Moving to the new house we are of course rationalizing and re-assessing everything.
My wife has an old computer that doesn't get used for much besides her iTunes collection, and the rare occasion we both need to use a computer. I think it might be time to retire this computer.
The King of Macs is going to go into an office/man cave in the basement, together with my personal law library. :cool:
But I have a (crazy?) notion to get either a used iMac, or a small form factor computer, and put it in the kitchen. There's a counter that divides the kitchen from the eating area that we can put a couple of stools up against. My idea is to put a computer there (which likely would have my wife's iTunes on it) for light web surfing, email, and playing some music.
But I've never had such a set up before, and never had a computer that wasn't intended to also play games on it :nerd:
Any thoughts? Anyone else do something like this?
You can get a cheap 200 buck or less netbook and use it as a kitchen computer. Small footprint.
Or you could go the G3 iMac route for 50 bucks. More lost space that way.
I don't think a netbook would have enough storage, but true, perhaps a laptop could fill that role.
Though not my POS Dell which I want to drop in the river.
I keep recipes on a netbook in the kitchen. The counter space is too precious for anything bigger. If I had room, I might do the same.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on March 11, 2011, 06:00:29 PM
I keep recipes on a netbook in the kitchen. The counter space is too precious for anything bigger. If I had room, I might do the same.
Recipes are a big reason to consider this actually. I find a lot of recipes online that I like to try.
A Mac Mini would also be ideal for something like this... :hmm:
Quote from: Barrister on March 11, 2011, 05:57:39 PM
I don't think a netbook would have enough storage, but true, perhaps a laptop could fill that role.
Though not my POS Dell which I want to drop in the river.
Considering how cheap dual core laptops are, you can get a pretty good computer with the bells and whistles for less than 400. US of course. I have no idea what the prices are up there.
Hmm... you can get an Atom-based ultra small form computer for $200 or so.
Already have a monitor and keyboard...
Quote from: Barrister on March 11, 2011, 06:12:58 PM
Hmm... you can get an Atom-based ultra small form computer for $200 or so.
Already have a monitor and keyboard...
That's what I recommended to you a few months ago :P In fact, I'm looking to do something exactly the same for my kitchen whenever we get around to redoing it.
You ever had a reason to buy an Ipad. You mac lover.
:lol:
Quote from: Grey Fox on March 11, 2011, 10:56:14 PM
You ever had a reason to buy an Ipad. You mac lover.
:lol:
:huh:
What are you trying to say here?
Buy. An. Ipad.
It's the perfect kitchen computer.
That kinda makes sense. You'd smear that screen all up while cooking, but still.
Quote from: Grey Fox on March 11, 2011, 11:17:15 PM
Buy. An. Ipad.
It's the perfect kitchen computer.
Won't work for iTunes.
Quote from: Barrister on March 11, 2011, 05:51:14 PM
But I have a (crazy?) notion to get either a used iMac, or a small form factor computer, and put it in the kitchen. There's a counter that divides the kitchen from the eating area that we can put a couple of stools up against. My idea is to put a computer there (which likely would have my wife's iTunes on it) for light web surfing, email, and playing some music.
Buy an internet fridge with integrated iPod?
Quote from: Barrister on March 11, 2011, 11:59:47 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on March 11, 2011, 11:17:15 PM
Buy. An. Ipad.
It's the perfect kitchen computer.
Won't work for iTunes.
Yeah, it's already a music player, why add a music library manager on it? Just sync it like an Ipod.
Can't believe I have to hype this for you.
hmmm... those Atom based systems don't include memory, hard drive, optical drive, RAM, or Windows.
Not nearly so cheap now.
Mac Mini becomes more competitive (and with a much stronger processor)...
For 289$ they included memory, hdd & ram.
Altho ram & memory are the samething.
It includes a crap version of Win 7 tho, that's true.
Dell was practically giving these things away when they first started selling them: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-zino-hd-410/pd?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn&ST=dell%20zino&dgc=ST&cid=50313&lid=1304519&acd=52183,8,0,88806310,771378569,1300124968,,19857862,4852798101
I got mine for under $200. It shipped with Vista Basic but I happened to have an extra Win7 license so I was set.
Also, you could almost get by with an Apple TV hooked up to a monitor. I would have to think someone has gotten email & web browsing to work on it, though I dunno what you'd use for a keyboard other than an ipod touch.
Quote from: derspiess on March 14, 2011, 12:55:26 PM
Dell was practically giving these things away when they first started selling them: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-zino-hd-410/pd?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn&ST=dell%20zino&dgc=ST&cid=50313&lid=1304519&acd=52183,8,0,88806310,771378569,1300124968,,19857862,4852798101
I got mine for under $200. It shipped with Vista Basic but I happened to have an extra Win7 license so I was set.
Intriguing. And it has real processor and vid card, not Atom-based. The fact it's the size of a hardcover book, not a paperback, doesn't really matter much.
Woha. I want one of those.
Quote from: Barrister on March 14, 2011, 01:11:35 PM
Quote from: derspiess on March 14, 2011, 12:55:26 PM
Dell was practically giving these things away when they first started selling them: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-zino-hd-410/pd?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn&ST=dell%20zino&dgc=ST&cid=50313&lid=1304519&acd=52183,8,0,88806310,771378569,1300124968,,19857862,4852798101
I got mine for under $200. It shipped with Vista Basic but I happened to have an extra Win7 license so I was set.
Intriguing. And it has real processor and vid card, not Atom-based. The fact it's the size of a hardcover book, not a paperback, doesn't really matter much.
When Zino HD launched in November 2009 Dell was using AMD's Atom equivalent. The one upgraded component I ordered was the dual-core version of that processor, which together with the low spec video card & a couple GB of RAM, handles HTPC functions just fine.
You put the good stuff in it and it's up around $900. But still pretty neat.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on March 17, 2011, 09:37:33 PM
You put the good stuff in it and it's up around $900. But still pretty neat.
I don't think Beeb needs any of the good stuff for a kitchen PC, though.
Quote from: Barrister on March 11, 2011, 05:51:14 PM
Any thoughts? Anyone else do something like this?
At one time, I had an old desktop that we didn't really need anymore set up in the dining area right off the kitchen. The only thing we used it for was to play music, so I just set the keyboard on top of the tower to save space--I took the password off the system, so we could que up a playlist with just the mouse, so we hardly ever needed the keyboard (just if we happened to add some more music). Don't need a big monitor for that, either, so you can really set it up in a limited space.
Quote from: Barrister on March 11, 2011, 05:51:14 PM
Moving to the new house we are of course rationalizing and re-assessing everything.
My wife has an old computer that doesn't get used for much besides her iTunes collection, and the rare occasion we both need to use a computer. I think it might be time to retire this computer.
The King of Macs is going to go into an office/man cave in the basement, together with my personal law library. :cool:
But I have a (crazy?) notion to get either a used iMac, or a small form factor computer, and put it in the kitchen. There's a counter that divides the kitchen from the eating area that we can put a couple of stools up against. My idea is to put a computer there (which likely would have my wife's iTunes on it) for light web surfing, email, and playing some music.
But I've never had such a set up before, and never had a computer that wasn't intended to also play games on it :nerd:
Any thoughts? Anyone else do something like this?
What's wrong with leaving Post-It notes rather than e-mails when you need milk?
Quote from: Norgy on March 28, 2011, 02:23:07 PM
What's wrong with leaving Post-It notes rather than e-mails when you need milk?
Simple Post-it notes aren't complicated enough. I got my parents one of these a few months ago & they're still trying to figure out what it is: http://www.amazon.com/Audiovox-Electronics-Homebase-DPF711K-Digital/dp/B0012M8RE6
Dad still seems to think it's nothing more than a digital photo frame & gets pissed off when someone writes on the dry-erase area. Mom is fascinated by the video camera on it but can never navigate past the 20 menu options to record something. I got a lot of entertainment value out of it for the $25 I spent :)
:lol:
Because GF asked, I'm close, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
The three options seem to be:
-an Atom (with Ion) based system. Very cheap, but have to do some DIY that I'm not sure I want to, plus I'm not confidernt at how good a Atom processor would be.
-a Dell Zino. Prices are very agressive, and specs seem good. Bad experience with my last Dell. Is a self-contained system. It is also probably the largest of all three systems.
-a Mac Mini. Of course this is what I want to buy, but it is the most expensive. Probably the most powerful too, but not sure how much that matters. When asked my wife likes Macs, but isn't obsessive like me. Size is quite nice.
For the same price as the Mac Mini, you can get a fantastic netbook that's just as powerful or more and not have to buy a monitor.
Edit: I bought a Mini for the office to do some testing with OSx and active directory integration---fyi, you can't use a svga monitor with it. Has to be HDMI or DVI with an adapter.
Here you go:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m11x/pd?cs=19
:lol:
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 13, 2011, 04:30:05 PM
For the same price as the Mac Mini, you can get a fantastic netbook that's just as powerful or more and not have to buy a monitor.
Edit: I bought a Mini for the office to do some testing with OSx and active directory integration---fyi, you can't use a svga monitor with it. Has to be HDMI or DVI with an adapter.
We have a nice 19" monitor. I'll double check, but pretty sure it'll take DVI.
Quote from: Barrister on April 13, 2011, 03:07:45 PM
-an Atom (with Ion) based system. Very cheap, but have to do some DIY that I'm not sure I want to, plus I'm not confidernt at how good a Atom processor would be.
The things you're going to use it for won't require much more than an Atom processor. They don't have the pure horsepower of an i3/i5/i7, but an Atom-based nettop is going to be dual core, hyperthreaded (so 4 threads there). It's a lot more robust than the single core Atom processors they put in the 1st generation of netbooks.
I've been looking at getting a mini ITX case and actually building a small i3 computer. It seems doable, and at a cheap price. :hmm:
How good are Sandy Bridge integrated graphics?
You know when you build an expensive computer the price of Windows really isn't that noticeable.
But when you're on a budget, having Windows eat up almost a quarter of the overall price really hurts. :mad:
Insert obvious open-source answer.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 20, 2011, 05:55:43 PM
Insert obvious open-source answer.
Go back to first page.
Must Run iTunes.
Rythmbox(comes in Ubuntu) is a lot like Itunes.
but you can load up Wine & then get Itunes.
Quote from: Grey Fox on April 20, 2011, 06:20:42 PM
Rythmbox(comes in Ubuntu) is a lot like Itunes.
but you can load up Wine & then get Itunes.
Computer is just as much for my wife. She won't last more than 2 seconds on ubuntu.
Quote from: Barrister on April 20, 2011, 03:56:35 PM
How good are Sandy Bridge integrated graphics?
Very low-end, but capable of HD graphics, apparently. Not for the gamer, but good enough for your average film viewing pleasure.
Quote from: Barrister on April 20, 2011, 10:47:27 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on April 20, 2011, 06:20:42 PM
Rythmbox(comes in Ubuntu) is a lot like Itunes.
but you can load up Wine & then get Itunes.
Computer is just as much for my wife. She won't last more than 2 seconds on ubuntu.
Don't be crazy. If she can use MAC OS, she can use Ubuntu. Damn things are almost identical.