I need a new PC. Help me choose.

[badrose]

I use a desktop at home. It allows me to use an LCD TV as a monitor and I need the larger hard drives and extra memory for storing and processing images. My current desktop is a ZT. I'd never heard of them before but I got it because it had a 1TB hard drive which has served me well until now. The memory is 4 GB RAM which bogs down when I'm processing images. I've had this thing for over 4 years and overall has served me quite well. Lately though, the OS Windows Vista has stopped updating and I've tried everything. No matter, turns out I can't update Explorer running Vista anyway.

OK, I'll stop rambling. Here's the choices: BTW it will be hard wired so the WiFi feature on the HP won't be needed. I'm hoping PedroDaGr8 and Chuck chime in here.

http://www.qvc.com/CompareProductsDi...Number=E257120

[CitizenBBN]

I'll take a look at the link, but Pedro is the man on these things. I spec servers still, and need to do my homework for a new laptop at some point, but I'm betting Pedro is the man on the current systems available. I haven't shopped for one for quite a while.

I'll give it a whack though. Let me take a look.

[dan_bgblue]

For the photo processing, I suggest looking at a Mac and get a external hard drive for storage. A terrabyte external drive from western digital should fit the needs. They run circles around the PC in photo processing. Beyond that, "I KNOW NOTHING".

[Darrell KSR]

Get one with a DVD drive. Those are pretty cool. Can watch movies with them.

You're welcome.

[chroix]

I got a refurb 27" iMac with quadCore i7 chips off apples site.. smoking fast, full warranty, looks good and giant monitor to boot.

[bigronhahn1011]

Look into Lenovo as well. Bought one back about six months ago and have been very pleased with it. I use it mainly for college homework, but I have yet to see it lock up one time. (and yes I am a 35 year old college junior )

[KSRBEvans]

OK, I recently became the newest convert to the Cult of Mac. Since you have your own monitor, have you considered a Mac mini?

[PedroDaGr8]

I use a desktop at home. It allows me to use an LCD TV as a monitor and I need the larger hard drives and extra memory for storing and processing images. My current desktop is a ZT. I'd never heard of them before but I got it because it had a 1TB hard drive which has served me well until now. The memory is 4 GB RAM which bogs down when I'm processing images. I've had this thing for over 4 years and overall has served me quite well. Lately though, the OS Windows Vista has stopped updating and I've tried everything. No matter, turns out I can't update Explorer running Vista anyway.

OK, I'll stop rambling. Here's the choices: BTW it will be hard wired so the WiFi feature on the HP won't be needed. I'm hoping PedroDaGr8 and Chuck chime in here.

http://www.qvc.com/CompareProductsDi...Number=E257120

Interesting comparisons. The intel one has a sandybridge processor which is a generation older. In general Intel makes better chips (unless you have an application that works better with more cores). Truthfully though, neither of those appears to be an amazing deal. Most of the price you are seeing there is for the high amount of ram To put it bluntly RAM is quite cheap and super easy to install. 16GB of desktop ram costs about $75. If you can insert a memory card into the front of your computer then you can stick RAM into the computer. It's much easier than doing said operation on a PDA. RAM is one of the HIGHEST markup parts of a computer especially when you consider how easy it is to do. All you do: power down PC, open the cover, insert stick one until it snaps into place, repeat for the total number of sticks, close cover, restart computer.

You are much better off getting a lower priced computer even if it is a previous generation (2nd gen core i5) and upgrading the ram yourself and installing an SSD. This would give you a computer that absolutely screams at a much cheaper price point. It does require some work on your part is the downside. Truthfully, more than ram an SSD is the BIGGEST upgrade that you can do performance wise for a computer.

[BudCat_upthecreek]

SSD's are getting cheaper by the day....try NewEgg.com cheap on both SSD and Ram, great brands too, plus ratings