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[Jimbob]

Yep, I generally recommend dell,
Wouldnt get myself one though, I like exact choice of every component, but for 99% of people there is no gain to diy.

[TheBoy]

Yep, I generally recommend dell,
Wouldnt get myself one though, I like exact choice of every component, but for 99% of people there is no gain to diy.

I'm gonna need a PC soon. I will probably buy a Dell having the chipset and processor I want.  Other components such as video card and memory will probably come from elsewhere....   ....currently looking at a Dimension 9200.

Might even get a 2nd 9200 to replace the tired server that runs the Virtual Machine that runs this place - that just needs a nice processor, shit loads of RAM and lots of disk space....

[Markjay]

I don't actually buy Dells myself, for work reasons all my PCs are HP. The business HPs (e.g. dc7xxx) are IMO better-built machines than Dell Optiplexes, though for a home user it is not worth the typical higher retail cost. And the cheapo HPs are no that good... So when asked to recommend a PC for general home use I always recommend Dell Dimension... they are not perfect, and the basic support is not briliant (it gets better if you have an upgraded support agreement etc), but on balance you can't really go wrong with a Dell.

[Martin_1962]

My PC is over three years old but still works OK

[TheBoy]

My PC is over three years old but still works OK

Most PCs will still work well after 3yrs - my Mum gave her 8yr old PII to my sister last summer when she got her new Dell.

The point is, its not usually worth fixing a 3yr old PC...

[Martin_1962]

My PC is over three years old but still works OK

Most PCs will still work well after 3yrs - my Mum gave her 8yr old PII to my sister last summer when she got her new Dell.

The point is, its not usually worth fixing a 3yr old PC...

I fitted a new graphics card recently, and a new DVD Writer so it will keep for longer

[TheBoy]

My PC is over three years old but still works OK

Most PCs will still work well after 3yrs - my Mum gave her 8yr old PII to my sister last summer when she got her new Dell.

The point is, its not usually worth fixing a 3yr old PC...

I fitted a new graphics card recently, and a new DVD Writer so it will keep for longer

Thats my point - you've blown good money on a out of date card that is of no use on a newer computer, and a 4yr old PC simply wasn't worth the £100 or whatever the card cost....

[Martin_1962]

My PC is over three years old but still works OK

Most PCs will still work well after 3yrs - my Mum gave her 8yr old PII to my sister last summer when she got her new Dell.

The point is, its not usually worth fixing a 3yr old PC...

I fitted a new graphics card recently, and a new DVD Writer so it will keep for longer

Thats my point - you've blown good money on a out of date card that is of no use on a newer computer, and a 4yr old PC simply wasn't worth the £100 or whatever the card cost....

Didn't have the spare grand to build a similar specced to current PC -  it was about £2000 when built and was almost state of the art.

P4 2.4 512MB 2 HDDs, DVD Writer advanced graphics card SB Audigy 2 sound card, 17" LCD.

I would now want a couple of 500GB drives, a BR writer ect ect

Only slow issue is TMPGENCXP -  so I batch overnight

[TheBoy]

Didn't have the spare grand to build a similar specced to current PC -  it was about £2000 when built and was almost state of the art.

P4 2.4 512MB 2 HDDs, DVD Writer advanced graphics card SB Audigy 2 sound card, 17" LCD.

I would now want a couple of 500GB drives, a BR writer ect ect

Only slow issue is TMPGENCXP -  so I batch overnight

Which graphics card?

Rest of that system is defo showing its age, and a £300 Dell would be a better system (though if you need the Audigy, I would put that in the Dell (though they do do an onboard Audigy option))

I wouldn't commit to BRD just yet, unless you have a specific reason to need one (can't think of one myself)

[Martin_1962]

Didn't have the spare grand to build a similar specced to current PC -  it was about £2000 when built and was almost state of the art.

P4 2.4 512MB 2 HDDs, DVD Writer advanced graphics card SB Audigy 2 sound card, 17" LCD.

I would now want a couple of 500GB drives, a BR writer ect ect

Only slow issue is TMPGENCXP -  so I batch overnight

Which graphics card?

Rest of that system is defo showing its age, and a £300 Dell would be a better system (though if you need the Audigy, I would put that in the Dell (though they do do an onboard Audigy option))

I wouldn't commit to BRD just yet, unless you have a specific reason to need one (can't think of one myself)

Original spec was quite high - it had video in but had roughly half the performance of top gamers cards.

Capacity and BR Drive is due to wanting a new video camera (I want HDV), PS3 some time, and LCD prices are dropping all the time - decent 46 around £2000.
Why BR over HD-DVD quite simple more makers I like doing BR than HD-DVD, in fact all the electronics we have their makers are all BR supporters except one.

BR Main developer - Panasonic
BR Main supporter - Sony
Big BR Backers - Pioneer & Philips (my wife has a Philips iron and music system)
HD-DVD - only Sanyo and their kit isn't what I would call cutting edge - but it is tough.

I will be running this PC longer but I am considering a new MB/Processor but I have a horrible feeling the new graphics card may not work on the latest boards.

[TheBoy]

Original spec was quite high - it had video in but had roughly half the performance of top gamers cards.

Capacity and BR Drive is due to wanting a new video camera (I want HDV), PS3 some time, and LCD prices are dropping all the time - decent 46 around £2000.
Why BR over HD-DVD quite simple more makers I like doing BR than HD-DVD, in fact all the electronics we have their makers are all BR supporters except one.

BR Main developer - Panasonic
BR Main supporter - Sony
Big BR Backers - Pioneer & Philips (my wife has a Philips iron and music system)
HD-DVD - only Sanyo and their kit isn't what I would call cutting edge - but it is tough.

I will be running this PC longer but I am considering a new MB/Processor but I have a horrible feeling the new graphics card may not work on the latest boards.

So card was something like Radeon 9600 or Nvidia FX 5500?

I seem to recall you saying it was AGP, so won't work in modern mobo, hence why I would have said it may have been better to replace system, rather than spending £100 on an obselete system....

AFAIK (but I haven't checked) BRD drives for PC ain't available yet.  Unless you require BRD, I would wait if for 2nd generation at least.  In the PC world, HD-DVD has backing of Wintel pair, which is worthwhile (helped DVD+RW format to become the predominate standard for DVD standard on PCs (irrelevent now, as everything is Dual/Triple format)...

[Martin_1962]

Original spec was quite high - it had video in but had roughly half the performance of top gamers cards.

Capacity and BR Drive is due to wanting a new video camera (I want HDV), PS3 some time, and LCD prices are dropping all the time - decent 46 around £2000.
Why BR over HD-DVD quite simple more makers I like doing BR than HD-DVD, in fact all the electronics we have their makers are all BR supporters except one.

BR Main developer - Panasonic
BR Main supporter - Sony
Big BR Backers - Pioneer & Philips (my wife has a Philips iron and music system)
HD-DVD - only Sanyo and their kit isn't what I would call cutting edge - but it is tough.

I will be running this PC longer but I am considering a new MB/Processor but I have a horrible feeling the new graphics card may not work on the latest boards.

So card was something like Radeon 9600 or Nvidia FX 5500?

I seem to recall you saying it was AGP, so won't work in modern mobo, hence why I would have said it may have been better to replace system, rather than spending £100 on an obselete system....

AFAIK (but I haven't checked) BRD drives for PC ain't available yet.  Unless you require BRD, I would wait if for 2nd generation at least.  In the PC world, HD-DVD has backing of Wintel pair, which is worthwhile (helped DVD+RW format to become the predominate standard for DVD standard on PCs (irrelevent now, as everything is Dual/Triple format)...

Microsoft don't make the drives so support of format is not that important - anyway Dell are BR supporters, as are most PC companies due to the higher capacity.

As to the +RW - only ever done the write once discs but I have noticed that the cheap under TV recorders are mainly +RW - must be cheaper to licence. But it seems than -R is the most like DVD Video.

Anyway when I get another PC it will be late next year with current C as a D or E, almost certainly it will be a self build (I have modded but never built) of top of second level parts. Not sure about Vista or XP but it will be 32bit as I need a lot of 32bit support still.

But this one works so why worry about building a new one until I am ready - it can video edit, it can encode, it can play games and it can surf the internet.

[Martin_1962]

Oh BR PC Drives - just the usual HiFi/CAr Audio/Home Cinema company getting in first.

http://www.savapoint.com/savapoint/productinfo.php?checkcookies=yes&prodid=4899&ref=froogle06122

This is just the first and is too expensive and too limited but then the 104 was in the region of £200 and the 111 was about £40 2.5 years difference

[tunnie]

I was reading this in the Macworld magazine a while ago:

http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/features/macproprice/index.php

Ok its a bit biased the Mag, but gives a good review, if you can be asked to read the whole thing, just skip to the stats at the bottom. Make interesting reading  

[omegaV6CD]

The thing with the Dell is that you can customise it but nobody tells u on their site what brand of motherboard it uses.