Cheap PC to program on, and maybe SD playback?

[wakingDan]

Hi guys, I just want a cheap PC to make and test some VB.net applications with some web browsing; in addition I'd like to playback some SD video content to my tv. Oh and photoshop would be nice.

I didn't know whether the motherboard w/ processor and ram inc. would be a better choice than the motherboard, ram and processor I had chosen.

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/5923/noatech.jpg

Could you guys help me out by telling me which is the better system, and which is better value for the money. And does the bundled mobo have dual channal ram?

The hard drive has excellent reviews and I know it will fill up quickly if I store many videos.

Finally I would appreciate if someone could help me out with a cheap case and a PSU - I dont mind if its bundled; nor do I mind how it looks.

I'd buy a cheap graphics card if needs be for the SD playback - my tv has the YPBPR(sp?) and Svideo connections if that helps?

I really appreciate this guys :)

[f12f12]

the bundle most likly wont have dual ram. 1*2gig stick is cheaper than 2*1gig sticks.

if you want a case and psu then you could look to wards a bare bone bundle or a full system as your adding a hdd.

any graphics card would work, but for s video you will want to avoid the new generation like the 5*** from ati and 4** from nvidia as they have all replaced svideo with hdmi.

[wakingDan]

thanks for the reply, i was going for the 1x2 just so it would be cheaper to upgrade in the future
ill have a look at some of the pre set machines

[Mr Grapes]

what sort of complexity of programs are you doing? just starting out or are you taking stuff home from work?
the main bottlenecks for programming are in the build time (I don't know how VB.net does it, I assume it's compiled like C#) so CPU and disk speed are most important, so i would say the E6500 would be better, and a Samsung F3 or Western digital caviar black HDD.