It must have DVD capabilities ? Well, I dunno..if your planning to copy DVD's; useing SmartRipper, then DVD Shrink.. yeah; you would need a DVD Burner as well.
Working with Video like that takes at least 10 gigs for the rip, then probably another 5-7 gigs for the working space..it just depends on what the computer is going to be used for. I know people who collect movies on their hard drive; so they've the largest hard drive that they can afford..it really just depends on what you're planning to do.
Of course, a fast processor is mandatory for video..but hey, I've got a Pentium III 500 processor, with 392 megs of RAM and IF I only watch DVD's on my computer..the video is perfect. No problems at all. Just make sure that you load up on memory.
I went to tiger direct and got a very nice computer. 64bit processor Atheon and it even has a cute blue lite inside the box. This is the third Tiger Direct computer I bought this year. After my dell fiasco...
If you want more infomation aobut my computer buyintg experience I will email you the links.
Go for the eMachines. You can get a P4 1.2Ghz CPU with 256Mb of DDR RAM, an 80Gb HDD and a DVD-RW drive and a CD-ROM drive, keyboard, mouse, speakers...running XP Home for $500. I got one for my sister-in-law and she loves it.
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8024&qp=0&oid=90019&m=0
This deal is hard to beat. Great reviews. I own an EMachine for 3+years. Still running strong. Broadband and all. My brother has been through 2 Dells and 1 Gateway laptop in same time. Will be buying another Emachine for myself very soon.
I recommend using Resellerratings.com to evaluate computer sellers.
Here are some ratings for the sellers mentioned in this thread:
I recommend looking for retailers with ratings above 9.0, based on at least 20 reviews in the last six months. A rating of 1.20 is not good.
Tiger Direct 8.50 Emachines 3.75 Circuit City 1.20
Offhand, some that I see there that I suspect are worth further consideration are: Champaign, Monarch, Essential, KC Computers, Outside Loop, Puget, and Envision.
Over the years, the top retail sellers change, but by picking the current leaders at Resellerratings.com, I've had consistently excellent results.
By directly contacting some of these retailers, on the phone or via their web page custom system builders, they can help step you through selecting just the right stuff to meet your needs, better than we can here at FR, and get you a solid box, with no hastle, for an excellent price, that matches your needs well.