Joined on 12/09/04
Awesome Card
Pros: Great picture quality. Easy to install with Windows MCE 2005. Hardware MPEG2 encoding.
Cons: Will only fit in certain cases.
Overall Review: I bought this card mainly to fit in my low-profile case used as a DVR. Anyone with a full size ATX case should not buy this card because you'll have to break off a piece of the hardware to get it to fit (this is what I had to do when I transferred to another computer).
Great for a budget vista HTPC
Pros: I sought out to build the cheapest vista HTPC, and I believe this board helped me out a lot. I love the dual channel memory (I put in 2 gigs of PC25300), the onboard video is stellar compared to most cheap boards (3.0 experience index in vista). If you want to build a cheap vista HTPC, this mobo is perfect.
Cons: None so far.
Overall Review: This mobo, 2 gigs RAM, using the onboard video & audio (can be 8 channel w/ optional adapter), SATA 160GB HD, AMD X2 4000+ Brisbane Core 2.1ghz - Works flawlessly w/ Vista home premium
Great for a vista HTPC
Pros: Heatsink was the simplest installation ever (also very quiet). The processor flies in vista with a 5.8 experience index. All I wanted this for was to run vista home premium so I could use media center, and it did exactly that.
Cons: None at all
Overall Review: You can overclock this thing if you want (sometimes up to 2.6 and very stable), but I wouldn't do so with the included heatsink unless you use some electronic "lubricant"
Awesome Drive
Pros: This hard drive so far is flawless. When I first got it, I pulled off the 1.5 Gbps-limiting jumper because I figured I wouldn't have needed it. To my dismay, my mobo didn't support 3.0 Gbps so I had to put the jumper back on. The drive is tiny compared to my others and is quiet as can be.
Cons: None thus far.
Overall Review: Sweet 5 year warranty.
Sweet Card For a PVR
Pros: Extremely good picture quality. I'm using it with a Home-Built Windows Media Center 2005 PC. I specifically bought this card because I knew the picture quality would be stellar, and it's also low profile so it fits my small Asus-Pundit AE-3 case. When recording I run about 15% CPU usage. Not bad.
Cons: Software that comes with it is drag. I would use nothing but Media Center 2005 for the quality and ease of use.
Awesome Deal, But not for PVRs
Comments: When I received this Barebone system I was so excited because I was going to set it up with my PVR. The case looked gorgeous, installation was dandy. Then I go to install my PCI cards and AGP card. Yeah, you need low profile cards. Maybe I'm stupid, but I don't remember anything saying "LOW PROFILE PCI SLOT". I have searched and searched and searched and have found one low-profile Tuner Card, and it's made by Radeon, so that idea is out. *Sigh*. I guess I'll start over.