Windows boys, I’m looking for a new desktop, I’ve got my eye on a dell xps630 comes preloaded with XP. OEM support for XP is a deal breaker, I have programs I use for work that only support XP. I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’m looking to use this for word processing, photo editing, audio editing and the like.
Honestly… Build your own and just load XP.
x2
Have you actually TRIED them on Vista yet? I was in the same boat. My laptop came built for Vista. I refused to upgrade my old system to Vista becuase of the same thing but after installing them recently, they work awesome.
As for hardware, I found that systems built for Vista are really good. Ones that are build for XP but are Vista Compatible or Ready are the ones that people have troubles with usually.
The more I have used the OS, I really like it. They changed a lot but if this is their going forward model, I am pretty happy with it.
What is your price range?
Will you need a monitor to be included?
If you’re running Vista be prepared to add extra memory (2-4GB) A top notch video card wouldn’t be a bad idea for the photo editing. If you are really serious about photo and audio editing you might want to run dual monitors, which is pretty standard with today’s GPUs. A Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad would also be a good investment with Vista.
XP however runs a little lighter, so memory isn’t a huge concern.
Please keep in mind Dell’s are proprietary, meaning only Dell parts can be used in Dell towers, except for RAM, CPU, HDD and your PCI add on cards. Heatsinks, Mobos etc. must be made by dell to fit your model. Dell does give you a pretty good deal for the money however. Might want to check out alienware also…Dell owns them.
Building your own machine allows greater flexibilty and a better sense of accomplishment. As stated before by Clean Baldy, what’s your spending limit, and do you need a monitor or possibly 2 monitors?
get a mac… dont be a pussy
Well be prepared to spend at least $1000 for the notebook
x3
I’ve done some looking and I’m going to build my own. I’d like to stay around 1K
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
ASUS P5E Deluxe LGA 775 Intel X48
Corsair TX650W 650-Watt Power Supply
I would like 7200rpm or faster for my boot drive, only planning on running one monitor.
I’m open to all options, except the apple route, even if that means I’m a pussy.
1K is do-able; tight depending on if you need a monitor and how good of a video card you’re going to get.
I built a C2D machine for my father for ~$700 (with a legit copy of XP bought); that was without a monitor and a “normal user” video card. (C2D;2 gigs ram, 300G SATA 3GBs HD, Case, Powersupply, Nvidia Videocard, and legit XP); we had the DVD drive, monitor, keyboard, and accessories.
If you get a decent graphics processor, the new Adobe software suite will allow you to use the GPU for some of its processing they say.
will it use a GeForce? or does it have to be that new Quadro CX card?
I’ve built a few of these motherboards and processors. You won’t be disappointed.
Get a decent video card and you’ll be set. Don’t go overboard, as that $200+ video card will be $100 next year…
Just get something that will work around the $100 range for video and you won’t be disappointed unless you NEED Full Ultra Super High Extreme settings for games.
^ werd, if photoshop is your most demanding application, you could probably skate by with a pretty cheap video card.
Hell, I have an ATi x1950 pro laying around, collectiong dust, that I’ll give to you cheap if you want it. It was a great card a year or so ago (and still is) but no longer is it considered “high end” by any means
I have no idea. I just remember reading an article that talked about it and also said they had a 64 bit version coming out 
You can pickup a 8800 GT relatively cheap now.
Im selling 2 8800gts 512mb (g92s) for $125 per. Good cards.