Laptop or PC???

[KingPoker]

dunno bout jim but im looking to use it for poker more than anything else. saying that though i do use it for downloading music and videos. around 1k budget i guess. would just love to have a super fast computer.

  KingPoker 

[Jim-D]

Would mainly be for poker but i do browse the web alot while playing and also like the idea of having a seperate monitor for DVD's and things,  Im sure i read somewhere that it works out cheaper to get one built from scratch would this be right?

[Raindogs]

From Dell:

Dimension 9200 for £987 inc VAT and delivery:
PROCESSOR Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6300 Processor (1.86GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Incl Operating System Re-installation CD) - English edit
VISTA UPGRADE  MCE to Vista Premium Upgrade on: www.dellvistaupgrade.productorder.com before 03/31/07  edit
SUPPORT SERVICES Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only edit
MONITOR Dell™ 20" UltraSharp™ Digital Flat Panel (2007FP) - UK/Irish edit
MEMORY 2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x1024] Memory edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x250GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache] edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 16x DVD +/- RW Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB nVidia® GeForce® 7900GS graphics card

I don't like RAID 0 however as if 1 hard drive goes you loose everything.

Or the Dimension E520 for £764 (less memory and cheaper graphics card but same CPU)
Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6300 Processor (1.86GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Incl Operating System Re-installation CD) - English edit
VISTA UPGRADE  MCE to Vista Premium Upgrade on: www.dellvistaupgrade.productorder.com before 03/31/07  edit
SUPPORT SERVICES Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only edit
MONITOR Dell™ 20" UltraSharp™ Digital Flat Panel (2007FP) - UK/Irish edit
MEMORY 1024MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x512] Memory edit
HARD DRIVE 250GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 16x DVD +/- RW Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB nVidia® GeForce® 7300 Turbocache graphics card

Both these have the 20" monitor giving 1600 x 1200 resolution which makes multi tabling easier.

[KingPoker]

Cheers Raindogs for the time your putting into this.

What is the RAM on the computer?

How easy is it to set up two monitors?

[Raindogs]

RAM (memory) on the first is 2GB and 1GB on the second.  1GB will be enough unless you plan to upgrade to Vista, which is by all accounts a beast for memory.

Most graphics cards have 2 monitor ports (unless it is on board graphics) and connecting up 2 monitors is simple.  Dell don't provide the option of a second monitor with these PC's but you could buy it from the site.

A better option for £528 is on the site below (code DEL9200/2):
http://www.sterlingxs.co.uk/scpages/cheapdelldimensionminitowers.html
DELL Dimension 9200 Minitower computer
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4Ghz) processor
1024MB DDR2 RAM (2x512MB)
250Gb SATA hard disk (7200RPM )
DVD+-RW drive x16
10/100 network on board
56k modem card fitted
256MB ATI Radeon X1 300 graphics card
8x USB 2.0 ports (2 on front)
UK keyboard &mouse
Windows XP Professional SP2 MS works, with COA & backup CDs
Dimensions (mm): H:445 W:180, D:457
As new & boxed (Dell factory outlet stock)
with one year Dell collect & return warranty until December 2007

This one has the faster Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4Ghz) processor
This site also do monitors:
http://www.sterlingxs.co.uk/scpages/cheapdellultrasharpmonitors.html
The 20" (code DELL2007FP) is £293 which would bring you up to £820 which is a great price for that spec (Dell charge an extra £188 for that CPU)
Or 2 17" (code DEL1706TFT) for £234, or 2 19" (code DELL19TFT) for £330.

I prefer 2 monitors as I find it easier to arrange stuff over 2 rather than try to overlay things on 1 large monitor.  I got one of my monitors from this crowd and had no problems with them.  Most of the stuff is new Dell cancelled orders.

[RichEO]

£1000 is a ridiculus budget for a desktop PC these days, especially if you are not gaming on it.  £1000 is a good budget for a good laptop. For a desktop, £400 is plenty.

Personally, I'd go on ebuyer and get whatever PC is cheap there and has alright reviews. Then I'd stick 2 17" monitors that work in portrait mode. Reason: they have a 1280x1024 resolution, if you rotate it then you can fit 2 poker tables on top of each other fully. In landscape, you can't quite fit 2 tables on, they overlap a bit. So if you have 2 in portrait side by side you have enough room for 4 tables if you want that. Other option, is like what has been said, 1600x1200 screen, they are usually 20.1" or above. That fits 4 tables nicely. If you only play 1 table most of the time then a plasma tv in the lounge with a desktop PC next to it and one of these wireless keyboards will do the trick http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/106486 If you TV does PIP then you can have TV on one side and poker on the other.

I think a PC is the best choice, laptops are for on the move... but if its for poker, and you like playing all over the house, and your mainly a 1 table guy then something like the Samsung Q1 wud be a neat toy : http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/122632

Just looked up a couple of PCs, http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/120283 and http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/116050/rb/24377030122 you'll find these will out perform almost all laptops and yes, they are only £200. There are some more expensive PCs on there if you look, but personally, I'd sink the extra money into 1 massive screen or 2 17" in portrait, depending on your preference. I have a 1600x1200 and a 17" in portrait here, so that's 6 tables if I ever played that many. 4 is the usual, but I can sitck a movie or email on the 2nd screen at the same time.

Hope there's some useful stuff in here for you.

[Jim-D]

Thankyou for all your info guys,  Will have a good look at all options and soon hope to mad tabling very soon.