a pre-built PC that would also serve as a good receiver

[rdukeman]

I have a close friend who is redoing his backyard. He mentioned that he wanted to install speakers in his new patio and have them connected to his computer inside. Since he is in need of a new computer I recommended buying one that could also serve as a receiver.

Is this a good viable option?

He did some research and found that having speakers run via a network / bluetooth is too unreliable, is it?

In the event that he runs wires, what recommendations would be given to someone that wants to do this?

I assume that a good sound card is needed. One that also picks up AM / FM frequencies as well. My friend has a library of thousands of songs on an external hard drive.

As far as the computer is concerned he does not game with it unless he is really bored. Nothing super fancy is needed but something that will last for the next 7 years would be ideal.

his budget is 500$ give or take and the only thing that is needed is the PC since he has a monitor, speakers (new), mouse, keyboard, etc.

Thank you!!

 

[Jimmah]

I thought the network media players have audio out, if so I think one of those would suit his needs, something like a WD TV or Asus O!Play could work. that is if he just wants a media player for outdoors.

Otherwise, he could get any manner of pre-built machine, as most have decent musical playing onboard sound. Only thinkg is I would likely use a reciever to do the amplification, unless the system he already has comes with an amp. I'm no expect though, more research would be needed

 

[tysjiang]

It's much simply and easier if you get a regular receiver to do the job instead of a computer. A computer will have a tons of bells and whistles when compared to a receiver but if your friend just need something to play music, the receiver is the way to go. It's also much cheaper than a pc and will require much less tweaking to get everything right.

 

[wirednuts]

i would suggest going to mp3car.com and check out what people do for their cars. they turn windows pc's into extremely easy to use touchscreen media servers, without a lot of initial setup either. some of these guys even put pc's in their walls next to the light switches. with the software frontends they use, it makes it stupid easy to play music, turn things on and off, and whatever else you might want (theyre even talking to their computers now, and the computers are talking back)

use riderunner with a skin like dfx5 and you can make a killer jukebox/receiver pc at a very low cost. you wont need a super fast or expensive pc at all.

 

[beginner99]

I thought the network media players have audio out, if so I think one of those would suit his needs, something like a WD TV or Asus O!Play could work. that is if he just wants a media player for outdoors.

this.