Best Desktop PC for $1000.00

[P.E. Kelley]

My ship ($) just came in on a photo for catalog shoot and I think I would like to get off my basic HP laptop and on to a desktop PC.

I do not use any PP program other than Irfanview but I am thinking about Lightroom or Bibble. I currently only shoot JPEG's. I may test the RAW waters someday.

I would like to stay with XP

So with that said, what might you recommend?

No monitor needed got an 21" Eizo CE in route.

I have been on the hunt and ACER VT6900 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16883103085
looks too good!

Systemax nice too http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3255860&CatId=1815#

Thanks all


Patrick

[maxsoul]

I heard the Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition are quite good and PCmagzine wrote a review of it. BTW here is a review from Cnet http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/velocity-micro-vector-gx/4505-3118_7-32553714.html

[eddarr]

Stay away from the Systemax, they are absolutely the cheapest parts available. The Acer has been getting better. HP and Gateway are almost as bad. All of the above come loaded with so much crap software they never work right.

If you want to stay with XP it will be hard to buy off of the shelf. Check into a Dell. It will test your budget but you will be happier in the end. Otherwise, if you are comfortable, build your own. Again, you will be happier and it's not that hard.

[GTriever]

+1, either Dell or roll-your-own...

[ChasP505]

I heard the Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition are quite good

That would be my recommendation too. I've built about a dozen custom PCs for myself and my kids, but with my garage now full of obsolete PC hardware, I swore I'd never build another. Velocity Micro is now sold through BestBuy as well as direct online.

[Az2Africa]

Chas P
I saw your signature line. I was born in Deming New Mexico. Didn't think it still belonged to us though.:lol:;)

[P.E. Kelley]

Thank you all.

I don't have the time nor inclination to "roll my own" but I do understand that does offer more control.

Velocity Micro. Overclocked? Racing computers seems risky to me. But I do like the reviews.

How about this? I know it is Vista but if it is born and built for Vista it should work as well a XP ....right?

http://www.ztsystems.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1011

Change is uncomfortable. But maybe I should consider Vista?

Thanks again

Patrick

[Tony-S]

Change is uncomfortable. But maybe I should consider Vista?


Do you have any inclination towards a Mac?

[P.E. Kelley]

Do you have any inclination towards a Mac?

No not really.

What little I do know has been all window based since 1995.

Patrick

[taylorwilsdon]

Don't buy those god awful brand-x computers like "ztsystems"

Velocity Micro, AVADirect, Maingear and Dell are some names I would put out there for prebuilt rigs. If you buy a pre built that is overclocked, there is no reason to worry. It will be just as stable as a non overclocked computer and the warranty will cover it.

[P.E. Kelley]

Don't buy those god awful brand-x computers like "ztsystems"

Velocity Micro, AVADirect, Maingear and Dell are some names I would put out there for prebuilt rigs. If you buy a pre built that is overclocked, there is no reason to worry. It will be just as stable as a non overclocked computer and the warranty will cover it.

Damn! I just bought exactly that a ZT!

Got this from Staples.

http://www.ztsystems.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1011

Somedays I ain't that smart. O well.

[ChasP505]

Chas P
I saw your signature line. I was born in Deming New Mexico. Didn't think it still belonged to us though.:lol:;)

For the time being... Recommended reading:
http://www.amazon.com/State-Emergency-Invasion-Conquest-America/dp/0312374364/ref=pd_sim_b_title_4

[PhotosGuy]

+1, either Dell or roll-your-own... Remember, today's $400 Dell would have cost $2,000 two years ago. So I used to just buy todays & upgrade in a year, or whenever it got too slow. Now I'm resisting the Vista "upgrade" & will decide again in 6 months.

[GTriever]

Remember, today's $400 Dell would have cost $2,000 two years ago. So I used to just buy todays & upgrade in a year, or whenever it got too slow. Now I'm resisting the Vista "upgrade" & will decide again in 6 months.

Yep, I'm cheap. I try to stay at least one generation behind on hardware (just upgraded to AMD 64 X2 5600+ from an AMD 32-bit 2600+) to save on costs. And usually on the software I'll wait for SP1 or whatever minor upgrade comes out; somebody else can early adopt and help debug it...

[davidcrebelxt]

Stay away from the Systemax, they are absolutely the cheapest parts available. The Acer has been getting better. HP and Gateway are almost as bad. All of the above come loaded with so much crap software they never work right.

Check into a Dell. It will test your budget but you will be happier in the end.

No problems with Gateways me, my family, or friends have purchased the past few years (other than a direct lightning strike.)

They do have a bit of crap pre-loaded, but there are free software that will help de-crapify a new machine. (Clean re-install is always an option too, if they provide you with disks as they should.)

I bought a core2duo 2gb ram, Vista Premium gateway a few months ago for $550. Building my own with lower specs would've cost me $200 more... and that's even after re-using parts from other machines to keep costs down.

I've found Dell's to be overpriced, and that's even with a discount I get through my work.

[chauncey]

I bought a, intel duo core, 2.8 GHz Gateway last March. It came pre-loaded with Vista with a lot of junk.

Got rid of the junk manually and up-graded to 4 GB of Ram and now it runs CS3 great. For Photoshop, a 64-bit Vista is not beneficial.

FYI, Acer now owns Gateway.