Desktop recommendations — Windows 10 (Page 4): But if you read the full report, the Dell XPS (non-convertible) models beat the Apple models.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Charlie'smom wrote:

According to Consumer Reports, after three years the estimated breakage rate for Apple is the best at 13%. I’m not saying to go with a Mac, but when it’s compared to a Dell with 23% and HP with 26%? I’m also looking to get a new desktop and it’s not an easy decision. I’m thinking at this point to just increase my RAM from 4 to either 8 or 16 and call it a day for another couple of years.

But if you read the full report, the Dell XPS (non-convertible) models beat the Apple models.

therwol Loc: USA

dsmeltz wrote:

But if you read the full report, the Dell XPS (non-convertible) models beat the Apple models.

I've personally never had a problem with a Dell computer. I've had 6 of them. I just bought another one. I don't buy new ones because the old ones break. I buy new ones because the old ones start having problems with newer software. For example, Office 2007 was the game changer for an XPS GEN 3 with only a single core processor and 2 gigs of RAM. The machine just choked on it.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

JRowe wrote:

Good morning! I am new to the forum and have enjoyed following posts for the last month.

My computer crashed, so am in market for a new desktop with Windows 10. In past I have used Picasa but plan to move up to Lightroom and do more post processing. I have about 90k photos backed up, and have good intentions of culling more actively in the future!

Thanks for your ideas.

— John

A budget would help. Also, are you satisfied with your current display or are you replacing that as well?

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Recommended specs for desktop: Win 10 64bit, Intel i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 2GB video card, 1TB (1,000 GB) 7800rpm hard drive, 500GB usb pocket drive for backup storage. Bear in mind your 90,000 pics, if they were 20MB each would only take up 180GB of storage. If you are editing them one at a time, they will only use a few GB of RAM at most.

JRowe

Thanks for all the responses. I went with an all in one HP with most of the features Bobspez notes. I like the 27 inch monitor and processing speed. But, right now I am off to the Tetons with two grandkids so will have both scenery and family photos to work on when I get home. — John

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

JRowe wrote:

Thanks for all the responses. I went with an all in one HP with most of the features Bobspez notes. I like the 27 inch monitor and processing speed. But, right now I am off to the Tetons with two grandkids so will have both scenery and family photos to work on when I get home. — John

art pear Loc: North Dakota

rgrenaderphoto wrote:

In my experience with Lightroom and large digital images, 16Gb is just not enough RAM. A minimum of 32 Gb makes Lightroom more comfortable for the user.

16 GB memory is good as long as you have some meat on your graphics card. My graphic card has 8 gb dedicated video memory and crunches raw files with no issue. My work computer has 32 gig memory and my personal computer with 16 gig memory is faster and that is because of the graphics card.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

therwol wrote:

Not a terribly difficult upgrade. I've done it on all of my computers. You need a USB to SATA cable and cloning software like the free version of Macrium Reflect. Then you spend a couple of hundred bucks on a 1TB SSD. It is definitely worth it.

When I switched mine over to SSDs, Samsung included a cable and software to duplicate the hard drive onto the SSD. It was simple Plug and Play. Funny thing is that it works only with a Samsung SSD. I tried it with a different drive, and it said it couldn't find a Samsung SSD.

therwol Loc: USA

jerryc41 wrote:

When I switched mine over to SSDs, Samsung included a cable and software to duplicate the hard drive onto the SSD. It was simple Plug and Play. Funny thing is that it works only with a Samsung SSD. I tried it with a different drive, and it said it couldn't find a Samsung SSD.

This is like when you buy an external optical drive that comes with a CD that has software that lets you burn/copy discs and other things. The software looks to see if the drive you bought is really attached to the computer or it will not install. It's probably a license issue. A license is bundled with the drive.

I use this cable for cloning.

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1532379663&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=startech+usb+to+sata&psc=1

I use the free version of Macrium Reflect for the actual cloning. It works great. In the past couple of years, I've cloned and replaced 5 HDD with SSD.

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

therwol wrote:

I use this cable for cloning.

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1532379663&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=startech+usb+to+sata&psc=1

I use the free version of Macrium Reflect for the actual cloning. It works great. In the past couple of years, I've cloned and replaced 5 HDD with SSD.

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

I have a cable like that. It might have come with the Samsung SSD.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

jerryc41 wrote:

I have a cable like that. It might have come with the Samsung SSD.

The other possibility is that Samsung has a proprietary pin-out on the cable. I have had that problem in the past with data transfer packages. The cable looks standard but the wiring is non-standard.

Tronjo Loc: Canada, BC

Bobspez wrote:

Recommended specs for desktop: Win 10 64bit, Intel i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 2GB video card, 1TB (1,000 GB) 7800rpm hard drive, 500GB usb pocket drive for backup storage. Bear in mind your 90,000 pics, if they were 20MB each would only take up 180GB of storage. If you are editing them one at a time, they will only use a few GB of RAM at most.

It looks like you missed one order of magnitude: 90,000 x 20MB = 1,800,000MB = 1,800MB = 1.8TB