NEW DESKTOP

[Observeearth]

Hello all.
Currently need some advice (since i'm not much of a computer man).
As of right now I am using a HP Laptop hooked alongside to a high quality 24" LCD to help with editing. I am wanting to invest in an actual desktop but didn't want to spend too much on it. Is there a computer nowadays for about the $500 range that would be capable enough to support all my photo software and is all around reliable. Ive had no problems whatsoever with my laptop so I'm thinking HP is awesome. I'm trying to stray away from Macs (just a personal preference).
Any advice would help. thanks ahead of time!

[Gna]

Originally Posted by Observeearth

Hello all.
Currently need some advice (since i'm not much of a computer man).
As of right now I am using a HP Laptop hooked alongside to a high quality 24" LCD to help with editing. I am wanting to invest in an actual desktop but didn't want to spend too much on it. Is there a computer nowadays for about the $500 range that would be capable enough to support all my photo software and is all around reliable.

What is "all [your] photo software"?

Ive had no problems whatsoever with my laptop so I'm thinking HP is awesome. I'm trying to stray away from Macs (just a personal preference).
Any advice would help.

I'm not so sure it would. You seem to already have made up your mind.

But $500 doesn't buy much of a (photo)graphics workstation.

[felix.reichardt]

Originally Posted by Observeearth

Hello all.
Currently need some advice (since i'm not much of a computer man).
As of right now I am using a HP Laptop hooked alongside to a high quality 24" LCD to help with editing. I am wanting to invest in an actual desktop but didn't want to spend too much on it. Is there a computer nowadays for about the $500 range that would be capable enough to support all my photo software and is all around reliable. Ive had no problems whatsoever with my laptop so I'm thinking HP is awesome. I'm trying to stray away from Macs (just a personal preference).
Any advice would help. thanks ahead of time!

HP® Official Store — Buy an HP Pavilion p6130f Desktop PC (NY463AA#ABA) from HP

[Observeearth]

thanks for your help guys. yeah that's an awesome recommendation. As far as programs. . . i have photoshop, lightroom, photomatix, corel paint, a slide show proggie, and some other random stuff. =)

[harvey3]

HP is good, but please open your mind with dell computers...
I have it in the office and I am happy with its performance.

[Narsuitus]

My needs for a photographic computer seem to be very similar to yours. I just spent $500 for a Dell Inspiron 546 desktop with the following specifications:

Processor:
AMD Phenom X4 9750 (2.4GHz, 1066MHz, 4MB)

Operating System:
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit

Memory:
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4 DIMMs

Hard Drive:
640GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

Optical Drives:
Dual Drives: 16X DVD-ROM + 16X DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable

Video Card:
Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics

Sound Card:
Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio

Network Card:
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet

It also came with a keyboard and mouse. I did not order a monitor or a modem because I already had them from a previous desktop.

In my case, $500 bought a very useable photographic workstation.

[zetachi]

as one who builds computers as a hobby I could not bring myself to buy a pre-built but if one must...I'd recommend one with at least a dual core, but quad core would be best as Phoshop supports multi core cpus. Max ram that the system will support but no less then 4GB on a 64 bit OS. Stay away from XP 64bit though. If you do go 32 bit that will only support 2GB RAM. I would suggest 2 HD or one internal one external for back up. Don't want all your work to vanish if one dies.