Help to choose the right PC needed!

[marmak]

Hope you can help me choose the right PC. It’s mainly for home use (email, downloading music, website design, photoshop and some heavy maths software that my hubby is using). I’ve got three different ones in mind and max. GBP1,000 (roughly $1800) to spend on it (including 17” TFT monitor).

I’ll give you some details of each one so you can let me know what you would go for it you were me:

SONY VAIO RS502
P4 HT – 3.0 GHz – 512Mb RAM – CD/DVD-R – Graphs 128Mb ATI9200 – 160GB hard disk – Media cards 8 in 1 – No sound card (!) – Speakers – iLink – 7 USB ports – 1 parallel port

HP T645UK
P4 HT – 2.8 GHz – 512 Mb – DVD/CD-R – Graphs 128 Mb NVIDIAFX5200 – 160 GB – Media cards 9 in 1 – wireless mouse and keyboard – firewire – 7 USB 2.0 – 1 parallel

DELL DIMENSION 4700
P4 HT – 3 GHz – 512 Mb Dual Channel DDr2 400 Mhz – DVD-R – Graphs ??? – 160 Gb serial ATA HD with 8MB databurst cache – Firewire – no sound card - no info re. USB ports.

They’re all at about the same price so any opinions would be very welcome!!!

Also while you’re at it, I have a silly question: can I burn music cds on DVDR devices?

Thanks.
M.

 

[tristan]

Personally I would go with the Dell. They have good tech support, and enough money to just give you parts that are broken without too much of a hastle. The ddr2 puts it over the other 2 also. It also utilizes SATA which is good. Performance wise I would go with that one also.

Yes, if it burns DVD's it will burn audio/data cd's also. Unless it is just a DVD player. Can you post the specs it gives you about the rom?

 

[Praetor]

VAIO RS-502: http://www.microwarehouse.co.uk/pro...276896DCD5486CBFD3474CFD97DA39E349FD33F958EDA

HP T645UK: http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/207101.html

Dell 4700: http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/dimen_4700?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&


- Note that the Dell uses onboard graphics and that it's not running in Dual Channel mode when you buy it. Both those points are subject to change depending on your configuration. By default the Dell ships with a CDROM. Anything else is optional. That's the bad news. The good news is that it's using the new i915G chipset which will give it some life

- The HP machine comes standard with a DVDburner (although I'm guessing its a remarked LG or Phillips drive). Really wierd is that it doesnt come with a NIC (either that or they have a really wierd way of not saying "onboard"). Odd. Now unless they are really deceptive (and i wouldnt put it past them), the video is actually a card so that's a good thing. There's no way to tell what chipset this thing uses (prolly the i848)

- The Sony is the only one to come standard with two optical drives, a DVD burner and reader. It comes with a 9200 card and onboard AC97 sound. Unfortunately there's no way in hell to determine what chipset this thing uses (i'm guessing the i848).

Summary: get the Dell but make sure you customize it otherwise you're better off with the HP.

 

[marmak]

Thanks!

Thank you both very much. The spec I gave you for Dell was the configured model. I can actually add a sound card but that takes the PC to an extra $200.

 

[Praetor]

The spec I gave you for Dell was the configured model

How did you configure it?

 

[tristan]

Just go grab a soundcard from walmart for very cheap. I dont think you will be needing dolby surround sound for anything.

 

[marmak]

How did you configure it?

Erm, sorry, I meant "customized"

 

[Praetor]

Yeah well.... how did you customize it?

 

[marmak]

Yeah well.... how did you customize it?

Well, you don't have to buy in order to customize a PC over the internet. You just go into their website and do it and then it comes up with the price - if you're happy with your selection you proceed with the purchase. Otherwise, if you're like me, you come into this forum and get really confused

Question: does it really make any difference whether the processor is 3.0 or 2.8?

 

[Praetor]

Well, you don't have to buy in order to customize a PC over the internet. You just go into their website and do it and then it comes up with the price - if you're happy with your selection you proceed with the purchase

Yeah I know but you said:

The spec I gave you for Dell was the configured model

And looking at your specs....

P4 HT – 3 GHz – 512 Mb Dual Channel DDr2 400 Mhz – DVD-R – Graphs ??? – 160 Gb serial ATA HD with 8MB databurst cache – Firewire – no sound card - no info re. USB ports.

It seems that you havnt spec'd out some stuff yet (hence my confusion heehee)

Question: does it really make any difference whether the processor is 3.0 or 2.8?

Not really The 2.8 as stick runs damn near the same and even not, you can OC the piss out of the 2.8Ghz chips and run them fine

 

[marmak]

It seems that you havnt spec'd out some stuff yet (hence my confusion heehee)

You're right, just me being dumb

Not really The 2.8 as stick runs damn near the same and even not, you can OC the piss out of the 2.8Ghz chips and run them fine

Great! Thanks

 

[Praetor]

You're right, just me being dumb

LOL no worries... now that you understand what I'm confused over... how did you customize it? (and what did it end up costing)

 

[marmak]

OK, here's the slightly revised spec. It'll cost £1,068 (around $1800?)

DELL
P4 HT 520 (2.80GHz, 800 MHz fsb, 1MB cache)
1024 MB dual channel DDR2 400 MHz
160GB (7200rpm)Serial ATA HD with 8MB DataBurst cache
Video card: 128MB PCI-Express ATI Radeon X300SE with TVout and DVI
15" flat monitor
16xDVD+RW
Floppy drive
Sound card: Creative Labs sound blaster Audigy 2, PCI w/dolby digital 5.1 and IEEE1394

How does that sound for the price, master?

(I'm ignorant so a bit nervous about DVD-RW-produced disks not being compatible with my CD-R compatible stereo. Any chance of that happening?)

 

[Praetor]

Hmmm the price is "okay" i guess but personally i'd take the other option for video (i thin it was an onboard option) and then get a separate video card on the side because truth be told, all the previous generation cards toast the X300 (quite possibly including the 9200).

I cant comment on the DVD burner as i dont know the exact make and model but I suspect it's either an LG or Phillips (neither of which are worth getting excited over). Dont worry about compatibility with your stereo -- it's not so much the burner that matters but rather the media.

 

[Yeti]

i'd take the other option for video (i thin it was an onboard option) and then get a separate video card on the side because truth be told, all the previous generation cards toast the X300 (quite possibly including the 9200

Are there many PCI express cards available? The Radeon 9 series, though it may beat the X300 are all AGP.

 

[Praetor]

1. Not a single thing in the world right now really breaches AGP8X and thus PCI-Express Video (which is roughly AGP16X) is kinda a moot point and a cause to raise prices

2. Dunno about ATi cards but nVidia has a whole bunch of PCX cards... realistically there isnt a need for it yet.

 

[Yeti]

I was just asking because I think that the Dell only accepts PCI-E cards.

 

[Praetor]

Oh right.... errrm i dunno then. I have never been a fan of OEMs and this i guess is yet another reason why: limitations on damn near everything. I guess all i can say is you wont be horribly dissapointed with the system and on paper it's very good and a fair price etc but i wouldnt reccomend it.

 

[marmak]

you wont be horribly dissapointed with the system and on paper it's very good and a fair price etc but i wouldnt reccomend it.

Oh dear! That's not good. What about that HP system then that was in my original message? Is HP an OEM?

Click here for full HP T645UK Spec

The RAM is DDR-SDRAM, btw. I called them to ask. Any comments?

I can buy this system and an 17" LG TFT monitor (is it any good?) for around $1500.

I'm sorry to go on about this but it's a substantial amount of money and I'd rather get something that I'll be happy with. I'm really really grateful for your help.

 

[Yeti]

To throw in my 2 cents about which system to buy, marmak - I would go with the Dell with just the onboard graphics. It has the most up to date technology and if you want to upgrade the graphics in the future you can buy an Radeon X300 or GeForce PCX5750 (more inexpensive ones should also be available in the future). The first computer that I bought was a Dell Dimension 4100 and I haven't had many problems with it. Dell also has good costumer service. As for what Praetor said, I don't think there will be any problems with it for what you want to use it for (unless you're going to use it for graphic intensive games or commercial modelling software). Again, just my opinion