Computer Hardware Ideas

[Crypticflare]

Greetings all, I got a buddy thats looking into the purchase of some new hardware on his pc. What he'd like to do is: tape a football game with his dvd recordable camera, then transfer it to his computer, and vice versa, or its something along those lines.
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He would want the following:

DVD-R
CD-R
Graphic Card with I/O on it, so he can plug his dvd recordable cam into the pc.(Something like that)

Intel 4 processor.
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I've been checking out NewEgg, but I'm not much of a hardware fanatic, was wondering if anyone had any ideas or suggestions of gear for him to look at. He teaches history and government for a junior highschool, and would like to say tape documents off the history channel, then burn them to a DVD so he could play them in class.

Thanks for any help

[Hitmen]

Look at a radeon all-in-wonder, my dad just got a 9700 and he's got the TV hooked up to it recording his favorite shows in DVD quality.

[j0k3r]

Yeah I'd say hitmen has the right idea. I would get one of the all-in-wonder Radeons and hook the TV straight up to there, and just get a DVD burner.

[synth]

I would also say the AIW is tops in terms of ease of use and installation, just in case that is an issue with you and your friend.  j0k3r and Hitmen have the right idea.

[fullmoonclan]

Does he have a P4 or is he going to buy one, because if he's buying a new processor I'd get and AMD Athlon they rank better and they are much cheeper

[Crypticflare]

He wanted to buy a P4 , but after going through some of the stuff I saw, He's leaning towards AMD merely for the pricing, and it'll do what he wants. Thanks for the help all

[synth]

If there is even a chance that your buddy will game on his new PC, then I'd go AMD.

I'd suggest you do one of to things:

1. Go for a low-end A64 with a compatible motherboard.  The Asus K8V (review found at http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTM2LDI=) and the Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP look good right now.  However, a low-end A64 route offers little real-world performance gain at the current time, seeing as there is no 64-bit operating system.  I am hearing about as little as 15% real-world performance improvement.  Also, this option is the pricier of the two.  Check out some retailer like NewEgg.com and see if you can put together a decent system.  Compare and contrast, you know?

2. Go for a mid-range AXP with a nice motherboard, decent RAM, and a decent video card.  I personally like my AXP 2500+.  It's about $85-90 (try THAT, Intel...) online from a good retailer.  Since you and your buddy aren't big into hardware, I doubt you will overclock.  Try an Asus A7V8X-X motherboard, which runs about $60 or so on Newegg.  Fill a RAM slot up with a 512mb stick of Kingston / Corsair (~$90-$100), any AIW (I'm not familiar with AIWs), or any TV tuner card with a mid-range ATI card (maybe an ATI Radeon 9600 / 9600 pro?). You'll be cooking.  The only thing is, the time is near where AXPs are seeming to reach the end of their lifespan.  However, you can probably get a VERY decent system for under $500.

[Stealth]

Currently, the Athlon FX 64 is a waste of money imo. Nothing takes advantage fully of it, and it's expensive as hell -- wait until the prices go down to pick one of those puppies up.