Home Theater and Computers - What do I need

[torchedlh]

this is a gonna be a long post because i dont know exactly what i'm looking for. i know what i want to do.

i have a laptop with a free pcmcia slot and my roomate has a desktop with an audigy 2. for my graduation gift, my brother (who works at monster cable) is sending me a bunch of home theater things: 2 speakers and 2 bass modules (http://www.monstercable.com/thx/speakers.asp) and and a 2 channel amp (http://www.monstercable.com/power/pr...ge=Amplifiers), so i guess that makes it a 2.2

i want both computers to be able to use the speakers as well as our TV. we don't have a DVD player but we both have video out so i think we will probably just use our computer to play the dvds(will picture quality suffer? i have a i9300 with 256mb 6800 pro and he has a ati 9800 pro). so, i'm thinking the best/easiest thing would be to get a home receiver?

i want to take advantage of what i'm getting and get some sort of better soundcard and these are the options i see : external usb soundcard, internal (like the audigy 2 zs), or the chaintech (which i hear has good optical out). please guide me. i dont really wanna spend more than 200-300 for all this, i know that's not much for a decent receiver, but it doesn't have to be the best.

i want to be able to play music (possible dvds) on this system as well as game a little bit on my laptop. so those are the things that are important to me. also, i'm in need of a tv tuner type thing, so i dunno if that's related, but if that could be incorporated that would be great. thanks so much

 

[Joey_V]

You may want to look at the Harman Kardon AVR-235. It is within your price range if you look online.

 

[torchedlh]

actually, i think i'm going to scratch the receiver idea, it costs too much for me and i still need to upgrade the audio.

i was looking at some external soundcards like the m-audio audiophine, trasnit, and the waterterminal u24. would this greatly benefit my system without a receiver or DAC? i'm looking for a external soundcard/dac solution, i was hoping i could get away with a single unit (no receiver), for less than 200 or so. or would a usb dac be better? i'm on a tight budget and i'm not a real audiophile, i just don't wanna hinder the potential of my system. if spdif out is beneficial/necessary, there's a $10 svideo -> RCA, svideo, spdif that's made for my 9300. however, i have no idea if it's "bit perfect", if it is, is it comparative to the transit?

BTW the music i listen is isually 128kb/s mp3s, unfortunately, but will be watching dvds and occasionally playing games. is it worth spending the money on another component or is that gonna be the hindering factor?

 

[torchedlh]

err edited.