Newbie needing project suggestions & advice please!

[danb]

Greeting Everyone,

I’m a long time lurker, and jukebox wannabe for a while.  Now its time for me to start a specific project, so I thought I would post asking for advice and recommendations.

First, I’ll let you know the expectations of the project.  This unit will reside in a restored vintage Airstream travel trailer.  It is intended to operate only on 110v, using typical “consumer” equipment.  The ideal setup will include a separate hidden cpu, wireless keyboard & mouse, and a 15” or 17” LCD wall mounted.

I really like the looks of the DOScab/WinCab Jukebox interface. I would be able to build a very nice frame around the LCD to keep the vintage look.

I would like to have some additional abilities also though.  Is it possible to also control a movie video library that the cpu would output to a second larger monitor?  We intend to also have a 27”+/- LCD for regular TV/DVD.  What kind of interface is available to control this?

Finally, I would also like to use the system as a simple picture frame display.  I currently use Compupic for slideshows.

So, I look forward to building this AV system.  I’m pretty open on hardware, as long it’s not at crazy prices!  I realize were not talking P3 here….

I do want this to be WinXP or preferable Vista.

I look forward to your suggestions and thoughts!

DanB

[severdhed]

if I understand correctly, just about any PC you find can handle this.  the video card would be the only issue here.  you need to determine what kind of monitors you will have connected, and what kind of inputs do they have available.  if you are using only PC Monitors, then make sure your video card has dual outputs (either VGA or DVI...you can use adaptors if you need to)  if you are planning on connecting this to a standard or hi-def TV, then you will need a card with a video output (composite, s-video, or component)  some Hi Def displays have VGA or DVI inputs, but that would really depend on the model.   

you can get remote controls that connect to your PC to control it like a standard av component.  as for software, you have some options..it really depends on what you want to accomplish.  if you go with windows media center edition, it will have alot of the funtionality that you are looking for already built in.  or, you could probably use a front end like MALA with some heavy customization to launch your other applications.

personally, if I were doing this, I would choose XP over Vista, it is much more stable at this point in time, and doesnt require as many system resources.   

I am assuming that since you have all of these questions, you probably aren't comfortable with building your own PC.   (if I am wrong, i apologize) So, when selecting a pc, stay away from celeron processors, i'd personally recommend either a Intel Core 2 Duo, or an AMD Athlon 64X2 processor, at least 1gb(1024MB) of ram, and if you are planning on storing alot of movies/music on this PC, i'd go with around a 500gb hard drive.  the only other thing to make sure of is the video card.  anything listed with "integrated" or "on-board" graphics is bad.  you want a dedicated video card with multiple outputs.  but like i said before, you need to know what types of inputs are available on your monitors so you can get a card that is capable of connecting to them.

i don't know what your budget is like, you could build a nice PC for around $700.  if you choose to go with one of those $300 dells, make sure you don't skimp on the RAM. at that price range, they will probably all have integrated graphics, just make sure they have a PCI express 16 slot, so that you could install a better video card. 

[Avrus]

I would like to have some additional abilities also though.  Is it possible to also control a movie video library that the cpu would output to a second larger monitor?  We intend to also have a 27”+/- LCD for regular TV/DVD.  What kind of interface is available to control this?

Any version of vista with media center would work great.  You can get a remote seperately or you could get a video card with a remote but your video card is going to have to support TV out.

Finally, I would also like to use the system as a simple picture frame display.  I currently use Compupic for slideshows.

Same as above.  Vista will do this natively.

personally, if I were doing this, I would choose XP over Vista, it is much more stable at this point in time, and doesnt require as many system resources.   

What are you basing this on?  I've been running Vista since the Beta 1 as a replacement for Media Center and it outperforms it, both in terms of reliability and performance. 

[Austin.Wolff]

I would like to have some additional abilities also though.  Is it possible to also control a movie video library that the cpu would output to a second larger monitor?  We intend to also have a 27”+/- LCD for regular TV/DVD.  What kind of interface is available to control this?

Any version of vista with media center would work great.  You can get a remote seperately or you could get a video card with a remote but your video card is going to have to support TV out.

Finally, I would also like to use the system as a simple picture frame display.  I currently use Compupic for slideshows.

Same as above.  Vista will do this natively.

personally, if I were doing this, I would choose XP over Vista, it is much more stable at this point in time, and doesnt require as many system resources.   

What are you basing this on?  I've been running Vista since the Beta 1 as a replacement for Media Center and it outperforms it, both in terms of reliability and performance. 

I don't know about stability, but there is so much software at the moment that isn't working with Vitsa + the higher system requirements.

[Zebidee]

I've found that P4 3.0 Ghz, 512mb ram, socket 775 motherboard works very sweetly for cabs.  The CPUs run much cooler on socket 775 mobos than the socket 478 ones, and this is important as cabinets can trap hot air.  Modest AGP video cards works fine, say ATI 9250 or 9550.  It is fast enough for most arcade-style games.  And plenty fast enough for other common applications too.

Such a system would be about 1/2 the price of a Core 2 Duo system or similar.

[Austin.Wolff]

I've found that P4 3.0 Ghz, 512mb ram, socket 775 motherboard works very sweetly for cabs.  The CPUs run much cooler on socket 775 mobos than the socket 478 ones, and this is important as cabinets can trap hot air.  Modest AGP video cards works fine, say ATI 9250 or 9550.  It is fast enough for most arcade-style games.  And plenty fast enough for other common applications too.

Such a system would be about 1/2 the price of a Core 2 Duo system or similar.

Don't buy Intel Dual Cores, ew.



Okay so maybe that is overclocked, but I payed half of what I would have for the top of the line Intel chip.

[DaOld Man]

Hey Austin.Wolff, that looks like a neat PC utility.
Is that a free download or was it packaged with your MB?
If its a freebie, please tells us where you got it..
I am using cpuz, which is neat, and free.... if anyone is interested I will dig up the link..)