[dba-Tech] Desktop recommendation

Joseph,

As a developer, I would suggest that you stick with a P4 class machine (or
one of the upper end AMDs if you lean that way).

I do not know where Emachines now stand, but IIRC, they were not that good
when they came out.

I personally would recommend one of the Dell's if you want name brand or
either build yourself a machine or have a trusted local shop build you one.

I would have at least 512MB RAM, preferably 1GB.  Win XP really runs better
with 512 compared to 256.  Especially if you are developing in MS Visual
studio (Dotnet or 6).  I have 1GB in my system at home and after a
development session, I see the amount of RAM used over 512MB many times.  
Note also that the RAM in that machine is slower than the "standard" RAM out
now.  It uses pc2700, many of the newer machines/mobos are using pc3200 or
higher and also utilize dual channel access to the RAM.  All of which makes
for a speedier system.

A 60GB drive should be ok, Although larger is always better.  You can always
add another one later.

I guess all of the above is moot if you just don't have the $$$ for the
above.  But you can get some good prices on a Dell.

As an example, the following Dell is $709 with free shipping (after MIR)
Dell Dimension 3000 Series:

IntelR PentiumR 4 Processor w/ HT Technology (3GHz, 800 FSB)   
Operating System: MicrosoftR WindowsR XP Home Edition
Shipping Rebates: Save $99 on shipping with mail-in rebate. Price shown
before rebate.
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options:
	1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr Technical Support
Memory: SAVE $50! 1GB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 400MHz
Hard Drive: 80GB Ultra ATA/100 7200RPM Hard Drive
CD or DVD Drive: Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + FREE UPGRADE! 48x CD-RW
Drive
Floppy Drives and Additional Storage Devices: 3.5 in Floppy Drive
Productivity Software: WordPerfectR, Powerful Word Processing
Security Software: No Security Subscription
Monitors: 17 in (16 in viewable,.27dp) E773c CRT Monitor
Keyboard and Mouse Bundles: Dell Quietkey Keyboard and Dell 2-button Scroll
Mouse
Sound Card: Integrated Audio
Speakers: No Speaker Option
Video Card: Integrated IntelR Extreme Graphics 2
Mouse: Mouse included with Keyboard purchase
Network Interface: Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Modem: 56K PCI Data/Fax Modem
Internet Access Services: 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Dell Media Experience: Dell Media ExperienceT
Digital Music: Dell Jukebox - easy-to-use music player and CD burning
software
Digital Photography: Dell Picture Studio, Paint Shop Pro Trial, Photo Album
Starter Edition
Document Management: AdobeR AcrobatR Reader 6.0

To see/modify this configuration, use E-Value Code: 6V592 - D30SO.

You could shave some off of this by going less RAM, smaller HD, etc.

Hope this helps,
Bobby

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Joseph O'Connell
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2004 9:45 AM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: [dba-Tech] Desktop recommendation


I am looking for hardware suggestions and comments.

My primary development PC just lost its hard drive.  The boot sector is bad
so I cannot reformat it.  The PC is about 4 years old, so instead of
replacing the hard drive, I started lookin for "deals" on new computers.

Office Depot has an emachine for $370 that includes:
Celeron D Processor 330 (2.66GHz)
256MB DDR PC2700 memory
60 GB hard drive
DVD-ROM/CD-RW
8-in-1 memory card reader
17" flat screen monitor

For $100 the system can be upgraded to include
Celeron D340 Processor (2.93GHz)
512 MB memory
DVD-ROM and CD-RW

>From the Intel web site, I learned that the processor includes 256KB L2
cache and 533 MHz Front Side Bus.

Although this is not the fastest computer, it is quite a step up from the HP
Pavillion 733GHz Pentium that it will be replacing.

Does anyone have experience with emachine?  What is the difference between
Celeron and Pentium processors?  This seems like a terrific deal, am I
missing something?

The operating system is Windows XP Home.  I will replace it with Windows
2003 Terminal Server.  Any suggestions on how to configure the hard drive?
Multiple partitions?  If yes, what should each contain?

All suggestions/comments/ideas are greatly appreciated.

Joe O'Connell




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