Shopping for a new Computer, what should I look for?

Sub0 · Post by **Sub0** » Sun Nov 17, 2002 6:36 pm

And there's this thing called XP Multimedia Center or something... and only OEMs (like HP, Dell, etc.) can get it.

I suggest Voodoo btw... (their black n red compus look like Unit 03 anyway ;-p)

Sub0 · Post by **Sub0** » Sun Nov 17, 2002 6:58 pm

klinky wrote: Video:
Don't get anything that has "LE" or "MX" or "PRO" in the name. Also avoid anything with the word "integrated" or "onboard". You'll want either a Radeon 8500, or a Geforce4 ti4200. Both are cheap enough that they shouldn't be out of your range.

??? Radeon 9700 pro may be out of reach but 9000 pro is about equal too 8500, how can you not suggest an 8500le (maybe no duel head or TV out but...)???
9700 is teh bomb, 9500 SUCKS (9500 pro too), 9000 sucks, 7500 and below don't expect to play games.

and for monitors, lcds are not suggested yet... because they don't track the stuff on the screen as good as crts (traditional gorditos) do.

integrated sound SOUNDS good now but they borrow power from the processor. Not much for video work but you can easily notice it in current games. One rule of Soundcards, SOUNDBLASTER SOUNDBLASTER SOUNDBLADDER oh wait... ;-p soundblaster's most current card is the Audigy 2 (just came out in Oct.) about the only thing it does dif from the Audigy 1 (or just Audigy) is 24bit/ 96khz, DVD Audio decoding. nothing for encoding YET but it does have the ability. I don't like Soundblaster cuz it sometimes messes up when used wrong (which is ~20% of the time...) but due to licenses it IS the only card that can play DVDA... you need a dvd drive to play dvda btw...

rubyeye · Post by **rubyeye** » Sun Nov 17, 2002 7:36 pm

Sounds good guys. I know that building it yourself is the best way to go, but then the entire hassle of installing the OS and hoping it all works, shopping for the right parts, compatabilitiy issues, security, etc. - I'm not really one to get "down & dirty" with the hardware.

"I'm a user not an abuser" - as the saying goes.

I appreciate the advice. And as I was shopping around today, there were a couple that looked promising. But I had another question.

What's the concensus on the particular brand name of computers? Which ones are better to shop for?

1. Dell
2. Compaq
3. Viao
4. Gateway
5. Hewlett Packard
6. Other

NicholasDWolfwood · Post by **NicholasDWolfwood** » Sun Nov 17, 2002 8:52 pm

CaTaClYsM wrote:and nowhere in there does it say how much memory you have.

Yes, it does. But just incase you can't read, I have 256MB of PC133 RAM.
In my member profile, it tells all of my PC specs.

CaTaClYsM · Post by **CaTaClYsM** » Sun Nov 17, 2002 10:05 pm

PC:

Processor: AMD K6-2 450MHz
Motherboard: Tyan S1598C2 Motherboard
Capture Card: I/O Magic PC-PVR TV Tuner Card
Monitor: CTX Color CRT Monitor "17
Cable Modem: Toshiba PCX1100U Cable Modem (@Home Highspeed Internet Service, 1,5mbit Downstream, 160kbit Upstream)
Hard Drive 1 (Main): Western Digital 40GB 7,200 RPM Hard Drive
Hard Drive 2 (Video Editing / File Storage): Western Digital 120GB 7,200 RPM (8MB Cache - Special Edition) Hard Drive
CD Burner: HP CD-Writer Plus 9500i 12x8x32 CD-RW Burner
DVD: Artec 16x DVD -ROM Drive (16x DVD, 40x CD)
Microphone: Standard RadioShack Microphone
Speakers: Altec Lansing AVS300 3 Piece Speaker Set (2 Speaker, 1 Subwoofer)
Case: Standard ATX Case
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer Optical
Keyboard: Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro
Printer: HP Deskjet 710c Color Printer
Digital Camera: Fujifilm A101 Digital Camera with 40MB of Memory (1-32MB SmartMedia Card and 1-8MB SmartMedia Card)

Software:

Video Editing - Adobe Premiere 6.0
Image Editing - Adobe Photoshop 6.0
Website Work - Macromedia Dreamweaver MX/Fireworks MX/Flash MX

it does not say the memory. How typical of you.

jonmartensen · Post by **jonmartensen** » Mon Nov 18, 2002 12:13 am

Oh, the kiddies have reverted to comparing their IQ. My gaydar readings are going off the charts here.

Ok, just had to say that, good oportunity.

rubyeye: While most people hate compaq with a vengance it usually can be pretty good, I would recomend gateway or HP though.

[MOD467: The off-topic banter that is referred to in this post has been moved here.]

klinky · Post by **klinky** » Mon Nov 18, 2002 1:01 am

While the kiddies were fighting I was checking out some vendors

DELL is a big fucking rip-off. HP & Gateway seem, ~okay~.. less of a rip off, but still ripping you off!

~klinky

ErMaC · Post by **ErMaC** » Mon Nov 18, 2002 3:28 am

I'm currently using an ATI Radeon 9000 Pro, dual-head, on two 17" monitors in WinXP and it runs fine. Very nice not having to deal with 2 video cards anymore.

klinky · Post by **klinky** » Mon Nov 18, 2002 3:59 am

Okay, fine we can say the 9000 Pro is "okay". The reason I don't like it is because it's a 9000 Pro, but it's more or less equal to a 8500. There is really no point to that silly product. It's ATI's version of the Geforce4 MX, which is not really a Geforce4, it gets performance around what a Geforce2 gets

They're misleading, thus I hate them.

~klinky

MistyCaldwell · Post by **MistyCaldwell** » Mon Nov 18, 2002 4:45 am

Hey, for the monitor, try a pawn shop

..no, really

I am using a Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 900u, 19" CRT (18.0" diagonal viewable image) that was at a pawn shop. Poor thing had been through some rough treatment and had a little cosmetic damage thanks to a UPS shipment. It was still brand new but needed a degausing job. Other than that, fine....and a steal at 50 bucks

compared to it's suggested price being 700

AnimeMusicVideos.org

Shopping for a new Computer, what should I look for?

Does 'brand name' matter?