Okay Then........
To any of you who can answer this question, my question is this:
"I have been reading with great interest the possibility of creating a new PC and making it part of my entertainment system (either audio or video, or both) in the coming months, and what I want to know is IS it possible that I can do that with a garden variety PC (a/k/a.... a Dell Dimension 4600) that's going to be more of a "jack-of-all-trades" PC as well???"
What I want to do is crunch numbers which will allow me to keep up with a household budget every month, run an internet business on the side for extra income, surf the internet (with an always on connection via a cable modem or DSL), exchange e-mail with constiuents, play an ocassional game (but I am not a hard core gamer either) and download ".wav" and MP3 files off the internet and play an ocassional movie on the DVD drive every now and then. So, with that said then, my requirements are:
All that was stated above, plus the ability to do the following:
. HDTV decoding at 480i/480p/720p/1080i natively
. Recording HDTV to Hard Disk with the ability to download to DVD Recordable media using "TiVo" like functions
. Progressive Scan DVD output up to 1080p
. Dolby-Digital and DTS via S/PDIF and/or 7.1 Channel capability
And the software package that I plan to use to achieve this end includes:
. Microsoft Windows XP Home with Microsoft Plus
. "RealOne" Player Plus with Universal Media Playback
And now, here is how my PC is going to be speced when I finally go ahead and buy in early-to-mid August.
Dell Dimension 4600
. Pentium IV Processor at 2.8 GHz and 800 Mhz HT Technology
. 512 MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 400 Mhz (2 x 256 Mhz)
. Dell Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard
. Dell Two Button Scroll Mouse
. 64 Mhz ATI "All-In-Wonder" 9000 Pro with TV Out
. 120 GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Disk (7200 RPM)
. 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive
. 56K PCI Telephony Modem
. 16X DVD-ROM Drive
. 4X DVD+RW/+R Drive with CD-RW and Roxio's Easy CD Creater
. Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound Card with 5.1 Capability and Premium Sound
. Microsoft Windows XP Home with Microsoft Plus
. Earthlink Internet Access
Now, what I want to know is can I achieve all of the above (especially the audio/video functions) using this PC??? Do I have a good PC to begin with, but change some of the components and make some modifications inside of it in order for me to have me the great PC that I desire to have??? Or do I have to go a local vendor and make me a custom PC altogether like you guys are doing???
Any input or suggestion is highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for any replies that may come my way.
--Charles--
To any of you who can answer this question, my question is this:
"I have been reading with great interest the possibility of creating a new PC and making it part of my entertainment system (either audio or video, or both) in the coming months, and what I want to know is IS it possible that I can do that with a garden variety PC (a/k/a.... a Dell Dimension 4600) that's going to be more of a "jack-of-all-trades" PC as well???"
What I want to do is crunch numbers which will allow me to keep up with a household budget every month, run an internet business on the side for extra income, surf the internet (with an always on connection via a cable modem or DSL), exchange e-mail with constiuents, play an ocassional game (but I am not a hard core gamer either) and download ".wav" and MP3 files off the internet and play an ocassional movie on the DVD drive every now and then. So, with that said then, my requirements are:
All that was stated above, plus the ability to do the following:
. HDTV decoding at 480i/480p/720p/1080i natively
. Recording HDTV to Hard Disk with the ability to download to DVD Recordable media using "TiVo" like functions
. Progressive Scan DVD output up to 1080p
. Dolby-Digital and DTS via S/PDIF and/or 7.1 Channel capability
And the software package that I plan to use to achieve this end includes:
. Microsoft Windows XP Home with Microsoft Plus
. "RealOne" Player Plus with Universal Media Playback
And now, here is how my PC is going to be speced when I finally go ahead and buy in early-to-mid August.
Dell Dimension 4600
. Pentium IV Processor at 2.8 GHz and 800 Mhz HT Technology
. 512 MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 400 Mhz (2 x 256 Mhz)
. Dell Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard
. Dell Two Button Scroll Mouse
. 64 Mhz ATI "All-In-Wonder" 9000 Pro with TV Out
. 120 GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Disk (7200 RPM)
. 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive
. 56K PCI Telephony Modem
. 16X DVD-ROM Drive
. 4X DVD+RW/+R Drive with CD-RW and Roxio's Easy CD Creater
. Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound Card with 5.1 Capability and Premium Sound
. Microsoft Windows XP Home with Microsoft Plus
. Earthlink Internet Access
Now, what I want to know is can I achieve all of the above (especially the audio/video functions) using this PC??? Do I have a good PC to begin with, but change some of the components and make some modifications inside of it in order for me to have me the great PC that I desire to have??? Or do I have to go a local vendor and make me a custom PC altogether like you guys are doing???
Any input or suggestion is highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for any replies that may come my way.
--Charles--