Presarion S5100NX, AMD 1900+ ~

But if you are going to do video editing and gaming you need to look at;

Processor speed,
Memory,
Video RAM,
Storage.

Processor speed. I don't know AMD's too well but Celerons are the weaker of Intel's processors, usually used for starter systems. Personally I would stay away from Celerons.

Memory. Generally the answer is "As much as you can afford". Memory or RAM stores much of the application and work you are currently working on. RAM is accessed to store and retrieve data many times faster than writing to or reading from the hard disk. If you have insufficient RAM then the computer processor has to swap data in and out from RAM to the hard disk for the current process it is working on. This slows the process down. You can often see the effects of this when, for example, the mouse cursor changes to an hourglass whilst the processor is accessing data. The longer the hourglass displays, the more work swapping data the processor is doing.

For Windows XP 256MB of RAM is considered very low. XP will work on 256KMB but it will struggle. The AMD system has 512MB of RAM but I consider even that is marginal. For video editing and some gaming you need at least 1GB of RAM. I have 2GB.

Video RAM. You need a high end video card, (Graphics card). Video RAM is used in place of the system's RAM when videos are being displayed and with higher graphics games. There is no mention of which video card is installed in either of the two options you have given.

Storage. XP itself needs at least 10-15 GB of hard disk storage. Videos and music will take more. As with RAM, the more the better. Hard disk storage is cheap now, and so you should get as much as possible.

Make sure your DVD ROM is also a DVD RW. If you want to save/backup videos to DVD disks you will need not only CD RW but DVD RW.

You ask for help without the technical jargon. I'm sorry but it can't really be done without some knowledge of the terms used.

On the whole I do not see either example as particularly suitable for what you need.

Mark

I happen to have one of the "Compaq Presario S5100NX" machines and it's now almost 4 years old. At this point, I've added a new DVD+/- burner in place of the DVD-ROM, a new CD-RW burner to replace the dead/original, and I've also added more RAM so it's now up to 768 MB, but it's still not suitable if your going to use it primarily for "movie editing, and burning things. gaming also. " It's been fine and reliable for general home needs which include internet use, occasional burning chores, and other basic items but when asked to do encoding, or picture editing, the integrated graphics and the Celeron processor just don't get the job done fast enough.. And many games aren't supported because of the lack of a graphics card.

Likewise, the AMD will be a little faster but more RAM will be required and you'll need to verify as to the type of graphics it has.. I agree with Kees.. Unless you're looking for a very basic computer, neither of the choices may be what you want.

Hope this helps.

Grif