Please help - htpc newb low budget. (1 Viewer)

[jayendra]

Hi everyone I need some suggestions.

Just bought this shuttle pc second hand.
Shuttle Global - Home

Shuttle XPC SB65 G2 1GB/250GB/DVDR/256 Ati 9600Pro - eBay Intel, Complete PC Packages, Systems, Desktop PCs, Computers. (end time 21-Mar-08 12:51:40 AEDST) (the actual pc I bought)

3hgz pentium
1gig ram
250gig sata ( I have a 160gig external usb drive and two 80gig IDE drives on hand)
radeon 9600 pro
it has a Fusion HDTV card in it.
Planning to get a 22" widescreen LCD for around 300$.

also bought this second hand - Logitech s 510 keyboard, mouse, remote
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard_mice_combos/devices/145&cl=us,en
the one with the media remote (read somewhere on this forum that you can use it with mediaportal)

Questions.
1. Can I (should I) run Vista on this machine.
2. Will it be a good media PC in the lounge room.
3. is that fusion card alright? (you can see a pic on that ebay link)
4. Any tips from your expertise.

Thanks

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

1. Can I (should I) run Vista on this machine.

Xp pro for this gets my vote.

Will it be a good media PC in the lounge room

if you can kill any noise, worthwhile changing cpu cooler\fans to silent type.

is that fusion card alright

Slow channel changes, due to dvico drivers.

Good luck with it.

 

[wonkyd]

Probably no point running vista, you could run it, just XP will run faster on that hardware. If you want it as a media centre pc you want it to boot up into windows/media portal as quick as possible; you don't need the extra stuff vista is going to put on. Base hardware seems ample for TV you should have no problems what so ever.

I've never used that TV card before, so can't help you there.

 

[jayendra]

Ha its late here in aus...

Windows sp2 doesn't work on this particular system. will sp1 do? I heard sp3 is coming out tomorrow or something.

dvico drivers? how slow? - recommend another cheap card? I can record TV right? and get the HD channels?

I used to have an old Pinicle analouge tv card. that was fun with all the fuzz from my dodgy aeriel.
BTW does it matter if your ariel is a little fuzzy or will the card get a better signal than my normal tv/?


Yeah I was thinking of getting the silenx 120$ power supply for noise reduction. - have to get the monitor first!


Thanks for the support guys

O also ---- can I make the PC go to sleep rather than turning it off all the time?