Vostro or Compaq?

Iconic

lee5768 wrote: »

some of the intergrated cards are good these days they have come along way
the computer am using now is a media centre i built. it has a built in HD4200 this is great for what its used for BUT this comes at a price "memory" somthing that you need badly for video editing

this system has 4GB memory right
limitation of using a 32bit version of windows means all of the 4GB memory can't be mapped so out of this 4GB I end up with only 3.2 useable memory
then the onboard graphics needs memory so its alocated 512MB of this memory
leaving me with only 2.75GB usable memory windows 7 itself uses abou 800MB if this

so with onboard graphics on a system that only has 2GB you will have under 1GB or ram for video editing

So the Compaq 64-bit version with more memory is what I should go for?

lee5768

that looks like its coming for the business part of dell mate not the home pc

just looked on the home site

and they have a pc with

Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor E5400 (2.70GHz, 800FSB, 2MB cache)
Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 Graphics
4096MB Dual Channel DDR3 1066MHz [4x1024] Memory
640GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive
DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD) with DVD Burn software
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit - English

the only bad thing about that really is the cpu could be better but its a £300 pc you was never getting top spec anyway i would say its better than the other 2

if your lucky it will come with a good motherboard if so you could overclock the cpu as these things can run a lot faster but you would have to do some research on that

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=d005603a&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&kc=desktops_great_deals

Iconic

lee5768 wrote: »

that looks like its coming for the business part of dell mate not the home pc

just looked on the home site

and they have a pc with

Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor E5400 (2.70GHz, 800FSB, 2MB cache)
Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 Graphics
4096MB Dual Channel DDR3 1066MHz [4x1024] Memory
640GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive
DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD) with DVD Burn software
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit - English

the only bad thing about that really is the cpu could be better but its a £300 pc you was never getting top spec anyway i would say its better than the other 2

if your lucky it will come with a good motherboard if so you could overclock the cpu as these things can run a lot faster but you would have to do some research on that

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=d005603a&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&kc=desktops_great_deals

You can still buy through the business part of Dell but the Inspiron does look a good deal.

BH you have just made the choice harder not easier!

lee5768

Iconic wrote: »

BH you have just made the choice harder not easier!

OI! least I bothered to look, .... should have just let you buy whatever pile of sh*te you was going to buy ......can't please some people

angelavdavis

Sad to say, I would not buy a Compaq.

I used to love Compaq kit - always used them for my infrastructure rollouts years ago - they were always so reliable (apart from the first Armada laptop series which were very very bad - 24 out of 25 demonstrated problems on one nightmare rollout!!).

Unfortunately, since HP took them over a few years ago, the quality of build has gone right downhill (I wouldn't buy an HP either - I had a work laptop that had so many things go wrong and get replaced on warranty, we joked about it being "Triggers broom"!!)

Whilst working for a Local Authority, we purchased over 3000 Dell PCs over 3 years in a PC upgrade programme - not one single DOA. I have always found them very good for their price.

Iconic

lee5768 wrote: »

OI! least I bothered to look, .... should have just let you buy whatever pile of sh*te you was going to buy ......can't please some people

I am sorry if I gave the wrong impression.

The Inspiron you suggested does appear to be as good or if not better than the others. However the other two have better processors and the Compaq has a seperate graphic card which some people advise is better for video editing.

Iconic

angelavdavis wrote: »

Sad to say, I would not buy a Compaq.

I used to love Compaq kit - always used them for my infrastructure rollouts years ago - they were always so reliable (apart from the first Armada laptop series which were very very bad - 24 out of 25 demonstrated problems on one nightmare rollout!!).

Unfortunately, since HP took them over a few years ago, the quality of build has gone right downhill (I wouldn't buy an HP either - I had a work laptop that had so many things go wrong and get replaced on warranty, we joked about it being "Triggers broom"!!)

Whilst working for a Local Authority, we purchased over 3000 Dell PCs over 3 years in a PC upgrade programme - not one single DOA. I have always found them very good for their price.

Thanks. Reliability is just as important to me as the specifications thats why I will now most probably buy a Dell.

lee5768

Compaq is one of the worst brands


the cpu isnt a good in the dell i posted but it has double the hard drive space, 4GB of DDR3 memory If you phone your order they might be able to do a better cpu but your going to go over your £300 ...

if you don't like the graphics performance you could upgrade to a stand along card in future

you have to remember that your budget is £300 only
4GB of DDR3 cost around £100 mark retail
windows 7 about £70
the cpu is £70 retail (this cpu will overclock well over3ghz on a good board).

Iconic

lee5768 wrote: »

Compaq is one of the worst brands


the cpu isnt a good in the dell i posted but it has double the hard drive space, 4GB of DDR3 memory If you phone your order they might be able to do a better cpu but your going to go over your £300 ...

if you don't like the graphics performance you could upgrade to a stand along card in future

you have to remember that your budget is £300 only
4GB of DDR3 cost around £100 mark retail
windows 7 about £70
the cpu is £70 retail (this cpu will overclock well over3ghz on a good board).

Thanks for your help. What you say makes complete sense so I have decided to buy the Inspiron with the spec you advised:beer:

oldtoolie

If you can stretch your budget, the Dell Vostro 430 at £389 looks good. I have just purchased 5 at work. Latest CPU from Intel, 2G fast memory and a graphics card.

I'm happy with my Vostro 200 at home and I may get a 430 for my son.