BFG Phobos HTPC: Too Hefty for Modern Living Rooms?

Despite its shiny gloss finish, it's the bulk of BFG's Phobos home theater PC that becomes questionable here. We recall having a PC this size back in 1999 when using an extra desktop PC in the living room to play movies on the big screen was ubercool. But now, it's hard to say we're in love anymore...

Especially with other options such as using your PS3 to stream media to your big screen, high definition video today doesn't require you to plop a big slab of computer hardware right in the middle of your living room. That said, perhaps there still remains a niche for this very niche product.

Features include a single-pieced aluminum body tastefully coated in glossy black paint. The DVD drives are slot-loading, the USB/SD card reader pops up from the case, and there's even a nice hidden slot to dock your iPhone on the top of the system. There's even a touch interface in the front that allows booting and one-touch tweaks to your hardcore system.

However, quite frankly, the Phobos is huge. Easily the biggest tower we've ever seen. The bang for buck isn't too alluring either. Pricing starts at $3,000 (but can easily be upgraded with features that exceed $10k). Meanwhile, we think ASUS is going more in the right direction with products such as their HTPC keyboard (which we're still dying to get our hands on, btw).

Then again, perhaps we're thinking too far ahead and nitpicking what could be a great HTPC for those who can afford it. What do you think, readers?

(Via Gizmodo)

Well, I have a system like that with a separate one for Blu-ray, and the unit is in our bedroom closet while the TV and such are downstairs.

Guess what? I still get screen freezes and hiccups on our Netgear system. If I had to stick one of these next to the TV and it DID NOT lock up or freeze movies in the middle of our viewing, then I would do it in a second. Why did we spend the money for it... Ugh.

posted by stickyricemama on July 2nd 2009 at 3:24pm
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@stickyricemama Are you talking about a desktop system running on wireless? If so, you might want to look into a MIMO card. Normal G and N network wireless tends to choke when trying to send that much data over the network..

posted by ekoshyun on July 2nd 2009 at 4:00pm
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No no no. The box is a Netgear Digital Entertainer Elite hooked into our LAN. The RAID is in our closet, also plugged into LAN. I think it's a Netgear RAID that is sold with the Digital Entertainer.

Extremely annoyed with the hiccups!

posted by stickyricemama on July 3rd 2009 at 2:21am
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Why wouldnt you just buy a mac mini?

posted by mscot on July 3rd 2009 at 2:21pm
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Or, even better, an Apple TV?

posted by sunspot42 on July 3rd 2009 at 10:24pm
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LOL

To put it bluntly, we need way more than Apple TV or Slingbox or whatever. However, we did not (yet) want to spend money on a Kaleidescape system, but if it comes to that to get the performance we need, then maybe we will have to.

First, I think it would be a good idea for us to move this Netgear NAS from upstairs to closer to our family room where we watch movies. The Ethernet is all new in our house, and we need to run a few tests to see what the holdup is. MuadDib is TOTALLY right!

I also need to return this Netgear box if it's not the right one.

posted by stickyricemama on July 4th 2009 at 2:32am
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I went back to check Apple TV specs, and as I suspected and mentioned above, the max capacity is 200 hours of video. We are way beyond that.

We have basically ripped all our videos to the RAID, and it's around 500 DVDs. Try fitting that on an Apple TV.

posted by stickyricemama on July 4th 2009 at 2:53am
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I have no idea, but I heard the Kaleidescape Mini came down in price, so maybe for an on-demand system between 3-5K? There are a few dealers in my area, so I could just go and talk to someone. At this point we would need capacity for 1,000 videos. (Eeep!)

But yeah, we need to test this Netgear with a better physical setup and see what happens. I'm not opposed to building a setbox. I know lots of people on AVS Forum have written up how they did it on HTPCs.

posted by stickyricemama on July 4th 2009 at 2:27pm
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The Apple TV can stream content from any computer on the network running iTunes. So if you can get the content into iTunes, and are willing to have some PC (or Mac) running, there's no need to store the content locally on the Apple TV's own drive.

In fact, I wouldn't even bother with the 160GB Apple TV. Just get the cheaper 40GB unit and stream everything.

posted by sunspot42 on July 11th 2009 at 4:08am
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