Refurbished/Off Lease PCs

[235301]

I find this extremely intriguing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6856119012

For around $350 you have a decent PC based DVR(assuming adding an HVR-1600, HD, OS, memory). The question I would have is if the GMA950 could handle HD playback.

[Fatman_do]

I find this extremely intriguing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6856119012

For around $350 you have a decent PC based DVR(assuming adding an HVR-1600, HD, OS, memory). The question I would have is if the GMA950 could handle HD playback.

I would pass on that. If it had a PCI-e slot instead of PCI, then you could upgrade video to include HDMI audio out.

EDIT: It also appears to lack internal DVD drive...so add that cost as well.

[Fatman_do]

The Dell Inspiron 537s ($249) also seems to be a decent base for an HTPC. You can find some nice discounts on fully configured builds on Dell Outlet.

These guys here are what is currently my "wishlist" item, until more research leads me in another direction.

The 546 with HDMI out is the one I am leaning towards. Same price point.

[stustunz]

yeah unless it has a pci-e slot dont waste ya money
the reason i say that is everything else on the board will be reasonably up to date
otherwise ram, harddrives and video cards are going to be expensive and not make the grade

so what starts out looking cheap wont be

[8ace]

8ace, you forgot to provide a link so others can get in on your deal.

oops - here's the precise one I got.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...0265168082

now... it may *not* be quite as high spec as some... but if you are a cheap minimalist (like me) it will be fine. The only point to consider is that it is PCI (2 slots only, one will be your video, the other your capture card), so you will need to find a PCI-based capture card. Do not get a pinnacle 800i PCI card like i did!! (get a hauppauge)

The good news is that I dropped a big sata in it so I am good to go for quite a while for space. All i do is share the drive and with the 1gbps NIC it really is pretty good for viewing high def through my popcorn hour.

Final point: the machine is wife-friendly and quiet!

[nitrogen_widget]

Check this place out.

http://www.surpluscomputers.com/systems/...p-pcs.html

I've bought from them before.
Mostly a good experiance.

My last purchase was two radeon 9700 pro's.
One artifacted & the other wasn't a 9700 it was a 9550.

I had to pay to ship them back & when the told me they were out of stock I had the option of store credit or refund.

I still lost out on shipping though.

[CrownVictoriaCop]

You can get a decent low-end machine off of PropertyRoom.com. Those are all online police auctions - the machines they sell are actually pretty good.

[dljones8053]

Has anyone tried one of these systems? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...cer%20revo I've been reading on other forums like XBMC and they use it as a set top box for client. Add a large external drive or use NAS for storage don't see why it would not work as the main PVR. Some have loaded Windows 7 to get better performance and the HDMI port is a plus. You would have to use a USB tuner as well. For $199.00 I'm thinking using it as a client and not mess with the NMT device for GBPVR since this would be much easier to set up.


General Spec
Brand Acer
Series Aspire Revo
Model AR1600-U910H
Recommended Usage Home / Home Office
Processor Intel Atom 230 (1.6GHz)
Cache Per Processor 512KB L2 Cache
Memory 1GB DDR2
Hard Drive 160GB 5400RPM SATA
Graphics Integrated NVIDIA ION LE Graphics
Audio High-Definition Audio Support
Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Power Supply 65W AC Adapter
Keyboard USB Keyboard
Mouse USB Mouse
Operating System Windows XP Home
Motherboard
Chipset NVIDIA ION LE
CPU
CPU Type Intel Atom
Installed Qty 1
CPU FSB 533MHz
CPU Speed 230(1.6GHz)
L2 Cache Per CPU 512KB
Graphics
GPU/VPU Type NVIDIA ION LE graphics
Graphics Interface Integrated video
Memory
Memory Capacity 1GB DDR2
Memory Slot (Total) 2
Memory Slot (Available) 1
Hard Drive
HDD Capacity 160GB
HDD Interface SATA
HDD RPM 5400rpm
Audio
Audio Chipset Integrated
Communications
LAN Chipset Integrated
LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
Front Panel Ports
Front USB 2
Card Reader Multi-in-One Digital Media Card Reader
MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital Card, Memory Stick, xD Picture Card
Back Panel Ports
Video Ports 1 VGA, 1 HDMI
Rear USB 4
RJ45 1 port
Expansion
PCI Slots (Available/Total) 1 x Mini PCI Express
Mouse
Mouse Type USB Mouse
Keyboard
Keyboard Type USB Keyboard
Physical Spec
Dimensions 7.1" x 7.1" x 1.2"
Weight 9 lbs.
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 1 year limited
Labor 1 year limited

[mvallevand]

Some have loaded Windows 7 to get better performance and the HDMI port is a plus.

I have and ION 330 and I found linux performed much better than Win 7. I actually use it primarily for XBMC on linux. Both Windows and linux are weak on pass through HDMI audio, but PCM is better

For $199.00 I'm thinking using it as a client and not mess with the NMT device for GBPVR since this would be much easier to set up.

My experience is the NMT is far easier to set up as a GBPVR client, and once it is installed it is like an appliance.

Martin

[dljones8053]

Good to know, I was going by the XBMC forum as using this as a client and the guy even stated that HD with this graphic card works great, he would not use anything with specs lower then this card for HD video. I'm running a MediaMVP and happy with what it does, the only thing I don't like is the slow response of the remote. If it response as fast as my PC client I would be very happy with the MediaMVP..:-) Been looking at the NMT and hoping other HD devices released as every one are selling them today..