(Sorry for the length of this post - didn't want to miss anything...)
My 8-year-old computer is starting to wear out - now it seems the power supply is starting to fail (random re-starts, especially when using the DVD drive, and it's getting worse)
We've been looking at getting a replacement for a while but now it's definitely becoming a necessity. We've especially been looking at the Asus Essentio here:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Essentio+Desktop+/+AMD+Athlon%26%23153%3B+II+X2+Processor+/+4GB+Memory+/+750GB+Hard+Drive/1243285.p?id=1218240385303&skuId=1243285#tabbed-customerreviews
I'm not a big "tech" person and hoped someone could look at the Essentio specs vs my current specs and see if this Essentio will work for us? And if it's good enough to keep us going for a few years? Or, recommend another in this price range that might be better? I've never bough an off-the-shelf comp before (all previous have been custom built) so I'm nervous.
Our current machine was built by a local computer store in 2002, was about $1600 new and was pretty good then, but we're not looking to get a "top-of-the-line" replacement at this time. If this one wasn't failing we'd probably continue using it for several more years - we have no problems doing any of the things we normally do with it. At some point in the future we'll probably to get a higher-end computer, but right now we just need a decent "interim" one so we can continue our current projects, and hopefully have some room to grow so we know what we'll need for the computer that comes after it. We basically need a relatively inexpensive machine we can pick up soon and test out (hence Best Buy - also their return policy is good) that we can be fairly confident will be able to run the programs we currently use and have some room for expansion.
We don't use it for gaming, and all the programs I currently use are outdated (some going back to 2000/2001) but they meet our needs. I'm a bit concerened some of the older XP-era programs might not work in Windows 7 - is that going to be an issue? If it was necessary I guess we could dual-boot with XP?
Primarily we use this computer for:
Music production - Mainly using Cool Edit Pro 2.0 (10-year-old program) for basic looping and mixing tracks and Cakewalk Home Studio for MIDI recording using a Korg Triton Extreme with USB MIDI interface. We have another computer with a ProTools rig we use for recording primary audio and final mixing/mastering - this is mainly for "finishing touches" before going back to that computer. So this one needs to be able to record and play back audio well without too much hiss or interference.
Graphic design - For web as well as print using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and inDesign (all of which run perfectly on my current computer, so I'm hoping they'll run at least as well on the new one?)
Web development - I have Apache, PHP and MySQL installed for local testing (not using the computer as a server)
We'd also like to get into basic video editing using something like Adobe Premiere Elements - HD editing capability would be great for the future, but right now it would be standard def / DVD resolution and probably mostly for posting online. I'd also like to start doing Flash development, Java programming, and possibly 3-D graphics development (basic 3-D animation would be great too if possible) as well as basic CAD.
I'm guessing any computer on the market right now will be able to handle these things (except HD video editing) since this 8-year-old one can, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything? I know the Essentio is an "entry level" system and we techinically have "non-entry-level" needs, but as long as it keeps us going for a few years that's alright.
One other thing - my current machine has a SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum sound card with a front hub that has specialty audio inputs, and we use the 1/4" stereo jack and component audio jacks a lot. Would it be worth installing the Platinum in the new computer to be able to use the specialty jacks? Or would that be stupid?? (serious question) The Essentio has room for it (one 5.25" front expansion bay and a free PCI slot). I can also try using a 1/4" - 1/8" setero jack adapter, but I'm concerned it may cause interference/hiss. We could also get a USB audio input hub though. We might want to get a FireWire PCI card in the future as well - it has some free slots.
One other concern, the current computer has a 350W power supply but I read the Essentio has a 300W. Is that okay?
Sorry this is so long!! I don't buy computers very often and didn't want to leave anything out. I don't anticipate our needs changing much at all and the Asus seems to fit the bill, but don't want to go a few years then find out it sucks and won't work for us anymore.
Here are the main comparable specs of my current computer. Some info is from the original invoice, some from Belarc and AIDA32. Let me know if I'm leaving anything out. And yes, I know it's like NES versus Playstation 3 but better to be safe than sorry Also, some of the info on BestBuy is confusing - like, does "ATI Radeon 3000" mean ATI Radeon HD 3000?
Thanks in advance to anybody who was able to read this far!!!!
CURRENT COMPUTER:
Processor
Athlon XP 2400+ 2G (Palomino) SKT A 266BUS*
*The invoice says "Palomino" but there is no Palmino 2400+ - AIDA32 says it's "Thoroughbred-B"
Processor Speed
2GHz
System Bus
Front side bus: 266MT/s (from Wikipedia)
Circuit Board: VT8366-8233/5
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
Cache Memory
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
System Memory (RAM)
1536 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
Slot 'A0' has 512 MB
Slot 'A1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'A2' is Empty
System Memory (RAM) Expandable To
less than 16GB
Type of Memory (RAM)
DDR
Hard Drive Type
SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP1213N 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA133 / ATA-7 3.5" Hard Drive
Graphics
ATI Radeon 7500 (RV200) 64mb DDR AGP 2 Heads
Video Memory
64MB (?)
Audio
Less then 7.1 (Not sure - Soundblaster Audigy Platinum sound card)
Network Card
DGE-530T 10/100/1000 Gigabit Desktop PCI Adapter (PCI CARD)
Wireless Networking
None
Recordable DVD Drive
Sony DW-D26A Single-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
Recordable DVD Drive Speeds
Not sure
Direct-Disc Labeling
No
Digital Media Reader or Slots
No
Available Expansion Bays
External: 2 x 5.25" (4 total, 2 in use), 0 x 3.5" (2 total but both are in use), Internal: 0 x 3.5 (1 totla but used for hard drive)
Available Expansion Slots
6 PCI
USB 2.0 Ports
Not sure - 4 front, 2 rear, not sure if all are 2.0
Operating System
Windows XP Home
HDMI Output
No
Processor Platform
Not sure?
My 8-year-old computer is starting to wear out - now it seems the power supply is starting to fail (random re-starts, especially when using the DVD drive, and it's getting worse)
We've been looking at getting a replacement for a while but now it's definitely becoming a necessity. We've especially been looking at the Asus Essentio here:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Essentio+Desktop+/+AMD+Athlon%26%23153%3B+II+X2+Processor+/+4GB+Memory+/+750GB+Hard+Drive/1243285.p?id=1218240385303&skuId=1243285#tabbed-customerreviews
I'm not a big "tech" person and hoped someone could look at the Essentio specs vs my current specs and see if this Essentio will work for us? And if it's good enough to keep us going for a few years? Or, recommend another in this price range that might be better? I've never bough an off-the-shelf comp before (all previous have been custom built) so I'm nervous.
Our current machine was built by a local computer store in 2002, was about $1600 new and was pretty good then, but we're not looking to get a "top-of-the-line" replacement at this time. If this one wasn't failing we'd probably continue using it for several more years - we have no problems doing any of the things we normally do with it. At some point in the future we'll probably to get a higher-end computer, but right now we just need a decent "interim" one so we can continue our current projects, and hopefully have some room to grow so we know what we'll need for the computer that comes after it. We basically need a relatively inexpensive machine we can pick up soon and test out (hence Best Buy - also their return policy is good) that we can be fairly confident will be able to run the programs we currently use and have some room for expansion.
We don't use it for gaming, and all the programs I currently use are outdated (some going back to 2000/2001) but they meet our needs. I'm a bit concerened some of the older XP-era programs might not work in Windows 7 - is that going to be an issue? If it was necessary I guess we could dual-boot with XP?
Primarily we use this computer for:
Music production - Mainly using Cool Edit Pro 2.0 (10-year-old program) for basic looping and mixing tracks and Cakewalk Home Studio for MIDI recording using a Korg Triton Extreme with USB MIDI interface. We have another computer with a ProTools rig we use for recording primary audio and final mixing/mastering - this is mainly for "finishing touches" before going back to that computer. So this one needs to be able to record and play back audio well without too much hiss or interference.
Graphic design - For web as well as print using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and inDesign (all of which run perfectly on my current computer, so I'm hoping they'll run at least as well on the new one?)
Web development - I have Apache, PHP and MySQL installed for local testing (not using the computer as a server)
We'd also like to get into basic video editing using something like Adobe Premiere Elements - HD editing capability would be great for the future, but right now it would be standard def / DVD resolution and probably mostly for posting online. I'd also like to start doing Flash development, Java programming, and possibly 3-D graphics development (basic 3-D animation would be great too if possible) as well as basic CAD.
I'm guessing any computer on the market right now will be able to handle these things (except HD video editing) since this 8-year-old one can, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything? I know the Essentio is an "entry level" system and we techinically have "non-entry-level" needs, but as long as it keeps us going for a few years that's alright.
One other thing - my current machine has a SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum sound card with a front hub that has specialty audio inputs, and we use the 1/4" stereo jack and component audio jacks a lot. Would it be worth installing the Platinum in the new computer to be able to use the specialty jacks? Or would that be stupid?? (serious question) The Essentio has room for it (one 5.25" front expansion bay and a free PCI slot). I can also try using a 1/4" - 1/8" setero jack adapter, but I'm concerned it may cause interference/hiss. We could also get a USB audio input hub though. We might want to get a FireWire PCI card in the future as well - it has some free slots.
One other concern, the current computer has a 350W power supply but I read the Essentio has a 300W. Is that okay?
Sorry this is so long!! I don't buy computers very often and didn't want to leave anything out. I don't anticipate our needs changing much at all and the Asus seems to fit the bill, but don't want to go a few years then find out it sucks and won't work for us anymore.
Here are the main comparable specs of my current computer. Some info is from the original invoice, some from Belarc and AIDA32. Let me know if I'm leaving anything out. And yes, I know it's like NES versus Playstation 3 but better to be safe than sorry Also, some of the info on BestBuy is confusing - like, does "ATI Radeon 3000" mean ATI Radeon HD 3000?
Thanks in advance to anybody who was able to read this far!!!!
CURRENT COMPUTER:
Processor
Athlon XP 2400+ 2G (Palomino) SKT A 266BUS*
*The invoice says "Palomino" but there is no Palmino 2400+ - AIDA32 says it's "Thoroughbred-B"
Processor Speed
2GHz
System Bus
Front side bus: 266MT/s (from Wikipedia)
Circuit Board: VT8366-8233/5
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
Cache Memory
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
System Memory (RAM)
1536 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
Slot 'A0' has 512 MB
Slot 'A1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'A2' is Empty
System Memory (RAM) Expandable To
less than 16GB
Type of Memory (RAM)
DDR
Hard Drive Type
SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP1213N 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA133 / ATA-7 3.5" Hard Drive
Graphics
ATI Radeon 7500 (RV200) 64mb DDR AGP 2 Heads
Video Memory
64MB (?)
Audio
Less then 7.1 (Not sure - Soundblaster Audigy Platinum sound card)
Network Card
DGE-530T 10/100/1000 Gigabit Desktop PCI Adapter (PCI CARD)
Wireless Networking
None
Recordable DVD Drive
Sony DW-D26A Single-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
Recordable DVD Drive Speeds
Not sure
Direct-Disc Labeling
No
Digital Media Reader or Slots
No
Available Expansion Bays
External: 2 x 5.25" (4 total, 2 in use), 0 x 3.5" (2 total but both are in use), Internal: 0 x 3.5 (1 totla but used for hard drive)
Available Expansion Slots
6 PCI
USB 2.0 Ports
Not sure - 4 front, 2 rear, not sure if all are 2.0
Operating System
Windows XP Home
HDMI Output
No
Processor Platform
Not sure?