On 05/04/2012 08:02, Mark Lewis wrote:
I am buying a laptop to use with a hifi eg iPlayer or YouTube through
line out to amp.

Would a low end 300 quid Dell give the same results as a more expensive
laptop or are there quality issues with the choice?


I've used a Samsung nettop (£180) to good effect, controlled via
itunes/ipod touch. I've tried it with/without an external DAC and can't
say I noticed a qualitative difference from memory.

What would be a good choice of laptop dedicated to that use ie plugged
in most of the time to the hifi?


As mentioned - fan. *Any* fan noise bothers me, and even the Samsung
made more noise than I thought it should. But then it had very low power
consumption.

Disk size is likely to become an issue at some point. you can always
chain USB drives or use a NAS device.

I use a Mac Mini now - but only because I have one. It's quiet,
efficient and effective - but overkill and expensive for audio serving
alone.

Rob