converting to a media centre

niak_558 · 06-20-2006, 12:05 PM

I recently bought an acer aspire 1642ZWLMi notebook and as with everything AFTER i bought it i found out the full capabilities of XP media centre.

soo... i am certain that i want a media centre pc and was wandering how easy/cost effective it would be to convert my laptop into one? the other option been building a desktop one.

i checked out XP media centre and it says you need 1.6ghz processor which my laptop has and it has 512mb RAM which also complies so i what i need to know is what parts i will have to upgrade to make it work?

cheers, kain

ps. first post on these boards lol woohoo

Hairy_Lee · 06-20-2006, 06:59 PM

i cant remember the full details of the 1640 series notebooks but i've worked on a few and i believe they are missing some features that would allow it to be a media centre system. You need TV out or a DVI out if you're lucky enough to own a nice LCD TV, also a TV tuner card is also a useful item to have for media centre.

niak_558 · 06-21-2006, 05:22 AM

i have a link to my laptop if that helps:
http://www.notebooksrus.com.au/catal...344&type=group
would you be able to tell me exactly wat i would need so i can figure out a cost?

cheers, kain.

Hairy_Lee · 06-21-2006, 07:10 AM

welll i think a wireless keyboard would be useful for such a system so that you could use it without having to keep the notebook next to you. The VGA port would require a large display that would allow you to view what you wanna see on it so a LCD or TV with a VGA port would be usedful too.
Also TV cards are a good thing to have on a media centre system so maybe a USB TV tuner card would be a good addition

SpeedDevil817 · 06-21-2006, 10:22 AM

media center is pretty cool..i have it on my desktop and i have the media center remote which is an absolute must if you want maximum utilization....so if u get get media center get the remote also :p

niak_558 · 06-21-2006, 12:09 PM

yes i would definitely get the remote!

got a question regarding tv tuner cards: do they work on analogue signals or only digital? because i live in an area that doesn't have digital tv.

cheers kain.

elmarcorulz · 06-21-2006, 12:20 PM

You can buy analogue or digital ones.

niak_558 · 06-22-2006, 08:02 AM

does anyone know of any good australian websites to buy computer parts from? i only know of one good one, and one ok one.

cheers, kain.

06-20-2006, 12:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
niak_558 Bronze Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 99	converting to a media centre I recently bought an acer aspire 1642ZWLMi notebook and as with everything AFTER i bought it i found out the full capabilities of XP media centre. soo... i am certain that i want a media centre pc and was wandering how easy/cost effective it would be to convert my laptop into one? the other option been building a desktop one. i checked out XP media centre and it says you need 1.6ghz processor which my laptop has and it has 512mb RAM which also complies so i what i need to know is what parts i will have to upgrade to make it work? cheers, kain ps. first post on these boards lol woohoo

06-20-2006, 06:59 PM	#2 (permalink)
Hairy_Lee VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Plymouth, UK Age: 26 Posts: 2,553	i cant remember the full details of the 1640 series notebooks but i've worked on a few and i believe they are missing some features that would allow it to be a media centre system. You need TV out or a DVI out if you're lucky enough to own a nice LCD TV, also a TV tuner card is also a useful item to have for media centre. __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 EVGA nForce 650i Ultra mainboard EVGA 7950 GT KO SC 512Mb w/ Zalman VF-900Cu 2Gb of OCZ GOLD XTC SPECIAL OPS Eition Notebook - Acer Aspire 9300 - Turion TL-60/ 2 Gb RAM/ Geforce Go 7600 128 Dedicated (400 Mb turbocache)

06-21-2006, 07:10 AM	#4 (permalink)
Hairy_Lee VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Plymouth, UK Age: 26 Posts: 2,553	welll i think a wireless keyboard would be useful for such a system so that you could use it without having to keep the notebook next to you. The VGA port would require a large display that would allow you to view what you wanna see on it so a LCD or TV with a VGA port would be usedful too. Also TV cards are a good thing to have on a media centre system so maybe a USB TV tuner card would be a good addition __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 EVGA nForce 650i Ultra mainboard EVGA 7950 GT KO SC 512Mb w/ Zalman VF-900Cu 2Gb of OCZ GOLD XTC SPECIAL OPS Eition Notebook - Acer Aspire 9300 - Turion TL-60/ 2 Gb RAM/ Geforce Go 7600 128 Dedicated (400 Mb turbocache)

06-21-2006, 12:20 PM	#7 (permalink)
elmarcorulz VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: UK Age: 23 Posts: 6,033	You can buy analogue or digital ones. __________________ C2D E6300 @ 2.6Ghz Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 2GB DDR2 667 1TB (1x500GB 2x250GB HDD) BFG 8800GTS 320MB PFC Til I Die

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06-21-2006, 05:22 AM	#3 (permalink)
niak_558 Bronze Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 99	i have a link to my laptop if that helps: http://www.notebooksrus.com.au/catal...344&type=group would you be able to tell me exactly wat i would need so i can figure out a cost? cheers, kain.

06-21-2006, 10:22 AM	#5 (permalink)
SpeedDevil817 Silver Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 225	media center is pretty cool..i have it on my desktop and i have the media center remote which is an absolute must if you want maximum utilization....so if u get get media center get the remote also :p

06-21-2006, 12:09 PM	#6 (permalink)
niak_558 Bronze Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 99	yes i would definitely get the remote! got a question regarding tv tuner cards: do they work on analogue signals or only digital? because i live in an area that doesn't have digital tv. cheers kain.

06-22-2006, 08:02 AM	#8 (permalink)
niak_558 Bronze Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 99	does anyone know of any good australian websites to buy computer parts from? i only know of one good one, and one ok one. cheers, kain.