computer purchase

Technology seems to geared towards improving the FSB and Processor speed,so I would consider a P4 with an affordable cpu,then consider the maximum amount of memory that you can afford,consider some P4 systems are very cheap now

The cost of hard drives are cheap so an 80-120 gig hard drive would be good solution to what you plan on using it for,a 64m video card will be adequate,unless you want to see more relistic graphics,but 128 will be costly

Good luck

You can expect to purchase a new computer every 2 to 3 years if you want to remain relatively current for technology. And with Video -- especially editing video -- you need the most CPU/RAM that you can afford.

Max out on the processor... go with AMD if you have to to save $'s. You can always purchase more SDRAM later, when the budget re-coups from the first main outlay.

Storage is cheap... buy enough to cover your foreseeable needs and be ready to double it when you can... knowing the the prices will continue to drop and the capacities will continue to increase. Do not purchase the 5400 RPM drives... go with the fastest you can get for your $'s.

The type of video card you get will depend on what you are going to be doing with it. If recording from VCR or TV, get the card with the most RAM and make sure it supports what you want to do.

For gaming Texture and Lighting is a good feature (GeForce 4 -- 64 MB RAM is what I'd recommend) and for todays games, it'll work for a few years to come. But I do not know if it'll support what you want to be able to do with Video?????

If your goal is to have the computer be usable for as long as possible, you are going to need to get a near top of the line / state of the art PC.

You can spend $2000+ now, and get 4 to 5 years out of the PC. Or less then $1000 every 3 years or so.

For a system with optimized usable life:
ALL name brand components.
Forget the name brand PCs, you want to work with a local dealer to get a custom built PC with the latest hardware.

Get the newest motherboard they have.
Make sure it has a serial ATA controller in addition to the standard IDE controller.

You can save a few dollars by getting a mid-range CPU now, and installing a faster CPU in 9 to 18 months.

Install as much RAM as you can afford. For XP running digital video, 1GB of RAM would be a good investment.

Hard drive: A minimum of 120GB.
If you plan to edit digital video, consider 200GB or more. Video eats up drive space fast

Video card: You can also save some money here.
Unless you play high end games, a $100 card should fill the bill.

Chas

Well, as far as memory, I would go with DDR, it's a little more expensive, but I think it's a better match for a P4. With the processor, I like to get equipment two steps below the top-of-the-line but stay with the latest core design. In english, get a P4 with a 533mhz FSB. If it's not the fastest, it's ok, let someone else payoff the scientists. Back to memory, 512 is good, more than adequate for most people. For hard drives, I prefer 40 gig drives, like the Seagate baracuda, unless you plan on storing ripped DVDs or the like, that's a good amount of space. And for video, this seems to be the most dynamic area in the PC world right now. I prefer to get the "good" version of a lesser card than the scaled down version of the latest greatest. The Radeon 8500 seems pretty good or a geoforce4ti, 64 megs DDR is good for now, but 3d is really improving at the moment and games are rapidly making use of higher performance cards. The main thing is to buy a system that can be upgraded later. Standard atx case, non-integrated video, watch for amr modems and the like, they are not good. If you come up with questions regarding specific system, post them, this will just get you in the ballpark. And also realize these are just personal opinions, not real science or anything.

Can I ask not why a brand name PC and go with a local dealer??

I had a Dell 8250 3.06 Pentium 4 processor, 512 MB, 120 gig hard drive, 64 mb video card, cd rw drive, cd-rom drive, floppy disk drive priced about $1,600-1,700. How is that?

Point value changed by question poster.

One word, CHIPSET. get the most advanced, forward looking chipset you can afford in a motherboard. Also, VERY IMPORTANT, to avoid being obsolete too soon, you must build it yourself, have someone build it for you or purchase from specialty pc suppliers such as ALIENWARE. For your budget you should research and put the components together yourself. The intel 875P chipset is a good example. Mated with a high end motherboard and a hi wattage power supply, you will be able to keep up with the technology for awhile with simple CPU upgrades. Catch phrases to look for include AGP8X 4X ,RAID4 or 5, High FSB numbers (800 mhz up), Serial ATA and so on. Mass market sellers such as dell are dead on arrival for long term survival. They are built with to maintain a regular market cycle for the manufacturer and, besides the name, usually involves cheap integrated versions of name components that you cannot easily upgrade. You really could learn alot and have fun obsoleteproofing your next PC.

I'd say go with:
RAM: 512MB
Processor: 2.5Ghz or greater
Hard Disk: 60 GB or greater especially if you are using it for digital purposes

You can always upgrade the RAM in the future and buy a bigger hard drive. They have PC's out now with over 3.0Ghz

I have a 5 year old PC at home with a Pentium II 400Mhz processor and it is still ticking. As you PC needs go up as I imgaine they will within 4-5 years you may need to replace the PC, but it all depends on what you're doing in 5 years.

Hi Michelle,
YES you need a lot of RAM and a good Video card. the processor pentiumIV 2.8GHz will be great. Well why no get a cloned system. That would be cheaper and would cost less. But you need to get someone to assemble it for you or make it part of the agreement if you are gettng it from a one-stop-shop for PCs.They just might not charge you if you talk smooth.

Get prices for computer parts at dif. shops before buying. Else get a branded system.

GoodLuck

-Kola-

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