Pc brand names ?

[ley]

Own a mini box. I would rather buy a PC brand name desktop for my PT. Any names out there that really work.

Thanx for the help !

[VanDerGraf]

Check out this thread.

[Dogcode]

Yep...........they call it a Mac!

[albee1952]

As a long time PC user, I have to agree. If you want an off the shelf system, buy a MAC.

[M-ManLA]

Own a mini box. I would rather buy a PC brand name desktop for my PT. Any names out there that really work.

Thanx for the help !

Ok like you said you want a PC and not a Mac if I'm correct. Get a Dell, and if you can, remove any unneccesary program and ones that you won't use. Get like a Dell Inspiron 530, or someting even better than that if you have the cash, an XPS 410. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE WINDOWS XP ON IT. Vista support is comming very soon though.

[spaids]

Does it have to be a brand name? You can build a $1500 PC for about $800 from parts on Newegg. The core 2 thread has tons of advice and test results of these systems. It will save you some cash and most likely be a better machine than what you were going to buy "name brand". Its not like Dell makes the parts, they are just piecing it together for you and adding proprietary crap that you don't want anyway.

[The Weed]

Actually, check out the first post in this thread. Take the parts list to a computer store that someone you trust recommends. They will put it all together for you - and be sure there are no part substitutions. If they absolutely must make a substitution, ask about it here first. And make sure they load on Windows XP SP2. The computer will work with PT LE. If you go the Quad route, you will have more than enough "horsepower" for a long time. You will probably never max the computer out.

Getting an off-the-shelf computer is tricky since you have to be sure the motherboard chipset and a number of other components will work with PT LE. Just "getting a Dell" is not good enough. Even the Dell's Digidesign recommends will, a lot of the time, after a build revision by Dell - where the model number remains the same, but the parts inside change - then be incompatible with PT LE.

Unfortunately, on the Windows side of things especially, you must be very careful that the computer you choose is fully compatible with PT LE. That's why nearly everyone here recommends you build one from the parts list provided by actual users who have built machines that are proven to be compatible with and work well with PT LE.

As a double bonus, invariably a computer built from a parts list here will be cheaper than an off-the-shelf model from Dell or other maunfacturers and will run extremely well almost any other DAW that's Windows capable.

Cheers,

[sunburst79]

Buying a PC "in store" is really not the best route. Things can and do change unannounced and DELL, HP etc has zero concern for whether those changes have any affect on PT-only their bottom line.

In the long run you will be much happier sticking with something thats known to work with PT and if your not comfortable putting it together yourself then have a local PC shop assemble it. This will get you the best of both worlds-a machine thats faster and cheaper than store bought plus some technical expertise in case of some major hardware issue

When you have problems with your store bought machine DELL or HP are not going to be much use to you. You will end up here on the forum asking for help. Which is freely given and often quite good!

The store bought stuff is a crapshoot. Right chipset/Wrong FW chip. Fast Processer/Slow memory. Proprietary BIOS or parts that are hard to replace ETC. You can't beat the big players prices for email and multimedia systems but a DAW is a very special peice off equiptment and its best to know EXACTLY how its going to work. Having a 20 or 30 forum buddies with the same exact rig helps to troubleshoot problems that much faster.

[3over3]

Weed, your advice is excellent. This sentence made me smile though!

... You will probably never max the computer out ...

Digidesign 1999: Who'd need more than 32 tracks of audio?
Sequential 1983: Who'd need more than 16 MIDI channels?
Sun Studios 1957: Who'd need more than one mic?

[ley]

First of all, thanx to everyone.

Brand name ? Go for a mac. PC ? Buy the right parts instead of a Dell or HP. Correct ?

By the way , which mac ?

Thank you !