Computer Questions

I’ve been asked a few times in the past couple weeks to make a recommendation for computers. Photoshop and digi scrapping require a somewhat upgraded computer, since PS by itself takes a lot of power, and with digi scrapping you are usually working with very large files.

So if you’re looking for recommendations for a new computer, this list of specs might help you. However, I have some biases I want to get out of the way first:

• I recommend a desktop over a laptop. Laptops are delicate, have lower quality screens, and are much more expensive for the same amount of computing power. That said, only you can decide if a laptop is right for you.
• I’m a Windows user, so I won’t be able to help you with recommendations for a Mac. However, the specs themselves (hard drive space, processor speed, memory) will be the same on either platform.
  
• I’m a fan of Dell computers. We run 4 of them here at home and have been very happy with their performance for years. That’s why the link at the bottom of this list is to a Dell computer.
  

Now that we have my biases out of the way.. I’ll share with you what I consider (backed up by Jared, who is a programmer and wholehearted geek) to be the best computer you can get for photo editing/digi scrapping for under $1000.00. If you’re in the market, I suggest you look for the following (this is a Dell we put together just to get the specs right):

Dimension E521	Qty		1
	AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4600+, Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005	Unit Price		$989.00
	Qualifies for an Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium Expires on March 15 2007

Catalog Number:	29 DDCWBA3
Module	Description	Show Details
Base	AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4600+
Operating System	Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Memory	2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
Keyboard	Dell USB Keyboard and Dell 2-button Scroll Mouse
Monitor	19 inch E197FP Analog Flat Panel
Video Card	256MB NVIDIA Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
Hard Drive	320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Floppy Drive and Media Reader	No Floppy Drive Included
Mouse	Mouse included in Wireless, Laser or Bluetooth Package
Network Interface	Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Modem	56K PCI Data Fax Modem
Adobe Software	Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
CD ROM/DVD ROM	16x DVD+/-RW Drive
Sound Cards	Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Speakers	No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed)	No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
Security Software	No Security Subscription
Warranty and Service	1Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service
Internet Access Service	6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Miscellaneous	Award Winning Service and Support
Future Operating Systems	Windows Vista™ Capable
Upgrade to Windows Vista	No Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Selected
Dell Digital Entertainment	Trial pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo
Labels	Vista Capable Sticker

Unfortunately, Dell doesn’t allow you to customize computers and then send the entire link, so if you wanted this exact machine, you’ll have to go to the Dell link here to get started customizing (most of the stuff in this list isn’t the default):

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/dimen_e521?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

The three main things you want to look for in a computer you’ll use for digi scrapping are:

• processor speed (this computer actually has two separate processors, for extra power),
  
• memory (this computer has 2GB of RAM - you should have AT LEAST 1 GB in order to run Photoshop, but the extra GB won’t hurt a bit),
  
• and hard drive capacity (this computer has 320 GB).

This list also assumes that you have computer speakers, Photoshop, and MS Office, so they aren’t included. A 19-inch flat-panel monitor is, though. 

I know that not everyone has the means to upgrade their computer. I hope that you don’t take this as my encouragement to overspend. But if you’re in the market, here is what I recommend. Have a wonderful day and Happy Photoshopping! :D 

Comments

[Debi B.]

OK... just how DID you know that I've been having this debate w/myself for the last few months? New computer... a must have now that I'm "addicted" to digi scrapping! LOL And, desktop vs. laptop. What requirements do I REALLY need? Etc. This couldn't be more timely... and why the heck didn't I just ask you in the first place? hahaha Thanks, Jessica!

[nisa]

thanks to you and Jared (ger, I was so trying to remember his WOW name there...how awesome and geeky would that have been...ger) I am all over this puter. like white on rice.

[Carol]

Cool! This sounds like my new computer. Not a Dell (nothing against Dell) because my son was able to assemble my new computer for me. I love having sons who are computer nerds! LOL! I just told him what I wanted and he placed an order with New Egg. the hardest part was waiting the 2 days for the parts to arrive. Oh, yeah, and paying for it all.

[MichelleTW]

Ok have lurked here for months so wanted to say hi again as only done that once to date. Love the practical easy read stuf you give. Its Awesome.

MichelleTW (New Zealand)

[Paula]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge (and creativity)! Well, I wish you would get commission from Dell because I just ordered a computer the same day you posted this! Just came today! I got one of those hot pink (breast cancer awareness) keyboards to go with it too! Can't wait for my husband to get it up and running for me! It's supposed to be my Christmas present, but I don't think I can wait until then! I'm so spoiled, I know! Thanks for the advice!

[Linda]

WOW--I just got my Dell last week. How odd...that it is an E521. Stop reading my mind...LOL.

[Tara]

After reading your post,, I kept obsessing about replacing our old desktop. I finally convinced hubby. I have a very good laptop that has 1gig of RAM a 1.8GHz processor and an 80gig hard drive with a 160 gig external hard drive. I love the portability of it, especially taking it to a friends house to scrap together. But our old desktop (which I honestly haven't turned on in months) only has 512mg ram, and 80gig drive and a 1.2 processor. Plus no matter what program I run to check for a virus or spyware it shuts itself down after an hour or so, some sort of bug at work there.

So what did we end up with?

From Dell, love them, Pentium D processor 820 w/dual core 2.8GHz, 4 GB ram (figured if 2 was good - 4 is even better and there was a $150 discount), 320GB hard drive with databurste cache,, I feel like it's a the momma to the baby desktop sitting upstairs, lol. It's in production now, Yippee!