Help getting started with Pro Tools 001
 

I am planning on getting a PC and installing Pro Tools. I am planning on something with a pentium 4 and windows XP. I have read the compatibility chart for windows xp and there seems to be alot of choices of computers. What can you recommend for a computer (HP, Dell, ect.) and what model. I don't want to screw this up. Thanks for your help.

-Tim

Re: Help getting started with Pro Tools 001
 

Dont look at the brand, look at the motherboard they use. Better yet, built your own system, In the windows-side, there's a thread that has a complete system (without the digi001....) for around $700.

http://duc.digidesign.com/cgi-bin/ub...;f=32;t=004858

Re: Help getting started with Pro Tools 001
 

I would suggest buying an

- AMD XP2200+
- an ASUS A7V333 Motherboard
- 512 DDR PC2700 ram
- 2 40gig ata 100 (or 133) 7200 rpm Drives, use 1 for installing all your programs and the other for storing audio files.
- Either a Matrox Milenium G550 or a Radion 7500 graphics card, with duel head display (so you can have two monitors)

If you go to any online store you can order all of these peices at good prices, then if you need to go to a local computer dealer and pay a small amount $50 or so for them to put it all together and set it up for you. This will be alot cheaper than buying a name brand computer and will be alot better configured for audio. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Also get a nice set of speakers and a mic and go for it! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Help getting started with Pro Tools 001
 

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the great responses. I'm not so good with the technical aspect of building a computer. Is there any make/model I could buy off the shelf that would be good to use or should I have a store build me a computer? Thanks for your help!

Re: Help getting started with Pro Tools 001
 

Once you have most/all of the individual peices you could go to a computer store and they should put it together for you for like $50 or so.

I suggest shopping around and not buying all the parts from the one place, prices vary alot with PC bits so you might have to do a bit of leg work to find the best deals on all the peices. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] if you need more detailed help. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Help getting started with Pro Tools 001
 

Hey,

I printed out our conversations and your recommendations and brought them into a computer store (PC's for everyone, www.pcsforeveryone.com) and told him to give me a quote and any other suggestions. He printed me a quote with some different stuff on it. He said some of the stuff on the itemized list were old. I was hoping to get some other opinions on his suggestions. Keep in mind I have no idea what I'm talking about so I'm going to put down everything he did. Thanks so much. Here goes:

ATHLON XP 1800+ (1.53G) SYSTEM - 569.00
UPG TO MSI KT3-ULTRA MB - 28.00
UPG TO 512MB CL2 DDR / USE 1 - 132.00
UPG TO ENERMAX A106 / 300W - (-10.00)
UPG TO IBM 41.GB 07N9208 - 11.00
3.5" 1.44MB FLOPPY DRIVE - 0.00
UPG TO AOC 7F 17" .25 FLAT - 52.00
UPG TO MSI GF2-MX400 64 MB - 81.00
UPG TO MITSUMI PS2 KBD - 0.00
WINDOWS XP HOME NTFS - 99.00
COREL WORDPERFECT OFFICE 2002 - 0.00
UPG TO MS INTELLIMOUSE - 10.00
LITE-ON IDE 40X12X48 CDRW - 75.00
DLINK 10/100 RJ45 32BIT NIC - 19.00

Also, someone mentioned dual monitors. Why? This configuration with tax and a lifetime labor warranty comes to $1119.30 which is fine for me as long as I'm not getting ripped of and the computer will work well. Thanks again!

-Tim

Re: Help getting started with Pro Tools 001
 

mmm, thats not too bad, i would insist on him changing the motherboard to a ASUS A7V333 however as they are tested and prooved with Pro Tools, also make him give you two hard drives, one for programs and one for audio.

Apart from that its not too bad, however i would go to a few other places and get some more quotes before buying. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]