Plan to build media pc with am/fm/cd/dvd player

[Charyuluavln]

Hi All

I am planning to build a Media pc.

i have athlon 3200 , asus motherboard. and windows 64 .

what i am planning to achive is to have a media center.

It should have a am/fm/mp3 cd player which will work without starting the pc.

If i can put a cassette deck would be good --


I need help on how do i achive a am/fm/mp3 cd player which will work without starting the pc.

I also need help on picking Case, powersupply, memory, video card ( with hd tv tuner)

Thanks

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Just looking at the big picture here.... is this "media pc" going to be a hometheater computer?

If so, are you going to hook it up to a real sound system? If you are, your receiver will be able to play am/fm, and you could get a really cheap CD player / DVD player with mp3 support that will play.

I think having a computer than can have a cd drive that can read without the computer on and output to a soundcard that's working without the computer on would be quite a task. They might make something like that, but I haven't seen it.

As for cassette deck, I think you're totally stuck with getting a real player and connecting it to your computer or receiver.

In my own situation, my computer has kind of become another input device rather than the center of attention it used to be in my system. A receiver is perfect for what you're planning as it will have plenty of inputs that will allow you to switch between inputs and the computer doesn't need to be on to do anything other than when it's the input you want.

I don't know if this is what you had in mind, but personally I couldn't go back to a system without a receiver (or pre-amp / processor) now that I'm used to it.

I guess it comes down to your budget and what you were planning on using for your sound system.

A really cheap route would be to get an A/V switcher and hook that up to your speakers (I'm assuming now that you're using some computer speakers). You could use a really cheap portable radio with line-out (or headphone out) for the radio, a really cheap DVD player for music, and a tape player. If you get an A/V switcher with four inputs, that would allow you to switch between the different source devices without having the computer on.

I don't know if I'm on the right track at all for what you're planning.

I think there are a couple small form factor PCs that come close to what you want to do. I remember a really ugly orange one that I want to say is made by MSI or ASUS? I really didn't pay too much attention to them, but I think that might be a good thing to look into if you're looking for a computer solution.

EDIT: not the one I was thinking of, but example

EDIT2: oh, and that's not an A64 based one either, so I don't mean you should get that one specifically.

 

[piasabird]

Cant wait to see: "How can I digitalize my old 8 Track Tapes?"

I have seen an article on a 5.5" Slot Tape Player!

I saw this once before somewhere. . . Plus Deck!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/drives/6908

 

[Charyuluavln]

Hi thanks for the details message. I actually got the idea from the link you provided.

It seems trying to put everything under one control seems to be a problem. I will exclude that option as i already have couple of dvd players which does mp3.

When i look at the MSI Product. It looks like they integrated car cd player into the system. If so is it possible with standard pc configuration.

thanks again.

Charyuluavln

 

[Charyuluavln]

Thank you piasabird for the link regarding plus deck .. After reading about the product and what it does. I wont be going that route.

I might try some thing such as striping an walkman and fitting it into the and see if can rip the music into pc.

Thanks
Charyuluavln

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you put a tape player in your computer, you can run the output to the line-in on your soundcard like I meantioned above for a radio.

So you're using a regular set of computer speakers for this setup?

 

[Charyuluavln]

Yes.
i have two tvs and three peoples to share where choices are different and i like to listen to music while working at home .. and the current audio system is connected to tv and works as home theater. I am planning to use regular computer speakers.