroll), but the software will always be free.

I’d really been meaning to streamline the collections of CDs and DVDs and run strickly on HDD’s, fixed and portable. I wanted a “less is more” set-up.

The build wasn’t easy, and there were a couple wrinkles to iron out over time due to my own inexperience but it turned out great! I run a dual core AMD 2.6 and 4GB of dual channel DDR. It’s more than enough. I’ve got a 36GB 10k Raptor driver running XP (For school) and Ubuntu + a 250GB internal and a 250GB external drive. Both are at near capacity so it’s time to amalgamated to at least 1TB. My videocard is somewhat behind the times at 512MB but it does the trick for the time being. When the time comes to upgrade I’ll make the plunge in to Blue-Ray I’m sure. for now, a PS3 is the more sensible alternative. I’ve been happily without cable for the past three years so I opted out of a TV tuner card. My Xbox 360 is included on the rack aswell. No seperate audio card but I run a tatsy little Logitech z5500 which, for it’s price and size, is bumpin’.

I run wireless keyboard/mouse/remote/headset (room mates) and pretty much navigate the HTPC on my lap or lying down on the couch like a lazy bastard should. The VFD and myriad of blue lights really gloss the whole set-up and with the Thermaltake Rhythm + low RPM case fans, the residual noise is kept to a minimum without running the system too hot due to overclocking.

Since I move around a lot, it all breaks down and packs away pretty quickly aswell. That is a bonus.