which computer to buy?

[cwelter]

I will be replacing my old desktop with one of the following computers.

The most important use will be for Photoshop element 9 and Proshow Gold to edit and make slide shows that include still pictures and small videos. These stills and videos will be from a canon T2i dslr.(18 mega pixel camera). I will be purchasing one of these computers from Costco in the next few days.

Computer choice 1(no particular order)

Dell Studio XPS 7100 ---- $1200

Specs:
Studio AMD Phenom II X6 1045T Processor at 2.7GHz
8GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (4 x 2GB)
1GB ATI Radeon HD5450 Graphics
16X DVD±RW Drive
1.5TB 7200RPM SATA II Hard Drive
Dell ST2410 24" Full HD Widescreen LCD
Integrated Audio
Dell AX210 USB Stereo Speakers
Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Microsoft® Word
Microsoft® Excel
Microsoft® PowerPoint
McAfee SecurityCenter - 15 month subscription
Roxio 10.3, Easy CD & DVD
460 Watt Power Supply
$1200


#2
http://www.costco.com/Browse/HP Pavilion HPE-570t Desktop $1000

Specs:
Core i7-2600 3.4GHz
Intel® Core­™ i7-2600 3.4GHz Processor
8MB Cache
8GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM memory 4 DIMMS
1GB ATI Radeon HD 5450 Graphics
16x max DVD±R/RW SuperMulti drive
1.5TB (7,200RPM) SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
HP 2311x 23" LEDdiagonal widescreen flat panel monitor
Integrated 7.1 channel capable sound w/ front audio ports
Norton Internet Security 2011 - 15 month
Power Supply: 300W
$1000

The $200 difference will allow me to buy similar software for the second computer.


Which should serve my purpose the best?

Which is the better machine(faster and more reliable)?

I would appreciate any comments about the two machines.

Thanks in advance,
cwelter

 

[~Darkseeker~]

wow, those are showing really small PSUs.

didnt know an i7, a Radeon and HDD, optical and a mobo with 8GB could run on 300W. lol

out of the two i'd go for the i7 one.

 

[cboucher]

I've had problems with HP systems in the past, plus the power supply seems a little weak. I'm sure just as many people will say negative things about Dells as well, but my experiences with them have been good so far.

 

[~Darkseeker~]

i've (personally) not had *particularly* negative experiences with either. That being said, ive never owned or used a Dell that i thought had anything 'special' about it. But as is the way with most 'consumer' purchasable PCs, it's just about average until you gut it, get rid of all the trial crap and remove the pre-installed 'utilities'.

Alot of companies (including the one providing my apprenticeship) use Dells, probably because they are usually, for the lower business class models, quite cheap. Dell also provide reasonable customer support and have a reasonble company policy.

HP, dont see much business use these days it seems, but again i've never had a negative experience or head of many negative experiences with them.

at the end of the day, every company slips up sometimes. Take intel for an example with the sandies.

do some research and pull up whatever independant reviews you can.