First build- small form factor for HD video editing, office

[chemical_brother]

Approximate Purchase Date: By the End of May


Budget Range: $300-500. I'm not sure how much I need to spend to get a computer for my needs. Please give me a reality check.


System Usage from Most to Least Important: MS Office, HD video editing (using GoPro), Photoshop, internet browsing, media server. This most likely wont be used for gaming- I have a PS3.


Parts Not Required: Monitor/speakers- currently using Samsung 19in HDTV


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com


Country of Origin: USA


Parts Preferences:


Overclocking: Maybe


SLI or Crossfire: Doubt it.


Monitor Resolution: 1360x768 @ 60hz


Additional Comments: My first priority here is best value. I'm building this for my mom and she'd rather have the form factor of a Mac Mini and the function OS X, but doesn't like the price of $700 (she doesn't really know that it's "overpriced", either). Is it possible to have smaller size while staying in budget? Is a reliable Hackintosh build feasible on my first try? If I need to go up significantly in price for a build that will last as long as possible, please let me know. I'm posting from the back up Dell machine with 2.53 Ghz Celeron and 512mb of RAM. LOL

 

[chemical_brother]

OK, I wont be going with a Hackintosh build.

However, my mom is really eager to get a used iMac preloaded with software on eBay. I'd like to save her the trouble, since the reason I'm typing this up in the first place is because the iMac G5 we were using before had the $700 logic board fail!

The budget is up to $600-700 total, but I don't have a copy of Windows 7 yet.

 

[striker410]

As much as i'd hate to recommend a prebuilt, at $500 dollars, this one is hard to beat. http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=desktops&a1=Category&v1=Slim+and+sleek&series_name=s5770t_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/desktops/Slim_and_sleek/s5770t_series
It's got the form factor, it's got the power, it's got the warranty. You can't even build something this cheap!

 

[chemical_brother]

I've heard that over the long term, HPs aren't very good- PSU's fizzling out and the like. Is this an exception?

 

[striker410]

As of late, HP prebuilts have improved in quality a bit. Now, you could build a better quality system, but not at that price.

 

[chemical_brother]

How does the refurbished HP s5657c on today's Woot compare?

AMD Sempron 2.7GHz
3GB DDR3
500GB SATA3
Blu-ray
Win 7 HP64

 

[chemical_brother]

Best answer selected by chemical_brother.