I have use windows for a long time and making the switch but need new computer , the one I have is old very old .I know acer ,gateway ,compaq are cheap low quality parts like cheap low quality power supplies , cheap fans , lack of ventilation ,low quality hard-drive.

Are computer brands okay or should one build there own computer? may be HP and Dell is little better but not much?

Plese see my other thread on what is good GUI for a newbie for Linux that is easy to use for a newbie.

Note 700 is max I will pay for computer .I will like some thing 400 to 600 rage.



I will be doing video editing ,Multimedia my main thing Multimedia .

oh and do not say get Mac with the cool programs like iMovies , iDVD ,iPhoto and final cut .I do not have that kind of money to get a 1,400+ computer.

Frostbite Systems manufactures Linux PCs to order.

So does Zareason.

I have heard good things about both vendors. Both are very small outfits run by Linux enthusiasts.

I've had nothing but good luck with Dells; I'm aware that they had a rough patch with a defective component about a decade ago, but I think they're well past that now. I've had six over the years, wore out one (it was a laptop over six years old and the display went--at that age, it wasn't worth repairing), and the others are still in use.

Dell architecture tends to be predominately Intel, so the drivers are well-supported, except that they do favor Broadcom wireless. I got my laptop and netbook when Dell was offering factory-installed Ubuntu, so the wireless worked flawlessly.

Does dell still support Linux or are they are 100% windows now? I hear so much mix about dell and HP very good or bad .Not sure .

Some say computer brands are junk and build your own.

Let me see, I've had good luck running Linux on computers made by (in no particular order) Dell, Compaq, HP, Shuttle, Acer, Averatec, NEC, and one I pieced together from various components discarded by a friend's place of business. In other words, I don't think the brand matters very much. YMMV. You will want to ensure that your new system's video card and wireless card are supported under Linux before making your purchase.

Good luck!.

You can find Mini Macs for around $600 new and even cheaper on Ebay, if that is an option.

I have played with LUnix on the C64 and C128, but I wasn't aware that it would run on any other computers.

jk
/me runs and hides

You may find some relevant info there:



Anyway, before/besides buying a new computer, why not try some lightweight linux distribution on the old one? I haven't played a lot with it, but slitaz seems quite good. I've been able to run it "live" via usb stick on a somewhat old laptop that was running windows XP, and I barely could believe it was the same hardware I was using. I've tried to take a peek also at AntiX, but it didn't have comparable performance on that particular laptop.

If you have only windows, you can download a windows version of unetbootin and create bootable usb sticks for a variety of linux distributions. If you have linux already, you can try also the multiCD script so that you burn several small or not-so-small-but-not-a-full-DVD-yet linuxes on a single CD or DVD.

http://multicd.tuxfamily.org/

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/multibo...sb-from-linux/

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

@ nec207 - you've given a budget, but how about location?

Are you happy building your own, or do you want a prebuilt "white box", or do you want a corporate machine?

AMD or Intel, or dont really care?

Dell, well...you can still get some systems from them running linux. What is avaible varies a lot by country, and its hard to find the systems. When you do find the systems, in a lot of cases they are unconfigurable, and may be using different parts to the 'standard' windows system that the linux system is 'based on'.

I wouldnt call hiding the linu systems, then when you do find them having (possibly) a different setup and parts, for the same cost as a windows system "supporting linux".

I'm in the build your own, or get a custom built setup camp.

Some corporate machines are nice, but you pay just as much if not more than you would from a similar system you built yourself. The cheaper systems tend to be pretty nasty (undersized power supplies, chepa parts in general) and they again can normally be beaten on price.

Zareason (and Frostbite Systems as well from my look) dont actually build machines themselves, they buy prebuilt systems and then just 'market' them. If you can figure out the corporate system they are based on (and by 'based on' I mean 'had the sticker changed and then have a linux OS installed') you should pay a fair bit less than you do from the 'linux' hardware marketers.

Dell desktop/laptops systems are more than 'predominately Intel', I'm yet to see any AMD based computers out of dell. Years after intel stopped paying them to make only intel systems as well (and for that alone, I will never forgive intel, or dell). If I was sure that dell never made a cyrix system, I would go so far as to say that dell has always been 100% intel,but I cant be sure they never used cyrix.

Even a $600 mac mini is overpriced IMO.

Not worth having for the OPs uses anyway, unless they have got quad core i5 mac minis out when I havent been watching, all the mac minis are Core2Duos. For any video editing, a quad core would be a much better way to go, and even from a 'linux marketer' you can get more CPU power for less money than with apple.

It is for home use and video editing and multimedia.The GUI I will like is windows 98 .I hate the windows 7 and windows vista GUI.

I'm scared of getting brand computer of it knowing for putting in some good parts and other cheap parts that stop working after 2 years.

That why some people debate if HP or Dell is close you going to get to build your self computer with having good parts.

The CPU may be i5 or AMD Athlon Triple core . And for RAM 4 GB.

I think any quad core CPU and more the 4 GB of RAM is over kill and may bring the price up alot with by budget now.

Just make sure a good video card I can get later and put it in.I think with this set up most home use video editing and multimedia will be good.

That can happen with any system, its not just the corporate computers that can have problems with parts quality.

The dells and HPs I've seen in your price range are pretty nasty. Very cheap and nasty power supplies and motherboards.

The triple core AMDs are getting ahrd to find now. Depending on where you live, the prices make a triple core pretty much pointless now. From newegg US, a AMD Athlon II X3 is $80, the X4 (quad core) version of that CPU is $100, and a Phenom II (extra cache, good for video work) X6 (hexa core) is $170. The cheapest i3 dual core is $120, and the cheapest quad core i5 is $185 (cheapest dual-core i5 $180).

So you could get a AMD Athlon II X4 for less than dual core i3, and for the cost of a i5 (dual or quad) you can get an AMD X6.

4GB IMO is the best deal right now. I wouldnt go over 4GB with that budget.

Video card wont make much, if any, difference for most video work. Sure, it helps, but you arent going to need an expensive 'gaming' card.

Hello, I used to be a big Dell fan. Dell still features a few Ubuntu, RedHat, and I believe CentOs at http://dell.com/linux , but do not promote them much.

What I do now is keep an eye out at Newegg.com for recertified HP machines

For example
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0Home%20Office

shows a
for $439 .

I have purchased 2 similar machines for this similar price and love them , especially for the price!

Yes, this machine comes with Windows installed. Regarding your gui - if you are new to Linux, and want to get to work right away, you may want to take a look at Ubuntu 10.10 which still uses the Gnome desktop which provides a nice windows feel. Install Ubuntu dual boot and you are up and running in 1 hour, and have a Windows as a fail safe for applications that you have not found linux alternatives for yet. Or just wipe the windows off and get the entire 1TB for your Linux work.

Just some ideas that I hope are helpful.

(
I am newb to posting to LinuxQuestions.org, so hope I have not transgressed by posting url's or violated other netiquette, please let me know and will edit this post. )

Is it it saying brand computer only last 2 or 3 years and building your own computer last 8 years or more.The brand computer overheat, cheap power supply and fan and no video card for any computer under 1,000

You can get video card that has GPU and 1 GB of VRAM so there is no shared with RAM

In general, a good home built or custom built computer can outlast a corporate system of about the same cost.

But that is just 'can' outlast, not 'will'. Its more than posible to get or build a custom system that will have worse parts than a corporate system...I've got a corporate machine thats well over 8 years old (its probably more like 10 years old) that still runs just fine.

1GB is not that big these days, somecards are coming with up to 4GB of RAM.

Having a video card is IMO better than using onboard video, but you wont see any real difference between a decent video card and the expensive 'gaming' cards for video editing.

You can also get motherboards with video RAM built in (normally called 'sideport RAM') so you wont share the video RAM. I wouldnt get one of those, you can get a motherboard + video card for about the same cost as a motherboard with sideport RAM.

So how much should one spend on a video card 100 or 150 ? You say no real difference between a decent video card and the expensive 'gaming' cards . A video card for multimedia and video editing would be better option where it will be a difference ?