Mac Mini alternative for HTPC use?

[slackerinabox]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a Mac Mini for a tunerless HTPC (plex plus transcoding to tivos throughout the house, so atom won't do) and am open to cheaper alternatives. Do any exist? Win7 based is fine and I'd rather buy something prebuilt with a warranty, but would consider home built if he the form factor was similar (up to double the size is ok, just no towers) and cost less.

On a similar note, anyone use plex on windows? I know it's in beta but wonder if it's usable, especially the server since my wife uses it on her ipad.

Suggestions? Thanks!

 

[mfenn]

Anandtech has reviewed a few of ASRock's CoreHT line of mini-ITX HTPC's. They're basically the same form factor as a Mac mini, just without the Mac-ness.

 

[piasabird]

This website has a lot of information about building HTPC Computers.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=879633

This site has some other reviews and stuff:

http://www.missingremote.com/

 

[rdb4133]

For pre-built I would look at HP Business. SFF PC's like the 6005 Pro & 6000 Pro normally carry a 3-year warranty through HP and you should be able to fetch one for fair inexpensive. You might just need to add a cheap HDMI video card like a 5450 or 6450 in there. They also usually offer nice expansion for the size.

I've used older ones like DC5800, DC7800 & DC7900 in the past and they have been great for HTPC use.