I'm looking at geting a new PC. I'm not about building one. I'm getting pre-built. Does anyone have any good suggestions for PC's around 1000$?
Ask your girlfriend to build one for you (she seemed into those things when I talked to her at PAX). Failing that I volunteer to build one for you. Seriously a pre-build desktop blows.
Ask your girlfriend to build one for you (she seemed into those things when I talked to her at PAX). Failing that I volunteer to build one for you. Seriously a pre-build desktop blows.
She is but doesn't feel great about dealing with the motherboard.
Deal. I will wire you the funds on the morrow, or some such nonsense.
Yeah, go with George. I even considered a pre-built machine, but after looking at specs, decided that they always have, and always will be, garbage for someone like me.
A guy I know has been buying computers from PCs for Everyone for years. They aren't the biggest, but they use good components and have great service. If you live in the Boston area, you can even visit their main office yourself to get your computer taken care of.
Yea, every once and a while I think I'll just buy a pre-built computer because they have to have gotten better, then I look at them and build my own.
It all depends, really. Pre-built computers from the big name guys are, well, often kinda crappy. Some of the smaller name guys can be pretty good, though they'll cost more than building your own. It goes back to the "time is money" argument -- if you don't think you'll have the time to build/support your own machine, then it may be worth it to buy a pre-built.
Going back to the company I mentioned, PCs for Everyone, their gaming desktops consist of a lot of the same parts you may choose to use yourself if you were to build your own: Intel CPU and motherboard, Antec chassis, Corsair power supply, Crucial RAM, NVidia or ATI video cards, and so on. It does come out to a couple hundred more than building your own (last time I checked and comparison shopped), but that may be worth it if your time is more valuable than your money. With the Dells or the other big name shops, you probably just get whatever proprietary parts they sourced from the lowest bidder.
The small guys are the same as build your own. What do you think they do? They have corporate Newegg accounts, and they build the machines just like anyone else. They just add a nice markup sine they gotta pay the bills somehow. Seeing as how it only takes a couple hours to build a computer, it's really not worth paying those guys. Most of those places are just nerds like me who bought some office space in a strip mall instead of getting jobs working for someone else. Or it's nerds like me making a few extra bucks in their spare time.
Also, my computer doesn't need upgrading for another year or two, but I kinda want to... I have a Core 2 Duo still. I'm thinking I'm going to wait for the next next major Intel upgrade step. Maybe i9 or whatever craziness comes down the line.
I have to get a new laptop. My ultra-powerful ultra-portable Fujitsu is well over four years old. That Centrino can't play modern HD video...
My Fujitsu, which was older than yours, could play 1080p videos at full screen with no problems. Granted, the screen was less than 1080p, but that just means it had to use more CPU to rescale the video.
Methinks if you had a clean install of Windows without the Fujitsu crap in there, it would be just fine.
The small guys are the same as build your own. What do you think they do? They have corporate Newegg accounts, and they build the machines just like anyone else. They just add a nice markup sine they gotta pay the bills somehow. Seeing as how it only takes a couple hours to build a computer, it's really not worth paying those guys. Most of those places are just nerds like me who bought some office space in a strip mall instead of getting jobs working for someone else. Or it's nerds like me making a few extra bucks in their spare time.
Exactly, although I'd argue it's up to each individual to determine whether or not it's worth paying the small guys to build a computer for you or not. Part of it isn't just the build time, but it's the repair/service time if you happened to get bum parts due to bad luck or whatever. Sometimes it may be nice to just have to call one number if your computer is on the fritz and let them do the diagnostics instead of having to figure out just which part is bad, then call that particular manufacturer, then so on. Sometimes these small guys may have longer warranties than you'd get building your own as well -- 3 years as opposed to 1 year from the parts' manufacturers and so on. While you may not think it's worth the mark-up, I think it may be worth it in some cases (though I'm not sure I'd fall into that case myself).
Also, if you're recommending a system to someone who's not a nerd, the small guys may also be worth it. If nothing else, you'll at least know what parts are in it and know it's easily serviceable if your non-nerd friend/family member calls you for support after the warranty runs out.
I have to get a new laptop. My ultra-powerful ultra-portable Fujitsu is well over four years old. That Centrino can't play modern HD video...
I know it's not the most popular opinion around these parts, but I love my MacBook Air, and it's really not much more expensive than similar ultraportables. The hardware is super high quality.
I had no problem paying local computer store guys to build my PC. Since then, I've learned how to install hard drives, video cards, sound cards, and that's about it.
I'm honestly apprehensive on learning how to install a mobo along with CPU. I've tried to install a new fan on my CPU once and I messed up bending one of the pins along with putting on way too much of that glue or whatever. I had to have a friend fix it for me. That sort of thing, I don't mind having a friend, who knows what they are doing install it for me, or paying a small price to have it done.
I also had friends help me pick and choose parts to build my PC, but now I have a decent knowledge of how to do that.
I have to get a new laptop. My ultra-powerful ultra-portable Fujitsu is well over four years old. That Centrino can't play modern HD video...
I know it's not the most popular opinion around these parts, but I love my MacBook Air, and it's really not much more expensive than similar ultraportables. The hardware is super high quality.
Except it runs OSX, making it useless. You could try to bootcamp it, but that's not exactly a pleasure cruise. And then it has no connectors on it, and you have to buy a zillion Apple adapters for $30 each.
Compared to the X220 which is only slightly larger. It has a full keyboard. It has 3 USB ports, one of which is USB 3.0, one of which is powered if the laptop is off and plugged into the wall. It can attach to a docking station. Has a matte screen, not a glossy glarefest. Has HDMI, VGA, and Ethernet ports built in. Even has an PCMCIA/Express slot thingy, not that anyone actually uses those. Has an SD card reader built in. You can actually replace or upgraded the battery, disk, memory, etc. very easily since they are all accessible. Oh, and it's not some weak ass Air. It's an i7 powerhouse. The only thing lacking in power is the video card. You can also attach a whole bunch of crazy extra batteries to it so that you get an insane amount of battery life.
And there's a crazy sale going on right now. 50% off the docking station.
The maxed out Air is $1600. The crazy crazy maxed out X220 with docking station and full battery loadout is $1800. If you cut back on some of that extreme stuff, like the double extra battery, it will be about the same price as the Air.
My Fujitsu, which was older than yours, could play 1080p videos at full screen with no problems. Granted, the screen was less than 1080p, but that just means it had to use more CPU to rescale the video.
Methinks if you had a clean install of Windows without the Fujitsu crap in there, it would be just fine.
Try to play a high-end render of an HD video on it. If I set the max bitrate to 30 or so, it plays fine on my Fujitsu. But try playing a video with the max bitrate above 50, and I guarantee your old laptop will choke.
Granted, I'm wiping the thing for a clean Windows install for the time being. Should keep it serviceable for at least another six months.
The maxed out Air is $1600. The crazy crazy maxed out X220 with docking station and full battery loadout is $1800. If you cut back on some of that extreme stuff, like the double extra battery, it will be about the same price as the Air.
The air is a bad idea if you want to do anything resource-intensive. Also watch for Adobe straight-up dropping support for OSX in the coming year or two.
I think I got the i5 to save some money, which means I don't have the USB 3.0. Spent that money to get the IPS screen instead. Even if you don't max it out, the X220 is a fucking beast; it's the type of slick, matte-black rectangle of power that William Gibson would write about.
I'll never get an ultraportable from any other company if Lenovo keeps making them like this.
Also watch for Adobe straight-up dropping support for OSX in the coming year or two.
What makes you say that, out of curiosity? Given the large number of designers on OSX who would scream bloody murder if they do that, I find that an unlikely scenario (unless we're talking about the Mac App Store doomsday scenario here).
Mobo installation is so much easier than I ever thought it would be. Lay the case down, place the Mobo on the standees, screw it in. Then plug everything into the right slot (It's just generally easy to figure this out), and you have a computer.
Also watch for Adobe straight-up dropping support for OSX in the coming year or two.
What makes you say that, out of curiosity? Given the large number of designers on OSX who would scream bloody murder if they do that, I find that an unlikely scenario (unless we're talking about the Mac App Store doomsday scenario here).
Mac hardware doomsday (which I still predict) coupled with a generally declining userbase. It's a hunch more than anything, but being in the line of work I'm in, I'd wager the product team at Adobe would LOVE (internally) to not have to support multiple platforms.
I suspect Apple will de-emphasize and eventually drop its desktop computer line, and laptops will move toward the App-store/tablet model. That would give Adobe more than enough public rationale to drop OSX support for much of their line. With no OSX alternatives, the creators would have to switch to Windows (for the same reasons I switched from Linux to Windows).
I could foresee a photoshop and acrobat "app," but not so much the rest of the product line. If it would be possible to force the majority to move OSs to follow the software, Adobe would probably save tons of support and development dollars by only supporting Windows.
What makes you say that, out of curiosity? Given the large number of designers on OSX who would scream bloody murder if they do that, I find that an unlikely scenario (unless we're talking about the Mac App Store doomsday scenario here).
Mac hardware doomsday (which I still predict) coupled with a generally declining userbase. It's a hunch more than anything, but being in the line of work I'm in, I'd wager the product team at Adobe would LOVE (internally) to not have to support multiple platforms.
I suspect Apple will de-emphasize and eventually drop its desktop computer line, and laptops will move toward the App-store/tablet model. That would give Adobe more than enough public rationale to drop OSX support for much of their line. With no OSX alternatives, the creators would have to switch to Windows (for the same reasons I switched from Linux to Windows).
I agree with you on the hardware doomsday, but I disagree with you on the time frame. I'm thinking it's closer to about 5 years myself, and Adobe won't drop Mac support until after hardware doomsday.
I tried to do a quick and dirty search for percentage of Adobe users on Mac vs. Windows but had no success (granted, I didn't try that hard). A big factor in if/when Adobe drops Mac support has to be what percentage of the userbase is Mac vs. Windows.
It's a shame, as the Mac in many ways is superior for print design than Windows between its PDF-based rendering engine and the fact it renders on-screen fonts to be as faithful as possible to how they'd be when printed (as opposed to Windows, which mangles fonts to look better on screen while sacrificing their shape).
I get around all those problems by staying within my unified workflows. I pass bits around between Adobe software, where I can render things correctly. I don't rely on the OS for anything. ;^)
Comments
I think I'm going to go with a Dell XPS. I get a pretty big company discount and I can call if something happens with relative ease.
OK which one is better:
1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 545
AMD Radeon™ HD 6770
Deal. I will wire you the funds on the morrow, or some such nonsense.
videobenchmark
Token Tom's hardware link
Going back to the company I mentioned, PCs for Everyone, their gaming desktops consist of a lot of the same parts you may choose to use yourself if you were to build your own: Intel CPU and motherboard, Antec chassis, Corsair power supply, Crucial RAM, NVidia or ATI video cards, and so on. It does come out to a couple hundred more than building your own (last time I checked and comparison shopped), but that may be worth it if your time is more valuable than your money. With the Dells or the other big name shops, you probably just get whatever proprietary parts they sourced from the lowest bidder.
Also, my computer doesn't need upgrading for another year or two, but I kinda want to... I have a Core 2 Duo still. I'm thinking I'm going to wait for the next next major Intel upgrade step. Maybe i9 or whatever craziness comes down the line.
Methinks if you had a clean install of Windows without the Fujitsu crap in there, it would be just fine.
Also, if you're recommending a system to someone who's not a nerd, the small guys may also be worth it. If nothing else, you'll at least know what parts are in it and know it's easily serviceable if your non-nerd friend/family member calls you for support after the warranty runs out.
I'm honestly apprehensive on learning how to install a mobo along with CPU. I've tried to install a new fan on my CPU once and I messed up bending one of the pins along with putting on way too much of that glue or whatever. I had to have a friend fix it for me. That sort of thing, I don't mind having a friend, who knows what they are doing install it for me, or paying a small price to have it done.
I also had friends help me pick and choose parts to build my PC, but now I have a decent knowledge of how to do that.
Compared to the X220 which is only slightly larger. It has a full keyboard. It has 3 USB ports, one of which is USB 3.0, one of which is powered if the laptop is off and plugged into the wall. It can attach to a docking station. Has a matte screen, not a glossy glarefest. Has HDMI, VGA, and Ethernet ports built in. Even has an PCMCIA/Express slot thingy, not that anyone actually uses those. Has an SD card reader built in. You can actually replace or upgraded the battery, disk, memory, etc. very easily since they are all accessible. Oh, and it's not some weak ass Air. It's an i7 powerhouse. The only thing lacking in power is the video card. You can also attach a whole bunch of crazy extra batteries to it so that you get an insane amount of battery life.
And there's a crazy sale going on right now. 50% off the docking station.
The maxed out Air is $1600. The crazy crazy maxed out X220 with docking station and full battery loadout is $1800. If you cut back on some of that extreme stuff, like the double extra battery, it will be about the same price as the Air.
Granted, I'm wiping the thing for a clean Windows install for the time being. Should keep it serviceable for at least another six months.
I'll never get an ultraportable from any other company if Lenovo keeps making them like this.
I suspect Apple will de-emphasize and eventually drop its desktop computer line, and laptops will move toward the App-store/tablet model. That would give Adobe more than enough public rationale to drop OSX support for much of their line. With no OSX alternatives, the creators would have to switch to Windows (for the same reasons I switched from Linux to Windows).
I could foresee a photoshop and acrobat "app," but not so much the rest of the product line. If it would be possible to force the majority to move OSs to follow the software, Adobe would probably save tons of support and development dollars by only supporting Windows.
I suspect Apple will de-emphasize and eventually drop its desktop computer line, and laptops will move toward the App-store/tablet model. That would give Adobe more than enough public rationale to drop OSX support for much of their line. With no OSX alternatives, the creators would have to switch to Windows (for the same reasons I switched from Linux to Windows).
I agree with you on the hardware doomsday, but I disagree with you on the time frame. I'm thinking it's closer to about 5 years myself, and Adobe won't drop Mac support until after hardware doomsday.
I tried to do a quick and dirty search for percentage of Adobe users on Mac vs. Windows but had no success (granted, I didn't try that hard). A big factor in if/when Adobe drops Mac support has to be what percentage of the userbase is Mac vs. Windows.
It's a shame, as the Mac in many ways is superior for print design than Windows between its PDF-based rendering engine and the fact it renders on-screen fonts to be as faithful as possible to how they'd be when printed (as opposed to Windows, which mangles fonts to look better on screen while sacrificing their shape).