Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?

I have a nice laptop but lately have been thinking abt
buying a desktop for home use.

Mainly the desktop will be used as a digital video
recorder.... hooked up to flat panel TV. But it could
also be used as reg desktop for surfing, writing, etc.

Having said that I was originally looking at the
Optiplex 330 for this use. Lately I've been giving the
ultra small form factor Optiplex 755 some thought.

I've never owned such a small desktop. anyone out here
have one and can give me some pros and cons of the
size? Will I regret such a small case..wont be able to
get my hands inside of it if changing something out...
that kind of thing?

if you get one, order it with everything you want in it.
Some of the reduced size video cards can be a pain to get.

<me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:dc5ba4ttt4tbmqipmjsd80bcutt2qtli8u@4ax.com...
>I have a nice laptop but lately have been thinking abt
> buying a desktop for home use.
>
> Mainly the desktop will be used as a digital video
> recorder.... hooked up to flat panel TV. But it could
> also be used as reg desktop for surfing, writing, etc.
>
> Having said that I was originally looking at the
> Optiplex 330 for this use. Lately I've been giving the
> ultra small form factor Optiplex 755 some thought.
>
> I've never owned such a small desktop. anyone out here
> have one and can give me some pros and cons of the
> size? Will I regret such a small case..wont be able to
> get my hands inside of it if changing something out...
> that kind of thing?

"BigJim" <bigjim@hotmail.com> wrote:

>if you get one, order it with everything you want in it.
>Some of the reduced size video cards can be a pain to get.

Ok thanks for the head sup on that

I guess that's why I'm cant decide
between the USFF or reg mid tower
desktop

The mid tower sure would have lost more
"hand room" inside of it for me to
actually work on it if needed

<me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:9peba45u2ni78fdk197djmpfb808is00gd@4ax.com...
> "BigJim" <bigjim@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>if you get one, order it with everything you want in it.
>>Some of the reduced size video cards can be a pain to get.
>
> Ok thanks for the head sup on that
>
> I guess that's why I'm cant decide
> between the USFF or reg mid tower
> desktop
>
> The mid tower sure would have lost more
> "hand room" inside of it for me to
> actually work on it if needed



You're not going to add anything to an Optiplex USFF chassis unless it's a
RAM upgrade .

It's a neat little machine, but it has no expansion options at all; cards,
drives, etc.

Scales (here in the ng) has owned a few of those in the GX620 model I think.

More than a pain, there are NO slots in this machine. None. Nada.
Only integrated video.

I use the GX620 USFF on all my TVs. They work great but are severely
limited. Wouldn't use one as the server.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: BigJim [mailto:bigjim@hotmail.com]
> Posted At: Friday, August 15, 2008 10:59 AM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?
> Subject: Re: Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?
>
> if you get one, order it with everything you want in it.
> Some of the reduced size video cards can be a pain to get.
>
> <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:dc5ba4ttt4tbmqipmjsd80bcutt2qtli8u@4ax.com...
> >I have a nice laptop but lately have been thinking abt
> > buying a desktop for home use.
> >
> > Mainly the desktop will be used as a digital video
> > recorder.... hooked up to flat panel TV. But it could
> > also be used as reg desktop for surfing, writing, etc.
> >
> > Having said that I was originally looking at the
> > Optiplex 330 for this use. Lately I've been giving the
> > ultra small form factor Optiplex 755 some thought.
> >
> > I've never owned such a small desktop. anyone out here
> > have one and can give me some pros and cons of the
> > size? Will I regret such a small case..wont be able to
> > get my hands inside of it if changing something out...
> > that kind of thing?

if you want to turn a pc into a dvr then you are going to want a
tuner/capture card and that rules out the sff or even the half height
machines. the small machines also run hot and typically have a
smaller/noisier fan which isn't welcome if kept in the same room as the tv
that you are viewing. the full size optiplex 330 and 755 are both very
quiet and give you much more options in terms of additional bays for hard
disk storage which is easily consumed by a video library.

<me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:dc5ba4ttt4tbmqipmjsd80bcutt2qtli8u@4ax.com...
>I have a nice laptop but lately have been thinking abt
> buying a desktop for home use.
>
> Mainly the desktop will be used as a digital video
> recorder.... hooked up to flat panel TV. But it could
> also be used as reg desktop for surfing, writing, etc.
>
> Having said that I was originally looking at the
> Optiplex 330 for this use. Lately I've been giving the
> ultra small form factor Optiplex 755 some thought.
>
> I've never owned such a small desktop. anyone out here
> have one and can give me some pros and cons of the
> size? Will I regret such a small case..wont be able to
> get my hands inside of it if changing something out...
> that kind of thing?

Well, not quite. Some of the best tuners are either USB or Ethernet, but
I still wouldn't use it for recording. Playback yes.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Christopher Muto [mailto:muto@worldnet.att.net]
> Posted At: Friday, August 15, 2008 6:25 PM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?
> Subject: Re: Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?
>
> if you want to turn a pc into a dvr then you are going to want a
> tuner/capture card and that rules out the sff or even the half height
> machines. the small machines also run hot and typically have a
> smaller/noisier fan which isn't welcome if kept in the same room as
the
> tv
> that you are viewing. the full size optiplex 330 and 755 are both
very
> quiet and give you much more options in terms of additional bays for
> hard
> disk storage which is easily consumed by a video library.
>
> <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:dc5ba4ttt4tbmqipmjsd80bcutt2qtli8u@4ax.com...
> >I have a nice laptop but lately have been thinking abt
> > buying a desktop for home use.
> >
> > Mainly the desktop will be used as a digital video
> > recorder.... hooked up to flat panel TV. But it could
> > also be used as reg desktop for surfing, writing, etc.
> >
> > Having said that I was originally looking at the
> > Optiplex 330 for this use. Lately I've been giving the
> > ultra small form factor Optiplex 755 some thought.
> >
> > I've never owned such a small desktop. anyone out here
> > have one and can give me some pros and cons of the
> > size? Will I regret such a small case..wont be able to
> > get my hands inside of it if changing something out...
> > that kind of thing?

On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:08:57 GMT, "Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Well, not quite. Some of the best tuners are either USB or Ethernet, but
>I still wouldn't use it for recording. Playback yes.

Yep -- my two best tuners are USB. So far they've filled up 450GB of
recorded Olympics in HD. I'm recording to a firewire hard drive --
not sure if that's better than USB but it seems to have better
sustained performance.

point taken, but if someone is looking for a usff dosen't it sound like they
want something small and self contained rather than a machine with a bunch
of awkward shaped usb devices hanging from it?

"Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:44F6486EE7C546068F65CEDE6FB3A43F@M2010...
> Well, not quite. Some of the best tuners are either USB or Ethernet, but
> I still wouldn't use it for recording. Playback yes.
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Christopher Muto [mailto:muto@worldnet.att.net]
>> Posted At: Friday, August 15, 2008 6:25 PM
>> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
>> Conversation: Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?
>> Subject: Re: Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?
>>
>> if you want to turn a pc into a dvr then you are going to want a
>> tuner/capture card and that rules out the sff or even the half height
>> machines. the small machines also run hot and typically have a
>> smaller/noisier fan which isn't welcome if kept in the same room as
> the
>> tv
>> that you are viewing. the full size optiplex 330 and 755 are both
> very
>> quiet and give you much more options in terms of additional bays for
>> hard
>> disk storage which is easily consumed by a video library.
>>
>> <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
>> news:dc5ba4ttt4tbmqipmjsd80bcutt2qtli8u@4ax.com...
>> >I have a nice laptop but lately have been thinking abt
>> > buying a desktop for home use.
>> >
>> > Mainly the desktop will be used as a digital video
>> > recorder.... hooked up to flat panel TV. But it could
>> > also be used as reg desktop for surfing, writing, etc.
>> >
>> > Having said that I was originally looking at the
>> > Optiplex 330 for this use. Lately I've been giving the
>> > ultra small form factor Optiplex 755 some thought.
>> >
>> > I've never owned such a small desktop. anyone out here
>> > have one and can give me some pros and cons of the
>> > size? Will I regret such a small case..wont be able to
>> > get my hands inside of it if changing something out...
>> > that kind of thing?
>
>

Sure. I was just being technically correct

The SiliconDust HDHomerun is nice since it just connects to the network
and can sit in a closet. Works for OTA HD and Clear QAM HD. Dual
tuner.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Christopher Muto [mailto:muto@worldnet.att.net]
> Posted At: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 1:31 AM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?
> Subject: Re: Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?
>
> point taken, but if someone is looking for a usff dosen't it sound
like
> they
> want something small and self contained rather than a machine with a
> bunch
> of awkward shaped usb devices hanging from it?
>
> "Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:44F6486EE7C546068F65CEDE6FB3A43F@M2010...
> > Well, not quite. Some of the best tuners are either USB or Ethernet,
> but
> > I still wouldn't use it for recording. Playback yes.
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Christopher Muto [mailto:muto@worldnet.att.net]
> >> Posted At: Friday, August 15, 2008 6:25 PM
> >> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> >> Conversation: Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?
> >> Subject: Re: Ultra small form factor Optiplex: Anyone own one?
> >>
> >> if you want to turn a pc into a dvr then you are going to want a
> >> tuner/capture card and that rules out the sff or even the half
> height
> >> machines. the small machines also run hot and typically have a
> >> smaller/noisier fan which isn't welcome if kept in the same room as
> > the
> >> tv
> >> that you are viewing. the full size optiplex 330 and 755 are both
> > very
> >> quiet and give you much more options in terms of additional bays
for
> >> hard
> >> disk storage which is easily consumed by a video library.
> >>
> >> <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> >> news:dc5ba4ttt4tbmqipmjsd80bcutt2qtli8u@4ax.com...
> >> >I have a nice laptop but lately have been thinking abt
> >> > buying a desktop for home use.
> >> >
> >> > Mainly the desktop will be used as a digital video
> >> > recorder.... hooked up to flat panel TV. But it could
> >> > also be used as reg desktop for surfing, writing, etc.
> >> >
> >> > Having said that I was originally looking at the
> >> > Optiplex 330 for this use. Lately I've been giving the
> >> > ultra small form factor Optiplex 755 some thought.
> >> >
> >> > I've never owned such a small desktop. anyone out here
> >> > have one and can give me some pros and cons of the
> >> > size? Will I regret such a small case..wont be able to
> >> > get my hands inside of it if changing something out...
> >> > that kind of thing?
> >
> >