The future is HD! HD is High Definition and is the next generation of video. The current TVs (mostly CRTs) and the one you most likely own are now termed as SD or Standard Definition. Roughly speaking, HD is about four times the size of SD - higher resolution giving higher quality video. It's also widescreen unlike the current almost square screens. Without wasting much time, let's go right ahead and build our own, shall we?

When done building the PC, you'll need a good HDTV that does at least 720p. Most 26" and higher LCD TVs do, while 42" and higher ones do 1080i. Interestingly, a 32" HDTV from Samsung does 1080i, but it's CRT. We'll get that for review soon.

Motherboard: Asus M2NPV-VM
Comes with an on-board GeForce 6150 graphics unit that offers component HD output in both 720p and 1080i. This motherboard is also based on the latest AMD Socket AM2 platform. Costs around Rs 6,300.

CPU: Athlon 64 3500+
Not the fastest, but it's just fine for our purpose, which is movies, music and photos. Around Rs 6,100.

Memory: 512MB DDR2
Most home PCs now have 1 GB, but we won't need more than 512 for just watching movies. Around Rs 2,500.

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 6150 GPU
The aforementioned on-board GeForce 6150 with HD output. Most new games won't run on the on-board GeForce 6150, but the mobo has a PCI-e slot, so you can add-on a more powerful graphics card like a GeForce 7950GX2 or something.

Hard Disks: 2x 250GB and 1x 400GB
Basically as much space as you can afford to be able to store tons of movies and music. The 250 GB drive costs around 5,000 and the 400 GB: around 13,000. You can also stick on two 500 GBs for a condescending 1 terabyte of disk space!

DVD Drive: Lite-On DVD-RW
Inexpensive and compatible with most brands of DVD and CD media. Also, the region setting is not a problem. Rs 2,200 max.

Sound: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Most motherboards come with built-in sound, so why add another one? The X-Fi is the best sound card in the market. THX certified, upto 7.1 channels and comes with the media center application, an external IO console and a remote control. The most expensive one of the lot: around Rs 30,000. Now, this almost costs as much as the rest of the PC, but the good news is that you CAN do without it. The Elite Pro gives you the smooth media center interface that you can use with a remote control while sitting on the couch in front of your TV. If you use a wireless keyboard and mouse, you can use the PC as a regular PC, while still being able to watch HD movies in full screen. A fair compromise. First of all, the X-Fi sounds a whole lot better - it's incomparable to the on-board sound quality. Then, it is also THX-certified and does Dolby as well as DTS decoding, so you get the absolute best quality audio from your DVDs. Finally, it has an external console with which you can adjust and tweak the sound. This console also comes with a remote control that lets you use the media center software on the PC.

TV Tuner: Compro VideoMate TV Gold Plus II
Tunes regular TV as well as FM. Put it in, so your mom can watch Saas Bahu on the big screen. Actually, skip it :). This is around Rs 3,500.

Control: Microsoft Wireless Optical Keyboard and Mouse Combo
You can go with a wired set if you have the X-Fi Elite Pro, but if you skipped that, you still have “remote” freedom if you get a wireless set. Around Rs 2,000.

Power Supply: PowerSafe 400 Watts
Enough to power all the components in the system. Around Rs 1,500.

That's it. A home-made high-definition ready media center PC at just Rs 42,000 (without the X-Fi Elite Pro) or Rs. 72,000 (with the X-Fi Elite Pro). Decide what suits your budget, but think about this: if you indeed spent at least a lakh on an HDTV, would you really be worried about a few large on something that'll let you spend more time on the couch? :)