tyrion Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I was thinking of picking up this computer to use as a transport for the Pico Dac: The Dell Online Store: Build Your System It comes with XP Home, 1 gb ram and 8 gb ss hard drive. It's $299 and has a 8.9" screen. I would be running itunes only with an external drive connected to it containing the music files. It seems perfect as it has a small screen if any issues come up requiring reboots, etc. I would use the remote on my iphone. I had the mac mini, which was great but also had to have a separate monitor attached. This will save room and should do exactly what I need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreadhead Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 cool. Do you have a quiet external drive to go with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrion Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 cool. Do you have a quiet external drive to go with it? I use a Seagate Freeagent and it's quiet enough for my purposes. It will be sitting on or around my rack between the speakers so even if there was some slight noise, it wouldn't be an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreadhead Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 damnit I wish this was out when I bought my transport laptop. Much quieter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrion Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 To me, this looks like the perfect solution for a computer/source set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmore Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 KEES did it the same, only using ASUS EEE PC and very happy with the results, but he is using it as home set up with external hard drive to ASUS then to external CD drive to his DA12 DAC from Marantz, done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanY Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 The only question I'd have is whether or not it's possible to get bit-perfect audio out of iTunes on Windows XP. My impression was that it wasn't, apart from certain oddball hardware drivers. You might be forced to use Foobar as a music player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreadhead Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 To me, this looks like the perfect solution for a computer/source set up. Yeah it does. You better buy it and tell me how it is I can't go that direction anymore. I've become rather attached to my fire wire sound card as digital out. I guess I could go back to the transit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hmmm, I still think I might rather have a squeezebox and have a good remote option. Granted, you can do a lot more with the mini-lappy but if a transport is what you're after the SB3 or Duet still strikes me as a better solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
en480c4 Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I have a 500GB HD as a secondary drive in my T40 and use foobar2000 to an Airport Express (via Airfoil) which allows me use the laptop freely around my place while listening. Any way to add the required HD space to a Mini 9 so you don't need to tether it to an external drive? edit: I guess tethering it to the Pico DAC means no real benefits to being wireless. NM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrion Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hmmm, I still think I might rather have a squeezebox and have a good remote option. Granted, you can do a lot more with the mini-lappy but if a transport is what you're after the SB3 or Duet still strikes me as a better solution. Those are both options as well. I have a 500GB HD as a secondary drive in my T40 and use foobar2000 to an Airport Express (via Airfoil) which allows me use the laptop freely around my place while listening. Any way to add the required HD space to a Mini 9 so you don't need to tether it to an external drive? edit: I guess tethering it to the Pico DAC means no real benefits to being wireless. NM. I have all my music on a 1 tb usb drive. No need to have it on the comp. The drive options are 8 gb and 16 gb ss drives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morphsci Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I use an Asus EeePC 1000H with XP home as a transportable solution with the Pico. It is always with me as my small laptop of choice. I upgraded it to 2GB of Ram and a 320GB internal drive so I do not need to use an external drive. I prefer my Mac Mini as a transport solution in my stationary office rig because I have the choice of optical or USB out but I could certainly be happy with the Asus there if economic conditions force a decision. The Pico is small enough to sit in front of the keyboard on the left side so I can move about pretty freely with the EeePC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daringone Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I bought a Asus EeePC used off of Amazon used and dropped in the largest hardrive I could find and added a USB-Powered second drive to get to almost 800GB of storage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dark-hc Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 No relation to the vendor, but I think this is a better deal. Shows as $350 but is $300 when added to cart: ASUS Eee PC 1000HA EPC1000HA-BLK001X N270 1.60GHz 10in 160GB HDD 1GB PC2-5300 (DDR2-667) 802.11b/g at ZipZoomfly Quick differences: 10" screen vs 8.9" 6-cell vs. 4-cell 160GB HD vs. 8GB SSD Webcam vs. none No BT vs BT With the 160GB HD, you could probably get away with storing most of your music on the laptop itself, decreasing the total footprint of your setup even more. I am strongly considering this to go with a Pico, but funds are currently tight, so, decisions, decisions... [edited for spelling] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upstateguy Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I use an Asus EeePC 1000H with XP home as a transportable solution with the Pico. It is always with me as my small laptop of choice. I upgraded it to 2GB of Ram and a 320GB internal drive so I do not need to use an external drive. I prefer my Mac Mini as a transport solution in my stationary office rig because I have the choice of optical or USB out but I could certainly be happy with the Asus there if economic conditions force a decision. The Pico is small enough to sit in front of the keyboard on the left side so I can move about pretty freely with the EeePC. I've been thing about doing the same thing for an alternate set up with an M^3, to replace a bulky 17"HP laptop. Is there any down side to using a mini PC ? USG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I would think the only downside was that it would be less powerful if you wanted to do anything else with it (like watching movies, etc.). I plan on getting something that I can (a) work on; ( watch movies on; and © play music on, so I'm probably going to get the huge MacBook Pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dash Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I considered something similar for my setup. Plus, you can always crack it open and solder in moar BGs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinp6301 Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hmm, would it be that stressed when youre watching movies? The atom processor doesnt seem to be that weak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slwiser Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Mine works well as a transport using a Passport 320 gig hard drive. I have ASIO4ALL loaded as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morphsci Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I've been thing about doing the same thing for an alternate set up with an M^3, to replace a bulky 17"HP laptop. Is there any down side to using a mini PC ? USG I would think the only downside was that it would be less powerful if you wanted to do anything else with it (like watching movies, etc.). I plan on getting something that I can (a) work on; ( watch movies on; and © play music on, so I'm probably going to get the huge MacBook Pro. So far I haven't come upon any significant limitations. It is currently my primary laptop for anything except running SAS. The monitor is a little small but I can use an external monitor at home and at work. Most of the time I do not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazel Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I do this with an Acer Aspire One (same Atom processor as other 'minis'). My HD is upstairs (other, old, desktop computer) and music is taken by Wifi, then to the Benchmarck DAC (usb) and so on... As video is related, the Atom and integrated video card are perfectly good for up to 720p video, more than that I am not sure (but the only video out is VGA so...). I looked inside but... no BlackGates on PSU and no Vcaps on line outs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanY Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Mine works well as a transport using a Passport 320 gig hard drive. I have ASIO4ALL loaded as well. But you do need ASIO4ALL to get bit-perfect output, right? And iTunes won't work with ASIO, so I'm not sure this solves the OP's quest for a good transport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hmm, would it be that stressed when youre watching movies? The atom processor doesnt seem to be that weakNo, it should be fine for watching movies, but the screen's too small. For me. Me needem big horkin' screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrice Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 How To: Hackintosh a Dell Mini 9 Into the Ultimate OS X Netbook Hack a Dell Mini 9 to run OS X. Seriously tempted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanY Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 How To: Hackintosh a Dell Mini 9 Into the Ultimate OS X Netbook Hack a Dell Mini 9 to run OS X. Seriously tempted. That's insanely sweet. And it would solve the transport/iTunes thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.