«

Well, it's been six years since I purchased my current PC, so I'm
starting to research what I might like for my next.

In addition to the ordinary e-mailing, Web surfing, Usenet, etc., I
would like to edit both audio and video. I am *not* a gamer.

As everybody else, I'm bombarded with ads for Dells. Worth considering?

I guess my main questions are about:

motherboard/processor (dual?)
hard drive size
external hard drive, too?
RAM
video card
audio card

Am I forgetting anything? Anything else I should look for?

TIA.

--
Dave

"Daave" <> wrote:

|>Well, it's been six years since I purchased my current PC, so I'm
|>starting to research what I might like for my next.
|>
|>In addition to the ordinary e-mailing, Web surfing, Usenet, etc., I
|>would like to edit both audio and video. I am *not* a gamer.
|>
|>As everybody else, I'm bombarded with ads for Dells. Worth considering?

Yes, they are 50% off right now
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1954609,00.asp

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"Daave" <> wrote in message
news:QiT6g.312$ et...
> Well, it's been six years since I purchased my current PC, so I'm
> starting to research what I might like for my next.
>
> In addition to the ordinary e-mailing, Web surfing, Usenet, etc., I
> would like to edit both audio and video. I am *not* a gamer.
>
> As everybody else, I'm bombarded with ads for Dells. Worth considering?
>
> I guess my main questions are about:
>
> motherboard/processor (dual?)
> hard drive size
> external hard drive, too?
> RAM
> video card
> audio card
>
> Am I forgetting anything? Anything else I should look for?
>
> TIA.
>
> --
> Dave
>
>

Building your own is realy not the cheapest option these days.
So many companies offer box plus packages it is unreal.
Dells kit is in the same area--good value and upgradeable.

Sound and video edit (assuming you have relavant software ) have a common
requirement ---loads of spare HD space and more RAM than you can shake a
stick at, quality add in graphics and sound cards also help.

Set your budget and stick to it, go for bang for buck ---you can add in
later --remember todays machines are tomorrows junk--it can prove worthwhile
buying top end yesterday equipment and collecting pro cards to suit as the
funds allow.

From your original question, all your sound and vid can be editted by a
basic machine--just the quality that changes---are you about to make a
disney or edit home tapes?
You will "see" or percieve a faster machine from a better processor ----ooh
look it loads faster etc.
Having a Ferrari in the garage generally ends up in expensive bills.

Ask yourself why you want it, what you need it for, does an extra three
minutes matter?

Then open the wallet.

Daave wrote:
> Well, it's been six years since I purchased my current PC, so I'm
> starting to research what I might like for my next.
>
> In addition to the ordinary e-mailing, Web surfing, Usenet, etc., I
> would like to edit both audio and video. I am *not* a gamer.
>
> As everybody else, I'm bombarded with ads for Dells. Worth considering?
>
> I guess my main questions are about:
>
> motherboard/processor (dual?)
> hard drive size
> external hard drive, too?
> RAM
> video card
> audio card
>
> Am I forgetting anything? Anything else I should look for?
>
> TIA.
>
An operating system.

Daave wrote:
> Well, it's been six years since I purchased my current PC, so I'm
> starting to research what I might like for my next.
>
> In addition to the ordinary e-mailing, Web surfing, Usenet, etc., I
> would like to edit both audio and video. I am *not* a gamer.
>
> As everybody else, I'm bombarded with ads for Dells. Worth considering?
>
> I guess my main questions are about:
>
> motherboard/processor (dual?)
> hard drive size
> external hard drive, too?
> RAM
> video card
> audio card
>
> Am I forgetting anything? Anything else I should look for?
>
> TIA.
>

Dave, Dell is cheap for a reason other than the massive business that
they conduct. The tech support is the worst in the industry, bar
none, it is horrible. Dell computers do not upgrade well at all, it
is pretty much buy what you want and that is just about all you will
ever have. So, buy the best that you can comfortably afford.

On the other hand, they do support their boxes well, if something goes
wrong with it while under warranty, you will have prompt service.
Either a replacement part if you wish or a person sent out to fix it
for you. If not that, and the problem is unresolvable, they will also
quickly replace your whole computer.

Overall, Dell is not what they used to be, but still make a decent
computer that will do just about anything you want a computer to do,
unless you are a hard core, living, breathing, gamer fanatic that has
to have the absolute best that there is. Also, all Dell's come with
Intel processors, period.

Altie

Ctrl¤/Alt¤/Del¤®" <""Alt-Ctrl-Del\"@________------------{{{{ }}}}.net
wrote:

> Dell computers do not upgrade well at all, it
> is pretty much buy what you want and that is just about all you will
> ever have. So, buy the best that you can comfortably afford.

Don't upgrade well? I always thought that you just "popped the hood" and
swapped cards. I guess there are other considerations then. What
specifically is difficult to upgrade in a Dell?

> Also, all Dell's come with Intel processors, period.

As long as the processor is fast enough, why should I be concerned that
it's not another brand (I know of AMD; any others?)?

--
Dave

Puss in boots wrote:
> Daave wrote:

>> Am I forgetting anything? Anything else I should look for?

> An operating system.

I assumed I'd be going with Windows XP.

Speaking of...

Does anyone here have experience with XP Media Center 2005 Edition? Is
it basically a gimmick, or does it have significant advantages over
regular XP? And is XP Pro advantageous? (I wouldn't be using my new PC
as a server)

--
Dave

On Sat, 06 May 2006 05:42:38 GMT, "Daave" <>
wrote:

>Ctrl¤/Alt¤/Del¤®" <""Alt-Ctrl-Del\"@________------------{{{{ }}}}.net
>wrote:
>
>> Dell computers do not upgrade well at all, it
>> is pretty much buy what you want and that is just about all you will
>> ever have. So, buy the best that you can comfortably afford.
>
>Don't upgrade well? I always thought that you just "popped the hood" and
>swapped cards. I guess there are other considerations then. What
>specifically is difficult to upgrade in a Dell?

Not much, depending on the motherboard limitations. I've never had a problem
fixing or upgrading any Dells I've worked on. You might have to disable some
onboard stuff if you want to run your own cards, and you do have to check what
the motherboard will support before you buy one if you think you're going to
want to do certain upgrades, but they're a lot easier to work on than HPs are.

<snip>

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AND I WANT TO KNOW WHY NOT!"
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"Daave" <> wrote:

|>Puss in boots wrote:
|>> Daave wrote:
|>
|>>> Am I forgetting anything? Anything else I should look for?
|>
|>> An operating system.

|>I assumed I'd be going with Windows XP.

|>Speaking of...
|>
|>Does anyone here have experience with XP Media Center 2005 Edition? Is
|>it basically a gimmick, or does it have significant advantages over
|>regular XP? And is XP Pro advantageous? (I wouldn't be using my new PC
|>as a server)

Big lawsuit, Microsoft lost, had to sale XP without WMP.

So now it's called media center cause it has WMP.

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On 2006-05-06, Trax <> wrote:
> "Daave" <> wrote:
>
>|>Puss in boots wrote:
>|>> Daave wrote:
>|>
>|>>> Am I forgetting anything? Anything else I should look for?
>|>
>|>> An operating system.
>
>|>I assumed I'd be going with Windows XP.
>
>|>Speaking of...
>|>
>|>Does anyone here have experience with XP Media Center 2005 Edition? Is
>|>it basically a gimmick, or does it have significant advantages over
>|>regular XP? And is XP Pro advantageous? (I wouldn't be using my new PC
>|>as a server)
>
> Big lawsuit, Microsoft lost, had to sale XP without WMP.
>
> So now it's called media center cause it has WMP.

Not that the 'other one' actually doesn't have WMP; it just doesn't have
a pointy-clicky icon for it. Or so the European court have been shown.

Of course, merely being forced to pay Microsoft for the privilege of
having XP pre-installed on a ready-made computer, doesn't mean that you
actually have to use it.

Mac OS has a long history of being the preferred OS for people deeply into
audio-visual stuff. Linux can do it too, naturally.

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~