What PC is Better?

irace

Hi I am looking for an 'off-the-shelf' PC that I can buy in a shop for my lounge which will connect to an LCD 32" TV; mainly for watching streaming and downloaded video. I have found a few but not sure which is the best?

Acer Aspire X3810 - £329.00
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.207-2050.aspx

Acer X3300-215 - £319.99
http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/624829/ACER-X3300-215/tab/specification

Acer X3400-215 -£319.99
http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/643491/ACER-X3400-215/tab/specification

Advent SE2102 - £329.99
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/advent-se2102-04833934-pdt.html

Any other ideas / links would be appreciated. Thanks! :money:

Chimpofdoom

Is it purely for streaming/downloading video?

If so, you'll want:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/200537

and

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/204506

Using this guide:

http://lifehacker.com/5391308/build-a-silent-standalone-xbmc-media-center-on-the-cheap

irace

but if you bought that you end up spending £300 anyway, ending up losing out on: 1GB less of RAM, no DVD drive, -1.0ghz processor speed and that price doesnt even include paying for windows as you're stuck with linux!

Chimpofdoom

irace wrote: »

but if you bought that you end up spending £300 anyway, ending up losing out on: 1GB less of RAM, no DVD drive, -1.0ghz processor speed and that price doesnt even include paying for windows as you're stuck with linux!

Well buy a cheaper hard drive then.

If your using it as a media player, you will want it to be quiet, no PC will ever be as quiet as the acer revo.

It's low power, so you can keep it on constantly downloading.

You only need more ram for windows, linux will happily run on 256MB.

Actually if you read my 2nd link, you would be replacing the OS with a dedicated media playing OS, you could use XBMC or Boxee.

But since you seem to be on the windows and "needs more ram" approach with a minimal budget, i'll leave you to enjoy your noisy media playing PC

Lokolo

Chimpofdoom wrote: »

Well buy a cheaper hard drive then.

If your using it as a media player, you will want it to be quiet, no PC will ever be as quiet as the acer revo.

It's low power, so you can keep it on constantly downloading.

You only need more ram for windows, linux will happily run on 256MB.

Actually if you read my 2nd link, you would be replacing the OS with a dedicated media playing OS, you could use XBMC or Boxee.

But since you seem to be on the windows and "needs more ram" approach with a minimal budget, i'll leave you to enjoy your noisy media playing PC

Which is your mistake. The OP is obviously a basic user, which means, Windows only. Most basic users don't even know what Linux is and what "rm -rf /" could do.

Chimpofdoom

Lokolo wrote: »

Which is your mistake. The OP is obviously a basic user, which means, Windows only. Most basic users don't even know what Linux is and what "rm -rf /" could do.

Yes it may be my mistake, but it's also the OP's mistake by not reading the 2nd link.. there's no terminal coding, it's simply download the xbmc live installation, follow instructions on how to place it onto a USB and install. Once installed it just boots into XBMC.. like using a dvd player!

If i wanted it to be complex, I would of given him a link to gentoo and told him to have fun.

Also if he can save up the extra £100 or so, wants fast DDR3 ram, an OS that doesn't need to be rebooted to "run smoothly" (a bit like linux), the OP could try and nab:

Link

refurb store *new link* Apple refurbs, keep your eyes peeled and get a £439 mac mini, perftect HTPC

Install Plex and ta-da fully fledged media player

Edit: the above link was going to a mac mini refurb but it has since sold

edit: seems to be a problem with links on here...

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/FC238B/A?cid=AOS-EMEA-SHOP-GoogleBase-UK
mac mini refurb

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=MTA4MzMxODk
refurb store

irace

sorry i forgot to mention, even though I am a very competent computer user, this pc will be for my 50+ year old parents. I would not want to confuse them with anything other than windows really.... they hardly have the hang of that!

personally i would like to give apple a go as i've heard so many good things about them but at this point in time there is no point in me buying a refurbished apple for £440! my parents could afford it but whats the point of getting a mac if they're only using it for things like iplayer etc

Chimpofdoom, please dont think i'm ungrateful for your response but the main thing that i was surprised about is that you suggested a pc setup where i would miss out on a whole 1.0 GHz of processor speed, which is a huge amount to sacrifice and is backwards from future proofing your computer?

bonzer

If it's for video, what about a dedicated set top box? Might be easier for technophobic parents and you get a remote.

Not a recommendation but this one claims to do a variety of streaming services:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/192060

Some FreeSat boxes can now do iPlayer:

http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=iPlayer.WhatYouNeedProduct

You can get a box with a remote to play XVid etc off a USB drive (not including streaming) for about £20:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/175291

Chimpofdoom

sorry i forgot to mention, even though I am a very competent computer user, this pc will be for my 50+ year old parents. I would not want to confuse them with anything other than windows really.... they hardly have the hang of that!

See that I can understand, although my parents actually find ubuntu easier than Windows (no idea how, I set up the minimum and off they go), although my mother has a taste for osx after playing with my power mac (waiting for the "hand me down" now)

personally i would like to give apple a go as i've heard so many good things about them but at this point in time there is no point in me buying a refurbished apple for £440! my parents could afford it but whats the point of getting a mac if they're only using it for things like iplayer etc

True, but original specification was for a media player, not for the parents

Chimpofdoom, please dont think i'm ungrateful for your response but the main thing that i was surprised about is that you suggested a pc setup where i would miss out on a whole 1.0 GHz of processor speed, which is a huge amount to sacrifice and is backwards from future proofing your computer?

Not a problem, I suggest a PC that was initially posted for media playing/downloading to be in a lounge, which I suggest and believe me I stand behind the XBMC revo fully, it's a fantastic piece of kit (I have 2 in my house!)

As for what you've now said, either one of those PC's will be suitable, but if your looking for something that can be tucked in next to a VCR or something, then why not SFF?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/227356

It costs a little more, but it's overkill for what you've now said the requirement is, but still has the ability to be upgraded