Replacement computer

[Rod Wiley]

I'm using a 6 yr old Dell XPS600 computer with a dual core processor 3.00GHz using Windows XP. It only will use 2 gigs of ram and because of me using a 12 mp camera it's getting slower and slower all the time. I saw a Dell at Costco for $1299 and it comes with a 24" monitor.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11481469&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US

What I'd like to ask you guys is, do you think it's really necessary to configure a new Dell and pay over 3 grand when I can get a new computer for 1200? that has more than twice the speed and power of my old dell. Its kind of like me buying my first D1X for 5000 and a few years later getting a D300 for 1600 with more than twice the megapixels and very much improved software. How many bell's and whistle's to we need to edit a picture? The new computer has four processing cores, and Intel chip and a 1TB hard drive and 12 gigs of ram and a free upgrade to Windows 7. I'm using a LaCie 319 monitor for editing and a 24"Samsung to hold the palettes, so I can use the monitor that comes with it in the office. I know there are guys out there that think only the top of the line, best money can buy, spare no expense. But I'm tired of spending hard earned money on darn computers that need replaced every couple of years when I'd rather spend it on new glass or a replacement camera. Your thoughts would greatly be appreicated. Thanks Rod

[Ed Cordes]

I am not a computer guru, but the specs of this system look good to me. I am pleasantly surprized that the MS Office stuff comes with it at that price. Only problem you will have is eliminating all the crapware from the system. I also might consider adding a second internal drive so you can regularly clone the first to it and then use an external for second data back up. Having the eSATA port on back is great. the speed of the external will just about match the speed of the internals.

[James Shadle]

Rod,
Looks like a very nice setup, priced right.
With the HD4670 card you will be able to take advantage of PC CS4 OpenGl acceleration.
12 GB DDR-3 with a Quad Core I7, you will no longer feel the need for speed.

It will be much faster when working with Nikon Capture NX!

The card reader will probably worthless with today's fastest cards.
Only four USB ports in rear, I would check to see if an USB card could be added by user.
It would be nice if it had two E-sata ports, one is better than nothing. E-sata is much faster transferring data to external drives than USB.

James

[Nancy A Elwood]

I'm using a 6 yr old Dell XPS600 computer with a dual core processor 3.00GHz using Windows XP. It only will use 2 gigs of ram and because of me using a 12 mp camera it's getting slower and slower all the time. I saw a Dell at Costco for $1299 and it comes with a 24" monitor.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11481469&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US

What I'd like to ask you guys is, do you think it's really necessary to configure a new Dell and pay over 3 grand when I can get a new computer for 1200? that has more than twice the speed and power of my old dell. Its kind of like me buying my first D1X for 5000 and a few years later getting a D300 for 1600 with more than twice the megapixels and very much improved software. How many bell's and whistle's to we need to edit a picture? The new computer has four processing cores, and Intel chip and a 1TB hard drive and 12 gigs of ram and a free upgrade to Windows 7. I'm using a LaCie 319 monitor for editing and a 24"Samsung to hold the palettes, so I can use the monitor that comes with it in the office. I know there are guys out there that think only the top of the line, best money can buy, spare no expense. But I'm tired of spending hard earned money on darn computers that need replaced every couple of years when I'd rather spend it on new glass or a replacement camera. Your thoughts would greatly be appreicated. Thanks Rod

The only thing when you buy a DELL from someone other than DELL you do not get the OS disc and such. Check that first. You want the disc's, not having to hand the computer back to someone to install the OS, whether that be Windows 7 or Vista. Also, I might just wait till October and get one with Windows 7 already installed. You do not really have to pay over $3000 now. Just check out DELL's website and you will see. Also, check where your warrenty work will be done. I bought an XPS 630i from DELL directly last year and it was around $1700 and that was with an added harddrive and Quad processor Q6600. I got all the disc's complete with the system. Just some things to think about.

Nancy

[Roger Clark]

Rod,
In general, you get what you pay for. Having said that, computers are getting cheaper. But it may be that a computer is cheap because it uses cheap parts. For example, a cheap motherboard may not have the throughput of a better motherboard. For example, a friend bought a computer that seemed to have far better specs than my several year old alienware computer, but performance is very slow compared to mine. So see if there are benchmarks for the model you are going to buy to prove it really is fast.

A couple of other notes. I have heard a (former) microsoft engineer say that windows degrades with time. By adding and continually updating the registry, the registry gets filled with extraneous stuff and the machine slows down. Re-installing the operating system can speed up a computer. Thus when you buy a new computer, it seems faster because the operating system and registry are cleaner. This doesn't happen with other operating systems (OSX, unix, linux), but a disk can become fragmented on any system, slowing it down.

You might also build your own computer. Far cheaper and you can choose your parts. I'm about to try this myself.

Roger

[Mark Fuge]

Another option is custom by a local computer builder. Not sure of your location/availability of that service, but I just had one built for my wife that has what she needs and more and none of the add ons that everyone else puts there to gum up the system. I will be getting a new one soon as well, when I finish paying for her's! :( ;)

I've bought both ways in the past. If you have someone that knows computers, I find it personally is best to go custom. You can get the best (speed/memory) of things you need and save on some $$$ on the other add ons that you really don't need or are overpriced.

I'm not a geek, by any means. But I know what I need and discuss what options are available for what price.

Good luck!

[Rene A]

Rod,

If you don't build a pc yourself ..this is the only way I would go..because of the Costco return (3 months )& 2 warranty policy

The specs are good!

the video is ok!

make sure you have the latest driver

[Rod Wiley]

Thanks guys for all your input, I'm taking notes

[Ed Cordes]

I would agree with those who suggested having one custom built. Problem is you need a very qualified builder not someone who "plays" at it. The main thing with the major ready made manufacturers that really gets under my skin is the amount of useless stuff that comes with the machine. Advertisements for phone systems, Internet service, and software you don't want. (crap ware) This stuff often resides on a fat 32 partition that you need to have some computer knowledge to get rid of.

So, if you could go custom it would be good.

[Nancy A Elwood]

When I ordered my Dell I was able to order it without all that blot ware. So, the only software that was on it was what I ordered and that was all. Dell started to do this several years ago. This is the other advantage of ordering it directly from Dell.

Nancy

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Rod
I just canned a five year old Dell Inspiron. I added two hard drives in six months, bought 2Gb of RAM so I can run CS4 then the second hard drive died last Thursday. THe original Laptop cost nearly 3K (Aussie) and I just bought a HP Pavillion Laptop and HP 21.5" Widescreen HD monitor for AUD $1,550 last week.
My new LT has an Intel Duo Core 2Ghz CPU, 4Gb RAM and 512Mb ATI RAdeon graphics support RAM. Man, my CS4 can open in less than 10 seconds and it used to take about 2 minutes plus! I would also never buy another DELL. Just experience with expensive after sales service.

I wasted about $300 trying to keep that old heap of junk running. Buy the new system is what I would say. They are cheap as chips now in comparison. I add, while you do get what you pay for, in two or three years I will happily replace this laptop with another for a grand. :)

[Michael Lloyd]

Once you go Mac you'll never go back :) not for Photoshop anyway. I can load 20 100 meg TIF's in CS4, batch process all of them, and shutdown faster than I can my old homebuilt PC. It was loaded... But... I only do photo work and things like check this forum when I'm on the road with my Mac's. I still use a PC for work. 3 actually :D

[Rod Wiley]

I'm going to set tight until some one put a nice on sale, I'm done paying 3 grand for a 4 yr computer. Thanks for all you feed back. Rod