Looking for Expert Advise!

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Conan1981

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Greetings!

I have been doing some research for the past 3 weeks on laptops and have realized that I probably would be better off with a desktop ( the school district i'll be teaching in will give me an ibm thinkpad and i already have a Sony pcg-grz630 notebook)

I recently bought ATI's Tv Tuner USB 2.0 from Best Buy and realized that my 32mb video card and 2.4ghz pentium 4 processor is only able to watch TV and isn't fast enough to capture video without droping 50 percent of the frames :angry: .

I am looking for a desktop that will allow me to capture hours of video at the highest quality/resolution in the best format so I can edit it (not sure what software to use) and then burn it to DVD to use in class with my students. I would also like to hook it up to my digital cable and record movies on my HBO channels and HBO on demand.

I'd also like the possiblity to play a few ( maybe 3 or 4) games, such as Call of Duty etc, historical games that could be brought into the classroom for a day of entertainment and luxury.

So now for my quest. I realize it will be more cost efficient to build a computer. I dont have any experience, aside from watching a college buddy 3 years ago assemble my parts from tiger direct.

What I would like:

1. 256mb Graphics card dedicated

2. at least 200gb HD (7200rpm or higher)

3. 17-19" LCD screen with good track record of no dead pixels

4. DVD/CD Burner (not sure if dual layer is necessary and wouldn't mind if it had lightscribe like on HP's to etch in my own designs and pictures on DVD's/CD's)

5. P4 6xx series (em64t) or AMD Athlon 64 so that I can utilize the capabilities of windows xp 64 and longhorn and future apps etc, i'm assuming this is the future.

6. At least 1gb of DDR2 memory, and up to 2gig (financial reasons)

7. A case that will be VERY cool and have funcionality for firewire for digital video, usb 2.0 ports for my ati usb 2.0 tv tuner, video in/out and compatible with the above configurations, some internal uvl or lcd wouldn't hurt either

My main uses are importing TV, DVD's and VCR tapes fro tv onto my PC and want software/ability to edit them, take out commercials etc and burn high quality DVD's, internet use, music downloading, minimal gaming (3 or 4 games at most), PowerPoint presentation preparing including importing video into PP, modifying uxtheme.dll to customize the look of my PC, maybe some adobe photoshop.

I think I about covered it ... any and all advice would help as I do not want to purchase from BB/CC/CU or other major retailers who basically just supply HP's and other overpriced crap!!!

THANKS!
 
PS ... I would also like to know how much you think this would cost ... functional ability is the MOST important, i need things to work and last, ie necessary ability to import/edit videos and keep processor/hd/video card cool ... thanks again!
 
Building a New DT ... HELP

Greetings!

I have been doing some research for the past 3 weeks on laptops and have realized that I probably would be better off with a desktop ( the school district i'll be teaching in will give me an ibm thinkpad and i already have a Sony pcg-grz630 notebook)

I recently bought ATI's Tv Tuner USB 2.0 from Best Buy and realized that my 32mb video card and 2.4ghz pentium 4 processor is only able to watch TV and isn't fast enough to capture video without droping 50 percent of the frames .

I am looking for a desktop that will allow me to capture hours of video at the highest quality/resolution in the best format so I can edit it (not sure what software to use) and then burn it to DVD to use in class with my students. I would also like to hook it up to my digital cable and record movies on my HBO channels and HBO on demand.

I'd also like the possiblity to play a few ( maybe 3 or 4) games, such as Call of Duty etc, historical games that could be brought into the classroom for a day of entertainment and luxury.

So now for my quest. I realize it will be more cost efficient to build a computer. I dont have any experience, aside from watching a college buddy 3 years ago assemble my parts from tiger direct.

What I would like:

1. 256mb Graphics card dedicated

2. at least 200gb HD (7200rpm or higher)

3. 17-19" LCD screen with good track record of no dead pixels

4. DVD/CD Burner (not sure if dual layer is necessary and wouldn't mind if it had lightscribe like on HP's to etch in my own designs and pictures on DVD's/CD's)

5. P4 6xx series (em64t) or AMD Athlon 64 so that I can utilize the capabilities of windows xp 64 and longhorn and future apps etc, i'm assuming this is the future.

6. At least 1gb of DDR2 memory, and up to 2gig (financial reasons)

7. A case that will be VERY cool and have funcionality for firewire for digital video, usb 2.0 ports for my ati usb 2.0 tv tuner, video in/out and compatible with the above configurations, some internal uvl or lcd wouldn't hurt either

My main uses are importing TV, DVD's and VCR tapes fro tv onto my PC and want software/ability to edit them, take out commercials etc and burn high quality DVD's, internet use, music downloading, minimal gaming (3 or 4 games at most), PowerPoint presentation preparing including importing video into PP, modifying uxtheme.dll to customize the look of my PC, maybe some adobe photoshop.

I think I about covered it ... any and all advice would help as I do not want to purchase from BB/CC/CU or other major retailers who basically just supply HP's and other overpriced crap!!!

THANKS!
 
We'll need a budget before we can start making specific suggestions.

I'd like to point out a few things first though, just for clarification.

Video memory is one of the less crucial specifications on a video card. You'll be more interested in core speed, memory speed, memory type, and number of pipelines. 128MB is usually sufficent, 256MB and up is only applicable if you're running a game at really high resolution and settings.

My eyebrows kinda raise when you put financial reasons next to DDR2. DDR2 is still really expensive at this point and time, and it has been proven that DDR can outperform it pretty easily. In addition, only Intel utilizes DDR2 at the moment, even the newest AMD Athlons use DRR. AMD plans on making the switch when DDR2 matches the price of what DDR currently is.

Also, you probably won't need 2GB unless you plan on playing a game while you're recording your video. 1024MB is usually enough and a good amount, any more can actually slow down your system as memory gets jammed up and there's more of it to account for.

Cases don't generally play a large factor in cooling, it's far more important to invest in good cooling accessories (heatsinks, high CFM fans, watercooling etc.).
 
256 Memory cards are to fool novice people in to thinking that the more memory the better, in this case its not, the more memory doesn't = the better graphics card.
 
Thanks guys...now that you clarified a few things, my budget is about $2000 including monitor.

I'll basically be doing video editing and recording from TV onto my PC and DVD/VHS to my PC then editing and also some editing in adobe photoshop, burning dvd's and some video game playing...i'm really looking for a complete package around 2000 and probably under now that I only need 128mb video card with better core speed and 1gb of memory...so any advice would help...my biggest problem is knowing what hardware will be compatible as far as processor, mother board, Case, cooling system, hard drive, video card, memory, DVD burner etc...thanks in advance!
 
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