MikesHeadRoom

It’s that time of year again when Mike buys himself Christmas presents. Last year it was the big HDTV and laptop. This year it’s a Caribbean cruise vacation and what else? Another new computer of course! Today I picked up a brand new HTPC to replace my old roaring beast. This brings the total number of computers in my home to seven. Totally absurd, I know, but I’ll be getting rid of some of the older ones. Perhaps as a Christmas present to someone who has no computer. We’ll see.

The new guy is an HP s3220n media center PC. One of those slimline models. So small in fact, I could probably place it under my TV, as if it were a DVD player or cable box. I probably won’t do that though, just to ensure it has no cooling problems.

The best part is that there was a $200 rebate (!). Word. Built-in 802.11g WiFi, NTSC & ATSC tuners, 2 GB of RAM, Athlon X2 5000 and with free lifetime TV program info… you can’t go wrong for $500. The bad part is all the bloatware garbage nonsense that it comes bundled with. When will PC manufacturers realize that nobody wants the crap software they load on their machines? I’m guessing I should be able to get it mostly cleaned up in about an hour. The big test though, is whether it will play h264 720p MKV content with switchable soft subs on my big screen. If it doesn’t (please work), Office Depot will take it back with no questions asked. At this time it’s considered a Christmas gift purchase and I have until January 21 to bring it back with no restocking fee (!). Word.