Hi,

I have an old Gateway laptop with the following configuration : PIII 500 MHz, 128 Mb SDRAM, 18 GB Hard drive, DVD-ROM drive, USB 2.0 card and running Win 2K. I mainly use the notebook for MP3s, or for watching DVD's. Am not much into games, and the config and my graphics card do not have 3-D graphics support anyway.

I would like some recommendations for an external sound blaster that would work well with this configuration.

Thanks.

I would say the ext. NX will work well, provided your config meets the min. hardware requirements.
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=204&product=9103

With decent speakers, you will notice quite a big difference in audio clarity/quality compared to any on-board solution you currently utilize.

(in reply to woodydoc)

(in reply to Clint)

I haven't seen any 5.1 systems which connect via S/PDIF... In the case of optical connecter, you will need digital speakers which are more expensive than their analog counterparts. It looks to me as though your card any supports 5.1 via digital connection.
Not many speakers contain built-in decoders, this is handled by the audio chip of the sound provider (I.e. the sound card).
I think you may have to go the road of the NX, unless you buy digital speakers that connect via optical. Most speakers are power amplified. Judging from the above, it looks as though the analog output only provides stereo output.
Link you provided is dead to me...

(in reply to woodydoc)