[tscales]

Several things to look out for when purchasing one used.

1) Make SURE the seller says there is an XP COA sticker on the box for the OS you want. It's usually Pro, but any flavor works fine for BTV Link. Often they will not comes with the CD media, but since I have a bunch of Dells, I have the media, just need the sticker to be legal.

2) The GX620 USFF has DVI out. Try to find an auction that includes the Y cable, that splits it to one VGA and one DVI. Both work as dual monitor, although that doesn't gain you much on an HTPC. I generally use DVI->HDMI, so the splitter isn't essential, but on my Samsung 1080p, VGA actually works better.

Can't comment on the HP. I won't consider them as my past history is so horrible. The ones I looked at (curiosity) were underpowered and overpriced.

The 360 really is a media extender for Windows MCE or Vista MCE -- no hacks necessary -- but the noise was just too overwhelming. I can hear it from the other room when my daugther is playing a game.

Have fun.

Tom