Please help with your suggestions for a home theater notebook/netbook. Details inside.

February 6, 2011 6:15 AM

Please help with your suggestions for a home theater notebook/netbook. Details inside.

My goal is to obtain a notebook/netbook that I can play video and audio through to my home theater system. Here's the critical information:

1. The primary placeement for the unit will be in the home theater area.
2. I need a VGA out OR HDMI out for the video (the in will be on an LCD TV).
3. I need a graphics chip that can handle visualizations (primarily Milkdrop visualizations).
4. I need an optical out for the audio (the in will be on a receiver).
5. I need the notebook/netbook to be able to obtain content wirelessly from my home network. The content's home is a desktop PC, many rooms away, that runs Windows XP SP3.
6. The notebook/netbook needs to be portable enough so that I can unplug it and sit on the couch and surf the web or take it to my dining room table and read the news while eating breakfast.
7. Budget is not a huge factor, but I obviously don't want to spend tons of money. I will spring extra for better sound, however.

Does such a product exist? My primary concern of all the items above is whether a computer running Windows 7 (which I'd guess any product I buy now would have) can see content that sits on a box running Windows XP.

posted by st starseed to Technology (1 answer total)

This is cheap as chips and has good reviews. Fits the ticket on outputs etc, and though not mega powerful, the memory, graphics and processor are fine for playing full screen video. As for obtaining content, if Windows XP and the netbook/notebook are on the same wireless network and sharing is set up properly on the XP Machine, you shouldn't have a problem.
posted by dougrayrankin at 6:43 AM on February 6, 2011