Here's what i've jotted down since install.
Fusion Case.
Great inside, easy to put together, would recommend.
Pretty quiet, can obviously hear it though if you stick your ear next to it.
I decided to unplug the 2 internal fans to make the box even quieter as the system isn't under load and the temps look ok without those fans and the noise obviously benefits too.
The VFD is pretty crap for me. The HTPC requires the power lead taking out of the back to reset the damn thing quite often. Because after a while it just appears to "crash". (see pic in previous post).
The power light on the front is WAY too bright when watching films at night. I must disconnect that next time i open up the box.
Software
On top of Vista i installed the following.
FFDSHOW (Video and Audio Codec Pack)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow-tryout/
and
MediaPortal (Media Centre Front End)
http://www.team-mediaportal.com/download.html
Within minutes i was able to play all sorts of music and video files i had. Video files being HD .mpg and .wmv etc (x264)
At no point has the ASUS/ATI 2600 Pro graphics card gone above 50% processing and the C2D CPU at around 40% when playing all types of files.
I have also ripped some SD DVD's to the hard disk (VIDEO_TS etc) and they look great thru MediaPortal and i setup the upscaling as per the instructions here:
http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/software3.html
Keyboard
The Viewsonic wireless keyboard is great. Really light and responsive. The USB dongle is plugged in round the back of the Fusion and i have no probs from 8ft. One thing to watch is that when using the touchpad that you don't stray to the right hand side and catch the "slider" bar.... that can take some getting used to.
Sound
Worked straight from the Vista install. Plugged the Toslink cable in the back of the motherboard and the other end into the DAV-SC5. Switched to Video 2 and no probs, sounds great. I upgraded to the latest Realtek drivers, but made no real difference.
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false
You do have to play about in MediaPortal with the audio options to make sure you are outputting to the right device, but its pretty straightforward.
Vista
I am contemplating scapping Vista and using MCE2005 as i'm having a few problems.
Powerstrip is not doing what i am wanting it to do and from the powerstrip forum i think it might be Vista related.
Plus, vista blocking powerstrip and Riva Tuner on startup is annoying. Plus, all the "are you sure you want to run this?" messages.
I'm not using any of Vistas features, so i might rebuild the box over the weekend to MCE2005.
The Wireless dongle i bought isn't much use either, the config utility won't work under vista and i had all sorts of trouble installing and getting it to work in the first place.
With the wireless dongle playing up i've not used the "my music" part of MediaPortal much as the connection is so unreliable. I have plans to feed an eithernet cable down the living room shortly, so that will sort all network access problems out!
Conclusion so far
MediaPortal and FFDSHOW appear to do everything i want them to do with regards playing ripped and downloaded video files of ALL types. Plus you can hook it upto your pictures collection as well as point it at your Itunes directory on another machine on your network.
The hardware in my HTPC is more than upto the job. So you could use lesser components in your build (ie slower CPU). But i wouldn't scrimp on memory is you're using Vista, its a bit of a beast!
Vista is very fussy about programs, internet connections, hardware and software. If you don't need the Vista shiny bells and whistles, then i think MCE should do you fine. I'll have more of an idea after the weekend if i decide to rebuild.
Hope that gives you some idea of the problems etc involved.