New MediaCenter/HTPC Setup

I've been thinking about a new MediaCenter setup for quite a while now, and have been going through the options. What I'm after (at a minimum):

• Small + quiet form factor
• Instant/Very Fast startup
  
• DVD Playback (Region Free)
• DivX/Xvid Playback (Local or over network)
• WiFi Connection (minimum 802.11G, N=even better)
• HDMI output

What I'd like to have (but not critical):

• You Tube Playback (Web Browser/Flash)
  
• DVR/TV Recording Functionality
• BluRay Playback

The options I've come down to:

• XBox 360 Elite (+ TVersity on main PC) = $790
• - No region free DVD
• + Xbox360 Games
  
• Apple Mac Mini = $1850
• - Maybe no region free DVD
• + MacOS Leopard
  
• Custom HTPC Linux-based PC = $1600
• + TV Tuner & PVR capability
  

I also thought about, but discounted lots of others (including Xbox MediaCenter, Playstation3, AppleTV), for one reason or another.

I think either a Mac Mini, or a LinuxMCE box would suit me the best. Mainly because I'd love to have a Mac, just to play with, and I kind of like the idea of trying to setup a really nice Linux box, just to see how well it would work. The custom box is also a good challenge too, as it requires lots of comparison shopping for cases, components etc. My mate Pete suggested it, to see how much I could build one for, originally thinking about $1000, but I think the budget's probably going to get blown out a bit more than that.

So far, on the custom LinuxMCE front, I've got a list of components like this:

• Case + PSU:
• Silverstone ML02B-MXR - $350.56
• or Silverstone LC11M - $291
  
• Motherboard:
• ASUS P5K-VM - $187
  
• CPU:
• Intel Core-2 Duo E4600 2.4GHz Allendale - $218
  
• RAM:
• Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2-800 RAM - $104
  
• Graphics Card:
• MSI nVidia 8600GTS HDMI - $278
  
• TV Tuner Card:
• Hauppauge HVR4000 HD TV Tuner - $209
  
• IR Receiver + Remote:
• Microsoft Remote + IR Receiver - $56
  
• Hard Disk Drive:
• 500GB SATA2 HDD - $184
  
• DVD Drive:
• SATA DVD Writer - $55
• SATA BluRay Player + DVD Writer - $523
• SATA BluRay + HDDVD Player + DVD Writer - $510
  

Unfortunately that's clocking up to $1641 :-| OK its a better spec than the Mac Mini, but that's still without a keyboard & mouse - not to mention an OS. Could probably save some money on the TV card and/or the case.