Which computer

[rickws]

Sorry, annual question from me but,,,, which computer should I think about. Our family don't go in much for gaming. We mainly use a PC for music downloads, video footage off here, basic word processing and spreadsheets for school homework.

Ideally I want to be able to plug my Pinnacle card in a slot in the back and convert analogue video footage to digital to store on an external hard drive so redndering and buffering always seem to take an age on my old PC.

I'd prefer brand new, don't fancy second hand/ebay/refurbished if I'm honest.

As always I'm on a budget (£260ish would be good) so having seen Misco deal of the day stuff I had this in mind;

Fujitsu-Siemens AMILO Pi 3410 / Intel® Pentium® processor E5200 (dual-core) / NVIDIA® GeForce® 7100 / 2 GB RAM / 320 GB / DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM / BD-ROM / Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium / Desktop

Any obvious flaw or better deals you know of?

Thanks

Rick

PS, do the small form factor PCs just mean they are, erm, smaller? Would I be able to plug a full size card in the plug in terminal things inside the computer - run out of anything vaguely technical by way of description here, sorry.

[rickws]

Perhaps this as an alternative from Dell for £299;

ComponentsIntel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor E5400 (2.70GHz, 800FSB, 2MB cache)

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit - English

4096MB Dual Channel DDR3 1066MHz [4x1024] Memory
640GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive

Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 Graphics

DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)

[Pyro Pete]

I'm not an expert either but I think it's best to try for a PC with seperate (rather than integrated) graphics card, one thing my Samsung NC10 struggles with is playing video, even some You Tube stuff, and that has integrated graphics.

[RocketRev]

DON'T.

Or at least check your Pinnacle card first. Which one is it........ and can you get Windows 7 (or Vista) drivers for it?

I'm actually typing this while vidcapping an old analogue camcorder tape to an external hard disk! I previously used a Pinnacle DC10+ capture card..... but the last operating system Pinnacle supported for it was Windows XP. It wouldn't work in my Vista PC, so I kept it in my family PC which ran Windows XP....... but I've just upgraded that to Windows 7. I decided that wasn't a problem because I have what I think's called a "pass through" option using one of my other camcorders. One of my mini-DV camcorders can take the analogue video in from the 8mm tape being played in my old analogue camcorder, convert it to digital and sent it out via firewire connection direct to my computer which is running Pinnacle software for the capturing and editing. The DC10+ served me well for many years and can now be retired...... but can you retire your capture card if it doesn't work with the operating system on a new computer?

If you can't...... then your options are a) find the money for a new capture device that works with Windows 7 or b) keep your old computer all set up in a corner somewhere so you can use it for video capturing.

[blackbat]

With the "pro" version of Windows 7 you can always download and install for free a virtualised copy of XP to run your old non-Vista/7 compatible programs.

[RocketRev]

I looked into that...... but for me, with the mini-DV pass through option, the extra cost of the Pro version wasn't worth paying. I think it might be cheaper to get an up-to-date analogue capture device than pay the difference between Windows 7 Home Premium & Pro. If that is the case, then the Pro version's only worth it if you've other stuff that you need the XP facility for.

Mind you that could be the case - and hence a good option - if Rick's still on a version of video editing software not supported on Vista or Win7. But then I'd be inclined to put the money into upgrading the video editing software.

The other thing that I'd want to check is how Windows 7 Pro behaves when it finds old non-Windows 7 compatible hardware. Running with the XP facility may be fine for the software and hardware.... but what happens when running raw Windows 7? I've not looked into that because I'd already decided not to go for the Pro version. What I'm thinking about is what happens when the computer starts up and finds an internal card that it's not compatible with - do you always get mithered with bewildering warnings and error messages? Does Windows have a hissy fit?

In Rick's case, I'm thinking keeping the old computer running for vid cap purposes would be the cheapest option - although not the tidiest or most convenient or elegant solution. If the video is captured - or transferred - to an external hard disk, as Rick mentions, then it can be taken to the faster new computer for editing etc.

[blackbat]

Originally Posted by RocketRev

What I'm thinking about is what happens when the computer starts up and finds an internal card that it's not compatible with - do you always get mithered with bewildering warnings and error messages? Does Windows have a hissy fit?

I'm fairly sure just disabling the hardware in device manager would be enough if there's not a W7 driver available.

Originally Posted by RocketRev

DON'T.


I'm actually typing this while vidcapping an old analogue camcorder tape to an external hard disk! .

Should i be getting excited?

[rickws]

Must admit I won't be doing any downloading of drivers type stuff unless Rev/Tigger want to come round here and do it for me.

Pretty sure its the Pinnacle DC10 analogue/digital capture card I have Rev. You actually found it for me when you were visiting Blackburn a few years ago but I'd have no idea that Windows Vista/7 or whatever platform might or might not work. I just kind of presumed it would.

So separate graphics card would be better.

But any comment on the processor spec?

[RocketRev]

If it is the DC10 it won't work with Windows Vista or 7. So plan on getting an alternative way of doing video capture from analogue tapes with the new computer. Pinnacle do some external capture devices that connect to the computer via USB, I think. Or else get a new computer, but keep the old one running just for doing the video captures. There's no need to hold up getting a nice new faster computer.