New PC advice site please
Posted by: Bruce Woodhouse on 12 October 2004
My Dell home PC has just reached the age to be replaced. I've used a rule that when new machines are about 10x faster/bigger/cleverer it is time to move up, just about got there after 6yrs, which I reckon is pretty fair!
I'm only just literate in PC-speak. What i really need is a good website that can direct me through the jargon so I can specify and choose my new machine. Any good independent review sites out there?
Bruce
I'm only just literate in PC-speak. What i really need is a good website that can direct me through the jargon so I can specify and choose my new machine. Any good independent review sites out there?
Bruce
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by stevie d
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by Mike Hughes
Bruce,
To what uses do you put your PC and what is its' current spec? Given those answers I'm sure all the advice you need can be elicited from this thread.
Mike
To what uses do you put your PC and what is its' current spec? Given those answers I'm sure all the advice you need can be elicited from this thread.
Mike
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by Bruce Woodhouse
OK Mike
Current spec is 350mHz, 20Gb hard drive (I think), runs Win 98 (badly). Has 256mb memory now. I've added an external hard drive because it was getting so full. It has a lovely 19 inch Sony Trinitron screen.
The PC is used for lots of documents in MS Office incl image-rich Powerpoints. Fair bit of web use, work and play. I'd like digital video editing for work purposes (we use videos to teach and train) and my wife is an artist so we scan high resolution images and fiddle with these plus digital pics. I'll be managing my music collection on it too-with the iPod that is due to arrive any day. Playing games-not much, although I might buy some if I could run them. TV link-not bothered, never watch it. Wirelessness not a problem, my printer and scanners won't work wireless anyway. I do not need to network the machine either.
...and I'd like it not to go wrong and last a few years before it gets overtaken by developments.
We now have a nice 3.2Ghz laptop that has made me realise how stone age the PC has become!
Looking at adverts I'm very confused by the labelling of hard drives and wether it matters a lot(RAID, SATA etc etc) and also about screens. Looks like the connection from PC to screen is now different to mine (DVI?) so I think I need a new monitor. Also confused by the profusion of chipsets.
Mike, an idea, can I just hand you 1.5k and get you to sort it out?
Bruce
Current spec is 350mHz, 20Gb hard drive (I think), runs Win 98 (badly). Has 256mb memory now. I've added an external hard drive because it was getting so full. It has a lovely 19 inch Sony Trinitron screen.
The PC is used for lots of documents in MS Office incl image-rich Powerpoints. Fair bit of web use, work and play. I'd like digital video editing for work purposes (we use videos to teach and train) and my wife is an artist so we scan high resolution images and fiddle with these plus digital pics. I'll be managing my music collection on it too-with the iPod that is due to arrive any day. Playing games-not much, although I might buy some if I could run them. TV link-not bothered, never watch it. Wirelessness not a problem, my printer and scanners won't work wireless anyway. I do not need to network the machine either.
...and I'd like it not to go wrong and last a few years before it gets overtaken by developments.
We now have a nice 3.2Ghz laptop that has made me realise how stone age the PC has become!
Looking at adverts I'm very confused by the labelling of hard drives and wether it matters a lot(RAID, SATA etc etc) and also about screens. Looks like the connection from PC to screen is now different to mine (DVI?) so I think I need a new monitor. Also confused by the profusion of chipsets.
Mike, an idea, can I just hand you 1.5k and get you to sort it out?
Bruce
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by Bruce Woodhouse
I partitioned the drive and installed XP in one bit so I could try running it and have a fall-back. I also back up the laptop data to here, and vice-versa.
The laptop has all my music MP3's, these are well over 30Gb and counting.
Bruce
The laptop has all my music MP3's, these are well over 30Gb and counting.
Bruce
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by pingu
quote:
Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
OK Mike
It has a lovely 19 inch Sony Trinitron screen.
...
I'd like digital video editing for work purposes (we use videos to teach and train)
Get the new Sony Vaio then
http://shop.sonystyle-europe.com/SonyStyle/b2c/init.do;jsessionid=ID4001DB0.8182808386453698End?shop=SST_GB_EN
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by Martin Payne
quote:
Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
It has a lovely 19 inch Sony Trinitron screen.
Looks like the connection from PC to screen is now different to mine (DVI?) so I think I need a new monitor.
AFAIK, most PCs can still put out an analogue signal, so you could continue to use your existing screen.
Some would say that the best of analogue monitor are still better than digital panels. (Does that sound familiar?)
quote:
Looking at adverts I'm very confused by the labelling of hard drives and wether it matters a lot(RAID, SATA etc etc)
Just get a machine with an SATA drive. All else is fluff. (EIDE / UltraATA will be obsolete over the timeframe you want your new machine to last).
cheers, Martin
E-mail:- MartinPayne (at) Dial.Pipex.com. Put "Naim" in the title.
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by Paul Hutchings
I'd probably look at Dell again, if you just want something to arrive that you should be able to plug in and and use.
Basically for most of it go by the numbers, more = better.
On the monitor side, DVI is relevant to TFT/LCD panels, CRT (glass tube) monitors still use analogue.
On the hard drive, I expect most new machines will be SATA, RAID is not worth it to most home users (assuming you do backup your work).
Do get a DVD burner, they cost peanuts, be aware Dell usually ship burners that support DVD plus, whereas a drive brought separately will usually support both plus and minus.
Final thing, watch out on the bottom-of-range machines as Dell (as do most companies) will tend to use a system board that has everything on it with little expansion potential.
regards,
Paul
Basically for most of it go by the numbers, more = better.
On the monitor side, DVI is relevant to TFT/LCD panels, CRT (glass tube) monitors still use analogue.
On the hard drive, I expect most new machines will be SATA, RAID is not worth it to most home users (assuming you do backup your work).
Do get a DVD burner, they cost peanuts, be aware Dell usually ship burners that support DVD plus, whereas a drive brought separately will usually support both plus and minus.
Final thing, watch out on the bottom-of-range machines as Dell (as do most companies) will tend to use a system board that has everything on it with little expansion potential.
regards,
Paul
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by garyi
Get a mac, it will do all that you want better.
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by Steve Hall
Bruce,
The power and specifications of modern systems is a million miles from where you are now, so I wouldnt worry, it will run like a rocket in comparison.
Depending on how much you want to spend will give us some indication of the direction for you to go.
Dell are offering massively competitive systems, often for silly money, especially if you order online. I've given up making systems for people due to their prices, unless of course they want a turbo-nutter gaming machine with esoteric parts.
The power and specifications of modern systems is a million miles from where you are now, so I wouldnt worry, it will run like a rocket in comparison.
Depending on how much you want to spend will give us some indication of the direction for you to go.
Dell are offering massively competitive systems, often for silly money, especially if you order online. I've given up making systems for people due to their prices, unless of course they want a turbo-nutter gaming machine with esoteric parts.
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by Roy T
quote:
unless of course they want a turbo-nutter gaming machine with esoteric parts
Must agree with Steve Hall on this point. One other thing to look for is that Dell or whoever is offering the PC may well try to offer you an (in house) ISP as well, take care it may cost an arm and a leg.
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by Mike Hughes
Bruce,
Hand me £1500 and It'll just go into my NAP 300 fund I'm afraid!!!
Anyway, your digital video needs and HD/memory size appear to be the only reasons for an upgrade given your current spec. and, if I understand right, and you're not already running DV editing on this PC then it is indeed upgrade time.
I don't tend to recommend makes as I think one can soon trip up as things change so quickly but may I suggest the following as a guide in no particular order (it's late).
1) Your laptop processor speed would be fine. Faster wouldn't go amiss but the premium may not be worth it.
2) A new HD of around 120MB or more would do you fine but SATA is only just coming onto the market so ensure that's what you're getting and, if you look around, even bigger faster disks are not that expensive.
3) Double your RAM to 512MB at minimum but, with current prices, your intended usage and an elemnet of future proofing, see if you can stretch to 1GB.
4) Maybe look for DV editing software first; check the spec. and then double it.
5) It will depend on the precision you require but a decent DV card may well be more important than changing your monitor. If you like it then keep it.
6) Theoretically, you don't need RAID. In practice it's often the cheapest backup strategy. XP Pro as an OS has ltd. RAID options but with digital video or music it's always good to have the system on one disk and the data on another (not the same as fault tolerance but good practice anyway).
7) If you're only moving music in a compressed format to an IPod then I wouldn't just accept a bog standard sound card either.
8) Expansion wise you want your RAM in one of two slots and you want to see PCI Express slots on there (they may well be if you hang on).
9) Make sure Fire Wire is in as standard as well as IR and Bluetooth.
I guess what I'm saying is that a single web site may not do it for you given your needs. In the same way there are music specialists out there like Red Submarine there are also DV experts. Go talk to them. There is a premium if you go that route but equally their advice could lead you to sort it yourself with more confidence.
Mike
Hand me £1500 and It'll just go into my NAP 300 fund I'm afraid!!!
Anyway, your digital video needs and HD/memory size appear to be the only reasons for an upgrade given your current spec. and, if I understand right, and you're not already running DV editing on this PC then it is indeed upgrade time.
I don't tend to recommend makes as I think one can soon trip up as things change so quickly but may I suggest the following as a guide in no particular order (it's late).
1) Your laptop processor speed would be fine. Faster wouldn't go amiss but the premium may not be worth it.
2) A new HD of around 120MB or more would do you fine but SATA is only just coming onto the market so ensure that's what you're getting and, if you look around, even bigger faster disks are not that expensive.
3) Double your RAM to 512MB at minimum but, with current prices, your intended usage and an elemnet of future proofing, see if you can stretch to 1GB.
4) Maybe look for DV editing software first; check the spec. and then double it.
5) It will depend on the precision you require but a decent DV card may well be more important than changing your monitor. If you like it then keep it.
6) Theoretically, you don't need RAID. In practice it's often the cheapest backup strategy. XP Pro as an OS has ltd. RAID options but with digital video or music it's always good to have the system on one disk and the data on another (not the same as fault tolerance but good practice anyway).
7) If you're only moving music in a compressed format to an IPod then I wouldn't just accept a bog standard sound card either.
8) Expansion wise you want your RAM in one of two slots and you want to see PCI Express slots on there (they may well be if you hang on).
9) Make sure Fire Wire is in as standard as well as IR and Bluetooth.
I guess what I'm saying is that a single web site may not do it for you given your needs. In the same way there are music specialists out there like Red Submarine there are also DV experts. Go talk to them. There is a premium if you go that route but equally their advice could lead you to sort it yourself with more confidence.
Mike
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by Mike Hughes
Sorry, 7) should have added "... but I wouldn't go for something expensive either. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense. Time for bed.
Mike
Mike
Posted on: 12 October 2004 by Bruce Woodhouse
Mike
Thanks for that, really appreciated.
I'm using digital video (very simply) at work but will be looking at doing it at home in future when my new PC arrives. I knew firewire was essential etc. One thing I did not understand; why upgrade the soundcard if i'm just effectively using the machine to load up the ipod, rather than actually playing tunes on it?
One snag I'm finding with Dell when I started fiddling last night is that they do not seem to offer a monitor 'delete' option which seems a waste of money as mine is already nice. Still some of the systems look good value.
Bruce
Thanks for that, really appreciated.
I'm using digital video (very simply) at work but will be looking at doing it at home in future when my new PC arrives. I knew firewire was essential etc. One thing I did not understand; why upgrade the soundcard if i'm just effectively using the machine to load up the ipod, rather than actually playing tunes on it?
One snag I'm finding with Dell when I started fiddling last night is that they do not seem to offer a monitor 'delete' option which seems a waste of money as mine is already nice. Still some of the systems look good value.
Bruce
Posted on: 13 October 2004 by reductionist
quote:
Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
One snag I'm finding with Dell when I started fiddling last night is that they do not seem to offer a monitor 'delete' option which seems a waste of money as mine is already nice. Still some of the systems look good value.
Bruce
Bruce,
Treat the Dell monitor as a spare and leave in the loft in its box.
If you go Dell go for the 8400 with minimum upgrades (£599 at the moment with 1Gb RAM and big HD!) rather than a lesser machine with lots of upgraded specs it will be faster even with a slower processor clock because the Motherboard is better in these higher end machines.
Posted on: 13 October 2004 by Martin Payne
quote:
Originally posted by Mike Hughes:
2) A new HD of around 120MB or more would do you fine but SATA is only just coming onto the market so ensure that's what you're getting and, if you look around, even bigger faster disks are not that expensive.
I understand that DV can use about 10GB per hour of video. By the time you have several clips, plus some working files, I could imagine that space getting used up very quickly.
Given that there are 30GB of MP3s as well, I would suggest a 200GB disc as a minimum, and more if you can add it easily to your spec.
It's also worth remembering that Windows starts to slow down noticeably if the boot disc gets more than 50-60% full, so if you need to store 30GB of MP3s, and 30GB of video, you could consider the disc to be already "full". Doesn't give much breathing room for the next five years (and upgrading discs is a PITA).
cheers, Martin
E-mail:- MartinPayne (at) Dial.Pipex.com. Put "Naim" in the title.
Posted on: 15 October 2004 by Mike Hughes
Martin,
That's good solid advice. I would be looking to have system on one HD, video on another and music on another plus a solid backup methodology. However, yer man really needs to make an assessment of priorities here.
NB,
Music on your Ipod is compressed and so there is a quality loss with both converting to MP3 and placing on the Ipod. You may not need a top quality sound card but you need one with a decent DAC and inputs to ensure that what you put on HD before you convert to MP3 and feed your Ipod is decent enough quality anyway. I am, of course, assuming that such quality matters to you because you are on this forum!!!
Your experience with Dell tallies with mine. If you want a specialist product then forget them and move elsewhere.
Mike
That's good solid advice. I would be looking to have system on one HD, video on another and music on another plus a solid backup methodology. However, yer man really needs to make an assessment of priorities here.
NB,
Music on your Ipod is compressed and so there is a quality loss with both converting to MP3 and placing on the Ipod. You may not need a top quality sound card but you need one with a decent DAC and inputs to ensure that what you put on HD before you convert to MP3 and feed your Ipod is decent enough quality anyway. I am, of course, assuming that such quality matters to you because you are on this forum!!!
Your experience with Dell tallies with mine. If you want a specialist product then forget them and move elsewhere.
Mike