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Thread What kinda computer?!?

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1 What kinda computer?!?
I've been looking into different computers for recording. what do you all suggest? How much ram? How much hard disk space? What pentium? What speed should the cpu be? mac or windows?
here are some pc's i've been looking at:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1239071&Sku=E400-T5026

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1361639&Sku=G153-1044

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1361636&CatId=1344

what do you think about those? do they meet the standard? i've been using www.tigerdirect.com to look for computers. are there any better websites that any one knows of? perhaps a website that sells computers which are designed for recording and audio production?
thanks for all your help
2
If you're going to DIY your own music DAW, the rule of thumb is to build around the software you intend to run. The next defining factor is the soundcard you also intend to use. Most music software companies have recommended specs for their software as well as hardware recommendations. Soundcard manufacturers also list recommended motherboards and systems. Due to the myriads of choices between components, certain peripherals can cause incompatibilities leading to the dreaded BSOD. I recommend browsing through Tweakheadz for some pointers in choosing your DAW and software, as well as checking your prospective soundcard manufacturer's site - a good resource to start would be RME's site.
3
wow, 2 gigs of RAM? K, i'll remember that. And then, 2 hard drives at least with 80 gigs each, and i guess SATA HD is a brand or a type of hard drive? In terms of Pentium's, the ones I'm looking at computers with upwards of 3.6 so that should be good. For the operating system, yeah, i'm definantly getting Windows XP. But what's optimizing?
thank you so much for all your help, I really appreciate it, I'm such a newb and I need all the help I can get.
4
I'll have a look at Tiger. Remember, though, nearly any decent computer can be a music computer. RAM is king and 2 gigs worth is fast becoming the bare minimum. Plenty of fast storage is also important and I'd go with a SATA HD, better yet, two them or even three, with at least 80 gigs each. A Pentium 2.8 ghz processor would be a good start, faster if you can afford it. All this means little, though, until you get your OS, preferably WinXP, optimized for audio production and thats the real secret. Optimizing your OS will make a huge difference from a non-optimized system, but I'm still learning how to do that, so I cannot offer any advice on that yet, sorry.

I know nothing of macs, so I'll keep my pie-hole shut there too, although I know much of the music industry uses them and will never change to PC. There's something to be said for that. I will say, however, that your choices of software, audio and otherwise, are far greater on the PC platform. Cheaper too.

Thanks for the links to Tiger. =)