Home Theater PC (HTPC) prices don’t necessarily have to be in the $4000-$5000 range, as evidenced by this CX100 entry-level media center just introduced by Okoro Media Systems. The $1795 HTPC has an ATI digital cable tuner into which you can plug a CableCARD, and its NVIDIA 8500 GT graphics card gives it the video oomph to handle Blu-ray and HD DVD playback. Of course, that $1795 price doesn’t include the Blu-ray or HD DVD drive, but this is the lowest-priced CableCARD-toting HTPC we’ve seen thus far. It other specs aren’t too shabby, either.
• 2.3Ghz Intel E6550
• 2GB Memory at 667MHz
• NVIDIA 8500 GT w/HDCP
• ATI Digital Cable Tuner for CableCARD access
• 320GB HD Storage
• 16x CD/DVD +-/RW Dual Layer Writer
• Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition
Since Okoro is a high-end HTPC maker, you can fancify this one to your heart’s content, adding a touchscreen case, faster processors, and lots more. Even though we’ve seen some HTPCs approaching this low price, we like the idea of a home theater PC not automatically costing as much as a vacation to Acapulco for two. Ships in early December. [Okoro Media Systems, via eHomeUpgrade]
https://gizmodo.com/alienware-lifts-the-veil-on-its-high-def-hangar18-htpc-265914
