I am building a system around the Dell Zino. I have bought the Zino and it is a great little box. Very quiet!!! I got the Windows 7 option and I loaded it with Ubuntu in a dual boot setup. I had to upgrade my stereo to handle HDMI so that should be counted in the cost. I ordered the Onkyo HT-RC160 for a cool $300. I haven't figured out the question of boxee versus xbmc.
Re. ripping DVD's in Linux: Use Thoggen for a GUI program. It rips it into a non-propietary format (Ogg video). You can convert it to other formats but for the most part you won't need to.
The best of ZDNet, delivered
ZDNet Newsletters
Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox
