Which ready-made PC for video and audio

dpvollmer wrote on 10/26/2005, 12:39 PM

I am looking to replace my old Win 2000, Dell Pentium 1.7 PC with another one and am looking at getting one with a Pentium D processor. I don't think it will be in the budget to get a custom-made one and am looking at the Dell XPS, HP, or Sony versions. From what I have read on this forum it would seem that avoiding the XP Media Center would be a good idea.

I don't know if any of the above PCs have a good sound card and am looking at adding an Echo or E-Mu card. I think I would like to run 2 LCD displays but don't know if any of the above are capable of doing that without making an additional purchase. I also have a Medea Raid SCSI drive that I would like to use with the new PC but don't know if there will be any expansion slots left.

Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
David

Back to post

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 10/28/2005, 6:29 PM

Coursedesign, Excellent suggestions! I had forgotten all about Fry’s. Their hard drives are always cheaper. I’ll definite source the hard drives from there. I’ll also look into the 6600GT. I have a Radeon 9800 PRO now so I want to be sure I get something better. I can always add the Zalman cooler to the 6800GT if it’s too loud or hot. I was contemplating a wireless keyboard. That might actually be a good idea. Thanks for the advice,

~jr

Yoyodyne wrote on 10/28/2005, 8:20 PM

Alas - limit one per customer (on the Raptor)

Coursedesign wrote on 10/28/2005, 8:41 PM

Alas - Fry's has 68 cash registers for checkout at the Canoga Park store, so the odds of you getting routed to the same one for multiple purchases are somewhere between slim and none... :O)

Yoyodyne wrote on 10/28/2005, 9:18 PM

you cheeky monkey :)

johnmeyer wrote on 10/28/2005, 9:56 PM

I'm late to this thread. My PC is from Polywell. Like Boxx, they make their computers from best-of-breed components. Some seriously nice configurations. Here's the link:

Polywell

B.Verlik wrote on 10/29/2005, 12:26 AM

Anybody use a Sony Vaio Desktop? How does it work for you and Vegas? Does anybody know why most of their computers are pushing Windows XP Media Center? Any problems switching out Video or Audio cards (or anything else)? Anything else I should know, like about the software that comes with it or problems with compatability?

olsonm wrote on 10/29/2005, 7:47 AM

As I posted above.... the Vaio is a great machine. I have added an extra HD, video card, and more memory and it keeps on ticking. I would buy another VAIO in a heartbeat. As for video editing, that's what I bought it for and it does all that I ask of it and more.

************************************

Subject: RE: Which ready-made PC for video and audio
Reply by: olsonm
Date: 10/28/2005 4:35:14 PM

Sony Vaio and love it! P4-1.7 at Costco a number of years ago and it still rocks! Been looking at the new Media Center Vaio's and am really tempted.

I also use Dell at work for video production (school classroom) and they do quite well for a weekly tv production that I have my class working on.

riredale wrote on 10/29/2005, 10:50 AM

I saw in the paper this morning (Saturday) that Fry's is selling an AMD 4200 X2 CPU / Gigabyte GA-K8NPRO-SLI board combo for $499. Combine that with a 10K drive from Fry's and you have the beginnings of a very sweet editing station.

B.Verlik wrote on 10/29/2005, 10:55 AM

""As I posted above.... the Vaio is a great machine. I have added an extra HD, video card, and more memory and it keeps on ticking. I would buy another VAIO in a heartbeat. As for video editing, that's what I bought it for and it does all that I ask of it and more.""

I actually saw that, I was just hoping for more detail. That's about the biggest description I've heard from a user and it never comes up much when people are pushing Dells and others. I'm sure Sony is top notch, but without a lot of people talking about them, I need to be sure there's no surprises and I'm still wondering why they're pushing XP media center so hard. I've heard nothing good about it (not counting MS's own propaganda) and I have seen complaints from video editors about problems with Windows XP media center. Enough to scare me away.

olsonm wrote on 10/29/2005, 5:39 PM

As for specs, my VAIO is now considered over the hill..... but I have never had a problem with it and now am really looking as a new one in Costco. My old VAIO still does most everything I ask of it, but I would like to also have the DVR features that the media center can offer. I would reinstall media center as a dual boot with XP professional if I take the leap and buy a new computer.

You can't go wrong with Sony... but the price is up there compared with the cheap machines that everyone else is pushing.

mm2k wrote on 10/30/2005, 7:27 AM

I found a PC that should last for many years without an upgrade, wish I could afford it. CHECK THIS WEB SITE www.go-l.com

Coursedesign wrote on 10/30/2005, 8:15 AM

The laptops seemed nearly identical to my Compaq, except mine doesn't have a built-in hand dryer on the side (thanks to having an AMD64 instead of a Prescott CPU).

Lots of cool technology in their desktops though, although I would not commit my work to them until they have been sold in volume. I have seen enough "supertechnology" come fresh out of R&D labs to be very careful.

It looks like they are currently trying to impress not customers, but investors.

Their flash graphics of the mobos etc. are worth a trip, really outstanding use of Flash.

And finally, to show how into the future they are, they are showing credited screenshots of Vegas+DVD!

"From Sonic Foundry, www.sonicfoundry.com."

:O)

JJKizak wrote on 10/30/2005, 8:40 AM

Remember also that the AMD 4600+ can have the crap overclocked out of it including the memory. It's all in my Gigabyte bios but with a render test of 41 seconds I will not mess with it.

JJK

GlennChan wrote on 10/30/2005, 10:31 AM

Overclocking is a little sketchy though, because you can get random instability.
You can stress test your system with Prime95, which I highly recommend you do if overclocking. But it doesn't find everything... your motherboard may still be having problems that will cause instability.

My computer (Pentium 2.6C, Asus P4P800) will hang/freeze about every other day when overclocked all the way (where it's just prime95 stable without any errors). Stability in that case isn't related to cooling.

But other than that, you do get very real productivity benefits from overclocking. And a conservative overclock (with a well-cooled CPU) probably won't give you problems.