I am in the process of buying a new computer to replace my 8 year old HP which has given me exemplary service, nothing wrong with it but the fact that it is only 1GB RAM, half of that which I added. I am looking at 2 HP's. #1 - 4GB RAM, with a 3.0 Processor, this unit is expandable to 16GB RAM, $529.00. #2 - 6GB RAM, with a 2.8 Processor, this unit is expandable to 8GB RAM, $629.00. Considering that I can buy another 4GB RAM for #1 for about $25.00 and expand it to 8GB RAM and still have room to expand even more. This is the way I am leaning, with all other items on the computers being equal.....What are some of your thoughts ? I plan to pull the trigger on Sunday unless I see something else in Sunday Mornings paper on sale. They both run Windows 7, which I now have at work, so I am fairly proficient at that. BTW, I don't do any gaming, but in the future, I plan on getting a camcorder which I would then convert the movies to DVD's. This unit seems to be able to do that.
Go with the faster processor if you'll be doing video editing. Like you said, you can cheaply add RAM.
Assuming they're both similar processors using the same architecture (not different cache, cores, and threads), you honestly probably aren't going to see much of a noticeable difference between the two. Video editing, photo editing, etc, utilize LOTS of RAM, and are generally that's the bottleneck. Adobe apps, for instance, thrive off of increased RAM. The more, the better (remember, you are limited to a much lower amount if running a 32bit OS as opposed to 64bit). Also with video editing, a solid video card is a must, as well as plenty of storage options. Usually a nice SSD for the OS/programs, one for a scratch disk, and one for general storage. If you're just doing a little videoing on the side, you don't necessarily have to go to these extremes. In the end, however, for core and memory intensive tasks such as video editing, RAM and high core/thread count is where it's at.
