I have been doing programming with free Microsoft versions for a few years now on an old PC from 1999. I'm debating on moving up to a newer PC and investing in some fairly pricy packages (Vista Premium, Adobe CS3 and Visual Studio 2005 .NET). Any suggestions on a decent PC (I know it won't be cheap with all this) would be great!
Thanks,
Will
Oh yes, laptop or desktop, doesn't matter to me. I think I'm leaning more in the direction of PC, but, if the right machine comes up, laptops are more versatile anyway.
In your shoes, I would tend to lean towards getting a Dell desktop. While laptops are more versatile as far as mobility is concerned, they aren't nearly as "modular" and as a result the hardware is a bit more difficult to upgrade down the road (if you should want to add more memory, a Blu-ray drive, etc.).
Since it sounds like you want a high-end machine, the Dell XPS 710 series would probably suit your needs quite well. A great computer, good warranty, excellent customer service, etc. As always, lots of customization options at your disposal.
Last but not least, if you are getting a high-end machine anyway I would go with Vista Ultimate version instead of Home Premium. Here is a comprehensive breakdown of the different versions to help you decide...
Thanks for the info. I've been considering Dell, but know that I am not that aware of all the options: Dell, HP and of course, building my own box. We have Ultimate beta from some of the MS partner's packs running on one of my machines at work and I am relatively pleased with it but I don't want to invest serious personal dough unless I am getting something worth keeping for 5+ years.