Whatcha gonna buy with your Economic Stimulus Check?

mikehattem · Post by **mikehattem** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 8:03 am

I figure it's about time for me to get a new PC. I've been running Sonar and a bunch of VSTi like B4, EZ Drummer, M-tron and Reason (among loads of plugins) for three years on a PC I originally bought used for $300 (1.3ghz, 512RAM) and unless I do alot of freezing and bounces it really struggles. I've just had to deal with it for a long time but now I'm looking at a new Dell Inspiron that's 2.4ghz dual core processor with 3g RAM, 250gb 7200rpm HD and a 19" Widescreen Flat Panel monitor. That's from Dell for about $750. I also goto school so that's my excuse for the wife.

I've already started basic tracking on a new record but I'm saving the final tracking and mixing till I get the new PC. I was also considering upgrading my mic which isn't very good at all. I was looking at one of the MXL tube mics for around $300. I have a very bare bones setup of an MXL990 and an ART TubeMP preamp. I figure that 300 on a new mic would be more of an upgrade than 300 on a new preamp. Is that right??

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:43 pm

My day job is as an IT guy. Not knowing what kind of processor it has, for $750 you should be able to get more computer than that. Also dont forget that its more important to have 2 or more hard drivesd than it is to get the fastest CPU.

Also on that note, core 2 duo is better than core duo. and generally speaking the higher the first digit of the model number the better. 7200 trumps 5200 trumps 2300. 3 gigs of ram sound funny. Is that 2x1gig and 1x512?
I;d also reccomend you build your own Pc, but thats not for everyone.

LeedyGuy · Post by **LeedyGuy** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 3:52 pm

mikehattem wrote:I figure it's about time for me to get a new PC. I've been running Sonar and a bunch of VSTi like B4, EZ Drummer, M-tron and Reason (among loads of plugins) for three years on a PC I originally bought used for $300 (1.3ghz, 512RAM) and unless I do alot of freezing and bounces it really struggles. I've just had to deal with it for a long time

That sounds like my life except that mine is a dual 1.3 with about a gig of RAM that I built myself, but I have B4 and Reason and MTron and freezing crap is so annoying.

Hey calaverasgrandes, wanna help me spec out one that I can build myself? I had a friend help me with the last one (about 5-6 years ago) but its time to do it all over.

tubetapexfmr · Post by **tubetapexfmr** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 4:17 pm

How about a handgun, some bullets, a bear trap and a buttload of seeds for the garden?

Mradyfist · Post by **Mradyfist** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 5:01 pm

calaverasgrandes wrote:Also on that note, core 2 duo is better than core duo. and generally speaking the higher the first digit of the model number the better. 7200 trumps 5200 trumps 2300.

This is a little misleading for the Core series, because Intel uses a different numbering system for mobile processors and quad-core. Not necessarily relevant in this case, but worth keeping in mind if you're comparing between a desktop processor and a laptop OR Apple's Intel iMacs, which use mobile processors.

Mobile Core processors all have model numbers starting with T (I think), and for example a Core 2 Duo T7200 is slower than well over half of the Core 2 Duo E6xxx range. Also, the model numbers for quad core CPUs don't accurately reflect their performance in highly multi-threaded applications like audio.

calaverasgrandes is pretty much right that Dell's offerings are going to be a little overpriced, though; if it has a 2.4ghz processor, you're probably talking about an E4600. The E8xxx series is out, and for under $200 you could get 3.0ghz and 6mb L2 cache, versus 2mb on the E4600, not to mention 1333mhz FSB versus 800mhz.

Plus, the biggest difference is that computer you build yourself won't come preloaded with Norton, AOL, and all the other "value-added" crap that OEMs like to load you up with.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 5:12 pm

ah HAH! Thats true when you are comparing apples to oranges, IE, desktops to Laptops. But for a given socket/chipset it generally holds true. I will admit, I dont know diddly about the new quads. Havent had time between computery stuff and musicy stuff to read up on it.
But thats why I said "generally speaking". Heck these days the Intel processor model numbers are actually pretty easy to follow. Which is less than I can say for the ATI and Nvidia GPUs.

PS. amen to that about pre-loaded crap. My last notebook I put as much effort into un-installing the extras as I usually have to put into building a clean install.
Dells are great for corporate environments. It's very nice how their servers button up on racks (forget the cable management arm). But they are overpriced for home systems, and their power supplies are known to die.

river · Post by **river** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:52 am

How about a handgun, some bullets, a bear trap and a buttload of seeds for the garden?

Don't have any bears around here, and already got the other items, I'm needing a Mini 14

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:53 am

river wrote:
How about a handgun, some bullets, a bear trap and a buttload of seeds for the garden?
Don't have any bears around here, and already got the other items, I'm needing a Mini 14

hahaha, yeah. totally started my seed/plant list for this years garden.. and the .357 is still where i left it..

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:48 pm

love how booze/drugs is winning the poll.

Sean Sullivan · Post by **Sean Sullivan** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:28 pm

This is tough one. I want to get an Apogee Mini-Me, Blue Kiwi, and a small guitar amp like a Gibson GA-5 or GA-15. And I wouldn't mind owning Digidesign Velvet, M-Tron, and some other software instruments.

littlepokey · Post by **littlepokey** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:05 pm

My wife (being my business partner) and I have had some real up and downs this year. Most have been up, but a few have been down. However, the doors are still open and we are having fun and both doing what we want, and that s what is important.

Thus, the responsible thing to do with the money is to drop the boy off with grandma, book a flight to Vegas, and get drunk. Don't gamble but stagger around, sit and drink at the pool and watch questionable porn at night. Viva Las Vegas!!!!!!!

spankenstein · Post by **spankenstein** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:59 pm

It will probably go into savings (since you really have to pay it back anyway as far as I can tell), or some nice Scotch.

These stimulus checks make me think of the swindlers at check cashers, title loan and refund loan "business". It's preying on the insecurities of the less wealthy section of our population. So the extra $300 is great, but what about the following month's bills? These little bail-outs are ridiculous when it comes to big business and it's ridiculous when it comes to low-income Americans.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:50 pm

no really, does anybody have a link to a source that says whether these checks are or arent an advance on future EIC or tax refunds?

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:17 pm

well I just got my check, $500 odd dollars with stim check and regular tax refund combined.
I'm off to BLA land to get my 828 hot rodded. The rest, a big bag of dog food, some groceries and paying off some credit cards.

tonic889 · Post by **tonic889** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:42 pm

ipressrecord wrote: Buying a house in Philly and using that "Bush Stimulus Package" to afford some of my first mortgage payment

Jeff, where you lookin to buy? Just curious. Mt. Airy needs more people like you...just sayin

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