A6-3400M Laptop $360???
#1
I see a lot of people building a6 and a8 builds for their XBMC HTPCs. I notice from Eskro's awesome sticky thread that these builds start from around $300 before adding the HD or the OS.

Then I noticed that a lot of places like newegg sell REFURBISHED A6 laptops with everything XBMC would need, including 802.11n, HDMI ports, hard drives and Windows 7 for around $350-$400. For example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6834158277

Price $354 US
HP Pavilion g6-1c58dx Notebook
AMD A-Series A6-3400M(1.4GHz)
15.6"
4GB Memory DDR3
500GB HDD 5400rpm
DVD Super Multi
AMD Radeon HD 6520G

The nice thing about a laptop is that it runs very quiet and is very low power.

I understand the reluctance people have with refurbished PCs, but I've bought many refurbished PCs from places like newegg and Tiger Direct over the years and have never had problems. And besides, when you built it yourself, there's no warranty anyway.

So I was wondering, why not pick up one of these as an XBMC solution? Is the processor too slow, or is there some other technical consideration I'm overlooking?
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#2
Hi... i helped pick my friend a new lap top with the A6-3400 in it. It's a samsung with a 17" screen. He plays xbmc flawless on it.... and he uses HDMI out to his tv.
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#3
It's true, you can always find an off-the-shelf PC to use as a media center. That laptop would run everything nicely (except that HDD would seem slow compared to SSD now).

However, for some a big part of the hobby is the build too. If I build it, I can get a custom look, I know what parts are on the inside, I can size everything from CPU to RAM to storage to my usage, I can service it if something goes wrong without having to send it away, etc. The parts I use do have warranties and of course, the labor warranty is endless because I built it. Most of all though, it's fun.

That's why I choose to build my own. I'll also custom build for others so they can have it their way too. And, if I were building something similar to spec of that notebook I think I could do it for very close to the same price -- maybe $40-50 more but it'd be a media center PC (have a remote, etc.) and it would have all new warrantied parts that I would back with great customer service.
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#4
Sometime, it is not the price.....we DIY, because we enjoy it. If you want an easy way out, the laptop in your link is good to go. I bought all kind of refurbished electronics, and it last longer than my brand new electronics too. It come with the same warranty as the brand new model too. As long as it is refurbished by manufacture, it is as good and some case is better than brand new model.......
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
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#5
+ 1 for Dougie and Bluray

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A6-3400M Laptop $360???0