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[millertivo]

First, I got Tivo HMO which got me to rip my 200+ cd collection.  Then came Media Center which got me to tag and organize.  Now I looking to turn an old computer a friend gave me into an exclusive media computer.

The computer is a Pentium II / 233 MHz / 64 MB Ram / 3 GB hard drive / XP Professional.  I'm curious as to what others have at a minimum.  I plan on upgrading the RAM to the maximum that it will take - 384 MB and I'm going to get another hard drive.  I figure the hard drive is a good investment because and better place for all my musice than my laptop.  And memory is just so cheap now.

If the computer is exclusively devoted to running Media Center will the 233 MHz be a problem?  There is a CD player which I plan to use only for ripping.

As for audio output: Is there a special card I should get.  I know I can get an adapter that turns the standard little audio out jack into 2 RCAs to go into my stereo.  Is the sound acceptable?  Should I be looking for something else?

Any advice any can offer is appreciated.  Thanks!

[Matt]

Are you going to hook it to a TV and use Hairstyle?

That's what I do and I love it.  (heck, it even passes the wife test)

If you do that, you may want to buy a faster CPU instead of more memory. (a fast PII should be like $20 now)

Let us know how you make out with your project

[nila]

I'd recommend taking XP off of it as well unless u have some desperate need for it.

For a system with those spec's I'd use Win98 SE.


WinXP uses up too much memory etc just to exist - 98 had a much lower memory overhead.

[Bartabedian]

My first MC only system was a 233...and that lasted about a month. Doing most tag functions, getting artwork, converting formats just crawled along, and I pulled my hair out. I pushed it to a PIII 600E, and that made it 9 months. It was better at all functions 3X over, but it still lagged at certain functions (like thumbnail views, hairstyle, tagging and the inherent "frozen MC pause" when utilizing a very large library as mine. The pause could go on for nearly a minute.) Now I have it on a 2.5G and it's very happy no matter what I do (although the "pause" still exists, it holds for only about a second or two at worst.)

I hate to disagree with Nila (cause it's rare) but stay away from 98SE. Yes, that system is a bit low on space for XP, so get more space. 384 of RAM is fine, but XP likes to be installed on HD's larger than 4G, and the best setup is to have at least 4-6G of free space on your OS drive at all times.

Good luck!

[drosoph]

Just a note, since you said you started with TiVo HMO .. if you plan to still use the TiVo HMO with a 233MHz  ... make SURE you rip using MP3 compression .. the conversion from OGG/WMA/etc to MP3 on-the-fly for HMO would probably die on a 233!

[nila]

WoW...

Thanks Warren

I thought I just droned on a bit and got annoying with all my requests and asking. Glad to know I'm not that bad and at least one person usually agree's

THANKS!!  

[millertivo]

Everyone, thanks for the advice.

Now one more question:

Option 1: Upgrade this old Pentium II's memory to 384 mb (the max) for about $90 (based on shopping around for 3 128 mb); Buy a large internal hard drive for about $120.  All in all I would spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $170.

Option 2: CompUSA is running an in-store special for $299 on an e-Machine Celeron 2.2 ghz 128 mb ram 40 gb hard drive.  (I could probably get similar from Dell or HP at $400 tops - I don't know about e-Machine's quality).

I'm leaning toward Option 2 because it seems you are saying that it would better to have the faster processor than the more memory.  I only have about 7 gbs (I rip MP3 at 128 bit rate) of music and phots, so while a larger hard drive would be better down the road I probably woudn't need the hard drive space before I would need faster speed.

[nila]

I'd say buy a new machine personally.

Old ones just aren't worth the hassle.

The prices are SOOO low these days.


U can buy motherboards with almost EVERYTHING built into them including 5.1 audio. Then all you need ontop of that is Hard Drive - as big as u need for your collect. A case, CPU and RAM.

Thats pretty much it for your system. I can buy systems from shops for just over 200 so I'm sure if u build it urself u can do something similar. Biggest cost will be the big hard drive but that's just dependant on how big u need.

[AndyCircuit]

Hi, remember the limitations of the bios from the old motherboard. Maybe it supports only 32GB Hd's and you have to upgrade the bios. ( Got this problem with my old PII 350, but it is a Asus board so there was a new bios on the Asus site and I can run my 40GB HD now. Sometimes it is hard to find out even the brand) If then it's a 'exotic' one and you can't find a new bios you have to buy a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM anyway. (Or a seperate HD controllercard)
I myself would check whats in ebay for let's say $200
Andy

B.T.W. and even if everything works at last don't think of using 3D visualizations  

[Bartabedian]

See, Nila's right again!

Get more RAM if you go for the setup that has only 128...XP will want at least 256.

And AC has a good point, some of those older MB's just won't take large HD's unless they've been diligent about upgrading the bios or the old bios\mb just won't handle the 40G's and over.

WP

[kiwi]

I say get a new machine.  Throw linux on the old one and do something interesting with it... get a new one for $300-400 and have fun.  It'll be SO much faster!!!  Plus, you don't have to deal with as many hardward issues.  (like large HD support not being there.)

kiwi

[millertivo]

My first MC only system was a 233...and that lasted about a month.

Well, the old 233 lasted about 2 days.  I found a great deal on an eMachine 2.4ghz, 40gb hd, 128 mb ram - $299.  I it have connected to the home stereo and the home network so that I can remote desktop into it (I didn't get another monitor).  So much faster!

[LisaRCT]

I am doing similar, converting an older (AMD K2-550, 500MB of PC133 RAM - Win2K) into a media center only machine. I will still be using my regular PC (AMD XP2100+ WinXP) for tagging, ripping, etc. as well as the home for all my media files which reside on it's extra 200GB HDD (just for media).
Files are accessed by the Media Computer through network sharing and MC9's Media Server. I am just starting to play with this set-up and pretty much flying blind.
Eventually I will upgrate my PC to a faster unit, turn this one into a MediaCenter - only machine, and perhaps use the old 550 for a file server. . . . since my library keeps growing (as does my hard drive collection).
All in all this is fun, ya learn alot playing with it, but it can get expensive.  Hey, it keeps me off the streets at night, and for a girl that's a good thing