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Razorguns
Well-known member
Ladies and Gentlemen - the beauty that now occupies my life :
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=8674794
Intel Quad 2.4ghz, 4 gigs ram, 750GB hd, HD-Rom, DVD Lightscribe, Wireless mouse/kb, Nvida 8500 GT. Around $1500 w/o monitor. Best Buy Rewards, you get about $25 back.
Acute members may remember my famous thread "Mac or Vista" about what I should get next?
I decided to stay PC for now. I got an Intel Quad with 4 GIGS and 750GB HD. And HP brand - which - i must tell you - they have done an UNBELIEVABLE job fine-tuning Windows Vista Premium. Having tons of advisers, updaters, help videos, helper applications, backup tools, migration tools, and everything else .. right out the door when you first bootup. Sweet.
Oh, and while Vista 32-bit on 1 gig sucks. Vista on 4 gigs SCREAMS!
I've already done some After Effects rendering, 3DS modelling, Premiere HD editing, Encore CS3 burning, H.264 encoding, Photoshop editing, Cineform capturing, HD DVD playbacks (yeah yeah it's HD, but what can you do), and a couple games. No crashes, fast and purrs like a kitten. I really put it through the limits, and I've just started!
And watching media clips, slideshow, etc. using Windows Media Center and the included remote control is great. Esp. on the 24" HDMI HP monitor I bought with it (gonna buy a source monitoring 40" HD TV for the wall later). Looks so gorgeous with my 2 monitors.
And it has the option for portable media devices, easy front outputs for video/usb/firewire. The back has digital audio and surround sound outputs.
Popping out the side was easy. One screw. Threw in my 2 1 GIG DDR2 sticks was a breeze (one cable was in the way) - and voila. 4 gigs (had to throw out 2 512MB's oh well).
It comes with Nvida 8500 256mb. I'd like the sweeter NVidia 8800 512MB card - but it'll suffice for now. The jury is still out if it'll make a difference in my workflow (esp with OpenGL).
The wireless keyboard and mouse is good - but I replaced it with my previous wireless logitech kb/mouse combo. Mainly because my existing mouse had fwd/back little buttons. And I use that aggressively when browsing. I hate moving my mouse up to the back button, or pressing backspace.
And being a Vista power user - i'm too accustomed to the sweet new Explorer window. The taskbar and start menu improvements. And fancy gizmos like Windows Meeting, Remote Desktop, Network and Sharing options, DVD burning and viewing out the door, and organizing via the public/user documents structure. To become a Mac power user comparitvely will take some time - and I ain't got that right now.
The "Windows Rating" in computer properties is 5.9 on almost everything. Graphics is 5.6 I think.
The Intel Quad 2.4Ghz - Never used a 4-processor machine - and must admit - it is fast.
I was looking at Amd's Quad Phenom until I read some CNET reviews. Totally destroyed when up against the Intel Quads. The choice was clear then.
And price wasn't bad. Even w/o the Blu-Ray drive (i'll buy that later this summer when writers and BR 2.0 mature) it came out to around $1500 (w/o monitor) or so with 4gigs installed. The manuals and sheets were very easy to understand and intuitive. And the packaging of the box, cables, even batteries were very pro.
HP has done a great job here. For laptops - i'm still impressed by my Toshiba Laptop.
r
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=8674794
Intel Quad 2.4ghz, 4 gigs ram, 750GB hd, HD-Rom, DVD Lightscribe, Wireless mouse/kb, Nvida 8500 GT. Around $1500 w/o monitor. Best Buy Rewards, you get about $25 back.
Acute members may remember my famous thread "Mac or Vista" about what I should get next?
I decided to stay PC for now. I got an Intel Quad with 4 GIGS and 750GB HD. And HP brand - which - i must tell you - they have done an UNBELIEVABLE job fine-tuning Windows Vista Premium. Having tons of advisers, updaters, help videos, helper applications, backup tools, migration tools, and everything else .. right out the door when you first bootup. Sweet.
Oh, and while Vista 32-bit on 1 gig sucks. Vista on 4 gigs SCREAMS!
I've already done some After Effects rendering, 3DS modelling, Premiere HD editing, Encore CS3 burning, H.264 encoding, Photoshop editing, Cineform capturing, HD DVD playbacks (yeah yeah it's HD, but what can you do), and a couple games. No crashes, fast and purrs like a kitten. I really put it through the limits, and I've just started!
And watching media clips, slideshow, etc. using Windows Media Center and the included remote control is great. Esp. on the 24" HDMI HP monitor I bought with it (gonna buy a source monitoring 40" HD TV for the wall later). Looks so gorgeous with my 2 monitors.
And it has the option for portable media devices, easy front outputs for video/usb/firewire. The back has digital audio and surround sound outputs.
Popping out the side was easy. One screw. Threw in my 2 1 GIG DDR2 sticks was a breeze (one cable was in the way) - and voila. 4 gigs (had to throw out 2 512MB's oh well).
It comes with Nvida 8500 256mb. I'd like the sweeter NVidia 8800 512MB card - but it'll suffice for now. The jury is still out if it'll make a difference in my workflow (esp with OpenGL).
The wireless keyboard and mouse is good - but I replaced it with my previous wireless logitech kb/mouse combo. Mainly because my existing mouse had fwd/back little buttons. And I use that aggressively when browsing. I hate moving my mouse up to the back button, or pressing backspace.
And being a Vista power user - i'm too accustomed to the sweet new Explorer window. The taskbar and start menu improvements. And fancy gizmos like Windows Meeting, Remote Desktop, Network and Sharing options, DVD burning and viewing out the door, and organizing via the public/user documents structure. To become a Mac power user comparitvely will take some time - and I ain't got that right now.
The "Windows Rating" in computer properties is 5.9 on almost everything. Graphics is 5.6 I think.
The Intel Quad 2.4Ghz - Never used a 4-processor machine - and must admit - it is fast.
I was looking at Amd's Quad Phenom until I read some CNET reviews. Totally destroyed when up against the Intel Quads. The choice was clear then.
And price wasn't bad. Even w/o the Blu-Ray drive (i'll buy that later this summer when writers and BR 2.0 mature) it came out to around $1500 (w/o monitor) or so with 4gigs installed. The manuals and sheets were very easy to understand and intuitive. And the packaging of the box, cables, even batteries were very pro.
HP has done a great job here. For laptops - i'm still impressed by my Toshiba Laptop.
r
