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View Full Version : The right computer for me?



AndyP
6th May 2004, 03:52 PM
I have been looking to get a computer recently. My main uses will be a bit of video editing and web surfing.

I did have a thread on the "other" site, that has helped me, and I have since updated my proposed system.
"Other" site thread (http://www.iseekgolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6678&highlight=firewire)


This is what I was thinking of getting.
Celeron 2G
40G HDD, ECS M/B, 1.44 FDD, 512K DDR RAM, 52 x CDRW, 17" monitor, USB is standard and maybe get the firewire card. $749


Now:
Pentium4 2.8G/533, 120G HDD, 1.44 FDD, 512M DDR RAM, Liteon 451S DVDRW ($130), 3D Video, Sound, LAN, 240W Speakers, 17" LG 710S Monitor, Optical Mouse and Firewire Card. $1050.

Feedback?

terryand
6th May 2004, 04:02 PM
Andy the 2nd one is getting closer to what you need.

i have the AMD 3200 cpu,the biggert you can get without going 64 bit and it runs at 100% usage when formating form one form of video to DV form for burning.

So if you are going to do a lot of video editing get the biggest cpu thats out there.And it still won't be big enough.

It took 4 to 5 hours to process 3.5 GB from mpeg to DV format and that was quick

Terry.

Fishman Dan
6th May 2004, 04:04 PM
Finally, a Buy/Sell topic i've got some idea about!

You can actually get a good deal from Dell at the moment - about those specs and price. I've got the brochure at home, i'll check it tonight and post the details (if Telstra ADSL isn't still rooted).

The reason i'd suggest Dell if you don't have much computer nous is because if something goes tits-up, then they'll replace it. The bad side with Dell is that you have to talk to 'Benny' from Kolkata or Chennai who will give you a Camp X-ray like interrogation before they allow it.

The 'mainstream' brands i would stick to are Dell and IBM. If you want a little more tailored solution, you can get better motherboards, RAM and video cards, but the price will balloon. The only thing i'd get you to check now is to make sure the Hard Disk is atleast 7200 rpm - video editing at less will make you break things in frustration.

Jarro
6th May 2004, 04:12 PM
Dan,

AMD or Pentium :?: :smt017

Fishman Dan
6th May 2004, 04:29 PM
Pentium man myself. Hear too many awkward things with AMD etc.

But still waiting for the day when i can return home... to a Macintosh :smt007 \:D/

AndyP
6th May 2004, 07:54 PM
Moving to 3200 is going to bump the price up a bit. :?

Fishy, the HDD is 7200 rpm.
I think there might be a 12 mth guarantee, but I can't find where I saw that.

The outlaws got a Dell. They got grilled just coz Dell stuffed the order up, and they wanted an exchange.
The mob that I have been grabbing a pricelist from is Global Group. I have a mate that has a bit of nous.

goughy
6th May 2004, 08:15 PM
I keep a hard drive empty just for storing the footage. About 40gb's worth.

AndyP
6th May 2004, 08:28 PM
I keep a hard drive empty just for storing the footage. About 40gb's worth.
That's another $90 right there. ](*,)

terryand
6th May 2004, 08:42 PM
Money well spent thou Andy,you'll need aheap of space if you want to do alot of home videos.In raw dv format staight off the digd cam, 1 hour of tape used 13 gig of space

I just paid $109 for an 80 Gig seagate sataHD(I'm told these are good),so you can get good prices on hardware.

Terry.

markTHEblake
6th May 2004, 10:20 PM
Andy by the looks of the description you are giving, the Video adaptor is on the main board.

For video editing i would be inclined to get proper video card,, and its worth your while to you get one with a TV-Out, so you can playback stuff on your big screen. We are talkin an extra $60-70 here.

Why the hell do you want a floppy disk drive for? :-)

I just did a quote using one of my wholesalers prices , and I can assure you, that this system you are looking it is made up of the cheapest of everything. CPU, ram, Hard drive,monitor, dvd burner is pretty much always the same price. As for the rest there is some serious skimping there, i would bet that the mainboard you are getting is a micro ATX board going for $65.

I cant see the value in putting a P4 in a crappy main board like this.

If you want Send me the full quote showing details of each component and I can give you some better advice on what to or not to get.

I build and sell computers but i dont want to sell you one for a bunch of reasons, including No time, small margins cant be stuffed, but very happy to give you some free consulting!

Courty
7th May 2004, 07:00 AM
Do yourself a favour and get an iMac. I have a G4 flat-panel iMac with Super-Drive (DVD Burner). As with all Macs, Firewire is included. OSX is the best operating system going around by far. No 'blue-screens-of-death'. Everything JUST WORKS. The iLife Multimedia package is light-years ahead of any PC software product. If you want to get really serious, you can get Final Cut Express of Final Cut Pro (professional digital video production apps) but iMovie is good enough.
I actually just made a DVD earlier this week.
1. Plug in mini-dv camera
2. Import footage
3. Drag-and-drop editing
4. Add audio
5. export to iDVD
6. Burn

How easy is that!

But if for some unknown reason :roll: , if you want to stay with Windoze, I would agree with Fishman Dan about Dell. I also have a Dell PC at home, and it has been really good.

AndyP
7th May 2004, 07:26 AM
Thanks for the advice, guys. I have taken it all on board.
You do realise that spending this money, seriously affects your chances of converting me into a ho. :wink:

I just remembered last night that I get a discount through work at Dell. I'll have to look into it.

Fishman Dan
7th May 2004, 08:09 AM
AP - one more thing. I know Dell can catch you out like this -

Make sure the video card does not use SHARED RAM. This means the video card has some memory, but it uses System memory as well. This is slow and inefficient. You want a good motherboard with a decent FSB (Front Side Bus) to take advantage of the P4, and so that the RAM can run at optimum efficiency.

I'd be looking for at least a 128 mb card - and like MtB said, get video out.

Mark's sentiment is also valid - no point us selling you the kit, because if/when you have a problem, you have every right and expectation to turn up on the doorstep of the vendor and make it their problem. Too many shonky vendors only want to talk to you when things are rosey.

Life would be so much easier with a Mac. And if it's video editing and web browsing you want to do, then it's much more suited ;) Unless of course you want to play Tiger Woods 2004.

Courty - i think i love you....

Courty
7th May 2004, 08:18 AM
Courty - i think i love you....

Go easy mate :shock: People will start talking :wink:

andylo
7th May 2004, 09:13 AM
Have you ever consider to get an Apple?

I think iMac is your ideal choose. It has WAY BETTER video support and it also come with firewire.

A lot of professional use Apple System to do their video/graphic editing.

Beside, Apple system don't break down as much compare to Windows box.

Jarro
7th May 2004, 09:31 AM
Courty - i think i love you....

Go easy mate :shock: People will start talking :wink:

you guys don't know how close i came to deleting that post :smt078 :lol:

Courty
7th May 2004, 09:31 AM
A lot of professional use Apple System to do their video/graphic editing.

As I said, I have an iMac... :wink: :smt024 :smt023

Courty
7th May 2004, 09:35 AM
you guys don't know how close i came to deleting that post :smt078 :lol:

You obviously haven't used a Mac then... :smt047 :smt043

Eag's
8th May 2004, 07:14 PM
You iMac fans have got to be kidding [-X Get yourself a good AMD or Pentium system with plenty of good quality ram, A fast enough CPU and a decent video card (128M ) and you will be fine.

Plus you will save yourself a few dollars in the process. :smt023
iMac's :smt078

Courty
8th May 2004, 09:54 PM
You iMac fans have got to be kidding [-X Get yourself a good AMD or Pentium system with plenty of good quality ram, A fast enough CPU and a decent video card (128M ) and you will be fine.


I used to think that too, Eag's. But then I actually tried one. They are THAT good... :)

AndyP
9th May 2004, 05:05 PM
Plus you will save yourself a few dollars in the process. :smt023
iMac's :smt078
That's what it is all about, Eag's.
After all, I don't have an unlimited budget.

Golfgirl
11th May 2004, 09:53 AM
(Refer to the Golf and IT thread....)

What the hell are you guys talking about? :shock:

Technology has obviously left me in its wake.... :smt119

Courty
11th May 2004, 09:59 AM
(Refer to the Golf and IT thread....)

What the hell are you guys talking about? :shock:

Technology has obviously left me in its wake.... :smt119

It started off as a discussion about the relationship between career path and membership of this forum but has disintegrated into a Holden vs. Ford type argument for computer geeks :smt021 :smt024 :mrgreen:

Golfgirl
11th May 2004, 10:17 AM
Aaahhh! Right!!!!!

p.s. Don't you all know that Holdens are better than Fords..... :wink:

(Golfgirl's hubby here - Fords are better than Holdens - don't listen to GG she's got no idea)

AndyP
11th May 2004, 10:46 AM
It started off as a discussion about the relationship between career path and membership of this forum but has disintegrated into a Holden vs. Ford type argument for computer geeks :smt021 :smt024 :mrgreen:

Wrong thread. This one is meant to be about computers. Mine, in particular. :roll:

Courty
11th May 2004, 11:00 AM
Whoops #-o :smt102

Golfgirl
11th May 2004, 08:00 PM
Sorry - my fault - I was actually querying what the hell this thread was about (I wrote refer to Golf and IT thread so that you would all get the message that I am a complete IT idiot.... you know, the kind that keep the IT people in a job....) :wink:

p.s. I stand by my statement - holdens are better than fords.... :wink:

andylo
12th May 2004, 08:16 AM
Eag's wrote:
Plus you will save yourself a few dollars in the process.
iMac's

That's what it is all about, Eag's.
After all, I don't have an unlimited budget.

So you should choose iMac (or eMac)... in the long run you will be supprise how much money you will be saving if you decided to keep the computer for at least 3 years. (if you are an end-user)



p.s. I stand by my statement - holdens are better than fords....

Umm... used to be, not really now :wink:

Courty
12th May 2004, 08:25 AM
p.s. I stand by my statement - holdens are better than fords....
Umm... used to be, not really now :wink:

Ford STILL have nothing to rival the mighty Monaro :smt019

AndyP
12th May 2004, 09:20 AM
So you should choose iMac (or eMac)... in the long run you will be supprise how much money you will be saving if you decided to keep the computer for at least 3 years. (if you are an end-user)

I don't know anyone with a Mac, so I can't "borrow" software. :wink:

Courty
12th May 2004, 09:24 AM
I have an iMac with OSX/ MS Office/ Adobe Creative Suite/ Final Cut Pro etc... :wink:

AndyP
25th July 2004, 08:06 PM
FYI the following package is on order:

AMD Athlon XP2800+
120G HDD
Floppy Drive
512M RAM
LiteOn DVDRW
128M Video Card TVOut
17" CRT Monitor (with flat screen)
Optical Mouse
Firewire Card
Windows not included.
$1170
8)

Courty
25th July 2004, 08:57 PM
FYI the following package is on order:
blah
blah
blah
Floppy Drive
blah
blah
blah
Windows not included.


Andy, what the hell do you intend to do with a floppy drive?! Those things stopped being useful about 10 years ago!
The lack of windows should make this computer much more stable and less prone to crashing. :wink:

990B Luva
26th July 2004, 07:27 AM
Ford STILL have nothing to rival the mighty Monaro :smt019
Yeah maybe so but holden have nuffin to rival the XR6TURBO

AndyP
26th July 2004, 09:22 AM
Andy, what the hell do you intend to do with a floppy drive?! Those things stopped being useful about 10 years ago!
The lack of windows should make this computer much more stable and less prone to crashing. :wink:
Work has floppy drives, my old PC has a floppy drive, they cost bugger all, so why not. Think they were standard in the package anyway. I resisted getting the 5.25" floppy drive though. :wink:

I am getting Windows, but through other avenues. Point taken though.

Fishman Dan
26th July 2004, 09:46 AM
AP - Just make sure your HDD is AT LEAST 7200 rpm.

You might also want to check out what the motherboard type is. Before we go too much into it, if you get good RAM (fast access speed) on a crappy motherboard, it's like cooking a roast with a Bic lighter... pretty much pointless..

AndyP
26th July 2004, 10:16 AM
AP - Just make sure your HDD is AT LEAST 7200 rpm.
Is 7200rpm.


You might also want to check out what the motherboard type is. Before we go too much into it, if you get good RAM (fast access speed) on a crappy motherboard, it's like cooking a roast with a Bic lighter... pretty much pointless..
Asus A7N8X-X MOTHERBOARD
This is something the computer mob have matched up with it.

Fishman Dan
26th July 2004, 10:35 AM
AP - Just make sure your HDD is AT LEAST 7200 rpm.
Is 7200rpm.


You might also want to check out what the motherboard type is. Before we go too much into it, if you get good RAM (fast access speed) on a crappy motherboard, it's like cooking a roast with a Bic lighter... pretty much pointless..
Asus A7N8X-X MOTHERBOARD
This is something the computer mob have matched up with it.

Excellent - you have my full permission to proceed 8)

AndyP
26th July 2004, 10:47 AM
Excellent - you have my full permission to proceed 8)
I'll call them back and tell them to continue processing my order. :roll: