Well, I have been trying to decide what to do about building a HTPC for quite some time. So I decided to come to the pro's.
I want it to:
act as a pvr (time-shifting)
play back DVD's
Play MP3's to my Yamaha 5.1 receiver (w/energy speakers)
Look at Pictures (slide show)
maybe play some simple games like pac-man
I already picked up a hauppauge 250 card for pvr, but now I need a computer to put it in. A friend of mine is hooking me up with a deal on this - what do you think:
Get a dell 3000 - basically these specs
Intel® Celeron® D Processor 320 (2.40 GHz, 533 FSB),
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition WHXP
Memory 256MB (single channel) shared DDR SDRAM at 400MHz
Video Card Integrated Intel® Extreme Graphics IV
80GB Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Network Interface Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet
48X CD-ROM Drive
Sound Card Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio
cost - $359 CAN or about $276 US
So even after I throw my pvr 250 card in I still have no tv-out. Problem is this has no agp slot so any ideas about a pci video card I could put in with tv-out (NOTE: NOT PCI X or express). Anyone have a pci video card that they are using now that seems to work well?
Also should I add a sound card - if so any suggestions.
My only other concern is the 256 ram when it is integrated sound/lan/video. Will it be enough. Please give me your opinions. The computer is a good price but not if it doesn't work for me.
Remember this is on a budget - I need it cheap.
I want it to:
act as a pvr (time-shifting)
play back DVD's
Play MP3's to my Yamaha 5.1 receiver (w/energy speakers)
Look at Pictures (slide show)
maybe play some simple games like pac-man
I already picked up a hauppauge 250 card for pvr, but now I need a computer to put it in. A friend of mine is hooking me up with a deal on this - what do you think:
Get a dell 3000 - basically these specs
Intel® Celeron® D Processor 320 (2.40 GHz, 533 FSB),
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition WHXP
Memory 256MB (single channel) shared DDR SDRAM at 400MHz
Video Card Integrated Intel® Extreme Graphics IV
80GB Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Network Interface Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet
48X CD-ROM Drive
Sound Card Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio
cost - $359 CAN or about $276 US
So even after I throw my pvr 250 card in I still have no tv-out. Problem is this has no agp slot so any ideas about a pci video card I could put in with tv-out (NOTE: NOT PCI X or express). Anyone have a pci video card that they are using now that seems to work well?
Also should I add a sound card - if so any suggestions.
My only other concern is the 256 ram when it is integrated sound/lan/video. Will it be enough. Please give me your opinions. The computer is a good price but not if it doesn't work for me.
Remember this is on a budget - I need it cheap.
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