While there are many vendors of fine imaging programs, and certainly they work, XP itself has a perfectly usable restore function that allows the user to do the much the same thing.

Also the general description of the trouble seems to include both the normal, appalling but normal, deterioration of Windows over time, and a possible infection by one of the nastier trojans, like Virtumonde.

The wording of the issues seems to indicate that the major faults multiplied rapidly to complete disability. Which might indicate it is more likely to be an infection by malware rather than the sloppy nature of the Windows code. Windows does get unstable over time but, for the most part, the deterioration tends to slow the system and induce many small glitches that over time build to serious problems.

Doug,

Based on our extensive testing of dual core vs. quad cores you don't really get the advantage of quad cores unless you're running true multi-threaded applications. None of the ones I saw on your list are really going to take advantage of the extra processors. Most of the time the extra processors are just sitting idle. We have noted that multiple CPU graphics cards actually give more bang for the buck.

Having tested HP's and Dell's side by side I've come to the opinion that I'd rather have an HP. They seem better built, their on-site service is better and they last longer and generally perform better.

For a limited set of test results you can go here,

Andy,

That makes very interesting reading.

Thanks!

I'll buy your premise, but not clear why that model is better than the dx7500 I based my configuration on. All the model numbers are confusing. Don't see any names.

Doesn'gt seem to have RAID available. Even without that loks like 50% more money. That's a huge increase.

You are right, XP has some system backup options but I wouldn´t call them perfectly usable. For example restore points are unreliable - they can get deleted if system runs out of free space, they can get corrupted etc. and I believe they are useless when the system won´t boot or if it´s attacked by some malware (correct me if I am wrong). I once needed to go back to restore point I had created before but it wasn´t there, it just disappeared.

Another option would be to use NTBackup and backup the whole registry. It could work but I have no experience with this so I don´t know if it´s bullet proof method. But I am exploring this option right now. (I wish I had one more computer just for testing.)

As for the malware and Windows deteoriation that´s exactly why I mentioned disk imaging because it´s the most reliable solution for these problems. It´s almost like reinstalling your system from scratch except that all your settings and software will be there. The drive will be completely overwritten by the data from image so any malware gets deleted. Those disk imaging programs work even if Windows won´t boot.

If your system is slowing down over time you can just choose one of the early images (from your archive) that contains data describing how your system once was (fast and clean) and get back to it.

As far as I know Windows doesn´t slow down by itself. It is caused by installing and uninstalling applications, changing drivers, malware etc. If you use the same system with your main well written applications, without any "registry cleaners", without installing and uninstalling anything new, without browsing web, if you defragment the drives on a regular basis etc. then the system will be like new all the time. But that´s not always possible. That´s why it´s good to have disk image and to be able to restore the system.

Of course you have to plan in advance and decide what the image should contain (what are your main applications, how will you set up them and what can be excluded, which drivers are proven etc.).

The ones on this page are $500-$600 where the one you listed before was over $1000.
What do you need raid for?

It's at this point that I start filling the cylinder and give it a quick spin before snapping it shut, drawing a bead, pulling back the hammer, and concentrate on my breathing...

Any time I venture off into uncharted computer territory, the first thing I do before ever looking at equipment or software is find someone who knows what the heck they are doing that has or is doing what I want to do and glean all the information from them I can and maybe ask them for advice, assistance, or supervision. Research into what has proven successful is always my preferred starting point.

Or just do the option I said, if you fear touching your data then just pull the drive and put a new one in and plug in the vendor's restore cd.

I already answered that question. I'd appreciate it if you could read through the posts where I explain what I need in terms of performance, features and warranty and it should be clear why and why a $500 computer doesn't fullfil the requirements.

Back to the original question, what makes this one worth half again more?

TIA,

Easy for you to say. Want to come over and try that?