Cheap Media PC for Parents

[I Hendrycks I]

Hey, I want to make a cheap PC for my parents to use. Atm they have a broken laptop (it has to be constantly plugged in). They keep it in front of our living room TV to watch shows so I'd like to have a $200 CAD computer to have underneath the TV neatly. With a laptop they often get confused when it doesn't automatically switch the display and/or sound to the TV and it's just a pain. 

 

It's just going to be plugged into the TV at all times so I'd like a case that's as small as possible to fit underneath in the TV stand. Integrated graphics should be fine, it's just a 50" TV at 1080P. I'd also rather just get a small SSD as they only stream media, Netflix, Youtube, etc - their basically won't be any extra stuff on the computer, just Windows 10, Chrome and maybe a VPN lol. It also needs Wifi so a wifi card or a motherboard with built-in Wifi needs to be factored into the budget.

 

I'd just grab some parts myself but I'm not sure how cheap/old I can go without running the risk of it running like crap and be so slow that's it's not even worth using. I'm also not well versed in Mini-ITX motherboards. Thanks in advance!

[GeorgeKellow]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/K88Pbv

[I Hendrycks I]

2 minutes ago, GeorgeKellow said:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/K88Pbv

I definitely need it to be a Mini-ITX build, I want it so be as invisible as possible under the TV. The shelf we have is: This so there isn't a whole lot of room considering there's only 1 of the squares left for the computer.

[GeorgeKellow]

On it 

[I Hendrycks I]

Just now, GeorgeKellow said:

On it 

Thanks!

[GeorgeKellow]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/BHqNJx

 

EDIT- get rid of that case and use a cooler master elite 110

[I Hendrycks I]

4 minutes ago, GeorgeKellow said:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/BHqNJx

 

EDIT- get rid of that case and use a cooler master elite 110

Awesome thanks! 

[79wjd]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3260 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£47.45 @ More Computers) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£86.84 @ More Computers) 
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£12.99 @ Ebuyer) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£35.62 @ More Computers) 
Case: Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case  (£29.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: XFX TS 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£31.96 @ More Computers) 
Total: £244.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-06 17:17 BST+0100

 

Or go a bit cheaper and go with a motherboard without built in wifi and just get an additional PCIE card (and lose potential future expandability): http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/kqNs6h

[silraks]

But it seems that your okay to stretch the original budget (it happens) of $200 CAD to over £250 

 

*Unless you go trough the unreliable (IMO) path of used parts

[I Hendrycks I]

6 minutes ago, silraks said:

But it seems that your okay to stretch the original budget (it happens) of $200 CAD to over £250 

 

*Unless you go trough the unreliable (IMO) path of used parts

Ya I'm just getting ideas from the parts lists. Plus I totally forgot but I already have a power supply so that lowers the total cost by a bit.

[ShaunC]

I would get a chromecast and a cheap tablet if they just use it to stream videos.  If you stream videos over the network, then i would download and use the app called PLEX.  Other than that, I'm not sure why you'd need a full PC

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815597004&cm_re=chromecast-_-15-597-004-_-Product
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-7-Inch-White/dp/B00J8DL78O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459963765&sr=8-1&keywords=galaxy+tab

[NumLock21]

Best I can do, with Canada currency

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A4-6300 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($46.00 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A68M-HD+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($56.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($22.57 @ BestDirect)
Storage: Seagate  500GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.00 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case  ($73.39 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($46.99 @ NCIX)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN725N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($10.35 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $302.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-06 14:25 EDT-0400

[I Hendrycks I]

6 hours ago, ShaunC said:

I would get a chromecast and a cheap tablet if they just use it to stream videos.  If you stream videos over the network, then i would download and use the app called PLEX.  Other than that, I'm not sure why you'd need a full PC

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815597004&cm_re=chromecast-_-15-597-004-_-Product
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-7-Inch-White/dp/B00J8DL78O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459963765&sr=8-1&keywords=galaxy+tab

We have Chromecasts in the house because I saw it as a way easier/cost effective way of streaming a few years ago. The problem is when you want to stream something that isn't Cast-able. My dad for instance watches professional cycling and has to have a VPN to say he's in the UK, then subscribe to the professional cycling company's streaming and then play through their media player that's still using flash player. There's no easy way to do that on a Chromecast as best case scenario you'd need to keep a laptop close by and do the Beta casting of the entire screen (too complicated for my Dad to have to do). $200-300 tops for an elegant computer under the TV, easily accessible with a wireless mouse and keyboard just gives way more options.

5 hours ago, NumLock21 said:

Best I can do, with Canada currency

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A4-6300 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($46.00 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A68M-HD+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($56.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($22.57 @ BestDirect)
Storage: Seagate  500GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.00 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case  ($73.39 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($46.99 @ NCIX)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN725N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($10.35 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $302.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-06 14:25 EDT-0400

Thanks for the help!

[ShaunC]

I built my friend a mini pc like this one before:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856107141&_ga=1.268790325.576800709.1460037567

 

if you grab 4gb of ram for about $20 and a small SSD, it shouldnt be much more than $200 canadian dollars.  My friends lasted about 2 years, but he had an RPM drive in it that heated up a lot.  Since then, i built him another mini PC that has an intel core i5 and an SSD

[Herman Mcpootis]

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/43pFwP
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/43pFwP/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($51.98 @ NCIX) 
Motherboard: ASRock AM1B-M Micro ATX AM1 Motherboard  ($28.50 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($19.25 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Hitachi Travelstar 7K750 500GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($45.00 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case: Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case  ($73.39 @ DirectCanada) 
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 350W ATX Power Supply  ($41.50 @ Vuugo) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($15.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Total: $275.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-07 10:15 EDT-0400