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JaniceQ

Member
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Member Information

  • Main editing computer
    PC desktop
  • Editing software
    Photoshop
  • Monitor Calibrator
    X-Rite
  • Cameras, lenses and other photographic equipment
    Canon 5Div, 6D, 7D,
    Canon 70-200 f2.8, 50mm, 85mm, 24-70mm, etc

JaniceQ's Achievements

  1. Hi, Brian, I have a relatively new Dell Inspiron 14 5410 2-in-1 Laptop. It has an HDMI port. There's no Display Port I have tried connecting the laptop to an external monitor, and they just don't see each other. I've tried several monitors (all Dell, I think) and several HDMI cables. Dell Support have told me I can't connect this laptop to an older monitor (anything 6+ years, although mine would be quite a bit older than that) because the drivers aren't available. Mind you, my monitor and the 2 others I've tested, are both connected to newish Dell Desktops (XPS 8940), and there are no issues. It doesn't make sense to me and I'm not sure if they're just fobbing me off. Ideally, I'd try connecting to a new monitor, but I don't have access to one. Are you able to confirm what Dell have told me, or should I look for a way to test the HDMI port in the laptop? Thank you so much for your help.
  2. Thanks so much. I'm all sorted. Appreciate your help.
  3. Hi, Brian, Sorry to raise this again, but just wanted to check before I buy. Dell's specials ended, and the following day they started new discounts so the XPS I want is now 25% off (obviously 25% off is their real retail price in Australia). I know you said don't stress about the power supply wattage, BUT it has a 500W chassis (All XPS's and G5's are. Alienware is 1000W). You mentioned 650W and 800W. Do you think 500W is too low and will it overheat, or do I just go with what Dell is offering - I mean there's no other option from them. They specifically address cooling in their blurb so I'm assuming they've addressed those concerns. https://www.dell.com/en-au/shop/dell-desktop-computers/xps-desktop/spd/xps-8940-desktop/hdx894005au Thank you. I really appreciate your advice.
  4. Thanks very much for all your advice. I appreciate your time, and that's all good advice. I agree on the SSD - I was worried about that, and I don't want minimum specs because it'll be obsolete before I even start - but was thinking only of programs, forgetting the scratch disk and the other things I didn't even know about! Good advice - thank you. I'll hang out for a while, but at least I know what I'm looking for now. Appreciate your help.
  5. Thank you so much for giving such an indepth answer. I had read your article about the best specs, so I applied that when choosing, and I went for models specifically with the RTX3070 graphics card and Intel i7. All the machines on offer have only 16GB RAM - 2x 8GB, 4 slots, and configuration for 32GB doesn't include any 8GB chips, which is pretty rude of Dell. Thanks for the tip on the power supply - I'll add that to my list, as I didn't realise it made a difference. I had ruled out the Alienware as overkill, but there is one with comparable specs (i7 11700F, 16GB RAM (XMP a bit faster), 3070 graphics card, 512gb SSD [smaller], 1TB HDD) to the XPS on special - $3,000 ($1,000 off) compared to the $3,200 for the XPS. When I realised there could be overheating problems in the G5, I looked again at the Alienware and discovered the one on special has super-duper liquid cooling. I'm not sure if that's overkill, given that it's not for gaming. And it's ugly. Yes, I'd like it to last at least 5 years. Perhaps I should wait a while and see if a suitable XPS comes up discounted. There are so many sales and discounts these days, I wonder if full retail prices are inflated. I don't think we'll be going back to pre-COVID prices in a hurry.
  6. Hi, Brian I need to buy a new Windows Desktop. I was going with Dell because I've been happy with their products in the past. I'm in Australia. Based on Specs & price, I narrowed it down to an XPS 8940, or a G5 Gaming PC. Specs are similar, prices are similar but the G5 is currently on special. XPS has: Intel i7 11700K 16GB RAM 1TB SSD / 2TB HDD NVIDIA 3070 8GB $3,299 (AUD) G5 has: Intel i7 10700F 16GB RAM 1TB SSD NVIDIA 3070 8GB $2,399 ($800 off) - AUD I was all set to buy the G5, when a Dell person said he wouldn't recommend the G5 over the XPS - it was hard to understand a lot of what he said but he did mention cooling issues (and perhaps speed), and I recalled seeing a comment online about overheating. Google tells me there are bad cooling issues with the G5 range because the fans are uselessly small. It also seems overheating problems could exist with the XPS, but maybe the Intel K versions have adequate fans but other models don't. ??? I'm wondering if I go to the Alienware range, would that be the premium range and I'd avoid problems altogether. I'll put in another call to Dell and see if I can get any sense out of them, but I was wondering if you have any knowledge, understanding or opinion on these Dell machines. Thank you
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