I’ll take questions 1 & 3

I’ll take questions 1 & 3 first, and hopefully someone else will chime in on #2.

So i’ll say this as far as testing and needs. In my previous job with Niveus Media, I tested and confirmed functional with Intel’s Core i7 processor, and 16gb of RAM, 8 extenders. So with that being said, I don’t think Xeon is necessary nor even the best way to go. So that being said, your Core i5 selection would probably do the trick.

Question for you–what percentage of the time will you have all 5 extenders running at the same time? And with what content–HD television only?

For question #3, it really depends on your needs. I’ve always run my living room television with my HTPC directly and used Extenders for the bedroom, but that was due to file limitations as well as the occasional desire to browse the web from the big screen (or to go to a streaming site). But, it is frustrating the few times i do have to force a restart because MCE has hung. SOOOOO….i’d say if the Extender can handle your playback needs 100%, it’s probably the most stable way to go and then totally removes any need for a keyboard.