# What to get...?



## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

My Dad and I are looking into getting him a new computer to replace his old one.
I have decided there is a chance of 2 options. These are to either get him a laptop which has plenty of space to upgrade in the future, so I thought of 1GB RAM minimum. This would then connect to our network so it has access to the internet etc.

The other option I thought was to buy a small PC, and hook it up to the TV through a VGA cable so that whenever he wants to use the computer (mainly for emails, internet and pictures) he can swap the input to the VGA so the computer displays on the TV and he can use a wireless mouse and keyboard to operate.

Now I dont know which would be worse in cooling either a laptop or a small PC. 

We are looking to spend around £400-£500 so If any of you have any ideas for a decent spec PC with expandability options would be a great help.

Many thanks,

Chris


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hi Chris,

There are a lot of small media center and cube PCs that you can get.

Please take the time to answer these questions and include them in your next reply.


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

1. Budget: *£400-£500*

2. Brands: Are there any brands of components you want or don't want? *HP, Packard Bell, Emachines and the crap brands*

3. Multitasking: *Probably not, IE, Outlook Express, Pictures*

4. Gaming: *Not at all*

5. Calculations: *Nope*

6. Overclocking: *No*

7. Storage: *Roughly around 160-260GB*

8. Legacy Support: *Probably Not*

9. Operating System: *XP Pro is preferred*

10. Case: *See initial post*

11. Accessories: *Yes, wireless if a small box to connect to the TV, No if laptop*

12. Recycled Components: *No*

13. Monitor: *Laptop screen 15" widescreen or larger*

14. Stores: *High Reputation, warrenty/gaurentee*

15. Location: *England*

__________


Ive heard that some of these Cube PC's are quite hard to get Pieces for, Not as in such RAM, Etc but the boards are hard to find due to their unique shape as we had to buy a whole new PC for one of the computers that this happened to at work (mobo problem). 
So if the board is widely available and will fit a case easily then it shouldnt be a problem.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Were you thinking of building? Because you can always get a case like this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-060-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=160

Which has a 430W Antec NeoHE and can take any standard mATX motherboard. Then get something like these:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-257-AS
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-159-IN

Just as an idea. That board has HDMI so you can also use that to connect to a TV.


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Hmm, they are a possibility.

So would it be best to consider a media PC over a laptop?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Yeah, you will have more upgrade options and it will be easier to replace failed components.


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

That seems a decent idea. 

How much do you reckon you could pick a fairly decent spec media PC up for if I was to buy one pre-built?

Also, if I was to build one myself, what would be a average cost for it?


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Right, I looked at a PC here...What you think.

Antec Fusion HTPC Case - 430HE Watt PSU
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.33GHz (1333FSB) - Retail
Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7191S 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Silver) - OEM
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Also, what type of graphics card is best for a large flat panel screen of around 32" roughly?


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

if hes not gamming then you could get a 7600gt or 8600gt (they should be runnable of the power supply)


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-057-GW&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=912

What about that??

Also, im not the best at graphics cards, will it show a sharp image of a large HDTV?? and will the resolution be ok??


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

yes that should be fine (though if that is a passive heatsink i would look at a different card because of the small case) and yes the card supports resolutions higher then 1080i so i would say it should be good on the tv.


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

actually look at this its cheaper has faster memorey and is over clock (alos has a active fan http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-047-BG&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=912


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

What do you guys reckon? A decent PC for the money?


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

the only thing is that you dont have a hard drive selected 
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-138-SE&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=768

you have an os right?


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Yeh I have a HDD and a OS.

Its a 80GB HDD which is IDE which should be enough for the purpose.

Do you think I would need anything else?


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

Nope but if you want you could buy some arctic silver 5 to help with the cooling other then that its looking good


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

You need an mATX board for that case like the one I selected, it won't take full sized ATX boards. You can use the integrated video which has both VGA and HDMI w/ HDCP out.


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

oh jeez i can't beleave that i missed the m-atx thing


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

What M-ATX mobo is best to get. Intel or AMD?


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-257-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326

keep the cpu and you can ditch the 8600 and use the onboard


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Do you not loose any RAM with that option though?


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

Like 64-256mb ram, you dont have to get rid of the video card if you do not want to it has a pci express slot so you can use the video card selected before


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

That board's onboard video does actually support DX10 and should do older games like CS:CZ and similar with good performance. You will have HDMI out and don't have to worry about another heat source. I would stick with the onboard since you didn't put down you would need it for games. It will do anything in 2D just fine.


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Would that still be able to handle a large screen TV?


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

Yes it will


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Will this method also be ok for the odd DVD we want to watch? Which was why I included the DVD writer. :wink:


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

The computer will be able to handle it but you will probably need to download some sort of codec pack


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Thats no problem. Thanks for the advice


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