For those interested in a BookPC!!! warm

[YahooUser]

If anyone's interested in a BookPC..
go to PCcentury.com
BookPC (upto celeron 600) with free shipping $195
Celeron 600 about $85 tax/shipped
256meg PC100 (it only takes that) about $65 tax/shipped
20-30gig 5400rpm HD (only ATA33) about $100 tax/shipped
so everying in total less than $450 tax and shipped..
PLEASE dont bash... estimated prices for those who
are interested in a BookPC only the BookPC price is
on that website...Other deals can be found elsewhere..

It has everything built in..
sound and video onboard
56k modem and 10/100NIC
2 usb and printer port (but no serial)
both S-video and RCA output..
wireless keyboard..
floppy and best of all 4x DVD!!!!

 

[Holycrap]

any thoughts on this system? It looks like it would be nice to integrate into a home theater system.
I've searched for other bookpcs and this seems to be the best price, but I've seen the black model elsewhere and can't figure out the difference - if it is just the case color that changes the price so much.

 

[kracker97]

the color of the case and it comes with a 16X dvd and generic speakers.... this would work just as well as those.. oh... I guess those do support the FC-PGA PIII Processors to if you needed that... this does look like about the best deal I've seen buy about $20 or so

kracker97

 

[Holycrap]

I just need something that'll serve as a DVD player, MP3 player and websurfing system . . getting only a few hours of use a week. I'm guessing if I toss 128MB Ram and a 600 Celeron in there, I'd do just fine . . . would you agree?
Thanks
HC

 

[theSpartan]

We sold some at work and had lots of problems with them. Mostly the power supply and cmos had problems. Plus the ones we sold had No expansion slots. If you need expansion slots, the Dell Optiplex seems to be a good machine. But, the price will be a lot higher.

 

[kracker97]

oh yeah... you sould most likely get away with 32meg and a celeron 300 for a basic dvd/mp3 player... I think this may be what I'm going to go with also

kracker97

 

[JdoubleOe703]

It's not worth the money. I had it and felt that it was nice as a small pc, but the display for the tv was really bad. I ended up just selling it. Just buy a notebook or a pc with a nice video out card.

 

[YahooUser]

The black model supports PIII up to 800mhz at 100mhz fsb..
The cream model supports celeron up to 600mhz at 66mhzfsb...
difference in price is about $80
also the black model has dolby digital output for 5.1 surround
if you have a decoder and 5 speaker and sub...

It's not made for a desktop replacement...
maybe a spare unit for the bed room where you
can watch an occasional DVD before bed or do
a little surfing before bed...
The wireless keyboard\mouse(thumb device) comes in handy..
I've watched a few DVD movies on it... the screen flickers
once every 15 minutes to refresh memory... next to that
it works just fine (have it hooked up to a 27" TV)

 

[DongTran]

There is a new metallic model that's been around, and it also supports FCPGA processors up to 133mhz fsb.

BookPC2

I've dealt with that company in Milpitas before. They are a very small business, but the service is excellent and they really help you out. I've resold about 9 of the original BookPCs, and a few of the newer ones, with only one problem with one of the original ones where the modem wasn't working, so I brought it back, and I didn't even have the box or anything, just as long as you had the receipt, they'll slap you another one.

That company, E-mail PC, also sells at Robert Austin computer shows in the Bay Area and they have a lot of goodies...

Robert Austin

 

[aCiDReflux]

I like that black one for the entertainment center... Does anyone know what FSB the Black w/ DVD supports?

 

[YahooUser]

aCiDReflux,

the black model only supports 100mhz fsb and pc100 ram..
they have them at AxionTech.com for $269 (no profit on shipping)
I'm not sure if it is ATA33 or ATA66..
I have one.. it looks sharp..only put a 5400rpm HD in it..

but personally, because of all the built-on stuff...
the system is NOT a desktop replacement..
you're better off not wasting a PIII on it...
get the cream case at PCcentury.com for $195 shipped...
you can put a celeron 600 in it..
Works great as a bedroom PC to watch DVD or surf at night..

 

[AlphaVMS]

I've bought a couple of BookPCs from Fry's. The model number was FC1Z and had built-in Ethernet and one PCI slot. There was another model without built-in Ethernet, but it also had a PCI slot. The local Fry's no longer carries them, but the manufacturer was Q-lity. The motherboard was i810-based and had the 4MB video cache option. The motherboard supported FCPGA Celerons and PIIIs with 66MHz, 100MHz, and 133MHz clocks. The built-in Ethernet was 3Com and the modem is an AMR card (which I would gladly have sacrificed for another PCI slot).

I bought one for my Internet gateway (I stuck an Ethernet card in the PCI slot) and the other I used to replace my wife's mid-tower system. I also replaced her 17" CRT with a 15" LCD so now her complete system fits in less room than the old monitor.

I've seen the BookPC mentioned above at a couple of computer shows and this one is about the same size. The big difference is the floppy and CDROM drive on this unit are laptop-sized (but the hard drive is still 3.5&quot.

 

[ccity]

I just built a small box to run Linux, for about $150..maybe this will help someone..

Gateway Intel Mboard (no overclocking) - $21 compgeeks.com
Celeron 300A $30 shipped - anandtech for sale forum
64MB PC100 $24 shipped - crucial.com
48X CD free - staples (from hot deasl forum)
mini ATX case $50 shipped - myaopen.com (nice case they have a few nice ones)

This machine would be a fine for MP3s just add a decent hard drive, you could also switch the 48X for a DVD drive and pick up a cheap MPEG2 decodeer with TV out and make it a DVD player...

 

[DongTran]

Actually the black BookPC @ EmailPC supports FCPGA processors and 133fsb...

 

[aCiDReflux]

I probably won't use it as a DVD player so the screen flicker isn't bad. I'll most likely network it and play cds off the network and use it to surf the net in the living room on my big screen. Might be pimp
Anyone know about the linux support on these? I want to use windows but I really don't want the screen to look like a computer with start button and all that since I'll only want to run very few programs on it. Know what I mean?

 

[YahooUser]

ccity,

you said you spent $150 then add a cheap HD and swap out the Cd with a DVD and add a Video card for TV output...

the way I see it. you have to spend $50 for DVD and $50 for VC and add $50 for you HD.. that comes out to be $300...But do you have a 56k modem? 10\100NIC? wireless keyboard? Plus all your parts except the case are used..

A new bookPC with celeron 600 (yours 300) 256meg RAM (yours 64)and new 20-30gig 5400rpm HD will be less than $450...

I'm not bashing.. just point out the $$$ trail...
IF ANYONE HAS SPARE PARTS HANGING AROUND THEN CCITY'S PLAN IS WORTH A LOOK...

also is there room inside the Aopen case to add pci\agp cards??
I saw the case.. LOOKS SHARP... I have some spare parts and it looks interesting...

 

[Holycrap]

Question:
Does anyone know if the pccentury model with a Celeron 600 is going to run fast enough to let me play DivX encoded material onto a television set and whether the lower resolution on the TV will result in really poor picture quality?
Thanks
HC

 

[jl1cam]

I bought the barebone BookPC from Directron (around $200 with shipping) several weeks ago specifically to use in my living room as a set-top computer. I was able to replace the CD-ROM that it came with, with my own DVD drive, and used my own HD, RAM, and CPU (500 Celeron) that I had laying around as spare parts. I went with a BookPC mainly because of size. I wanted something small enough to fit in my entertainment center.

Because it comes with an integrated Ethernet port, I was able to connect it to my main computer, and use the main computer as a server. I connected the BookPC to my Sony receiver and ProScan 32" TV.

Using this setup, there are numerous functions this BookPC can perform. I can do the following:

Listen to music: CDs, MP3s, and Internet Radio stations. (It's especially cool when you use some of the neat visual plug-ins for Winamp. I never used them on my PC, but love watching it on my TV.)

Watch moves: DVDs, VCDs and DivX movies.

Cruise the Internet: Take advantage of all the interactive TV sites such as Enhanced TV on ABC.

Sing karaoke songs: CD+G mp3s are readily available on the Internet, and only playable on a PC

Play games: Have not done this yet, since I have a Sega Dreamcast.

Now in terms of video quality, I will admit that watching DivX or MPEG2 movies is not as sharp as watching a DVD movie on a top of the line DVD player. However, it is very reasonable, and other than the occasional skip, I can hardly notice. It is very comparable to watching a VHS tape. DivX movies actually look better on your television compared to your monitor due to the lower resolution.

I will probably buy a DVD player soon, only because they are getting so cheap. However, I will still use the BookPC to listen to tunes, sing songs, and use as a WebTV.

If you have some spare parts and interested in making your own set-top computer, I would highly recommend using a BookPC.

 

[future]

jl1cam, just curious, you said you have you set top computer connected to you ethernet and using main computer as a server. So why the hell couldn't you just connect you main computer to your TV and stereo and use wireless keyboard and mouse that you are probably using now with set top pc?
This is how I have it setup. My TV is not progressive scan though, so browsing on my 21' FD trinitron is much better.

 

[jl1cam]

future, there were several reasons why I didn't use my main computer:

My main computer is in a tower case that is in a different room at the other end of the house, and there was not any convenient location close to the TV in the living room to put it. Also, it has so many fans that it would probably be too loud.

I also did not want to use my main computer exclusively as an entertainment computer. I also do some web programming and video editing on it. It's much more comfortable to do this sitting on a desk in front of a 19" monitor. Plus I'm on the computer a lot, so I don't want to hog up the TV from the rest of my family just so I can work on my computer.

Finally, I just liked the challenge of trying to build this set-top machine. It originally started out with me looking at an APEX DVD player because it could play MP3s. However, I also wanted to sing songs. There are some DVD player that can play CD+G songs, but none could play CD+G mp3s (which are, ahem, available on the Internet for free unlike CD+G CDs, which are $20 a pop for 10 songs). Using it as a WebTV was just a bonus.

 

[future]

I didn't mean putting your main computer into the living room, I have mine in the basement with s-video and audio cables running to the living room. When I feel like watching a movie I just turn on multimonitor option. I do use book pcs at work though:
pic1
pic2

 

[teebee]

Hows the noise level on these things? I'd hate to have a loud power supply attached to my audio/video system.