[faheem5]

thats right.. a laptop..lol

i was going to purchase a desktop HTPC but since i was going to invest 500 dollars into it.. figured why not get a laptop, as it will be my only computer.
I can always pickup and take the laptop on the go.

Officemax has 2 specials currently for Acer laptops. Both have the intel HM55 chipset which supports HD bitstreaming.. one laptop uses i3 other i5
Both use integrated intel GPU

thought i get peoples feedback on it? i will have the laptop hooked up to an HP IR and dual 3.5" hard drive enclousre.

My only concern is that the laptop only has support for USB 2.0 not 3.. and no e-sata either. Most of my movies will sit on the internal HD but wondering if i play a movie of the external drive.. what are the chanes of usb 2.0 not keeping up with the bluray films?



Acer Aspire AS5742-6638 Notebook for $549.99 (possibly 520)

Specs:

* Intel Core i5-480M 2.66GHz
* 4GB DDR3
* 640GB HDD
* 15.6" 1366x768
* Intel HD Graphics w/ HDMI
* 8X DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive
* WiFi N
* 6-cell Battery
* Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
* 5.74lbs

Acer Aspire AS5742-7120 Notebook for $449.99 (possibly 420)

Specs:

* Intel Core i3-370M 2.40GHz
* 4GB DDR3
* 320GB HDD
* 15.6" 1366x768
* Intel HD Graphics w/ HDMI
* 8X DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive
* WiFi N
* 6-cell Battery
* Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
* 5.74lbs

[eskro]

Most of my movies will sit on the internal HD??
your gonna partition your Laptop's hdd in 2 parts then?
And when you'll run out of space?

however playing Bluray from usb 2.0 is fine for most movies...
but you could get a couple that would struggle...

but in the END, its up to you, if a Laptop suits your needs, good!

i know it wouldnt be for me,,,
plugging and unplugging all the time,,, meh...

also esthetically, meh...

[faheem5]

I meant the ones i rip recently around 5-10 will sit on my internal drive.. after i have watched them i will transfer them to my external drives..

but every now and then i will watch a movie off the external drive (usb 2) and didnt know if the bitrate on some of the blurays exceed that of usb 2..

i know movies like apolyptco and POTC are high bitrate films with PCM sound.

[eskro]

like i said,
playing Bluray from usb 2.0 is fine for most movies...
but you could struggle with some...