Which Desktop???

[confused]

Hi,

I've been looking on the dell website lately with a view to spending upto £600 on a new desktop.
Trouble is I'm not too sure which one - I firstly started looking at 3100 but now think a 5150 is in reach.

I need the system for the following...

Basic Surfing
Storing photos and music
Video editing - ie I'm a new dad and will have plenty of home movies to edit etc.

I don't really need it for games i have a PS2.

So what do we reckon???

Just been looking at the D02512a at £562.....

Does this look OK or do i need more RAM?? ???

Thanks in advance for any advice

SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Dimension 5150 (D02512a) Qty 1
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT technology (3.00GHz, 800MHz fsb, 2MB cache), Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2 Unit Price Incl. VAT £562.83
Catalog Number: 202
Module Description Show Details
Base Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT technology (3.00GHz, 800MHz fsb, 2MB cache)
Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2
Memory 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 400MHz (2x256) Memory
Keyboard Dell Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Ire (QWERTY)
Monitor Dell E176FP 17" Midnight Grey (TCO99) Flat Panel Monitor
Video Card 256MB ATI Radeon® X600 HyperMemory graphics card
Hard Drive 250GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst cache
Floppy Drives Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader
Mouse Dell USB 2 Button Wheel Mouse
Modem No Modem
CD/DVD Drives 16x max. DVD+/-RW Drive
Sound Cards Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio
Speakers No Speakers
Shipping Documents System Documentation with UK Power Cord
Gedis Bundle Reference List D02512a Dimension 5150
Microsoft Application Software Microsoft® Works 7.0 - English
Standard Warranty 1-Year Collect and Return service
Cover It with Dell Support Services 1-Year Collect and Return service
AntiVirus & Security Software Free 15 month McAfee Security SW upgrade
Dell Photo Album No Software
Paint Shop Corel® Paint Shop Pro Premium Edition
Order Information Dimension Order - UK
Money Off Savings save £50ex VAT
Video Editing IEEE 1394 PCI Adapter card
Dell System Media Kit No Resource CD
Dell Media Experience Dell Media Experience 3.1 Basic
Adobe Reader Adobe Reader 6.0 - English
Promotions Hidden Option Class Reporting -256MB RAM FREE - Double Memory Promo
Dell Internet Order Dell Internet Order.
Operating System Backup & Recovery PC Restore recovery system by Symantec

TOTAL Incl. VAT:£562.83

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[Paul]

Hi Confused,

Welcome to the forum,

The 5150 model D02512A you have chosen will meet your needs, however I would opt for more RAM.

Windows XP needs 512MB as a minimum to run smoothly, but for video editing I would recommend at least 1GB RAM. This leaves you with the options of going for the D02512 model, which has a 3.20 GHz processor and 1GB RAM for an extra £82 (for standard specs) or you could go for the D02512A and get more RAM from Crucial.com/uk where 512MB RAM ( 2x256MB) (with a free 256MB USB Flash Drive promotion this week) will cost you £51.69

If you need any more advice, please ask.

Regards, Paul

[confused]

Thanks for the advice...

So adding the extra memory is just a case of slotting in, and this doesn't void any warranty with Dell??

[Paul]

Adding extra memory will not invalidate your warranty with Dell, in fact they actually explain how to do it in the system documentation as well as online here: http://support.euro.dell.com/support...stems/dim5150/

[confused]

Thanks for all your help so far Paul. One last question though. I have looked on the Crucial website and used their memory selector feature, and its coming up with two memory options, both at £51.

Item numbers CT474187 & CT474195 - Which one do i go for and whats the difference in laymans terms

[Paul]

Hi,

You should go for CT474195 as this is DDR2-400MHz RAM which matches what comes with the Dimension 5150.

The other RAM runs at 533MHz but you would see no benefit as the RAM already installed is 400MHz and the system would default to the lower speed

Don't forget to add the USB Gizmo to your order, it's free!

Cheers

Paul