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You could try the LyX the document processor



Self-publishing with LYX

Try this. Note the huge difference between "decent" and "generic" PSUs. (At the bottom - "Recommended Minimum PSU Ratings")
Remember to add additional hard-drive coolers, as well as case and motherboard coolers.
And then add up to 30-40% more - once your coolers get jammed with dust and they start to draw more power. And summer heats kick in.

I've seen generic PSUs shutting down installed hard drives once you connect an external 2.5" portable drive.
And they do it in a very disturbing "FUCK! MY DRIVE IS DYING!" way, with the drive in question clicking loudly trying to spin up repeatedly.
Not a pretty sound.

As a PC repairman I have run into the Bestec brand a few times, even built a few machine with them, and I can tell you it ain't the brand, although they are cheap and I tend not to use them(they have lousy fans if they even bother to have a fan at all) except in the occasional "granny" machines that are only doing basic web stuff. I can tell you the problem with both the HP and the eMachine you describe, because I have ran into it in the shop, and the problem is this:

For awhile there both HP and eMachine would put in VASTLY underpowered PSUs in their machines, which would naturally strain the living hell out of the PSU and cause it to blow, taking out the PC with it in many cases. I have actually seen fairly modern machines from HP and eMachine(a few years maybe 3 old) that had a Bestec PSU with a MAX rating of 200 watts! for any modern machine that is simply unacceptable. And woe be to anyone that actually tried to upgrade anything in one of those machines without yanking the PSU first, because with that little headroom it was bye bye PC.

As I put in an earlier post with the cheap PSUs you need to have at LEAST 150 watts of headroom ABOVE what you machine uses under max load. For example when my PC used 300 watts max ( figured using a calc like this) I used a 450 watt cheapo(NOT Bestec because I require a fan in my PC) and when I upgraded my PC and its power usage went to 350 I changed it out for a 550 watt PSU. So don't really blame Bestec. I have used them in a few ultra low power HTPC and ultra quiet desktops and they still work fine. Blame HP and eMachine for building a PC that used 200 watts and putting a 200 watt PSU in it instead of spending an extra dollar and getting one with a little more juice. That IMHO is the big difference between the cheapos and the big brands, with the cheapos you really need a LOT more headroom IMHO than you do with the big brands. But of course YMMV and everyone seems to have preferences when it comes to PC parts.

Heres a link to my MAXImini. I use my mini as a PVR (ElGato USB EyeTV and Kensington media remote (etc.)... http://web.aanet.com.au/tardis/j/photopages/minimo ney/minimoney.html I always planned on upgunning drive performance so I built a 1.2TB homemade firewire soft-RAID array. http://web.aanet.com.au/tardis/j/photopages/Maximi ni/Maximini.html turned out to be $1AUS per GB :)

Heres a link to my MAXImini. I use my mini as a PVR (ElGato USB EyeTV and Kensington media remote (etc.)... http://web.aanet.com.au/tardis/j/photopages/minimo ney/minimoney.html I always planned on upgunning drive performance so I built a 1.2TB homemade firewire soft-RAID array. http://web.aanet.com.au/tardis/j/photopages/Maximi ni/Maximini.html turned out to be $1AUS per GB :)