Wanted: Absolutely quiet PC just for reading text.

[bupkus]

I have an account with Oreilly's Safari so I would like to just quietly read my text. I suppose a wireless laptop would be best, but since my computer chair is my best chair for reading I can use one of my LCD screens and save $$.

First, there's the newly released Mac Mini. The best probably, but not the cheapest.
Second, there's a SFF by Biostar, such as the 210V which is well... pretty quiet.
Third, there's the Shuttle ST62K with an external brick PS (currently with a $100 rebate).
Fourth, there's the VIA Mini ITX which isn't as cheap as one would hope.
Fifth, is the PIC from AMD which is, I don't know what.

Opinions are welcome.

 

[MrCodeDude]

You could just build your own system and use passive cooling components.

 

[thirdlegstump]

I'd just get the Mac Mini. Simple to setup and no building required. I can't even hear mine even when ambient room noise is super low.

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
You could just build your own system and use passive cooling components.

Yes, but I want small and cheap for this special use build, but I just may have to settle for smaller and cheap.

 

[ribbon13]

Headphones?

Mac Mini

 

[stevty2889]

Don't need anything specatuclar for reading text, you could build an older system that uses passive cooling. I have an almost totaly silent PC, it's got a 1.6ghz mobile northwood, with a theraltake heatsink, with adjustable fan speed, turned to low, 120mm case fans, the only thing that isn't silent is the PSU, but it's extremely quiet.

 

[ribbon13]

Dell Optiplex G150
Boeing surplus store. $215.

 

[Zepper]

You can build a PC with the Via/Cyrix C3 processor (using a regular microATX mobo) that would need no fan at all. Put a small Samsung HD (the current quietude champ) in there if you need one and call it a day. A very inexpensive solution. The only tricky part might be finding a decent Socket-370 mobo these days to supports the C3...
. You might also consider a Duron with a Speeze Falcon Rock HSF (has 80mm fan) - put it on a Zalman fan mate. Just about any fan speed above a stall will keep the Duron cool enough. That will be about as quiet as you can get in a minimal-fan solution. And the performance will surprise you - it's what I use.
. Ooops, forgot the PSU fan - well, you could manually control that too. Since you'll be using so little juice with the C3 (or even the Duron - which you could underclock too), you will probably be able to run the PSU fan at just above stall too. Of course, better quieter fans can be had over the stock that come with the PSU and HSF to cut the minimal noise even farther if you find it intolerable.. Or you could mount the exhaust fans in a baffle box with ducts to the computer case. Lots of ways to cut noise - see http://www.silentpcreview.com and http://www.coolcases.com for some ideas.

.bh.

:moon:

 

[tallman45]

You can use any PC you want, just get 3 cables (VGA, Keyboard,mouse) extension cables and put the tower in an adjacent room

The monitor, keyboard and mouse are the only things on your desk

 

[Dennis Travis]

Mac Mini Hands down. Small and Quiet. Like Deathkoba said, DEAD quiet, I turned everything off in my computer room and still can not really hear it.

 

[piroroadkill]

Don't you have an ancient POS machine knocking about that you could install a simple OS on?

I mean, my old P133 could be made to run almost perfectly silently (I left a quiet blower on the PSU just to make sure), and that wasn't difficult.

 

[mwmorph]

what exactly is your budget? for about $750, you can buy a hp pavillion a810n with a 17"crt
it's so quiet i cant even hear it's working unless my head is press up against it. the loudest thing is the cddrives and dvd writer drives! plus, it should be signifigantly faster than some cheap sff.
amd64 3300+(2.4ghz 256k L2 cache, 800mhzhtt, s754)
512mb pc3200ram 3-3-3-8
ASUSD uATX salmon(agp8x, sis760[mirage 2] integrated gfx, socket 754)
16x dual layer dvd + and - burner
48x cd drive
160gb udma 7200rpm hdd
1 120mm case fan, 1 ps fan, 1 cpu fan.

I got the a810n for $599.99 after rebates and a 17"lcd for 179.99 after savings.
great deal, espically since it's so quiet.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: tallman45
You can use any PC you want, just get 3 cables (VGA, Keyboard,mouse) extension cables and put the tower in an adjacent room

The monitor, keyboard and mouse are the only things on your desk

If you do that, get quality cabling, you don't want fuzzy text.

- M4H

 

[ribbon13]

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/repc/vgadbhdfemto.html
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=181-698

 

[Looney]

I would say a Mac Mini, but what are you reading? Are these Ebooks? If so, make sure that whatever format you're buying, is supported on the Mac (probably is). Anyways, i read A LOT of ebooks, and i do it on my PDA and laptop. My desktops are all LCDs too, but PDA and laptops are soooo much more convenient.

 

[Amaroque]

I "rebuilt" an old P3 866 MHz Dell machine for a customer. The PSU, and the HDD were the only components that had any physically moving parts after I was done.

Even sitting rite next to it, with the case on the bench, I had to put my ear to it to confirm that it was running. It was weird. I could see the text on the screen, but could not hear that the computer was powered on.

 

[akugami]

Mac mini would be your best bet. It provides a different OS to play with and it's OS design is inherently more secure than WinXP so for simple web browsing and text reading it should do fine. It's also insanely small. Your next best bet is waiting for Dell to have a sale. About once a month they have a Dimension 3000 or 4000 series computer with a 15" to 17" LCD for about 500-600 bucks after rebate but before any shipping or tax which some states have due to Dell having a physical presense there. Sometimes they have free shipping with it too. One thing is that in the current batch of computers the CD/DVD rom drives Dell uses seem to be complete crap so I'd go with an after market DVD rom solution. I've had trouble reading original copies of audio discs and some burned DVD's using them.

I'm actually surprised by how many people recommended a Mac mini that responded to this thread. I like Mac's when I had one (nearly 10 years ago) and think that 90% of the current ideas in WinXP were borrowed from MacOS. That said, I'm on a PC because of 1) price, 2) games, 3) I like to tinker with stuff. I've seen too many Mac bashers (not on this thread) that bash the Mac simply because it's a Mac. It never ceases to amaze me how much bashing and flaming goes on from the fanbois. I always love the old "they have almost no apps on Macs" argument since Macs have the same or equivalent apps for 90% of the stuff that people use Windows based PC's for. Web browsing, simple audio editing, video editing, graphics and desktop publishing, cad, 3d editing.

 

[vegetation]

If you have ears like I do, and your room is relatively well insulated from any sound then don't settle for anything that has ANY type of fan, including the power supply which is generally overlooked. Also, a 2.5" laptop style drive in mandatory because they are a heck of a lot quieter and have the benefit of producing far less heat as well. Most laptops would fit the bill, as long as the Pentium-M is the chipset; they have fans but under light/low load the fan typically never goes on. I don't know anything about the Mac Mini but it does seem like it fits the bill as you wont waste time scavenging for parts; though you may be better off finding a used pentium-M laptop money-wise.

 

[BlvdKing]

I agree with those that said mac mini.

 

[mect]

Why on earth get a mac mini. If you're willing to spend that much, get a cheap notebook that you can read at your computer chair or in bed or wherever. You can get a notebook that will do the job for as much as a mini or less.

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: mect
Why on earth get a mac mini. If you're willing to spend that much, get a cheap notebook that you can read at your computer chair or in bed or wherever. You can get a notebook that will do the job for as much as a mini or less.

Dude, exactly what I was thinking. I need a laptop to do tech support, if I need any cpu for tech support. I just don't need a mac, but I might recommend one if they don't like X86 and MS's OS.
Oh, I suppose I just want one, but if I go cheap maybe I can save enough $$ to replace my old big screen tv.

 

[hopejr]

Originally posted by: bupkus

Originally posted by: mect
Why on earth get a mac mini. If you're willing to spend that much, get a cheap notebook that you can read at your computer chair or in bed or wherever. You can get a notebook that will do the job for as much as a mini or less.

Dude, exactly what I was thinking. I need a laptop to do tech support, if I need any cpu for tech support. I just don't need a mac, but I might recommend one if they don't like X86 and MS's OS.
Oh, I suppose I just want one, but if I go cheap maybe I can save enough $$ to replace my old big screen tv.

Mac mini isn't as expensive as you guys are making out.

 

[mect]

I know the mini isn't that expensive. But then, if processing power isn't very important, neither is a cheap laptop. Just my opinion, but for the same price I'd much rather have the convenience of a laptop. Especially for something like reading.

 

[Eug]

Mac mini with 512 MB is $574. iBook 12" with 512 MB is $1074. There are discounts for students though.

Dell Inspiron 1150 with 512 MB RAM, CDRW and wireless = $1037, but there is a $250 rebate at the moment, so final price is $787. Too bad the 1150 is a POS though.

 

[thirdlegstump]

MyMini rocks.