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The old Dell laptops we use don't make any noise or take much space - one actually sits in a filing tray on my desk so it has no significant footprint! They take less power than an old full size PC and they're generally cheaper than silent PCs.
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Dell D610 which we use is usually
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B001CVMJSC/ref=dp_olp_refurbished?ie=UTF8&condition=refurbished"> £100-150</a> incl Windows XP Pro, or £150-250 with Windows 7. Battery condition is unimportant as they run 24x7 on the mains.
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Alex
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On 21 January 2014 at 17:42 London Chinese Radio <admin@londonhuayu.co.uk> wrote:
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Thanks for all your responses, it's given me plenty of food for thought. I actually didn't know these USB-XLR/Jack converters existed. Amazing what you can do... now all I need is a way to connect it all to my toaster and I can wake up a-la Wallace & Gromit! I'm sure someone's already come up with a USB-toaster interface!
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Old computers are okay if you have a back room, and I have one or two not being used, but I banished them all when I built new, (4 years ago now) silent PC's because I couldn't stand the sound of all those computer fans after so carefully building a lovely recording environment. And I didn't want to drill a hole through the wall to put leads through, since it isn't my wall. (and the wall is concrete about 60 years old, so might as well be solid diamond)
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Might be a case of rigging up an ultra-simple quiet computer. I have an old soundcard hanging around, and I
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">really</span> like the look of those leads!
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Onwards and upwards!
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Peter
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