Jamie K

Hi all,

This is my first time building a HTCP. I've previously owned an Astone AP-300 media player, but it annoyed the %*$ out of me. I want something more powerful and customisable... so here I am in HTPC world.

I am looking at using Windows 7 (I have my own copy) with Media Centre (& Media Browser Plugin).

I have 3 SATA hard drives, mostly full of HD mkv (720p/1080p) rips of my Blu-rays.

So I'm thinking about getting the following build (with prices from Umart).

Silverstone GD05 Black Case $112

Vantec ION2 460W Ultra Quite PSU $49

Gigabyte GA-H57M-USB3 $145

Intel Core i3 530 Processor $140

GSkill 2G (1x2G) DDR3 1333 PC10600 $69

Hauppauge HVR-2200 $176

Total $691

I've done a bit of research, and I think this build would meet my needs. But any advice?

Is it worth going for a Intel i5 661 Processor? (extra $100)

And/or 4GB RAM? (extra $70)

Also, I've heard good things about this case, but are there any others that you would recommend? Possibly with with volume controls etc. on front?

Any advice or notes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Using Microsoft Access (or even Excel if it is possible).

How can I update only certain fields using data from another database / excel document?

Basically the database is a stock list, with item codes, specials price and RRP.

I want to update this database with an updated price list (excel doc). This doc has the same item codes (however, it hasn't got the same number of entries, as it only shows the values which prices have changed).

I want it to search for item codes and change corresponding specials price and RRP.

Is this possible? There are around 4000 items and about 1500 need new prices. It will be hell to try and change them manually.

Thanks in advance.

Using Microsoft Access (or even Excel if it is possible).

How can I update only certain fields using data from another database / excel document?

Basically the database is a stock list, with item codes, specials price and RRP.

I want to update this database with an updated price list (excel doc). This doc has the same item codes (however, it hasn't got the same number of entries, as it only shows the values which prices have changed).

I want it to search for item codes and change corresponding specials price and RRP.

Is this possible? There are around 4000 items and about 1500 need new prices. It will be hell to try and change them manually.

Thanks in advance.

My job basically has me sitting in my car for up to 24 hours at a time, generally on the side of a road somewhere.

I use a laptop almost continuously throughout this time (~18-20 hours).

I currently just charge my laptop with a 300W power inverter, plugged in to the cigarette lighter of my car. I then just run the car every few hours to keep it charged.

From what I understand, this isn't good for the car starter battery.

So does anyone have some suggestions as to what would be better?

Should I look into buying a deep-cycle battery, and some way of charging it (solar, etc)? How often would I need to charge that?

Any suggestions/information welcome

In Microsoft Excel, I want to compare 2 spreadsheets and only show entries where a particular column has been changed.

Basically I receive daily price lists (containing 1000's of items), I want to compare today's list with yesterday's and only show the rows (items) where the price has changed.

Thanks

As I said I need to conditionally multiply a set of numbers.

eg. if 0<(field)<10 multiply by 5

or if 10<(field)<100 multiply by 10

or if 100<(field)<1000 multiply by 20

I want to create a rule such as this and then be able to apply it to a large set of numbers so that they are multiplied by the correct value.

Thank you!