Replacing a Dead Computer

[Brewpastor]

I'm back! My home computer has decided to head to cyber heaven, which has left me in cyber lymbo. So I have been out of touch for the weekend. My wife wasted no time and got me working on a new fence around the back of our property, which is about an acre, so I wasn't bored.

But now I have to replace it and am looking for thoughts and ideas.

I don't need too many bells and whistles. Just lots of memory to make up for my own failing one. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[Reverend JC]

BP-

You should be able to pick up a dual core pentium or a Dual core AMD for pretty cheap. I would guess around 400 to 500 bucks. It will come with Minimum Memory BUT memory for that computer should be pretty cheap and if you do zero gaming that PC should last you until it decides to head to PC heaven.

 

[Cheesefood]

Laptop and wireless. Unless your a hard core gamer, you really don't need a desktop.

Don't get an HP. Mine's crap, and so are all the other's I've seen. Get a Dell.

 

[the_bird]

I know they're considered the BMC of the computing world, but I got a real nice Dell a few months back for very little coin. Laptops are nice but you pay a pretty steep premium for portability. I got a nice system, with a lot of memory, big hard drive (don't remember the specifics, but it was impressive at the time) and a 19" flat panel for under $500, IIRC.

 

[Cheesefood]

I know they're considered the BMC of the computing world, but I got a real nice Dell a few months back for very little coin. Laptops are nice but you pay a pretty steep premium for portability. I got a nice system, with a lot of memory, big hard drive (don't remember the specifics, but it was impressive at the time) and a 19" flat panel for under $500, IIRC.

Laptops are way cheaper than they were and don't require a desk to reside on. Plus, you can take a laptop into the can with you or out to the garage to brew and view some HBT.

At my office, almost all of us have laptops. It really makes work easier.

 

[kornkob]

watch GotApex.com for some of those dell deals. I've seen laptop deals from dell's small business site (alledgedly a different support team than the home user site) that were fantastic.

 

[the_bird]

I've personally never gotten used to typing on a laptop, but I've also got big, clumsy fingers. I'd just say to make sure that you LIKE using a laptop before committing to its use. I have one at the office that I only use when I'm meeting someone out of my office; it's a waste for me.

 

[Richard]

IBM/Lenovo laptops are known to be pretty reliable, particularly the T series.

 

[david_42]

I have a Dell laptop and the disk drive is painfully slow compared to my desktop. If you were running Windows, Dell will sell you XP or Vista and XP will run well on 1/4 the hardware, saving more money.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

I've thought about buying a laptop, but I can work on my desktop pretty easily. I don't know if I'm up for another learning curve.

 

[user 4295]

Think outside the box!

 

[scottthorn]

I'm not a fan of laptops unless you need the portability:
They cost more for the initial purchase.
Parts (upgrades or replacements) are more expensive.
Installing parts is usually more difficult.
They're uncomfortable to use (IMO, esp. for long periods of time) - unless you hook up an external keyboard/mouse/monitor which kinda defeats the purpose of having a laptop.
They just seem to have more problems - maybe because they cram all that gear in such a small case, or maybe because people carry them around where they're subject to being dropped or have things spilled on them.

Granted - if you need the portability, you gotta have one. They're wonderful to bring along on a roadtrip or to sit on your front porch.... I work on computers all day and hardly ever touch one once I get home. I suppose it depends on how you will use it.

I would keep an eye on the Hot Deals messageboard at http://forums.slickdeals.net You can find some amazing bargains posted there - not just for computers...

Oh - for general computer use, more RAM is better than a faster processor. RAM is expensive, but worth it!

 

[Brewpastor]

Gawd, I hate this stuff. I go on the Dell site and its like, "Oh, more memory sounds good," and "more RAM, why not?" and pretty soon the $399 box is $1800! And for me it really is a crap-shoot. I need to write, view HBT and the related material that comes with it (including Cheesefood's video links), edit and store pictures. I don't need to produce the next great movie, design a geothermal brewery, or play music at levels my punked out ears can no longer hear. I want speed and memory.

I used to be a Mac person but that was before my machine died at the brewery 10 years ago. I would not even know where to begin there and use PCs at work.

So, what configuration make since? Where is my IT guy when I need him?

 

[Richard]

Gawd, I hate this stuff. I go on the Dell site and its like, "Oh, more memory sounds good," and "more RAM, why not?" and pretty soon the $399 box is $1800! And for me it really is a crap-shoot. I need to write, view HBT and the related material that comes with it (including Cheesefood's video links), edit and store pictures. I don't need to produce the next great movie, design a geothermal brewery, or play music at levels my punked out ears can no longer hear. I want speed and memory.

I used to be a Mac person but that was before my machine died at the brewery 10 years ago. I would not even know where to begin there and use PCs at work.

So, what configuration make since? Where is my IT guy when I need him?

If the most you're doing is editing pictures or watching vids then all you'll need is the most basic setup. Go back to Dell and get the $399 box without the fancy frills.

 

[user 4295]

I used to be a Mac person but that was before my machine died at the brewery 10 years ago. I would not even know where to begin there and use PCs at work.

The last Mac, and Mac operating system that you used were both dinosaurs and don't resemble the current state of Mac development, as I'm sure you are aware. I am aware that if you are capable of navigating through the convoluted world of Windows in it's many flavors, and from what I think I know about you from what I have read, you could learn the Mac OSX on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee.

If your needs are what you previously stated then you could not go wrong with an iMac.

Here are some specs on what you can get for $1200, all in one package, includes software to perform just about any digital need you will ever have, built in wireless card, built in webcam, and the list goes on. And, if you get lonely, the new Mac's can boot up natively into Windows! So Promash, et al, will run on your Mac! Now there is now excuse!

[FONT=Lucida Grande,Geneva,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Specifications[/FONT]

• 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x512
• 160GB Serial ATA drive
• SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X - U.S. English
• ATI Radeon X1600 128MB SDRAM
• 17-inch widescreen LCD
• AirPort Extreme
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

 

[Rick91981]

Really depends on your budget. There is also going to be debate over which PC maker is better and someone will have something bad to say about one while others praise it. So that is entirely up to you who to go with.

As a quick look you can configure a respectable Dell for $850 including a budget flat panel monitor. It is a Dimension 9200 found under Small Business. You can often find better machines on that part of the site than on the Home section.

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6300 (2MB L2 Cache,1.86GHz,1066 FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
MEMORY FREE Upgrade! 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs
HARD DRIVE Free Upgrade from 80GB to 160GB (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
MONITOR 19 inch E197FP Analog Flat Panel
VIDEO CARD 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
SOUND Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio



Use that as a guideline for a decent machine whether you buy from Dell or HP or someone else.

For the processor I would stick with a Core2Duo as opposed to a Pentium D or an AMD. They will give you much better performace to cost ratio. Don't be fooled by the apparent slower speeds of the Core2Duo compared to the Pentium D. The Core2Duo will run circles around a Pentium D.

RAM will depend on which version of Windows you choose. XP is highly recommended over Vista unless you are adventurous. Vista is decent but just has some issues. I would wait until MS works out most of the kinks from it. If going with Vista do not settle for less than 1GB of RAM. 2GB would be reccomended. If going for XP, 512MB would be the minimum with 1GB being reccomended.

Harddrive size will depend on how much crap you want to store on it, but for the average person anything over 80-100GB should more than suffice.

CD/DVD Drive: DVD burners are the best way to go but it may be something you'd never want to use. At a minimum get a CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive.

Sound/Video: If you don't play games and are not a recording artist then whatever integrated devices that come as default should suffice.


If you need more input let me know but I think that should get you headed in the right direction. One quick note that I'm not sure if will matter to you or not but typically these lower priced machines do not give you alot of options to upgrade them in the future.

 

[joshpooh]

Think outside the box!

Agreed I am typing on a Dell right now though that has been nothing but a pain since I have purchased it. Because I'm not a gamer or do anything on the computer that requires it to run 100% I just keep reformatting it every few months and rolling with it rather than purchasing a new one. When I do break down and buy a new one it will be a Mac for sure though.

 

[Rick91981]

Agreed I am typing on a Dell right now though that has been nothing but a pain since I have purchased it. Because I'm not a gamer or do anything on the computer that requires it to run 100% I just keep reformatting it every few months and rolling with it rather than purchasing a new one. When I do break down and buy a new one it will be a Mac for sure though.

If you reformat it that often then do yourself a favor and invest $50 on Acronis True Image Home edition. This will let you make a complete image of your computer and burn it to multiple CDs or DVDs or even store it on a spare harddrive. Once you reload everything make an image of the nice shiny new Windows installation. When you are ready to reload the computer again, just run the image restore and your computer will be back to that shiny new install in about 20 minutes.

 

[z987k]

Think outside the box!

Keep the cheap x86 hardware and still get more performance/reliability, and don't pay for an OS!

Had to throw a plug in if macs can to

 

[Rick91981]

Keep the cheap x86 hardware and still get more performance/reliability, and don't pay for an OS!

Had to throw a plug in if macs can to

Uhhh.......Maybe find a smaller pic?

 

[olllllo]

I bet linux has really good image management software.

 

[z987k]

Uhhh.......Maybe find a smaller pic?

yeah I didn't realize it was so big till I posted it, got a new one.
Maybe a little tooo much there, lol.

 

[sause]

I don't look at the name on the pc and look at whats inside. I personally like AMD duo's better than Intel Duo's. The more ram the better. If you aren't taking it with you to work or into the brewery get a Desktop since they are cheaper for the same amount of preformence. I like linux but my laptop is truely anti-linux (ask z987k). I'll sell you mine for $600 plus antoher bottle of that stout you sent me before.

 

[Ryanh1801]

I have two HP's and a old mac laptop for school. My Hp laptop was top of the line when i got it, but yet the old mac with half the processor speed is twice as fast. If I had the money I would go with a new mac. No viruses and no spy ware = a lot less problems.

 

[Torchiest]

Just to throw some more stuff into this morass: Dell laptops will soon be offering Ubuntu Linux as an alternative to Windows, so you've got options there. And if you want to find the best deal, I've seen nowhere online or off, that has better prices than Newegg. I bought all the parts for my last computer there and built it myself, but they also sell complete systems and everything inbetween those extremes.

 

[z987k]

I don't look at the name on the pc and look at whats inside. I personally like AMD duo's better than Intel Duo's. The more ram the better. If you aren't taking it with you to work or into the brewery get a Desktop since they are cheaper for the same amount of preformence. I like linux but my laptop is truely anti-linux (ask z987k). I'll sell you mine for $600 plus antoher bottle of that stout you sent me before.

Actually to match intel in performance u need the top of the line dual core amd to get the same performance as the second from bottom core-2-duo. Right now intel is kicking amd's ass.

 

[scottthorn]

Why can't they all just get along :fro:



At work my desk is home to:
iMac G5
Dell desktop running XP (with dual monitors) <--my main computer
Dell desktop running Ubuntu Linux
Gateway tablet PC running Windows Vista

 

[Pumbaa]

Hey BP. DO you need memory to run huge and involved programs -OR- storage to save a buttload of stuff. Unless you are a gamer or doing some heavy photo/video editing I'm guessing what you are looking for is storage in that case you can get any system out there and make sure it has a dvd burner and you'll be fine.

If you are a gamer or doing the editing I can send you the spec's on the system I just built and you'll be more then fine for about 3-4 years but it will be at the tune of about $2300

 

[Ryanh1801]

woot has a computer for sale right now.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I'm not a tech geek, but I've set up a few networks and worked as a tech for a brief while. More importantly, I've cared for a lot of computers and used a lot.

My two cents is this: Get the biggest, clunkiest, laptop you can find. Don't pay a penny for lighter or smaller unless you plan to carry it to work every day.

Next, buy a nice 19" monitor and a USB keyboard. Plug a mouse, keyboard, and monitor into your laptop and treat it like a desktop. But if you ever need to take it with you, just unplug and go!

(The only downside to this approach is the batteries will eventually wear out, so there is that cost to consider, but I think it's a small price to pay for the convenience).