On 03/11/2010 01:51 PM, Andy Random wrote:
> Budget is no more than 400 UKP (less would be good:) for a fully working
> system, though I have a serviceable pair of stereo speaks so if the
> solution will connect to standard hifi speakers that price doesn't have to
> include speakers.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Andy
>
A bit of an off the wall suggestion, but how about this:
But a car stereo, something like this one from Pioneer:
http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/25/121/61/DEH-P3100UB/index.html
approx £100
It has a front USB port, and according to the manual will accept USB
storage up to 250gigs. Get a 250gig USB hard disk (or smaller). Approx £60
12V laptop power brick capable of 10 amps to power the system, approx
£45 from linitx.com:
http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=12342
Little bit of work required to connect the 12 volt power supply to the
correct pins on the car stereo, wire up to speakers and build a simple
box for it (or as a friend of mine did, simply put it in the wall to the
under stairs cupboard). It will probably work with your existing
speakers, but will depend on what impedance they are, the car stereo I
linked requires 4 to 8 ohms so your speakers might not match. Some of
the more expensive car stereos will have a better range available.
It will be easy to load the hard disk up from your laptop / whatever
computer device you already have.
Total cost: £205 + a little bit of work wiring it together, but no
ongoing maintenance of a PC to think about.
You could improve on this by spending more money on the stereo and
finding one with a remote, I'm sure they are out there :).
