Computer

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Ridickolas

New member
I know very little 'bout computers... I'm gonna get a new PC (desktop), but I'm baffled about what to get. I want something with windows XP sp2, 'cause most interfaces don't have drivers for vista. The computer needs to have atleast USB 2.0 - something like firewire would be nice, but not necessary.
Would anyone please point me in the direction of a good computer, which isn't sooo expensive. Thanks.
 
Well some will shoot me down for saying this but if you're after good value (as most of us are) then Dell machines are very cheap and usually decent quality. I've been using one for recording for about 4-5 years and I've never had a significant issue with it, some say the customer support is poor but I've never had cause to use it.

Here in the UK we have a cool site which groups all of the e-value deals and links straight through to the Dell website:

http://www.dmxdimension.com/

You may have something similar where you are if you search around.

As for specs it depends what you want to do, how many channels you'll be recording, virtual instruments etc.

I have 1 gig of RAM and an older single core Pentium 4 processor and the machine barely breaks a sweat but then I don't use vstis and don't use that many tracks.

A solid machine which would be fairly future proof would probably have a couple of gigs of RAM (2048MB) and a newer dual core processor.

You'd struggle to find a new PC without USB 2.0 these days. If you want firewire for an audio interface I'd recommend getting a PCI card anyway rather than using the built in firewire. Once you've decided on an interface, do some searching around for a card which is proven to work well with your interface.
 
Dell and Lenovo (formerly IBM) still offer machines with XP. In brick and mortar stores pretty much everything will have Vista.

You'll want 1 GB RAM and a dual-core processor.

Intel: Pentium D (older, based on the Pentium 4), Pentium Dual-Core and Core 2 Duo

AMD: Athlon 64 x 2
 
I know there are some Foxconn motherboards in Toshiba laptops that won't work with XP.

You need to be real sure that you can load an older OS onto some of these newer motherboards in the Sonys, HPs, Toshibas, Gateways, etc.
 
fuzzrhythm said:
You need to be real sure that you can load an older OS onto some of these newer motherboards in the Sonys, HPs, Toshibas, Gateways, etc.
Click to expand...


this is not likely to be an issue.... btw vista drivers are becoming available all the time... and putting aside some of the rancor you see on forums like this... it's just a matter of time till we all are on vista... and some research iv'e seen suggests there are some advantages to it once the DAW manufactures start fully supporting it....
 
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