help with pc for living room

[needmorewatches]

Hey guys

being sick of pluging my laptop into the 50" in the living room

will be looking for a cheap pc to live next to the tv for good

it needs to have

1. hdmi video card
2. wifi
3. doesn't need a HDD as I have new SSD that I could plug into it
4. quiet, don't want a whining noise whilst watching movies

only wanting to spend around £150 max

any ideas where I could find something like this. 2nd hand is ok.
Not interested in buying everything separately and putting it together, too long in the tooth for that $hit

any help appreciated

Nick

[gallenos7]

AMD box from Zotac? Better = Smaller ones are bit over £150 though.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zotac-ZBOX-AD02 ... 126&sr=8-5

[ptcoll]

I use an Acer Revo running Win7 - cost a bit more new than you want though. May be available second hand.

Pete

[Plug]

IF you can stretch to £200 this looks like a good'un:

http://www.ebuyer.com/279899-acer-as...p-pt-semec-037

I've had the earlier version (Revo 3610) for a couple of years now, does the job nicely. The fan's starting to make a bit of noise but it was virtually silent when new. The point about the mac mini is a good one, but I wouldn't recommend a G4. I had one as my main PC prior to the Acer and they're not up to the job of streaming HD video. The Acer copes with it no problem.

HTH,

Plug

[needmorewatches]

Thanks for the suggestions boys

PLUG

that thing looks like the business and it comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse

£200 doesn't sound like a lot of money for a new piece of kit like this either?

hmmmmmm, might have to grab this one

Nick

[gilford]

Two words........

Mac Mini :)

I've had one for years running as a HTPC and it works flawlessly! If you have an iPad or iPhone you can use that to control it also. Cannot recommend it enough.

[needmorewatches]

Two words........

Mac Mini :)

I've had one for years running as a HTPC and it works flawlessly! If you have an iPad or iPhone you can use that to control it also. Cannot recommend it enough.

does it fall into the £150 bracket?

Nick

[gilford]

Two words........

Mac Mini :)

I've had one for years running as a HTPC and it works flawlessly! If you have an iPad or iPhone you can use that to control it also. Cannot recommend it enough.

does it fall into the £150 bracket?

Nick

You could get one of the first Mini's for that, depends what you want it to do really? If its just for watching DVDs, searching the net and checking e mail then the first gen will be fine. I now how a Mini Server which plays 40gb 1080p BD rips flawlessly :D

[needmorewatches]

Two words........

Mac Mini :)

I've had one for years running as a HTPC and it works flawlessly! If you have an iPad or iPhone you can use that to control it also. Cannot recommend it enough.

does it fall into the £150 bracket?

Nick

You could get one of the first Mini's for that, depends what you want it to do really? If its just for watching DVDs, searching the net and checking e mail then the first gen will be fine. I now how a Mini Server which plays 40gb 1080p BD rips flawlessly :D

I need/want it to stream video online youtube/vimeo, go to bbc iplayer, 4oD

don't need it to play dvds, but will need it to play the odd football game via myp2p

will need to be able to install any plugins for certain website as I use chrome

fast, reliable and above all else quiet

so not after an ex workstation from an office

Nick

[gilford]

The Mini will do all you want and more, all you need to do now is decide how much money you want to spend :D

[rfrazier]

Two words........

Mac Mini :)

I've had one for years running as a HTPC and it works flawlessly! If you have an iPad or iPhone you can use that to control it also. Cannot recommend it enough.

does it fall into the £150 bracket?

Nick

You could get one of the first Mini's for that, depends what you want it to do really? If its just for watching DVDs, searching the net and checking e mail then the first gen will be fine. I now how a Mini Server which plays 40gb 1080p BD rips flawlessly :D

I need/want it to stream video online youtube/vimeo, go to bbc iplayer, 4oD

don't need it to play dvds, but will need it to play the odd football game via myp2p

will need to be able to install any plugins for certain website as I use chrome

fast, reliable and above all else quiet

so not after an ex workstation from an office

Nick

The 1st generation mini mac isn't Intel based (G4), doesn't use dual channel memory, and doesn't have SATA, so you couldn't use your SSD.

Gad.

Best wishes,
Bob

[Plug]

Thanks for the suggestions boys

PLUG

that thing looks like the business and it comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse

£200 doesn't sound like a lot of money for a new piece of kit like this either?

hmmmmmm, might have to grab this one

Nick

The only thing I would mention is that one is running Linux so if you are used to Windows is it in your comfort zone? Mine is set up to dual-boot Linux (Ubuntu, not Linpus which I believe the 3700 ships with) & Windows 7. 99% of the time I boot to Linux as it runs that much faster, for everything you're asking it'll do the job.

Cheers,

Plug