Has anyone purchased a turnkey system from B&H? I've been using Avid Xdv3.5 at work for many years and looking to switch to Vegas (I have ver 6 at home).

Let me first say this: I have dealt with B&H many times and always had a fine experience. Just so no one misconstrues anything.

Here is the issue:

I was looking at their turnkey system (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/462203-REG/B_H_Photo__Sony_Vegas_8_Turnkey.html) seems like a great deal for $2699.

My organization (state government) has a contract with Dell and wants me to go that route. I tried putting together a similar system with Dell and even after they re-quoted to our IT department it was still about $500 more and did NOT include any software.(other than winxp sp2)

We are at the end of the purchasing cycle for this fiscal year and our budget can barely be stretched for the B&H system if I can get them back on board as an "approved vendor" (state purchasing is a PITA, talk about red tape).

Before I go to the mat on this, I would love to hear from those who have purchased a turnkey system from B&H, or those who can even look at it and tell me what they would change if anything.

I can reduce the amount of storage on the Dell (I have a 500 gig firewire external that will migrate to the new system) but still not sure if that will bring the Dell price down enough to cover both the needed price reduction and Vegas.
Both systems are quoted without monitors as I can save some $$ by using the current 2 VGA monitors here, until I can get them to purchase new LCD panels.(maybe next fiscal year)

I hope that wasn't too confusing. LOL Maybe it gives some insight to the proverbial $500 hammer.

lessons learned: don't try to treat taxpayers money like you own and be frugal you will drive yourself insane!!! LOL

I've not used a B&H custom-built system. It's not hard to build and build well, B&H may well be outsourcing the build, I don't know. I'd expect it to work well, and the price seems fair.

However, if you have difficulty getting B&H approved for purchase, be aware that any system builder that is already approved can build this system for about this price. Nothing against B&H - I've used them plenty and been very satisfied.

As a sometimes system builder myself, I'm a little biased against Dell's approach of custom components. Many video editors have reported great results and value with Dell's "Precision" line, and there are some deals to be had from time-to-time on rebuild/returned systems with full warranty.

I have seen the B&H system and it is, IMO very expensive for what I saw. A dual core PC for nearly $2700? That seems to me to be, well, expensive. I love B & H, but their turnkey systems are clearly marked up a good bit.

I just looked at the Dell outlet and found a Precision 490 with Quad Xeon processor and 4GB of ram for $1499. Order a separate hard drive for storage, etc and install yourself (Dell outlet won't change or add to systems) or have your tech guy do it.

Their business class support is immediate and excellent, with no extra charges. I did not pay extra for the three year on-site warranty. Hardware issues and they will be out sometimes next day, no charge. I had them out twice with virtually no interruption in my work. (It was for a minor firewire issue, which was resolved quickly.

HP also has fine workstations.

Good luck!

thanks for the replies.

unfortunately I don't believe we can use the outlet, though they did take about a grand off the system I had specked out online, but it's still over our measley budget and doesn't include Vegas or the other add ons B&H has included.

core 2 vs quad core is a difference to be considered.

I'm still waiting on word back from our IT department.

actually I had neglected to consider the additional price of Vegas, my bad.

In that case the only thing I can imagine you might be missing with the B&H system possibly decent on site support. But if your tech department takes care of you, it wouldn't matter much I suppose.

thanks for the replies.

unfortunately I don't believe we can use the outlet, though they did take about a grand off the system I had specked out online, but it's still over our measley budget and doesn't include Vegas or the other add ons B&H has included.

core 2 vs quad core is a difference to be considered.

I'm still waiting on word back from our IT department.

Are you going to be layering on the filters/CC/real time audio effects etc, doing lots of MB work, workign on native Mt2 HD files instead of cineform proxies? If so, then go with Q6600 (quad core) or the Xeon quad core. If your work flow is still SD, and you have lett need for rendering intermediate effects laden segments (hence the Magic Bullet) then a Core 2 Duo (or Amd X2) will probably be fast enough (especially if there is a tight budget).

I notice you didn't mention broadcast monitors, dual LCD displays, etc. I assume this sort of stuff is already on site and taken care of..... ?

Still SD workflow here. I have two VGA monitors on the current system that will migrate to the new.(depending upon the state's financial sitaution next year, and it doesn't look good, I might be able to get two LCD panels then) Dell has requoted after I dropped the HD's from 3 to 2 and from 500 gb to 250, and now the quad core box is within budget and I am waiting to hear if we can stretch it to cover Vegas. Staying with Dell would make IT happy. But things are moving slowly and I believe the purchasing cutoff for this fiscal year is next week.

anyone know if Avid XDV 3.5 will run on SP2? ;-)