I'm on amd64 with about the requirements you specify. It is a very solid machine and really snappy too:) The only problem with it is that some apps aren't natively(64bit) built or stable on it yet (openoffice is one) - though the 32bit versions will still run faster and comparably on the amd64 to a pentium4. Not sure about scanner support however. Most mobos also come with really decent inbuilt sound now as well. Just make sure you get a althon-64 distro. I've heard ubuntu is nice and should be suited for the tasks you are talking about.
On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 18:48:36 +1300, Andrew Packer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Our old PII-266 box is no longer meeting my wife's needs. Time for a > new box. Her imminent requirements include editing hi-res scans of > photographs and complex graphics, using the GIMP, and working on > documents in OpenOffice.org. We are not gamers and are not interested > in editing video (nor in watching videos on her PC). > > I am not impressed by the offerings of mass-market electronics/appliance > houses. I have envisioned an AMD-64 machine with 1G or more of RAM, a > modest video card (enough video RAM to hold one or two screens) and > sound card and lots of disk space. Trouble is, the only local assembler > I'd trust builds only with Intel chips. I don't think waiting for Intel > to come out with their version of the Athlon 64 is an option. > > Do you recommend sticking with the Pentium series and the local > assembler (who tell me they're happy to build specifically for Linux), > or forging ahead with Athlon-64 from some place like Quay Computers (I'm > more familiar with Wellington than with Christchurch)? If the latter, > is there a shop or shops in Christchurch that you particularly recommend > above all others? > > TIA for your advice, > > =====Andrew > >
