[404]

I am shopping for a new computer to trade on. (I am about to start my paper trading)I have been following some deals that dell is running and looking elsewhere...

question:

-Is windows new vista operating system running all the trading apps. that one would need? I have heard mixed things on vista

-What performance measures should I get at a minimum? (computer specs)

-Anything else you would instruct when shopping for a new trading computer...

[Soultrader]

Originally Posted by 404 »

I am shopping for a new computer to trade on. (I am about to start my paper trading)I have been following some deals that dell is running and looking elsewhere...

question:

-Is windows new vista operating system running all the trading apps. that one would need? I have heard mixed things on vista

-What performance measures should I get at a minimum? (computer specs)

-Anything else you would instruct when shopping for a new trading computer...

I currenlty own pcs with both XP and Vista. For trading, I highly recommend XP and forget Vista. Vista is too slow of an OS and is designed for entertainment and not work.

I currently run a Core 2 Duo cpu with 4gig ram. I usually custom build mine as the final price becomes lower than buying a packaged pc. Are you aiming for performance? XP with minimum 2gig ram is the way to go in my opinion.

[404]

xp home or xp pro? (does it matter between these 2?)

[Soultrader]

Originally Posted by 404 »

xp home or xp pro? (does it matter between these 2?)

It shouldnt matter if youre only going to be using the PC for trading.

[james_gsx]

If you go on Dells website they have a bunch of stuff with XP on it. 2gb would be more than enough, 1gb should be fine but the price of memory is so cheap now I'd just recommend the 2gb. Make sure you get a video card that can handle multiple monitors, you may only have one now but eventually you'll probably want two. It just saves a little hassle later down the road.

[darthtrader]

I don't think it even matters what you buy now, everthing is so insanely fast.
The only thing I would consider though is maybe wait for quad core 2 to become more standard as the cpu has really come down lately.
I was looking around tigerdirect the other day and you can build a machine with these specs right now for about 800 bucks
2.6ghz intel quad core 2
4 gigs of ram
150gig 10,000 RPM main hd
1 terrabyte external Hd.

Thats so much power I dont see how anyone would even use it.

[Sparrow]

A new average computer for a dedicated trading machine shouldn't be challenged by charting/trading at all if you use XP. Exceptions are heavy system development and backtesting, computer intensive indicators e.g. multi timeframe, multi instrument and automated trading if your strategy is very complex ( or just just poorly implemented , applies also to all others ).

I think MS is creating an artificial demand for their friends in the hardware business for the none gaming people by forcing Vista on them.

[AgeKay]

Originally Posted by 404 »

I am shopping for a new computer to trade on. (I am about to start my paper trading)I have been following some deals that dell is running and looking elsewhere...

question:

-Is windows new vista operating system running all the trading apps. that one would need? I have heard mixed things on vista

Don't go with Vista yet. I have Vista on both of my Dell XPS M1330 (which are excellent for anything, btw) and I found out that X_Trader does not officially run on Vista. You can make it run by changing the compatibility to XP, but their API won't run at all (I get some weird error in my code, which ran perfectly fine on XP). I am about to switch back to XP since there are finally all XP drivers available for my laptops. Vista is also a performance hog compared to XP.