Ok I am not a complete noobie but very nearly.
Previously while living in Thailand as an impoverished English teacher
I bought an HppavillionTD150 and a fire port that came with pinuckle Systems video 8.
I eventually rendered a VCD that I was "fairly" happy with
But it was the overall video quality that disappointed me.

So now back in Canada the $$ are still a bit thin. But I have decided that I will
Spend $2,500 on a badly needed computer. I will have to continue enduring the
Pinuckle systems for another year however.
So I have been browsing the Dell site, and found that the only way I can guarantee
That I can choose XP Pro (which I understand is the preferred os for video edit?)
Is if I order from the "small business" category. Unfortunately that rules out being able
To get 2 gigs of memory at the faster 667 mhz and the 533 mhz would have to suffice.
So playing around with the sellections at www.Dell.ca not .com , I came up with this.
How would you do it differently ?
Thx to anyone who has the time.

Quote:

Dimension 9200 Date & Time: October 21,2006 5:15 PM CST SYSTEM COMPONENTS Dimension 9200 Qty 1 Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E6400 (2.13GHz, 1066 FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Professional Unit Price $2,553.00 Dell Customers: Savings on your Online Purchase Expires October 27, 2006 - $330.00 Catalog Number: 70703 OCDIM9200_FEAT_E1 Dimension 9200 Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E6400 (2.13GHz, 1066 FSB) Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Professional Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs Keyboard Dell USB Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard Monitor 20 inch Ultrasharp™ 2007FP Digital Flat Panel Video Cards 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS Hard Drive FREE Upgrade to 320GB SATA Hard Drive- $100 Value Media Reader 13 in 1 Media Card Reader Mouse Dell Optical USB Mouse CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable Sound Cards Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeMusic (D), w/Dolby® Digital 5.1 Speakers Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer Bundle No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. (does not include MS Word) Security Software PC-cillin Internet Security with AntiVirus and Spyware removal 24-months Digital Music Musicmatch by Yahoo! Music - Basic music software Digital Photography Corel Photo Album™ 6 Starter Edition - Organize and Edit your photos Hardware Support Services 1 Yr Limited Warranty with 1 Yr NBD Onsite Service and 1 Yr Tech Support Optional Ports IEEE 1394 Adapter Future Operating Systems Windows Vista™ Capable Operating System Backup & Recovery Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional backup CD ACCESSORIES Belkin 7-Outlet Desktop Surge Protector Qty 1 Dell Part# A0397045 Unit Price $17.00 TOTAL:$2,240.00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Price Sub-total $2,240.00 Shipping $0.00 GST $135.72 Environmental Disposal Fee $22.00 More Info Total Price1 $2,397.72

How would you do it differently ?
Would not Buy a Dell. The XPS are resonable but still slow. the issues are that they build there own hardware/ or have it made. this results in a poor performance system which is built on a budget.

There are many specialist whom build computer system that can be better and maybe even lower the cost.

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Need Pro Computer advice?

So it's the motherboard you don't like ?

Well, it all looks ok to me. I am suprised to hear that dell are not very good...

I just purchased a new system based on the same processor and it is really good for editing, REALLY good.

I owuld have tht any decent core duo based sys would suffice well.

I went into our local shop and asked for a core duo system with a 320 gig and a 400 gig drive for storage and a fast raptor for the system drive, a gig of ram with the cheapest dx9 g card and I am well pleased with the result.

Remember if u dont play games you dont need a pricey g card but you WILL need all the drive space you can afford.

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I have two prejudices - I am anti HDV for consumer camcorders, and I eat mooks who claim to be pro wedding vidders and ask dumb questions.

www.zaskarfilms.com You tube channel 'zaskarfilms'
JVC DV5001e (big cam), Sony PC6E (tiny cam), Vinten pro5, PAG light, SM58, Sony ECM50, Sony C-76, 0.5x convertors for sony, Rode video mic, Vegas 7.

It is difficult to buy an off the shelf system for video editing. The Core2 Duo will give excellent performance, but at the same time I agree that Dell systems are built to a price and give all round performance rather than power where you need it for editing.

A single HDD is never enough for editing these days (though it will suffice) the other thing is the completely useless list of bundled software and proprietry apps added in to the systems to control the running of the PC.

Use this quote as a secret benchmark and go to your local PC shop and ask for a price for a system built to your specification for editing. Another reason for using a PC shop is you have somewhere to go if it goes tits up, my experience of Dell CS is not good.

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Edius Pro 4 Broadcast, Edius DVX, ADVC300 -- PremPro 2.0, Matrox RT X100

what you gentlemen have suggested about finding an assembler is interesting. I am not completely opposed to the idea of locating an assembler, in fact it's a bit intriguing. So would taking the time to learn enough to kit one up for myself. It would probably be an informative little learning session to make me appreciate what’s going on "back there" a little more. It’s not completely daunting, I have pulled apart these ancient PC’s several times and always stuck them back together. Reinstalling, reformatting running basic DOS commands are all familiar to me.

After I made my last post I went on to read GTWCMT’s post http://www.videoforums.co.uk/perfect...g-systems.html. And though his may not be the only opinion he certainly is informative and insightfully shares his knowledge without holding any cards back. It all kind of gets you excited, I have started thinking that maybe I could do this, seek out an assembler, take the time to bounce part selection’s off of the better informed on the web. And maybe I could finally end up with a higher quality system for the same money. Rather than sitting here and contemplating whether my choosing a non-integrated audio card for my dell will make any difference to the fact that the integrated version will still have been installed on the board and though disconnected is still likely compromising an ideal configuration. And what sort of crap "NB (North bridge chip)" am I being stuck with.

But I get the feeling that assemblers are more of a common place thing in the UK than where I live. I mean if I were to go with an assembler I would want at least to speak in person to someone at the shop and to have in writing EXACTLY the parts that were to be used right down to serial numbers.
Inconveniently I live in a tourist resort Banff Alberta Canada, And although I am a taxi driver I do not own a car.
Trips to the nearest big city Calgary happen 2-3 times a year. So on Tuesday when I go to pick up my Camera at the repair shop, I will poke around a bit on the premise of locating an assembler who would be interested in playing with my tiny lump of Canadian dollars which by the way convert to 1,180.09 GBP likely a weeks wages for the
average.
So in the end, I may end up with another dell, opting for as much MOBO as I can leaving room to add more drives etc… as Ca$h becomes available.

Thanks again for your input.

Good point from miwhel about all the crap dell / pc world stuff comes with, mine came with nothing except the operating sys, avg and zonealarm- none of that other crap.

Check out online bespoke pc builders too if you have no local shop.

I would deffo reccomend a seperate system drive, preferably a 10000 rpm raptor, it really does make a difference.

__________________
I have two prejudices - I am anti HDV for consumer camcorders, and I eat mooks who claim to be pro wedding vidders and ask dumb questions.

www.zaskarfilms.com You tube channel 'zaskarfilms'
JVC DV5001e (big cam), Sony PC6E (tiny cam), Vinten pro5, PAG light, SM58, Sony ECM50, Sony C-76, 0.5x convertors for sony, Rode video mic, Vegas 7.