 Mary H. Williams |
Computer question I am going to buy a new computer. The one I have is not good for all the photo editing that I am doing. I am out of memory. What suggestions do any of you have for stats for a new computer? I am clueless. I don't even know where to start.
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Dan C. |
That's highly subjective, but some basics. First, get a good processor - a pentium or an AMD chip. Do not get something inherently slower such as a celeron. In my opinion, I would not go any lower that 2.4 Ghz speed. And the most important thing of all would be to get lots of memory. If running WinXP, again highly subjective, but I certainly would not get any less than 1.5-2.0 meg. Also get a gigantic harddrive. Disk space is pretty cheap now a days. And I personally would never purchase one of the typical retails computers from the big box stores such as best buy, circuit city, etc. If you get some good advice from a geek you may know, you can go online and get a much more powerful computer than you would for the same money as you would spend retail. Hope it helps.
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Mary H. Williams |
Thanks for the info, Dan, It certainly helps. I think part of the problem I am having now is lack of memory. I know I can add more memory, but my computer is about 4 yrs old, so I know I can probably get a whole new tower at a reasonable price. However, I want to make sure I have enough of whatever I need to work with the photos and the editing. My computer is getting slower and slower, and I think I have "tweaked" as much out of this one as I can. Do you know any good online sites for computers or advice?
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Dan C. |
Not offhand. But you might want to start with shopper.com and pricegrabber.com. Price systems there then evaluate the ratings and reviews of the vendors.
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On3 Photography |
www.dell.com -- I've not been disappointed yet. Good luck
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Christopher A. Vedros |
Laura's recommendation brings up a good point. Mary, in making your decision, you should also consider what kind of customer service and technical support you want to have. If something goes wrong (doesn't it always?) do you like to fix it yourself, or would you like to have a technical support line that you can contact for help? If you value having reliable technical support, then you would probably be better off dealing with a well-established, rock-solid outfit like Dell or HP. Oh, one other thing to add to Dan's specs - make sure the new PC has an AGP or PCIe video card with at least 64MB of video memory - as opposed to video built onto the motherboard with shared memory. This will make a big difference in your video performance. You mentioned that you could add more memory to your current computer. Don't underestimate how much this can improve your computer's performance. If you have less than 1GB of RAM, you should consider adding more. Any additional RAM up to 2GB is well worth it. Above 2GB, there's not much more of an increase in performance, if any. Chris
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Dan C. |
Well, I hesitate to say this because I know it will stir up controversy. But on the other hand, people not familiar with the industry associate the name dell with a reputation that really no longer exists. It's pretty common knowledge now that dell customer service started plunging in 2004, and as recently as as the last quarter of 2005 was rated among the worst. And dell continues to ratchet down support options. It's unfortunate - they used to be a great name, but in consumer surveys it's no longer the case. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,121836,00.php As they say, caveat emptor.
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On3 Photography |
I honestly can't speak for Dell's customer service as I have never had to call them -- I have never had a REASON to call them because I've never had a problem with any of their products, and I upgrade about every 2 years both at home and at work. I doubt I've just been lucky, but maybe so.
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John P. Sandstedt |
It really doesn't matter who makes the computer, in my opinion. It matters whether you can get service when, and if, it goes down. That's been said above. If you buy a Dell service contract, the right one, you can get a Dell service tech to come to your home. If you have a local reliable service person, you might get off cheaper that way. Get lots of RAM; however, contrary to a comment above, Windows XP isn't able to use too much over 1.3 GIG - contrary to lots of info out there. That's why I got 1 GIG on my new computer. You might want to wait a while - the next version of WIndows is due shortly after Christmas [but not FOR Christmas.] Consider moving to a chip based on 64 bit technology. That's the was to take advantage of 2 GIGs of RAM. Do get a 19-inch monitor, you'll be glad you did. There's a good debate raging about whether it should be a CRT or LCD. I love my LCD; however, I can't adjust its color profile, for practical purpose, with Adobe Gamma. In fact the Adobe web site recommends against it. I'm not sure whether the various "devices," out there, work with LCDs. Finally, and while I'd never do it personally, remember that most of the Photoshop Manuals show the MAC version of the program in their illustrations. That might a good recommendation for buying an Apple/MAC machine. And, from what I've read, Apple is getting more and more compatible with Microsoft programs so if you need to have work compatability . . .
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Michael H. Cothran |
Mary, There are 3 specs you should address - 1. Processor 2. Hard drive 3. Memory (RAM) These all affect the performance of your computer. Buy as much of each as you can afford. Look for processors at least 1 Ghz, hard drive over 100 gb's, and 768+ mb's of memory. Buy more if/when you can. Processors cannot usually be upgraded, but look for a computer which allows you to add more hard drives and memory later. (I now have 3 internal hard drives on my Mac). And speaking of Macs, may I strongly suggest that you go to a local Apple store, or check online @ www.Apple.com, and look at the MacIntosh line of iMac's or Power Macs (preferred).
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Mary H. Williams |
Thank all of you so much for the advice. I at least have some good information in front of me when I start shopping. I'll let you know what happens. Again, thanks for taking the time to respond.
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Bob Chance |
Hi Mary: Most of what I have read is good advice. However, I would get at least a 2.0 Ghz processor, preferably faster and preferable 64bit. As much memory as you can get, at least 1.0 Gig. Bob
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Brendan Knell |
"Mac will soon be, if they haven't already, release a Windows compatible machine that will run both platforms." I think I heard this somewhere on Apple's site. They've got a new program(I think it comes with the latest version of their OS), that when you open it, it looks exactly like the windows desktop. With it, you can open anything you can with windows. Dan suggested getting a pentium or AMD proccessor. I agree with getting a pentium, but not with an AMD. I have an Athlon(I think) XP 2500+. Until I figured out to adjust the clock speed, it would only run as a 1900+. So I personally wouldn't buy an AMD again.
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robert G. Fately |
Mary, there's been a lot of good advice given here already, but I will venture another thought. I too am a Mac user at home and PC at work, familiar with both. The software that allows Windows XP to run on the Intel-based Macs is called Boot Camp, and it's a free upgrade to the OS from Apple. It will be included in the next version of their OS. Beware, though, that it does not include the actual Windows XP operating system; you'll have to spend another couple or few hundred bucks for that. That said, here's some thoughts: First, the argument that there is not as much software on the Mac is fallacious - there is precious little available for PCs that aren't also available (or at least their equivalent) on the Mac. Not that you need to buy a Mac, but that argument is just stupid nowadays. The other approach, PC-wise, to consider would be to get a so-called "white box" system, built by your local computer store. Not CompUSA, but rather those small independant shops that you see in most towns and cities. In fact, over the past decade, white-box systems have outsold Dell, HP and the others - only in the last year or so has Dell sold more than the zillions of independant little guys out there put together. These folks can put together whatever you like (and again, much of the previous commentary is good on that count - lots of RAM, big hard drives, etc) but, most importantly, they generally stand behind what they sell. The service issue with Dell is well documented, and frankly, any of the 800-number service situations wil be pretty poor. Compare that to being able to walk into the very shop that built the machine you bought and saying "hey, fix this!" and you can see the benefit of local "production. remember, all of these guys (Dell included) use the same parts from the same OEMs; chipsets, drives, etc., so the only real difference is the after-sale support. Perhaps you can find some folks in your area who shop at these smaller independant type computer stores, to get a feel for which might provide you with a suitable machine and whatever hand-holding you might need down the line.
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