I do exactly as you discribe. The best way to get a quiet pc is to have a computer store build you one with the parts you pick out yourself. Make sure you get the quietest power supply you can find and also case fans. Some hard drives are quieter than others also. Do some research online to find the quietest parts. Make sure you also get a video card that has a dvi out so you can connect it to a hdtv with a dvi to hdmi cable. Also make sure the video card is passively cooled for less noise. I did all this for about $1200 about a year ago. I hooked it up to my 50inch dlp and set the video card for 1080p and it works great. I now use a 19inch monitor on a table right in front of the couch to avoid having a tv between my speakers. Also make sure you get a bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse. The cheaper non bluetooth wireless ones do have much of a range. Sean
Wireless for the Keyboard, Not the Computer?
I use a wireless router to access the internet on my Sony VAIO laptop which I can then move around the house. This Sony laptop usually lives on my desktop, where it is hooked up to an external video monitor, and has USB out to connect it to a desktop audio system which consists of Behringer amps, an EQ and ATC monitors.
My desk is also in my listening room with my main 2 channel system.
I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk - where I can work, surf the web, watch the news etc - AND listen to the ATCs which sound very good.
But sometimes I am really tempted to DISconnect the laptop, move across the room to the sofa, and connect the USB output directly to my main rig through an Audio Research DAC, in order to listen through the main speakers. In theory, this is easy to do, but in practice, it is a bit of a pain, and I miss the larger video monitor when working directly from the laptop.
This dilemma has me thinking.....
* What if all of my audio files were ripped and stored not to my Sony laptop, but to a larger desktop computer?
* Where the larger, desktop computer could be a) optimized for audio and b) hard wired to both the desktop and the main system's DACs at all times?
* This way, to move across the room and sit on the sofa while listening to my big rig, I could use a wireless KEYBOARD?
* And a VGA splitter box to hard wire a second, full size video monitor?
This way, it seems I could get rid of the laptop, but still move around the room by simply picking up the wireless keyboard? Use a bigger video monitor...and also improve the audio quality?
A smaller point, but I would also like to ditch the laptops as they are always breaking.
Advice on this or any other PC configurations greatly appreciated and thank you.
But please please please, dont say: "just get a Mac"?!
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- 20 posts total
- 20 posts total