Guest Promo Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 Sup guys? So am getting my Dell taken back and my money refunded after I blew a whole in the manager's earhole muwhaha. :angry: So okay am looking in the £400-500 price bracket including vat to get a music making pc. I may even not need a monitor as I can use my old 15" monitor. I plan on getting my own pci soundcard (M-Audio Audiophile 2496). Spec wise I probably need Intel P4 (3ghz), 80gb hd, 1gb ddr2 ram, McAfee antivirus, 4 years hardware guarantee etc. Am looking at HP currently but they look a bit pricey. Be better to get a pc without a soundcard in it etc. Views appreciated cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ron Manager Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 in my experience, the logo on the front means fuck all. i worked in a PC department store doing everything from fixing them to selling them, and we got just about every brand there is out there, all with the same kind of problems, whether it be hp/compaq (same exact thing these days, don't be fooled into paying more for the hp name), dell, sony, apple etc. while the internet is usually a good bet, it's worth looking around small shops and seeing what kind of machines they've got that they've just built themselves, because they're just as good. as for extended warranties, don't bother unless it's standard, though most manufacturers seem to give just one-year parts coverage. extended warranties are such a waste of money, it's 100% profit for the company. hardware is so cheap these days anyway, and fixing most problems with your PC doesn't take too much know-how, or you've surely got a mate who is in the know for this sort of thing. it's also worth noting that warranties typically do not cover damage from power surges or viruses, and in the event of hard drive failure, will not at least try and retrieve any of your data for you. in regards to McAfee antivirus, in my opinion this is more money you don't need to spend. i've been using AVG antivirus for a few years now, and it works like a charm. i've never had a problem. McAfee and Norton are both yearly-subscription services; you have to pay for their shitty software every year. don't bother with it. if you buy a branded pc, as soon as you get it, go to the control panel, add/remove programs, uninstall everything with 'norton' or 'mcafee' in the name (they always come with trials installed), they're rubbish. i'd recommend this pc, it seems like a pretty good deal. it's got a nice quick processor, a pentium dual core 945 (3.4ghz), which i understand can simulate 64-bit processing as it is two 32-bit processors (though it can't give you true-64 bit technology like an athlon 64 could). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Captain Cooper Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 ------------------------------> Macbook (sorry!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ron Manager Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexPallas Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 vaio and mac are your only options, you can't make music on anything less. HP is shit, but dell, emachines, gateway... et cetera are worse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarsier888 Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 or you could just order all the part and build yourself a custom one, or.. a macbook! ^.^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mrx Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 i have a compaq laptop and it's a piece of shit, so don't buy a compaq! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goffer Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 build you own... it's like lego's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Promo Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 I read that the Dual Core Processors can't handle some old programs and shit due to the way it processes info. So whats the crack there? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ron Manager Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 vaio and mac are your only options, you can't make music on anything less. what utter shite. don't listen to him. i have a compaq laptop and it's a piece of shit, so don't buy a compaq! i have a compaq laptop too and it works well. it was cheap, had good specs (well when i bought it about 18 months ago), and has never let me down; it certainly doesn't owe me anything. it survived 7 months of wear and tear on the road in africa. only thing that's gone wrong with it is that one of my USB ports is no longer recognised as USB2.0 (windows thinks it is USB1.1) for some strange reason, but i can live with that. I read that the Dual Core Processors can't handle some old programs and shit due to the way it processes info. So whats the crack there? Cheers. i've never heard of pentium D or athlon X2 having any problems with old programs. i wouldn't understand how they could have a problem really... and yes, if you can, building your own is the best bet. you get exactly what you want for a great price. my pc has been in storage for a couple of months now and i miss it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexPallas Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 i should have added compaq to my list of utter shit computers. if you are 'thrifty' while buying a computer you might as well not bother trying to make musick on it. that's just my advice though. i would consider it cheaper to buy a vaio or mac for $1500 than a compaq for $500 and and vaio or mac when you realize that the compaq you just bought is akin to a commodore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ron Manager Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 if you are 'thrifty' while buying a computer you might as well not bother trying to make musick on it. why? what is there in low-price pcs that causes making music on them to be so inherently poor? a processor's a processor, ram is ram... i really don't understand your point. do you honestly believe that between a sony and a dell with the exact same parts and specs, the sony is worth the extra $500 you'd pay for the name? i would consider it cheaper to buy a vaio or mac for $1500 than a compaq for $500 and and vaio or mac when you realize that the compaq you just bought is akin to a commodore. yeah, on second thoughts promo, just close this thread and stop making tunes, because unless you've got £1000 to drop on a sony or a mac, your music will be garbage. sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mrx Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 i have a compaq laptop too and it works well. it was cheap, had good specs (well when i bought it about 18 months ago), and has never let me down; it certainly doesn't owe me anything. it survived 7 months of wear and tear on the road in africa. only thing that's gone wrong with it is that one of my USB ports is no longer recognised as USB2.0 (windows thinks it is USB1.1) for some strange reason, but i can live with that. i had battery issues with my laptop about 2 months after I got the thing. Basically, my laptop couldn't detect the AC power plug and I had to send it out for repair. Eventually, I wanted to upgrade the ram in my laptop. I open the thing up and find that there is only one ram slot, not two like I was told. The most recent problem has been overheating. Anytime I use my music app for more than 3 hours or if it uses about 60% of my cpu, my laptop just shuts off. Basically the laptop overheats very easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 277: 930-933 Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 Duhh vaio has much better d/a converters and makes your moog vsts sound creamy and analog. Mac can handle buffer overrides a lot better than a compaq for example. So if you want to make boc you get vaio, if you want to do squarepusher you get mac. (or glitchhop) I thought people knew this by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ron Manager Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 i had battery issues with my laptop about 2 months after I got the thing. Basically, my laptop couldn't detect the AC power plug and I had to send it out for repair. Eventually, I wanted to upgrade the ram in my laptop. I open the thing up and find that there is only one ram slot, not two like I was told. The most recent problem has been overheating. Anytime I use my music app for more than 3 hours or if it uses about 60% of my cpu, my laptop just shuts off. Basically the laptop overheats very easily. that fucking sucks. which model do you have? Duhh vaio has much better d/a converters and makes your moog vsts sound creamy and analog. Mac can handle buffer overrides a lot better than a compaq for example. So if you want to make boc you get vaio, if you want to do squarepusher you get mac. (or glitchhop) I thought people knew this by now. ok. as i said promo, looks like you'd better give up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mrx Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 "that fucking sucks. which model do you have?" presario r3000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Promo Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 yeah, on second thoughts promo, just close this thread and stop making tunes, because unless you've got £1000 to drop on a sony or a mac, your music will be garbage. sorry Lol. Well the new PC I've got (Dell 3100c), which cost £500 inclusive, is far superior to my old pc and I've had no major problems with it except the onboard sound naturally isn't up to muster because over the severe latency. I'm getting it refunded because I can't fit in a pro PCI soundcard in it so I'll get a pc that I can. So yeah overall I am happy with it and yes you're totally right of course you can a decent enough pc for music making for under £500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Captain Cooper Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 Duhh vaio has much better d/a converters and makes your moog vsts sound creamy and analog. Mac can handle buffer overrides a lot better than a compaq for example. So if you want to make boc you get vaio, if you want to do squarepusher you get mac. (or glitchhop) I thought people knew this by now. LOL :grin: We need a funny EKT quotes thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexPallas Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 do you honestly believe that between a sony and a dell with the exact same parts and specs, the sony is worth the extra $500 you'd pay for the name? i have not commented on a brand of computer that i am not familiar with. you pay an extra $500 for quality assembly and parts that are individually slightly more expensive, but work properly 100% of the time. when you buy a compaq/hp/et cetera you get a computer that was thrown together in a sweatshop and the bottom-of-the-line parts. that is my experience with computers. do you honestly think people pay more for computers without any reason? that view is much more than a bit naive. i suppose i should try to tell the worlds foremost greatest electronic musicians to stop using macs. feel free to try talking this guy into trading in his vaio collection for a compaq: the reason i said you should only make music on macs and vaios is because if you are serious about making music and plan to do it often, buying a mac or vaio will save you alot of trouble. your main concerns when looking for a computer to make music are ram and a decent processor. your rate of song production will decide the appropriate hard drive space. you can take my advice or not, not everybody has the same budget. i couldn't really afford my vaio when i bought it, but i made due. i forgot to mention, the vaio laptops also come with an expansion that allows for rca/s-video input output and several other tech savvy bonuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chim Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 What do vaio's go for, they seem really interesting.. maybe i should save up for one, i really need a laptop i'm curious, what kind of soundcard do you use for a laptop? i suppose my rme hammerfall card wont work with a laptop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mrx Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 waht do you guys think of fujitsu laptops? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 277: 930-933 Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 Hey! It's the Aphex Quadruples! *gets coat* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexPallas Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 http://www.pcmag.com/products/0,,qn=Laptop...op+Rated,00.asp http://www.consumersearch.com/www/computer...tops/index.html http://www.consumersearch.com/www/computer...ps/reviews.html http://www.itreviews.co.uk/guide/hguide17.htm http://www.cnet.com/Top_10_notebooks_lapto...1-102337-3.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,113317-p...ml?tk=wb111703x http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123729-page,1/article.html http://www.notebookreview.com/reviews/ those ratings are usually based on a "for your buck" 'thrifty spender'. when you look at the recommendations motor trend gives for vehicles, they praise the porche's and ferari's very highly but never recommend them. i would like to think of the musick makers as the elite, needing elite equiptment. that would be akin to a street racer driving a porche rather than a mazda. What do vaio's go for, they seem really interesting.. maybe i should save up for one, i really need a laptop i'm curious, what kind of soundcard do you use for a laptop? i suppose my rme hammerfall card wont work with a laptop . vaio's come with rca in/out standard in the expansion bay, no extra soundcard is needed. here is a link for customization of vaio computers with price: here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ron Manager Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 i have not commented on a brand of computer that i am not familiar with. you pay an extra $500 for quality assembly and parts that are individually slightly more expensive, but work properly 100% of the time. when you buy a compaq/hp/et cetera you get a computer that was thrown together in a sweatshop and the bottom-of-the-line parts. that is my experience with computers. do you honestly think people pay more for computers without any reason? that view is much more than a bit naive. i suppose i should try to tell the worlds foremost greatest electronic musicians to stop using macs. feel free to try talking this guy into trading in his vaio collection for a compaq: the reason i said you should only make music on macs and vaios is because if you are serious about making music and plan to do it often, buying a mac or vaio will save you alot of trouble. your main concerns when looking for a computer to make music are ram and a decent processor. your rate of song production will decide the appropriate hard drive space. you can take my advice or not, not everybody has the same budget. i couldn't really afford my vaio when i bought it, but i made due. i forgot to mention, the vaio laptops also come with an expansion that allows for rca/s-video input output and several other tech savvy bonuses. so basically, vaios are awesome because your heroes use them. fair enough. it's a good thing sony have people like AlexPallas to keep them in business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexPallas Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 so basically, vaios are awesome because your heroes use them. fair enough. it's a good thing sony have people like AlexPallas to keep them in business. no richard d. james is an idiot, he uses vaios because he is stupid and knows nothing about computers or computer performance. in fact he doesn't even make music on computers, he still uses analogue samplers and merely brings a vaio along to his gigs because they are shiny and fun to look at while on acid. the vaio came before the aphex twin cds and after years and years still performs to standards most new laptops dont. not only does my vaio work great but so does my friend's, and his friend's, and my father's. btw my favorite musician uses a mac. like i said i've used every brand of computer i've commented on and compaqs are the absolute worst piece of shit machines ever, in fact it amazes me that i left them off the initial list of bad computers since someone i know just recieved a brand new one as a gift and it takes 5 minutes to boot (no sarcasm), not to mention that the graphics card wasn't even installed properly (from the factory!). i'm sure they are capable of making music though, so i won't say they aren't. thats all i have to say. continue your rant about quality having no correlation with price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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