I seriously enjoy my Intel NUC a lot.

Here is a little article on it. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2020577/how-we-built-a-tiny-home-theater-pc-with-intels-nuc.html

For not too much money you can have an HTPC with some serious firepower. Let me know if you need any help.

You will need the following items.

Pick your NUC:

Intel NUC - Celeron ($151) http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Next-Computing-Black-BOXDCCP847DYE/dp/B00B7I8HZ4/

Intel NUC - i3 ($260) http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Computing-Gigabit-i3-3217U-DC3217IYE/dp/B0093LINVK/

Intel NUC - Haswell ($300) http://www.amazon.com/Intel-D34010WYK-DisplayPort-i3-4010U-Consumer/dp/B00F3F381A/

Pick your storage:

SSD mSATA 64GB ($126) - http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-mSATA-Internal-Solid-CT064M4SSD3/dp/B008393M2S/

USB Thumb Drive - any thumb drive you have that will run the OS you want to

Pick your ram, you can go lower but this is plenty:

RAM 2x4GB ($93) - http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Laptop-Memory-CMSX8GX3M2A1600C9/dp/B006EWUOL8/

Power cord is not included you need to buy one:

Power Cord ($4) - http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Unlimted-6-feet-Mickey-Mouse/dp/B000234TYI/

So for around $550 you can have a pretty awesome Haswell equipped HTPC that can play anything you throw at it.

I absolutely love mine. I have the original i3 model that came out and will probably be buying a haswell one and putting this one downstairs for the kids. I use a FLIRC for mine since it was before they embedded IR into the system.

The only thing this doesn't do that you are looking for is optical. I have everything ripped myself so have no need of that option. You might be stuck with it I am not sure but this rig can do 3D 1080p full bluray rips with zero issues. All about how much hard drive space you have.

If it's anything like the last generation of NUCs you'll also need a mickey mouse power cord