Simple set of requirements:
1) Quiet as possible.
2) HDMI.
3) 5:1 sound with optical audio out, I suspect this might be the hard bit. It'll be connecting to my 360 5:1 speakers, which accept optical, or optical - that's it, optical. It has two optical inputs, one of which is used by my 360 (when I've got it set up on the big telly), so it has one spare. These buggers -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pioneer-HTS-GS1 ... B000JK1TMO - they sound pretty good but the inputs are..... limited to say the least.
4) Standard network adapter, I prefer wired to wireless, because I'm old-fashioned, and you only need to run the cable once (and there's already one run to that corner of the room for the 360). (Don't mind if it's got wireless as well though.)
5) Capable of running Windows 7 properly, not some crappy Atom processor thingy, 2GB or more of RAM.
6) Some kind of digital TV tuner affair, we have a Sky digibox feed in that corner of the room, can you get tuner cards that take a digital input like that?
It's going to be internet connected and used for watching iPlayer/other VOD, as a DVD player, and streaming from the NAS. It'll be connected via HDMI to a 40 inch Samsung screen, bit elderly now, only does 720p/1080i (1080p started at £2K when I bought it, which was more than I was prepared to pay at the time, and TBH it works fine). The Samsung's built in speakers are of course utterly shite, and I only have the 5:1s linked above connected, which is why the optical audio out on the PC is critical.
If Blu-Ray is a relatively cheap addition it can have a BD-ROM instead of a DVD-ROM, although with no 1080P screen it'll be hobbled.
I really don't want to build the thing myself, and I don't mind paying a bit of premium to get one ready built, the days of me finding fucking around putting PCs together are well behind me.
All advice appreciated
EDIT - I just had a look round the back of the subwoofer and it does have a standard set of analogue inputs, which I've actually connected from the back of the telly (I'd completely forgotten about that, shows how often we watch telly.......), and a digital coaxial input too by the looks of it. I'd still prefer optical though.