Once a month I select the best computers for a variety of tasks. I break each task into a self built desktop and what components to pick, the best off the shelf desktop, and the best laptop. The decision is based on the latest hardware, prices, and personal knowledge of building hundreds of computers.

The media maniac category is for those who love movies, music and tv shows. They use their computer as a personal entertainment system that is far more advanced than a boob tube. They need 1080p playback, great speakers, and tonnes of storage space.  I will break the choice into three choices: build your own desktop, buy a desktop, or buy a laptop.
 

Build Your Own

It wasn't too long ago that a media computer was mid to high end. Anymore though, media centric computers are made from mainstream parts. However, finding a off the shelf computer with the right parts is hard. Often prebuilts with the right playback features come with a huge array of expensive software and hardware the jacks  up the price. There is also a new wave of processors from AMD that are great for this application but very hard to find in prebuilts. So I do recommend this route for most people.

Processor: A higher end processor isn't needed. A quad core isn't needed. This isn't a rendering computer, I will get to that category later, this is a media computer. It plays, not creates. Therefore what we need is a good dual core or triple core with decent cache. My choice is the Phenom II X2 545. Again Intel and their Core 2 is beat out because of system cost. All of AMD's boards are great for media, but you have to get higher end Intel boards to do the same thing.

Mobo: The big choice now with AMD is DDR2 vs DDR3. For media playback, DDR3 isn't going to be any better so isn't worth the cost. So here, you can't beat the 780G (the Ati 760G, Nvidia 8200 don't compete while the ATI 790GX, Nvidia 9300 are just too expensive for their improvement).Specifically the ASRock A780GMH.

Ram: 4GB at DDR2-1066. I would recommend 3GB but I can't find a 1GB kit at 1066 and 2GB isn't enough. So I recommend OCZ model OCZ2G10664GK.

Video Card: This depends on your video output. If you have a single output, even at 1080p, the 780G will handle it fine. However, if you have multiple outputs, then you better get a card. I choose the Ati 4350 because Nvidia's choices at the same cost are old and hot. Specifically, the MSI R4350 is a good choice. If you worry about warranty, going up to the XFX 4350 isn't a bad idea.

Harddrive: Sata II with at least 16MB cache per drive. Beyond that it is really up to you on how much space you need. I would choose 5400rpm over 7200rpm to reduce noise, you want to hear media, not your computer. I would note that drive failure increases with its size. While 750GB drives seem small relative to 1.5TB drives, their relability is much better.  Based on this, my choice is the Hitachi 1TB drive. But I would have an external drive for the irreplaceable data.

Power Supply: This setup requires about 300 to 400W, depending on video cards and drives. It makes no sense to buy a value psu. Efficiency will pay back over a couple of years and this is the only piece of hardware that touches every other. So I would go with the Antec Earthwatts 430W supply.

Bluray: This depends on what you want to do. Buying a Bluray drive is cheaper than a full player. And why would you want to add more wires and TV inputs to the mix? However, dvd is still widely available, bluray discs cost more, and the drives are coming down in price. You might want to wait until the drives are ~$50.

Case: A lot of people like the ida of a desktop form case over a tower for their home theater machine. But my experience is poor with HTPC cases. Further, the only advantage I see over putting a mini tower on its side is cd drive orientation. That isn't worth it for the lack of choice and increase in cost. If you don't have a case you like, I would go with the Antec Two Hundred. Its solid and cheap and looks good at any orientation.

The extras: wireless card, CD/DVD burner, printer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers. Obviously you need a keyboard and mouse but I can't recommend these things based on just being a media computer. I recommend wireless keyboards over PC remotes.

The price without extras is $430, $540 with Vista Home Premium.
 

Prebuilt Desktop

For prebuilts I trust four brands: Acer/Gateway, Dell, HP, Lenovo. These are the big makers and other brands are often them just making a lower end products. I take the desktop most closely related to my self built from each brand and come up with a choice. 

The Phenom II X2 doesn't show up much in many of the brands. The older Phenom is just too inefficient and will cause heat which causes higher fan speed which causes noise. So I go to a Core 2 7000 series with a Nvidia chipset. Also with these purchuses, I recommend tweaking them after you buy them. This means don't buy the warranty and go through the self build to figure out what else you need.

The contenders:

Acer Veritron S480G: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11987970

This is the closest for Acer, but is pretty far from what we want. The Processor is more than we need, but the graphics is less. The intel 4500 just doesn't have what you need, and you will notice it with a mkv file. If you get this computer, you also need to pick up a ATI 4350 and a 1TB drive.

So the box with the addons is going to run $740

Dell Inspiron 537s: http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desktops/desktop-inspiron-537s/pd.aspx?refid=desktop-inspiron-537s&s=dhs&cs=19&~oid=us~en~29~desktop-inspiron-537s_anav1~~!1B0F8k7&m_2=537SE75&mo=2~537SE75

This is a slim desktop, has the right processor, but still has the Intel 4500. You can upgrade to the Ati 4350 and a 750GB drive on their site, but it is cheaper to buy the parts seperately and get a 1TB. Just make sure to get the low profile ATI card.

So the box with the addons is going to run $580.

HP Pavilion p6120t: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=desktops&a1=See+all&v1=series&a2=Processor&v2=Intel&series_name=p6120t_series

Regularly sized desktop. Upgrade to the Core 2 E7500. But again we need to buy a 1TB and Ati 4350.

So the box with the addons is going to run $570.

Lenovo IdeaCentre K220: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000000F3:00000680:

While this one comes with the desired Geforce 9300 board, it doesn't have the right processor. Low cache is going to hurt. You still need the better drive but don't need all the ram. Lenovo just doesn't offer what we need so its out of the running.

My choice: Dell Inspiron 537s. While $10 more than the HP, the slim factor and slightly better board put it over the top.

Laptops

Laptops are different. And honestly don't fit very well in this category. A lot has to be sacrificed to go mobile. So the qualifications are: 500GB HHD, at least ATI 3200 or Geforce 9300 (no intel GMA), Core 2, 3GB or more ram and a 15.6" screen or better.

Gateway FX: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9172511&type=product&id=1218043606827

A poor match, but buying that much is required to meet all of our demands. The 17" screen is going to make it heavy and the Geforce 9800 is more than is needed, yet only comes with 320GB HHD. So at $1090, and still needing a better HHD, I am throwing them out.

Dell Studio XPS 16: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dydzfv1&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=laptop-studio-xps-16

Similar tail here. Dell doesn't offer what we want unless we go way to far up the latter. 4GB, ATI 3670, but at least a 500GB drive. So it stays in.

Priced at $1100.

HP dv6t:

This is more what we are looking for: Core 2 Duo, free upgrade to 4GB, but get the ATI 4670, and 500GB 5400rpm drive. At 16" its still rather large, but moveable.

Priced at $900.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y550: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/systemconfig.runtime.workflow:LoadRuntimeTree?sb=:00000025:00002705:&smid=DA40E564A98B48AC82D1A42981E9AFA8

For a company that didn't have a desktop in this category, this is a really good laptop. Upgrade to the cheapest Core 2, it comes with G 210 graphics, 3GB DDR3 ram, upgrade to 500GB drive and you still stay at the 15.6" screen size.

Priced at $770 with upgrades.

My choice is easily picked: Lenovo IdeaPad

Media Centers are about getting a system to hold lots of media and play them at best quality. That nature means a self built desktop makes the most sense. Be careful with large harddrives, make backups of irreplaceable data. Hope I helped with your new PC, good luck. Next article will be the light notebooks.