Trying to create a "media center" for around $400.

"Media center" may not be an appropriate term, but I don't know any other word for what I want.

What I have is a laptop and a desktop PC. The desktop PC is going to be connected to a TV and be primarily used as a hub to watch YouTube videos and HD content. The laptop goes with me everywhere and plugs back into an external monitor when I come home.

Here's what I need to make that happen:

- A Bluetooth adapter.
- A Bluetooth mouse/keyboard (has to be ergonomic).
- A LCD monitor to plug into.
- A cheap, CHEAP nVidia graphics card that can play HD content (nVidia doesn't even support my old card anymore).
- A bit more memory for my desktop PC.

I'm having serious trouble finding a Bluetooth mouse/keyboard without it being too expensive. I want it to move it between my laptop area and my desktop center without any hassle. I chose Bluetooth because my laptop has only 3 USB ports and I only have to take away one instead of 2 or all 3.

The monitor I'm looking at is $260.00 and the graphics card is going to be around $20-50. The memory will be about $40 and the adapter $20. That leaves about $30-50 for the Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo.

You guys can help me find a great keyboard/mouse. I've been having trouble finding Bluetooth keyboard mouse combos at a decent price range. Do I have to extend my budget to make this possible?

 

Hmm, I know its not nVidia, but this is an excellent card for your purposes: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814140106
Also, what ram sticks do you have?

Also, you may want to consider going wireless instead of bluetooth as it will save you quite a bit.
Here's a very cheap mouse and keyboard combo for $25 from Logitech: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126041

Or you could go with a combination of these two for about $45:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126052
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826105042

 

this is a dell's bluetooth mouse KB combo, looks pretty well... they do however state it won't do VISTA, but what i really think is that the drivers/stack for the bluetooth module from dell may not be vista cert. but i think it should be cheap..

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&sku=310-8142

 

The card I have is a PCI interface only. I don't think that card can fit anywhere on my motherboard.

3 USB ports go a long way, and I have hopes to use the keyboard on my PS3. If Bluetooth is really expensive, I'll stick with wireless (buying a USB hub for my laptop).

 

Bluetooth devices are expensive since it's only for high end stuff right now.

Since you are limited to PCI, the best card for HD content is the Radeon HD2400 PCI. A bit expensive though (~$100). I'm curious to see if your CPU is strong enough to even play HD medias though, since you don't even have AGP. Or do you have AGP? You may be able to save a little bit on the HD2400.

 

You should list your Desktop specs. Its possible your CPU could end up bottlenecking your HD stream

 

You dont even need a "real video card" for HD, just a good cpu. My $300 HTPC does full 1080p without trying and it just has an IGP (though a good IGP)

I just got a logitech wireless keyboard/mouse combo for $20 but its IR not bluetooth, if you need to save money and your ok with IR thats a big place to save.

Also I am a bit confused, why do you need an LCD monitor, its connected to the TV right?

 

If you have a fast single core or slow dual core processor, you can play 1080P videos without a discrete graphic card. Even my netbook with intel atom n270 and intel gma 950 can play 1080P blue ray rips from the internet.

 

It's a P4 HT clocked at 3.0GHz. The card is a NVIDIA GeForce 5200 FX. The computer itself is a Dell Dimension 4300 (I think, it's not with me right now).

Plus, after looking at ATI and NVIDIA's website, they recommend a 300W+ power supply. That will set me back about $30, since I only have a 250W supply.

I saw the HD2400 for about $60 and a 9400 GT for $75. How does the two compare?

The keyboard/mouse will be always be traveling to two different places, my TV area and my computer area. The computer area will have the LCD monitor, which adds into account the "complete package." That's a much better word to use than "media center."

However, if buying two wireless keyboard/mouse sets is cheaper than a Bluetooth option, I'll definitely go that route.

Heh, after seeing the price of the graphics card, I began to wonder how much building a new PC would cost. It certainly would be overkill for my needs, but I got a complete machine for under $700 using AMD's newest platform.

 

If you copied my htpc build the power savings alone would make up the cost of the unit and it would preform better than your current rig.

P4 are hot and use lots of power, very bad for htpc work.

here is my wishlist of parts that I used: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=11010688

except I upgraded the hdd to a 1TB model for $99 on sale at the time.

look how cheap that is, and its all low power parts, so its cool & quite & easy on the power bill.

 

A P4 3.0ghz with HT can play 15-20Mbit/s H.264 1080P blueray quality videos with the right codec.

 

Ya, your desktop should play videos just fine.

I think you should go with the HD2400. It's got an HDMI out, while the 9400GT only has a HDTV out.

 

For bluetooth keyboard/mouse, check this guy's listings.

He's sold a couple in the last few weeks.


This rocketfish set goes for $100 at bestbuy- it sold for under $20.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=290310527813