wow thanks for the very valuable and informative advise. hindi ako nagkamali na dito sa pdvd magtanong.
sometimes the itch is too hard not to scratch, in this case buying a good looking and cheap PC, but obsolete. your inputs are like caladryl, medyo nabawasan yung kati...hehehe
im not totally scrapping the idea though, 5.5k PC is good enough for me to throw down the drain if it can serve me maybe 3 years with the current HT rig i have.
here's some thoughts:
1. i dont want just any PC, it has to blend well with my current setup. I actually removed my other gear (silver-colored old dvd player, VCR, compo, etc) because i like the simple look of just the LCD and a HTiB. so even if there are better deals for PCs out there i wont be attracted to it unless its as small as a VCR and black. im even willing to pay a little extra for the look.
2. So finding a slim formfactor HTPC is tops on the requirement list. the ACER x3200 at 16K+ looked to be the winner but i realized its overkill just to watch SD Divx and play music, when a 5.5K used Thinkcentre (which I think looks just as good as the ACER) can do the job. I didnt mention the ACER in my first post because im sure most will be biased for it. you see with 10K saved with an old PC, i can almost buy a 1HP aircon for xmas...
3. i realized the bravia home theater is very limited with music...the DAV-DZ270K which i use dont have tone controls (or equalizer) or dsp...and worst of all, it adds a 2sec gap between mp3 tracks...so i find myself burning to audioCDs just to remove the 2sec gaps or connect my laptop or ipod to play music. not cool.
there you go...somebody pls convince me to buy the acer...