Networking, HTPC, and Dropbox?

[Kalmado]

The last part I need for the households HTPC is a hard drive. I'm debating on what I should get. I'm going for the best cost/performance/quality combo.

I do not have a network set up at home currently. I'm wondering if I set up our pcs on a network, if it would be smarter to use my gaming pc as the download source and then just grab it off the network on the HTPC when we want to watch something on the tv? Will the quality be just as good as if it was downloaded to the hard drive of the HTPC?

Does anyone use Dropbox? Pros/Cons? I was reading it's an excellent alternative to networking. Is this something I should get into?

[The Stig]

Dropbox is great for small files, and you can access them anywhere with an internet connction. I use it for pictures and code bits.

On BG you have BG Box for the same thing, but 4gb (or 400mb? I dunno if I counted properly) and 25mb max upload size.

[Kalmado]

I'm thinking more so for downloading stuff on my gaming rig and then using the HTPC downstairs to watch stuff. My wife also has her laptop she would use for the same purpose. Would it just make more sense to get a 1TB+ internal for the HTPC?

[Niya]

And why not get a NAS for that? Your gaming rig would just waste energy if you let it run just for streaming. NAS boxes have gotten quite cheap, they have enough performance to work as streaming sources, and low enough power consumption to let them run 24/7. Plus, you can use them for other nice stuff like backup target for your rig/laptop of wife, torrent box etc etc etc...
Depending on what you want/need, there's pretty much everything available from single-disk NAS ("external HDD with a LAN port") to multi-bay-NAS that can house 10+TB of data.

[Kalmado]

And why not get a NAS for that? Your gaming rig would just waste energy if you let it run just for streaming. NAS boxes have gotten quite cheap, they have enough performance to work as streaming sources, and low enough power consumption to let them run 24/7. Plus, you can use them for other nice stuff like backup target for your rig/laptop of wife, torrent box etc etc etc...
Depending on what you want/need, there's pretty much everything available from single-disk NAS ("external HDD with a LAN port") to multi-bay-NAS that can house 10+TB of data.

This was something I was considering. Right now after rebates you can snag a 3TB WD red NAS for $90. I know nothing about NAS currently. Sounds like I need to do some reading!

[Sonomaa]

NAS is stupid easy to setup, I didnt even have to configure mine with anything extra, it just hooks up and rolls nice and smooth

[Niya]

Yup, they're pretty easy to setup and use. If you have any general questions, i can probably help you, proud owner of a 2-bay Synology NAS that i use mainly for storage and torrent seeding, though i also tried the streaming server out a bit. But only with a smartphone, not with a TV.

[Arkanna]

I've still got three WD Green 750GB drives, perfect for a NAS, I'll sell you on the cheap if you want. I tried to sell them in the B/S/T forum here a while ago but had no bytes (get it? *groan*).