X-Fi HomeTeater HD is out - ehh....

[prerich]

X-fi has missed a grand opprotunity to gain maximum ground in the HTPC market. They have released their long awaited X-Fi Home Theater HD sound card for bitstreaming, but it cost as much as a Xonar HDAV 1.3 Deluxe ($249.00 (you could add $50 bucks and get a PS3 slim for that price - I can't believe I'm saying that).

Asus, however has released the Slim for sometime and it cost $100 less than the X-fi and the only thing missing is 7.1 analog outs (and you've got that on your PC already - depending on your motherboard). If you want to bitstream, to me there is only one flavor and that's the Slim - not because I own it, but it only makes good sense. Chime in - especially if you are using one of the above products - regardless of which one.