9300 HTPC pics

[liquorman]

It has taken me months to get all the appropriate pieces togethor but I feel my i9300 HTPC is ready to be bragged about. This all started with me wanting to upgrage my HTPC, but being sick of a full size desktop with fans blowing sitting next to my TV. After looking at a number of HTPC cases, and not really liking any of them, I suddenly had a vision of using a laptop. It would be very quiet, and slim so it would fit in an entertainment center with no problem.

So here is my HTPC setup, displaying Media Center:

You will notice that the 9300 is resting in the shelf area of my entertainment center. In order to make the computer actually accessible, I also had to build a sliding shelf, so I could pull the laptop in and out. The main reason for this is that there is no way to turn the 9300 on without actually pushing the ON button, requiring me to have to open the laptop to turn it on. If there was some hack to make the media buttons in the front be a power button, my life would be simple. Here is a few shots of the laptop shelf, also notice the slot DVD drive, important so my wife doesn't break a CD tray when pulling this in and out:

From that top view you should be able to barely see the PacificBreeze Laptop cooler. That being said, this machine has quite a few peripherals:
Laptop Cooler
External HardDrive
Wireless Mouse
2 iPods (shuffle and Nano)
Dvico Fusion5 USB HD Tuner
Hauppage USB2 Tuner
Media Center remote reciever

So I needed a proper hub, the Kensington 7-port was just right and it included a top loading port(perfect for the Shuffle):

So for a final pic, here is the 9300 out of the shelf and both screens displaying:


Having finaly finished, my HTPC is my second love, next to my wife.

[RaceModel.net]

Looks cool. Are you using s-video for your connection between your 9300 and tv?

[Flav_cool]

How did you connect the sound to the TV? As you may know I'm having an annoying humming problem only when the laptop is plugged into the AC, and I'm trying to find a "ground loop insulator" to fix the problem.

I was wondering if you have this problem also, as I have already seen it happen on 2 laptops. The relevant thread is here:

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=133069

[liquorman]

The Syntax Olevia has DVI in so I use that, one of the selling points of the 9300 was its DVI out. It runs at 1280X720, perfect for widescreen gaming.
As for sound, I have a Denon 5.1 surround system, use the Audigy 2 notebook(PCMCIA) connected to it both via 6-channel analog, and the SPIDF. Analog for games, SPIDF for movies. Some day I hope there will be a DDL laptop sound sollution, until then I got to use the two cables.
Sorry can't help you out on the sound problem, I am not using onboard sound.

[Disillusion]

The play button on the front does turn the laptop on...only when the screen is open though. If there's a way to trick the sensor or whatever into thinking the lid is open it might work. Looks good though!

[liquorman]

Originally Posted by OpticalIllusion

The play button on the front does turn the laptop on...only when the screen is open though. If there's a way to trick the sensor or whatever into thinking the lid is open it might work. Looks good though!

Ah, you are very correct. This is good to know, just as you say I may figure out a way to trick the lid. Thanks for the clarification, obviously from my setup I never thought of opening the lid and pushing the play button, and not the power button.