Building an Itunes computer.

[poisonthewell]

1. buy the following:

sempron palermo
1gb corsair value select
pick one of these nf3 mobos in the $50-70 range
a hard drive that fits their space needs

2. if they want nice sound buy the chaintech sound card and a good 2.1 set of speakers (klipsch promedia or logitech z-2300) which will run anywhere from $100-125

3. buy a cheapo video card if the mobo you buy doesn't come with onboard video. might be a better idea to spend a few extra bucks on a mobo with integrated video than having to spend $30 on a crud card

4. . . .

5. make profit

edit: sorry i intentionally left out the case - i don't know much about cheapo cases (a white case? ugh)

 

[bleeb]

You probably need several things:

1. VERY large hard drive space, and expandability (backups & portability)
2. Decent processor / motherboard / RAM combos.
3. KICK ARSE soundcard.
4. KICK ARSE speakers.

See if there are anything thing else this person wants for the system.

 

[poisonthewell]

Originally posted by: bleeb
You probably need several things:

1. VERY large hard drive space, and expandability (backups & portability)
2. Decent processor / motherboard / RAM combos.
3. KICK ARSE soundcard.
4. KICK ARSE speakers.

See if there are anything thing else this person wants for the system.

Thanks I was wondering whether someone would summarize my post in more vague terms.

 

[thirdlegstump]

Point is, the Mac Mini will run iTunes faster than ANY PC as the software runs so much faster on MacOS X than Windows. Same goes with Quicktime. Also the Mac will come with just about everything he needs out of the box so he likely won't even have to buy any software. The software that comes with a Mac is very high quality, not the typical junk motherboard and PC manufacturers toss in the box. Tech support? He won't be needing it as Macs rarely have such trivial issues and with the warranty, Apple has his butt covered anyway. There's also the extensive Apple Tech Info Library on their site which I find a heck of a lot more useful and faster than having to Google for little issues. Audio in? I seriously doubt he'll be using that feature. If he does need it, there are many cheap USB-audio adapters available.

 

[gsiener]

Sorry to add to all this, but wouldn't you need to buy all new software for him, anyway?

Plus, he'll be able to use GarageBand if he gets a mac mini!

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: deathkoba
Point is, the Mac Mini will run iTunes faster than ANY PC as the software runs so much faster on MacOS X than Windows. Same goes with Quicktime.

I'm not sure if that's true or not. What I do know is that the G4 1.25 GHz and 512 MB RAM that comes with the base model Mac Mini is not going to run iTunes anywhere near as fast as a 1GB-equipped Sempron 64 2600+, regardless of which operating system you have. Upgrading to a G4-1.42 and 1 GB RAM isn't going to close the gap, either.

Also the Mac will come with just about everything he needs out of the box so he likely won't even have to buy any software. The software that comes with a Mac is very high quality, not the typical junk motherboard and PC manufacturers toss in the box.

Macs come with a few more bells and whistles than PCs, sure, but certainly nothing better than the freeware you can download for PCs (ex. Sound Forge & OpenOffice). Besides, with the money you save on a whitebox PC, you can buy better software than whatever's included with a Mini.

Tech support? He won't be needing it as Macs rarely have such trivial issues and with the warranty, Apple has his butt covered anyway. There's also the extensive Apple Tech Info Library on their site which I find a heck of a lot more useful and faster than having to Google for little issues.

Interactive support such as found on message boards here at Anandtech & annoyances.org are usually much more useful than any official tech support. And unless you shell out even more money than you're already paying to get a Mac, Apple only gives you 90 days of tech support.

Audio in? I seriously doubt he'll be using that feature. If he does need it, there are many cheap USB-audio adapters available.

I'm not so sure. A lot of people--especially music-lovers--use both mic- and line-in ports for various purposes. Maybe he likes to make his own music. Maybe he enjoys voice chatting. Or maybe he wants to convert old tapes to CD. There are any number of possibilities.

But that's only the least of many reasons not to get a Mac Mini.

Consider the following...

For an iTunes media center, you'll need two key features: a DVD burner so that you can archive your purchased music, and also a large hard disk so that you don't have to swap DVDs every time you want to hear a song. That means a satisfactorily-configured Mac Mini is going to cost *at least* $652.38--and that's only if you buy through the education discount program. For that amount of money, you could buy a low-end gaming PC!

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: gsiener
Sorry to add to all this, but wouldn't you need to buy all new software for him, anyway?

No. Why would you think that?

Plus, he'll be able to use GarageBand if he gets a mac mini!

Firstly, nothing here indicates he needs a multitrack music editor. Secondly, he couldn't use GarageBand without a $40 or more external sound device. Finally, with a Windows PC, you can use Audacity for free--or, if you don't mind pirated software, the stellar Adobe Audition.

 

[Djhazzard]

Get him a Mac mini, or a any mac system!

 

[Djhazzard]

Not true. You can use Garage Band with the Mac's stock speakers.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: Djhazzard
Not true. You can use Garage Band with the Mac's stock speakers.

The Mac Mini doesn't come with speakers, but that's not even the point. The Mini has no audio input. While technically you can still use the software, its primary function--audio recording--requires a sound source.

But that's not the point, either. All this about the Mac Mini's inferiority is only icing on the cake. The bottom line is that this fellow is *not* going to buy Apple, period. To argue the issue doesn't help at all.

 

[ShadowBlade]

Originally posted by: itr
get him a dell, add a Chaintech AV-710 sound card and a nice pair of speakers. hmm, i wounder if you can diable dell's onboard sound.

i had a dell and i put a creative sound card in it, worked fine
if this friend is computer illiterate (sp?), just put electric tape or something over the dell audio ports

 

[ncasebee]

Thx guys. You've all been really really helpful, except for the incessant Mac stuff. LoL. Thx for the input anyway. Now I just gotta order this stuff.