On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 1:23 PM, David J Brooks <pentko...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 1:17 PM, Steven Desjardins <drd1...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Hold on a minute guys. I gotta go and make popcorn. > > Was not intending an OS war, but i guess this usually happens doesn't it.:-) > > My other concern is the video card. What should i look for in a Dell > or HP, and what should i ask the computer builder for.?? > > Dave
Anything with an actual VRAM spec, which practically means an ATI Radeon or a NVidia GeForce card. Buy cheap, you don't play games so any videocard good enough to have its own RAM will do for you. For Photo work you want RAM, CPU speed and big drives. Don't put XP on the machine, get Win7 64 Home Premium. XP is at the end of its life cycle and cannot handle the current standard of 4-6GB of RAM properly (Anything over 4GB requires a 64 bit OS, which means Win7 today). Sticking XP on a modern system is pretty much like sticking a 100hp 4 cylinder in your 3/4 ton pickup. >From Dell, I'd look at the XPS 8100 in its base configuration as a good mid-range option. $800 gets you an i5 dual-core CPU, 6GB of RAM, a 1TB drive, A Radeon 5450 and Win7 64. It's a good system which will last quite a long time and is very upgradable. You can go cheaper, but cheaper than that really means you will be replacing the machine sooner. I wouldn't look at anything with less than 4GB of RAM, a 640GB drive or an i5 CPU. -Adam -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
