Well, I *think* it's all pretty much sorted.... Gotta install a couple codec packs for different video codecs and some AC3 and digital audio codecs, but otherwise it appears to be working fine

Can't get it to activate Windows tho... It's a legit copy of XP Pro (Dell OEM disc that came with my PC, but of course it's a different PC, so MS won't accept the keycode... Don't know what this means tho - will it shut down in 30days or something?

Like I said, I doubt it will be net connected, as I download stuff like codecs etc onto a flash drive and install via USB - all this is for is to play music and video....

Which it seems to be doing really well, despite it's tiny RAM!!!! I installed a beta version of WMP11, as I cna't install the full version cos of the Genuine Advantage thing MS impose on you....

Then I connected my external HDD to the rear USB port (that appears to be USB2 judging by the file transfer speed ) and played some music which was faultless. Then tried my "benchmark" video test - Independance Day DVD-Rip (DivX) with included DTS and DD5.1 soundtracks - again, faultless playback, no stuttering or anything....

So I reckon keep the 20gb drive in it for the OS and programmes, and play everything via a USB HDD and it should be fine

Bootvis is great, only about 20secs to boot to full desktop, ready to go

Last thing now is to try a full VTS/VOB dvd rip and see how it handles that.....