HP Compaq 8710w for xbmc ?
#1
Hello all, I have chance to buy this notebook for 100$ and I know that everything works ok because it is my friends work notebook and our company gives us this notebooks for 100$ after 2-3 years of usage.

specs;

Intel Core 2 Duo T9500
Nvidia Quadro FX 1600M with 512MB dedicated memory
4096MB DDR2-667 RAM
80GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
17" WUXGA (1920x1200) WVA anti-glare matte display
Windows Vista Business
8X DVD Super Multi drive
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN WLAN
Internal Bluetooth

is it possible to use it for xbmc media station ? I'm going to use it with hdmi output to my 47inc 3d lg led tv,
and I want to play all kind of videos such as 1080p bluray rips, bluray isos , 3d movies and some flash streaming from internet sites such as youtube etc.

also i'm thinking to remove the mainboard from laptop and make super slim case and put mobo in it than use it only for xbmc under the led tv Big Grin
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#2
The Quadro FX 1600M graphics are PureVideo Feature Set A capable, meaning it supports complete acceleration for H.264 and partial acceleration for MPEG-1, MPEG-2, VC-1/WMV9. This, along with the capable CPU, should put you in pretty good shape for an XBMC client. Windows Vista does have the DXVA 2.0 API for taking advantage of the graphics card's capabilities, but you may want to go with either Win7 or Ubuntu if you plan on using it regularly for any desktop tasks or just boot OpenElec from a USB stick for XBMC only use.

I'm not sure I'd try pulling out the mainboard... even for a monster laptop, it's going to be pretty thin with the screen closed. Once you pull it apart it will be hard to go back if you ever want it for normal laptop use. I'd keep it in-tact to have on-hand as a backup in case of an emergency.

I wish my company offered up 2-3 year old monster desktop-replacement laptops for $100... Android/iOS/WinMo users are lucky to get a working Exchange server out of our Blackberry-fanboy IT staff!
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#3
(2012-11-20, 17:22)IsleOfMan Wrote: The Quadro FX 1600M graphics are PureVideo Feature Set A capable, meaning it supports complete acceleration for H.264 and partial acceleration for MPEG-1, MPEG-2, VC-1/WMV9. This, along with the capable CPU, should put you in pretty good shape for an XBMC client. Windows Vista does have the DXVA 2.0 API for taking advantage of the graphics card's capabilities, but you may want to go with either Win7 or Ubuntu if you plan on using it regularly for any desktop tasks or just boot OpenElec from a USB stick for XBMC only use.

I'm not sure I'd try pulling out the mainboard... even for a monster laptop, it's going to be pretty thin with the screen closed. Once you pull it apart it will be hard to go back if you ever want it for normal laptop use. I'd keep it in-tact to have on-hand as a backup in case of an emergency.

I wish my company offered up 2-3 year old monster desktop-replacement laptops for $100... Android/iOS/WinMo users are lucky to get a working Exchange server out of our Blackberry-fanboy IT staff!
Thanks for the answer, so it can run bluray iso files and any 3d 1080p videos on xbmc??
And for pulling out mobo, it is easy thing for me to dissamble and assamble, its kinda my job at work :-)) so i'm comfortable with it , if everything will work in xbmc I'm willing to tear it apart and make custom super slim case for home theater center :-))

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#4
(2012-11-20, 21:29)eCCoMaNia Wrote:
(2012-11-20, 17:22)IsleOfMan Wrote: The Quadro FX 1600M graphics are PureVideo Feature Set A capable, meaning it supports complete acceleration for H.264 and partial acceleration for MPEG-1, MPEG-2, VC-1/WMV9. This, along with the capable CPU, should put you in pretty good shape for an XBMC client. Windows Vista does have the DXVA 2.0 API for taking advantage of the graphics card's capabilities, but you may want to go with either Win7 or Ubuntu if you plan on using it regularly for any desktop tasks or just boot OpenElec from a USB stick for XBMC only use.

I'm not sure I'd try pulling out the mainboard... even for a monster laptop, it's going to be pretty thin with the screen closed. Once you pull it apart it will be hard to go back if you ever want it for normal laptop use. I'd keep it in-tact to have on-hand as a backup in case of an emergency.

I wish my company offered up 2-3 year old monster desktop-replacement laptops for $100... Android/iOS/WinMo users are lucky to get a working Exchange server out of our Blackberry-fanboy IT staff!
Thanks for the answer, so it can run bluray iso files and any 3d 1080p videos on xbmc??
And for pulling out mobo, it is easy thing for me to dissamble and assamble, its kinda my job at work :-)) so i'm comfortable with it , if everything will work in xbmc I'm willing to tear it apart and make custom super slim case for home theater center :-))

Blu-Ray ISOs shouldn't be a problem... 3D I'm not familiar enough with to comment on.
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#5
(2012-11-20, 21:39)IsleOfMan Wrote:
(2012-11-20, 21:29)eCCoMaNia Wrote:
(2012-11-20, 17:22)IsleOfMan Wrote: The Quadro FX 1600M graphics are PureVideo Feature Set A capable, meaning it supports complete acceleration for H.264 and partial acceleration for MPEG-1, MPEG-2, VC-1/WMV9. This, along with the capable CPU, should put you in pretty good shape for an XBMC client. Windows Vista does have the DXVA 2.0 API for taking advantage of the graphics card's capabilities, but you may want to go with either Win7 or Ubuntu if you plan on using it regularly for any desktop tasks or just boot OpenElec from a USB stick for XBMC only use.

I'm not sure I'd try pulling out the mainboard... even for a monster laptop, it's going to be pretty thin with the screen closed. Once you pull it apart it will be hard to go back if you ever want it for normal laptop use. I'd keep it in-tact to have on-hand as a backup in case of an emergency.

I wish my company offered up 2-3 year old monster desktop-replacement laptops for $100... Android/iOS/WinMo users are lucky to get a working Exchange server out of our Blackberry-fanboy IT staff!
Thanks for the answer, so it can run bluray iso files and any 3d 1080p videos on xbmc??
And for pulling out mobo, it is easy thing for me to dissamble and assamble, its kinda my job at work :-)) so i'm comfortable with it , if everything will work in xbmc I'm willing to tear it apart and make custom super slim case for home theater center :-))

Blu-Ray ISOs shouldn't be a problem... 3D I'm not familiar enough with to comment on.
thanks again Big Grin and which OS do you suggest with this hardware ? ubuntu or windows7-8 ? or maybe mac os X Big Grin

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#6
If it's only for XBMC, I'd say OpenElec, XBMC Live, or XBMCbuntu. They all have their pros and cons. You could also boot one of these from a USB and leave a full desktop OS on the hard drive.

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm guessing Hackintosh isn't going to be a painless option... it's takes pretty specific hardware last time I looked into it.
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#7
(2012-11-20, 22:21)IsleOfMan Wrote: If it's only for XBMC, I'd say OpenElec, XBMC Live, or XBMCbuntu. They all have their pros and cons. You could also boot one of these from a USB and leave a full desktop OS on the hard drive.

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm guessing Hackintosh isn't going to be a painless option... it's takes pretty specific hardware last time I looked into it.

for hackintosh, it will be difficult for me too because the intel chipset wifi doesn't work in osx as far as I know Big Grin but i can try it just for hobby !
I'll use the laptop for xbmc and watching online streaming videos and web surfing, I think I will not play games because I have ps3 so I can play games on tv by ps3.

also I'm thinking about adalight thing for my tv but it's for next year project Big Grin
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HP Compaq 8710w for xbmc ?0