Lian Li's PC-V351 HTPC chassis makes us want to build

There goes Lian Li, making us drool all over our keyboards again. The company famous for making cases that you'd actually pay good money for is back, and this time it's after the HTPC crowd. The PC-V351 HTPC chassis is made from brushed aluminum and comes in black, silver or red -- the latter of which should only be considered by those who truly are more awesome than anyone else they know. There's plenty of room for a micro-ATX motherboard, three fans, a number of PCI cards, loads of ports, a few terabytes of HDD space and a TV tuner or two, naturally. There's no mention of price, but we'll go ahead and tell you it'll be expensive (and worth every dime).

Lian Li's PC-V351 HTPC chassis makes us want to build

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 22nd 2009 1:09AM]

Negative Engadget Silverstone makes you want to build an HTPC check out this bad boy its what I have. Full size atx not a micro.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=cw02&area=usa

[Brian Posted Feb 22nd 2009 1:44AM]

Why would I want a square box in my livingroom? It need sto match the other componets out there, such as my Audio, DVD, etc...designs like this I just pass by as it looks like a box and doesn't match anything.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 22nd 2009 1:46AM]

Yes, the CW02 is a beautiful case and unlike the Lian-Li, comes with the volume knobs, VFD and remote. What it also comes with is a price tag that is 2.5 times more than the V351, using conservative estimates and LianLi's prices for comparable cases.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 22nd 2009 10:03AM]

Building a HTPC is pointless in the USA - until CableCard capable tuners are available at retail, there is no way to time-shift or record one channel while watching another (having separate cable boxes or satellite tuners does not count, as they would have to also be linked to the PC with analog A/V cables and IR transmitters).
Way to go Cable Labs - you bunch of assholes!

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 22nd 2009 12:04PM]

Some people are fortunate enough to live in areas with OTA signals. I'm not one of those people, so I too wish we had better options. A DirecTV receiver card come be a Trojan horse for HTPCs.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 22nd 2009 5:40PM]

Unless you're like me, and just don't watch TV. I torrent shows that I want to watch, buy DVD's of the ones I really like, get my news through a web browser, and honestly don't give a damn about sports (with the exception of going to an occasional hockey game). I can also play any game short of Crysis on a 40" screen from a nice, comfy couch.

Oh, and I haven't seen a TV commercial in over 2 months now.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 22nd 2009 7:31PM]

I used the pc-v350 a couple months ago to build my mom and sister a family pc for christmas. It was a dream chassis to work in especially for a microatx motherboard, it accepts a full atx power supply, and it looks fantastic (I used the brushed aluminum for their pc). Although, I actually had to tell my mother, no you cannot put it under the desk. She didn't understand, and I told her it looks too nice and it wasn't a cheap case, its meant to be shown. She still didn't understand and thought it was just a box. She's just not asthetically inclined, but I know that people who have come over have commented on how sleek the case looks on her desk. I painted the lcd monitor to match and painted the dvd drive bezel to match as well, otherwise it may have ruined the look.

I only use an HTPC for everything. Everything I do is on the 37" 1080p monitor on the couch. I could never go back to a regular size monitor and uncomfortable office torture chair. I was actually jealous of the v350 I used for my mom, and I plan on using the black 351 for my next build.