New HTPC Build : Power Use

Having got the HTPC working as an after thought I have tested the watts drawn at the wall.

The AMD 4850e solution, with the same WD Green power drive would draw around 80 watts idle and a little more in normal use, peaking up to 120w.

This solution, with the addition of an SSD drive and faster RAM peaked at 42 watts during boot and 28 watts idle - much better, I've since added the Hitachi 1TB drive so that will raise that a little.

I can't feel any heat build up either even after being actively in use for several hours - and that is after my latest mod - I know old tights could be used for something (they weren't mine I hasten to add!).

I have covered all of the vents with old tights with the exception of the top vent (on the thought that heat is rising so lifting dust away, that will get reviewed in a couple of months), affixed inside on the sides and outside on the bottom, the finished product is trimmed neatly and not visible in the cabinet at all. I used this trick on the Silverstone case just to reduce the amount of dust that is able to enter the case while not stopping sensible airflow. It is not a perfect solution,  tights do not make a perfect seal (not helped by wife's unwillingness to donate a pair without ladders, something about wanting to wear them) and there are plenty of gaps in the average case that let some air in anyway but any reduction will reduce maintenance required.

New HTPC Build : In Use

Installation complete and everything working?

Minor hurdle to overcome, activating Windows 7, completely new motherboard and processor etc which falls outside of the OEM agreement. I have my argument ready for when I have to ring up and try to convince someone as this is clearly the nearest replacement available for the board / processor I had while keeping to the HTPC purpose.

Awful picture of the finished product!

To my surprise activation goes through the automated route instantly. Phew.

The M.Play software supplied with the remote needed a little tweaking to make it work but turns out that it is both simpler to change and more reliable than the IMon Soundgraph software supplied with the Silverstone Grandia. It still has its quirks - I've found that keyboard shortcuts (including those I've defined myself) work perfectly but direct calls to programs seem to do nothing, however, that is consistent and a much nicer interface that the Soundgraph one.

I've discovered some oddities, so for instance there is an Eject button, that once shortcut has been setup to a small script, does successful Eject the optical disk (has to be defined for Windows and Media Centre) but as it points to a specific script is not able to close the drive. I can live with that as the only time I'm likely to need the button is when physically removing / inserting a disk so I'll have to get off my backside and cross the room anyway.

I have also had to redefine the Media Center button so that it actually starts Media Center when on the desktop (which seems a glaring oversight but wasn't hard to fix).

In fact the controller works so well that we have not discovered what all the buttons do / do not do yet because everything else we care about works out of the box - the lack of a mouse action is not really a problem as I've a USB mouse stuffed behind the CDs in the cabinet along with a mini-keyboard. I am missing the alphabetic option on the remote though for digging through > 20,000 music tracks.

Microsoft Explorer Mouse

I have just purchased a Microsoft Explorer mouse.

Primarily this was to replace either the MS Natural 6000 I use at home, which is falling apart or the Trust mouse I use at work (who knows what model, just has a number on the bottom (14835) which is also falling apart and is eating AA batteries at an ever growing pace.

The Natural mouse is a great shape but I'm not great a sitting my hand on the mouse so isn't ideal and when I do consciously put it in the palm of my hand it is too small so I'm not using my finger tips to press the buttons. That said is an excellent mouse which is shown by its continuing relatively high price. The rubber coatings though are falling wearing off - just as they ae on my Trust mouse.

Enter the Explorer mouse. This is a great shape and sits in the palm of my hand much better than anything else I've tried before and supports my little finger fairly well so I'm encouraged to sit my hand on the mouse this time. It uses BlueTrack technology to improve tracking on various surfaces - the Natural mouse is ok on most surfaces but A4 paper defeats it - gives me a reason to keep my desk a least a little clear of junk. The trust is pretty Trustworthy all in all, can't say I've had any problem with tracking but reception can be a bit hit and miss. The Explorer mouse is better, much more positive, my beech effect, melamime worktop still throws it a little but not so much that I'm searching for another surface.

Issues? Build quality. As mice go this doesn't cost in the league of the gaming mice but given you can pick up a mouse for a couple of pounds the £20 for this is not cheap and I am sad to say this is not up to the solid build quality of previous MS mice, it feels light, the plastic feels cheap, the buttons click positively but actually vibrate the whole surface. I quite like the slightly rubberised surface but that will wear off as in past experience so I suspect in another year I will be looking for me next mouse.