- Oct 30, 2002
- 185
- 0
- 18,680
Hi all. It has been a good while since I've been here, but the time has come to start putting together a new system. Before I do this, I want to really work over exactly what I'm up against, so to speak. Here is my situation and what I'm looking for:
I have significant health problems, and am consequently stuck in a recliner a fair amount of the time. This has the side effect that I don't upgrade my systems often, and am looking for reliability a shade more than performance. I have been stuck before with items that I have been too tired to return in time. In the past I have always intended to slowly upgrade my systems, but it has never panned out, so I'm focusing more on building a solid system that will get scrapped wholesale, or mostly wholesale, well down the road, minus a few components. I plan to spend between $1000 and $2000, including a monitor of the widescreen, LCD variety such as this Acer model: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009102&Tpk=Acer+AL2223Wd. I will likely purchase the parts online and have the system physically built at a local white-box dealer.
I am trying to create a system with which I can watch DVDs on a budget HD-TV (http://www.maxentusa.com/_coreModules/eShopping/productDetail.aspx?productMasterID=15) that I will have connected, listen to (mostly classical) music through the computer at a high quality level, and play newer games for a few years ahead. This means that I will need a system with reliable dual DVI-monitor support with allowance for the TV's 1366x768 native resolution. Space is a big limiting factor, so I plan to get 2 higher quality speakers as opposed to a surround sound setup. I am also very concerned about the quality of music playback for older, robust classical recordings such as this 60's recording of the Verdi Requiem: http://www.amazon.com/Verdi-Requiem...2878257?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1193967939&sr=8-2. With my current system, older classical music CDs have a tendency to sound tinny or hollow, presumably because they are not optimized for modern methods of playback. This is a must-fix issue that I have not been able to resolve to date. For all I know it's a matter of setting equalizer levels, but someone here is likely to understand that issue far better than I do.
Now for a few related questions:
■Are there any great wireless 2.1 speaker setups that I could look into? It would be nice to be able to relocate my speakers nearer the television for movie playback. Barring that, is there any way to create preset speaker balance options so I could switch on one for movie playback and return to a more generic balance for everything else with a few clicks or keypresses?
■How possible is it to turn a computer into a DVR with a high definition TV signal? I can't really afford to do a lot of homework on this. Is there an OS that supports this in a fairly straightforward manner?
■I have an Antec P160 case and don't see any reason to replace it. I also plan to use the 2 WD 800JD drives that I've been using the past 3 years. Is there a compelling reason to upgrade if I don't really need the space?
■Can you recommend any good rechargeable AND ergonomic keyboard/mouse duos? I was using a logitech combo (not rechargeable) until my keyboard kicked the bucket. Now I'm using a wired Microsoft ergonomic keyboard but need to go back to wireless given my current health dilemma.
■Is Vista the way to go by now? I did some research on parts about 4 months ago, at which point many were still holding out.
■Do you have any solid recommendations for fans or other components to minimize the noise output of my system? Since I plan to use it as a music playback device, chances are I will be leaving it on overnight on many occasions. I'd like to reduce fan noise as much as possible. I saw mention of silent versions of GPUs in a recent thread here, so that seems like a strong possibility if the price is not extravagant.
That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm happy to hear any other suggestions you may have whether or not I've thought to ask. I'll probably post some preliminary (and slightly out of date) system specs soon for your perusal.
I'd love to get into a dialogue on this topic, both for fun and to jog my memory about any other issues, seen and unforeseen, that I may need to address. Thanks for your time!
I have significant health problems, and am consequently stuck in a recliner a fair amount of the time. This has the side effect that I don't upgrade my systems often, and am looking for reliability a shade more than performance. I have been stuck before with items that I have been too tired to return in time. In the past I have always intended to slowly upgrade my systems, but it has never panned out, so I'm focusing more on building a solid system that will get scrapped wholesale, or mostly wholesale, well down the road, minus a few components. I plan to spend between $1000 and $2000, including a monitor of the widescreen, LCD variety such as this Acer model: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009102&Tpk=Acer+AL2223Wd. I will likely purchase the parts online and have the system physically built at a local white-box dealer.
I am trying to create a system with which I can watch DVDs on a budget HD-TV (http://www.maxentusa.com/_coreModules/eShopping/productDetail.aspx?productMasterID=15) that I will have connected, listen to (mostly classical) music through the computer at a high quality level, and play newer games for a few years ahead. This means that I will need a system with reliable dual DVI-monitor support with allowance for the TV's 1366x768 native resolution. Space is a big limiting factor, so I plan to get 2 higher quality speakers as opposed to a surround sound setup. I am also very concerned about the quality of music playback for older, robust classical recordings such as this 60's recording of the Verdi Requiem: http://www.amazon.com/Verdi-Requiem...2878257?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1193967939&sr=8-2. With my current system, older classical music CDs have a tendency to sound tinny or hollow, presumably because they are not optimized for modern methods of playback. This is a must-fix issue that I have not been able to resolve to date. For all I know it's a matter of setting equalizer levels, but someone here is likely to understand that issue far better than I do.
Now for a few related questions:
■Are there any great wireless 2.1 speaker setups that I could look into? It would be nice to be able to relocate my speakers nearer the television for movie playback. Barring that, is there any way to create preset speaker balance options so I could switch on one for movie playback and return to a more generic balance for everything else with a few clicks or keypresses?
■How possible is it to turn a computer into a DVR with a high definition TV signal? I can't really afford to do a lot of homework on this. Is there an OS that supports this in a fairly straightforward manner?
■I have an Antec P160 case and don't see any reason to replace it. I also plan to use the 2 WD 800JD drives that I've been using the past 3 years. Is there a compelling reason to upgrade if I don't really need the space?
■Can you recommend any good rechargeable AND ergonomic keyboard/mouse duos? I was using a logitech combo (not rechargeable) until my keyboard kicked the bucket. Now I'm using a wired Microsoft ergonomic keyboard but need to go back to wireless given my current health dilemma.
■Is Vista the way to go by now? I did some research on parts about 4 months ago, at which point many were still holding out.
■Do you have any solid recommendations for fans or other components to minimize the noise output of my system? Since I plan to use it as a music playback device, chances are I will be leaving it on overnight on many occasions. I'd like to reduce fan noise as much as possible. I saw mention of silent versions of GPUs in a recent thread here, so that seems like a strong possibility if the price is not extravagant.
That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm happy to hear any other suggestions you may have whether or not I've thought to ask. I'll probably post some preliminary (and slightly out of date) system specs soon for your perusal.
I'd love to get into a dialogue on this topic, both for fun and to jog my memory about any other issues, seen and unforeseen, that I may need to address. Thanks for your time!
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