Need help setting up a computer rig

[Early B.]

A friend of mine is in the process of setting up a computer rig. He wants to set it up in his family room, so it needs to "blend" in with the room (and not look like a computer rig).

There are two main questions --

1) how can he set it up to look good? Example -- he has already purchased an 80 GB external hard drive that comes in a nice aluminum chassis that would look fine in a family room.

2) what else does he need to set it up? He already has a 2-channel system in the room that includes a CD player, amp, tube pre and speakers. Would a laptop computer work? External sound card needed? If so, what brand? What kind of software is best?

Also, he's trying to keep the cost at a minimum (say, less than $700).

Thanks.

[bobman1235]

I have no idea why your friend decided to waste money on an external hard drive, but I guess it's too late to worry about that.

If he DOESNT' go the laptop route (if he does there's really not much to discuss...), to get it to really look good he'd have to build it himself. $700 is a great budget, I've build some nice PCs for that. But if all he's worried about is aesthetics, all he really needs to do is find a case that he likes and a place to put it. There are some cases Like this, for example that look just like stereo components. Then it's just a matter of slappin components in it (motherboard / processor, DVD-ROM, memory, video card). A lot of motherboards come with decent sound on them, and with S/PDIF out too, which makes connections a breeze.

This is why I don't understand the choice of an external hard drive - now he jsut has one more thing to worry about putting somewhere.

[PolkThug]

The problem I've had with laptops connected to receivers is that when the laptop starts to heat up, it turns the fan speed up/on higher in the laptop. This induces noise into the line out. I tried to remedy this by setting up an external sound card via USB and it didn't help.

[PolkThug]

Originally posted by bobman1235

This is why I don't understand the choice of an external hard drive - now he jsut has one more thing to worry about putting somewhere.

Just tuck the external hard drive inside the case. :)

[Early B.]

Nice case!!

He bought an external hard drive to send to a friend in another state who will copy a very extensive library of music onto the hard drive and send it back to him.