XP Pro vs. Media Center/Home XP

[mbr]

I am spec'ing out an inexpensive desktop. It doens't have to be great, just mostly for biz stuff, emails, music, a little post stuff. I am trying to keep it well below a grand (sans monitor). It'll be a Dell.

 

Anyone using Media Center or Home XP? I've got W2000 and XP Pro on my machines, but have never used with of the home op systems.

 

Is it worth the extra $150 to get XP Pro for this machine?

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!!!

[frank1331]

All depends on what you plan to do. If ever in the future you want to link the computer up with another, you need XP pro. But if it is only going to be a stand alone, XP home is fine. Media center is just some jazzed up drivers for video, tv etc.

[Ernest Burden III]

All depends on what you plan to do. If ever in the future you want to link the computer up with another, you need XP pro.

 

Huh? What do you mean by 'link up'? I have one W2K, one XP-Pro and one XPhome networked, everybody plays nicely together. I send network render frames and FinalRender buckets to the XPhome machine and it works better than the W2K machine.

 

Also--since you (MBR) are computer-literate you should look at the re-furbished HPs that PCMALL sells. They usually have a good selection of models in both Intel and AMD, and you will get a substancial discount. But you may not get the insall discs. You'll get a lot more machine for the money. It'll be XPhome, though.

[Elliot]

Markus,

 

I have two computers on XP Media. I enjoy watching TV on a corner of the screen while working on the computer. However, I find these two computers a little bit slow compared to the other computers just running XP Pro.

 

I have a dual Opteron machine with XP Pro. Photoshop on this machine is very good. Specially with these new cameras with 10 - 12 megapixels, the files are very large and the Opteron with XP Pro is extremely fast.

 

On my network I have about 10 computers with different kinds of Windows and they all network very well. I have a Linux machine and I communicate with this one as well.

 

My Dual Opteron is about 12 months old and I don't have the need to upgrade. I am still very happy with it. The very expensive Laptop Dell XPS 3.4 Gh with 2 gb of Ram and XP media is super slow..... It agonizing to see how slow is this thing. I have been tempted to just put XP Pro to try it out.

 

What about trying the 64 bit Windows....

 

Good Luck

Elliot

[AJLynn]

Do you find an advantage to using XP Media over using a regular Windows with TV software? Cause you can Ebay a new ATI TV card for under $10 (I got one for $8) and download free software from ATI to use with it, which I did, and I can still be running XP Pro.

 

But to respond to the original question - I did use Max on an XP Home computer for a long time without incident; they say Pro was better at some under-the-hood functions like memory management, but if that's true I don't think I noticed a difference. I do like Pro better for some things, though - it's got some added user-permission and file sharing features that are nice if you're going to have a file server, which is very helpful when net rendering.

[Elliot]

Andrew,

 

Both of the computers I have with XP Media, I just purchase them like that. One is a slow 3.6gh Sony and the other one is the slow Dell Laptop.

 

The Laptop I bought for a specific use, just to give my presentations. For this purpose the laptop is real good.

 

Thanks

Elliot

[ShaunDon]

I'm with Ernest here, I'd check some refurbs or cheaper resellers than Dell. I don't know what your specs are, but a coworker of mine just put together a solid Sempron-based PC as a Christmas present for his brother for $250 sans monitor.

 

http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTI0

 

I read this review last week of Dell's XPS high-performance gaming rigs, and it's just shameful. Don't expect to get any system software or drivers from them, which you'll wish you had considering all the pre-loaded software severely tanked the performance of this otherwise excellently built machine. A complete system format would resolve it, but Dell doesn't trust that you won't let your neighbor borrow your copy of McAffee, so they don't give you one.

 

Crap like this is why I've completely sworn off the major PC manufacturers unless I need a laptop, and only then because I have no other choice.

 

Shaun

[mbr]

This is the spec's I've come up with. I can't find any refurbished machines, Dell or HP, that beat the price. The 3 year on site warranty is really worth it for me - I've used it on all my machines (just replaced a graphic card for the second time, about 2 weeks before the warranty expired - HUGE savings!!).

 

Any thoughts? Pretty basic and self explanatory, just a simple machine for email, maybe PS work. I just need something I don't have to think about.

 

Dimension E510 Qty 1

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 w/HT Technology (3.0GHz,800FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition Unit Price $1,383.00

Save 30% on select Dimension™ desktop purchases $999 or more

LIMITED TIME OFFER! View Details Remove Coupon

- $414.90

 

Dell Dimension E510 Series Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 w/HT Technology (3.0GHz,800FSB)

Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition

Memory SAVE $40! 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz

Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard

 

Video Card 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X600 SE HyperMemory

Hard Drive 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included

Mouse Dell® 2-button USB mouse

Network Card Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet

Modem 56K PCI Data Fax Modem

Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0

CD ROM/DVD ROM Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

Sound Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy® ADVANCED HD Audio

Microsoft Office Basic - Includes Word, Excel and Outlook email

 

Hardware Warranty 3Yr Ltd Warr,At-Home Service,and Tech Support plus Nights and Weekends

 

 

TOTAL:$968.10

[AJLynn]

That's a decent deal but I think you could do better. Only comment on the hardware would be, HyperMemory is one of those euphemisms for slow - it's a video card with a smallish amount of dedicated memory, probably 32 or 64, that uses system memory to fill out the 256mb. So your video card is slower, and your system memory is reduced. "TurboCache" in nVidia cards means the same thing.

[mbr]

Unfortunately that's the best card they offer on that machine.

 

I am not that concerned with it, though. I NEVER play games and it's replacing a machine with a 6 year old Geforce 2 (which has been adequate).

 

Honestly, I don't know where else to look for a better machine.

 

I don't know of any other manufacturer that offers a 3 year on site warrantly like Dell. That's probably the most important part about the specs to me. I've tried http://www.delloutlet.com, but you can't get anything cheaper.

[ShaunDon]

Yeah, I can't really help out in terms of dealers that offer that kind of warranty. I've always been my own IT guy, so it's never been a feature I've needed from computer manufacturers. That's the one area the big boys still have clout -- I don't think you'll find anyone else that offers onsite support for cheaper. Too much overhead.

 

Shaun

[Ernest Burden III]

Why worry about the video--you just want tthe most basic display for what you are going to dop with it, you could even swap in the old GF card you have, as long as the machine has slots--Dells and HPs usually do. Even if you send rendering tasks to this new PC, it won't be displayed, so you're fine.

 

For what you want to do, I would think at about 1/2 of your budget should get you something great. Look at the refurbished or 'open box' HPs on PCMALL, but I repeat myself. Some have 3 year warranties and XPpro. Also, more bang/buck with AMD.

[mbr]

Thanks. I have checked out the HPs (at PCMall and the HP site), but the only ones that I've seen only have a 90 day warranty. It's tempting, as I could get something close to Dell's new specs for less than $500. Might be worth it, esp. considering how basic the machine will be anyway (I had to replace my mother board in one of my workstations and was quite happy Dell sent a guy to install it - took him about 20 minutes and saved me a day or two in life span!).

 

Thanks for the suggestion....I may have to go for the cheap, as I only want a new one because mine is sure to die (damn fan has been making noises for months - and it's just not worth messing with).

[Ernest Burden III]

Thanks. I have checked out the HPs (at PCMall and the HP site), but the only ones that I've seen only have a 90 day warranty.

 

I saw one earlier today with a 3 year warranty. But even if they don't come with it--PCMALL will happily sell you one. When I bought one of the HP refurbs from them, for the first and only time ever I accepted the push to buy an extended warranty for about 50 bucks. I think it was 3 years. I figured I was saving many hundreds of dollars, so I could afford it. Oh, and you can get it tomorrow, often.

[Elliot]

Markus,

 

I feel I should make this posting. Last afternoon I wrote to you about how dissapointed I am with Dell.

 

It turns out I bought a new Digital Camera. I was trying the camera and placed a 60 watts lightbulb illuminating my keyboard. I went to read the manual on the camera and the lightbulb fried the keyboard. It just took like 5 minutes. The Keyboard is very light.

 

I had purchased an extended warranty including accidental damage. Dell didn't ask any questions and just shipped this afternoon a replacement keyboard free of charge. I am impressed.

 

After we settled the issue with the Keyboard this Indian lady asked me if I was pleased by the computer. I told her NO. I explained the laptop is too slow. She spent at least 45 minutes just tweaking the computer. I don't know if it is my imagination but the computer seems to be faster.

 

 

Good Luck

Elliot