So HHD opinion.... How important is SSD to you?

[robjduk]

So I'm quite a nerd. Every computer I sign off has its purpose analized and spec decided on down to processor generation, RAM speed and even look.

 

Anywhoo.... Looking to revamp my photography department and wanted to push them to 4k monitors and looking at those Intel NUC machines from Stone which fit the spec well however as I get older I really want things to look great as well and was surprised to see HP have pulled their finger out and released their intel 6th Gen AIO machines however as normal they only stick standard hard drives in.

 

To get to the point, in your opinions would you go for the good looking HP AIO with great spec but standard HHD (not even bloody hybrid) or stick to the higher specced Stone NUC with SSD and 4k monitors?

 

The photography department wouldn't know the difference and its only the nerd side of me pushing for 4k.

 

Are you all SSD or nothing or would you say presentation over a slight waiting time?

[Arthur]

would you go for the good looking HP AIO with great spec but standard HDD (not even bloody hybrid) or stick to the higher specced Stone NUC with SSD and 4k monitors?

I would go with option 3: the good looking and high-specced Dell AIO with 6th gen Intel Core processor, 16GB RAM, PCIe NVMe SSD, FHD or 4K UHD IPS LCD and no optical drive.

 

 

 

Are you all SSD or nothing or would you say presentation over a slight waiting time?

SSD is a must! Not only for speed, but also reliability. Even the refurb'd PCs we buy have them.

 

How the computer looks is also important. I try to have both where possible.

 

The photography department wouldn't know the difference and it's only the nerd side of me pushing for 4K.

Does the photography software (Photoshop/Lightroom?) support hi-ppi displays?

Edited May 14, 2016 by Arthur

[3s-gtech]

SSD first and foremost. I still have some 2007(!) HP DC7700s going, simply because with an SSD in they work fine for their purpose. It's a transformative part of the machine spec.

[dhicks]

To get to the point, in your opinions would you go for the good looking HP AIO with great spec but standard HHD (not even bloody hybrid) or stick to the higher specced Stone NUC with SSD and 4k monitors?

 

I'd agree with the posts above and say that an SSD in desktop machines is definatly the way to go - the machine boots faster and software loads quicker, which better matches up with the kind of experience people are used to from a tablet. Depending on the price difference you could buy the HP machines and swap out the installed drives for SSDs (or, if that causes warrenty issues, get a reseller to organise that for you). As another option, we've been very happy with our VeryPC all-in-ones. Their all-in-one chassis actually comes with a removeable optical / hdd slot in the side - we specified DVD drives in the machines (an extra £20 or so) and got a spare removeable harddrive caddy with each machine. These are great for photography and/or video - you can stick a harddrive (in a caddy) straight in to the side of the machine via a SATA interface rather than having to plug in via USB.

[pcstru]

For photography, I'd push for monitor and printer that I can calibrate to give accurate colour rendition. I'd put that way ahead of 4K for the given use (not that secondary school photography students will (probably) notice). On SSD's - they are the only component where the change from an HDD gives a performance improvement several orders of magnitude faster. For a modern client end machine they are ... standard. I'd only buy HDD's where I need good value storage capacity and that is not generally going to be on networked client.

[Meldrew]

We don't roll out new machines now without an SSD. Even going so far as buying laptops with magnetic drives and replacing them with an SSD as it was cheaper this way around.

 

Meldrew

[localzuk]

Same as @Meldrew - we don't install machines without SSDs now. We did go through a stage of buying machines with HDDs and replacing them ourselves with SSDs, as this worked out cheaper than buying them with SSDs in originally, but now we've found a good supplier who makes them how we want them, so we don't need to any more! @VeryPC

[robjduk]

@Arthur ... never heard of Dell premier before! Always bugged me how poor Dell customisation options were.

 

Just hassling my account manager now.

Thanks

[Arthur]

never heard of Dell premier before! Always bugged me how poor Dell customisation options were.

It's definitely worth getting a Premier account. The discounted pricing for schools is very good and you do get more customization options (although it still isn't as good as it used to be before Dell went private where you could customize any PC they sold).

[mowgli82]

For photography, I'd push for monitor and printer that I can calibrate to give accurate colour rendition. I'd put that way ahead of 4K for the given use (not that secondary school photography students will (probably) notice). On SSD's - they are the only component where the change from an HDD gives a performance improvement several orders of magnitude faster. For a modern client end machine they are ... standard. I'd only buy HDD's where I need good value storage capacity and that is not generally going to be on networked client.

 

^^^^colour accuracy over 4K - what cameras are they shooting with? You would need a highend body and good glass to see the difference. The Dell 2415 monitors aren't bad bang for buck unless you look at Eizo which are £££'s or ££££'s

 

If using SSD's and lightroom put the catalogs, OS etc on SSD and a raid array for storage - just my 2p

Edited May 16, 2016 by mowgli82

[sparkeh]

Just adding my voice to the chorus of SSD praise - its a must. All new machines have them and I am planning on replacing the few remaining old HDDs with SSDs.

[HBPS]

Adding SSd's to my 50 4 year old laptops is the best thing i have ever done i will be be replacing all work station Drives with SSD in the next few months

[zag]

I haven't bought a HP or Dell computer in years due to their inability to include SSD drives at resonable prices.

 

We get all our stuff through very pc who put whatever drive you want in their NUC's. Then attach to the back of monitors so they are not seen. Looks great!

[Steve21]

I haven't bought a HP or Dell computer in years due to their inability to include SSD drives at resonable prices.

 

All the Dells/HPs I've ever bought have the option to do it. Even if it's via a reseller like Misco HP support the warranty still as it's a recognized partner.

 

Steve

[Lonix]

So I'm quite a nerd. Every computer I sign off has its purpose analized and spec decided on down to processor generation, RAM speed and even look.

 

Anywhoo.... Looking to revamp my photography department and wanted to push them to 4k monitors and looking at those Intel NUC machines from Stone which fit the spec well however as I get older I really want things to look great as well and was surprised to see HP have pulled their finger out and released their intel 6th Gen AIO machines however as normal they only stick standard hard drives in.

 

To get to the point, in your opinions would you go for the good looking HP AIO with great spec but standard HHD (not even bloody hybrid) or stick to the higher specced Stone NUC with SSD and 4k monitors?

 

The photography department wouldn't know the difference and its only the nerd side of me pushing for 4k.

 

Are you all SSD or nothing or would you say presentation over a slight waiting time?

 

I have now put SSD in to every new order machine (mainly because costs are so low now). Also sticking in the SSDs through... my usual bartering with suppliers only costs us an extra £3 per PC (we are bulk buying shortly).

 

My priority is always "Objectivity and Productivity" so I would go for the Spec above "Look". Our caretakers though do more than just open up the School and simple maintenance, I would ask them if they had the time to do a bit of extra work. Make the suite look nice with wall mounted monitors (only slightly more expensive) and a good size. The PCs sit on a shelf directly under the table against the wall with a bracket preventing feet attacks. This work was very minimal and didn't take 1 caretaker to do the job. Considering they were chasing Macs for the "look".

 

As for the photography not noticing the difference, silly question but why get 4K? I'm assuming you have the budget to spend - if so very lucky.

[mikkydoos]

M.2 SSD's in a i3 or i5 NUC go like lightening.

 

I won't fit anything other that SSD's these days.

 

The 3.5" sata ones dont seem to have the same performance as mini sata though.

[zag]

Just a warning with 4k screens, they make windows 7 un-usable due to their small icons.

 

I've been told windows 10 handles it differently, but I had to ditch my 4k screen because i use Win 7, even going back to 1080p was blurry on it.

[sonofsanta]

SSD: always, always, always. It shouldn't even be a question anymore.

 

Monitors: we have 27" 2560x1440 IPS monitors in our Photography room, that's plenty of resolution and still usable on Win7. Make sure you get IPS so you can calibrate it, then buy a Spyder to calibrate the monitor objectively (Pro has software advantages over Express, but you could get by with the latter to save some money). Then get a proper photography printer (we have an Epson), install the ICC colour profiles for the paper types and buy your photography paper to match it (e.g. we get Epson paper to match the Epson printer and select the exact colour profile in Photoshop).

 

That gives you an end-to-end colour accurate workflow, and at A-Level, that will honestly make a difference to the quality of the work.

[Arthur]

I had to ditch my 4k screen because I use Win 7, even going back to 1080p was blurry on it.

Couldn't you have upgraded to Windows 10?

[bobsmith]

My personal considered opinion is that until you are using seriously large screens (40inch and upwards) 4K is not of benefit to desktop users.

 

Now when playing games it's another matter, but this isn't the audience you are buying them for.

@zag and @sonofsanta make extremely valid points.

 

SSD > 4K in the work environment.

[VeryPC_Colin_M]

SSD @robjduk for definite. And..... we can make the NUCs look very pretty and would be happy to give you an alternative to Stone