Time for a new computer

[zac]

The time has come to retire my old 2000 model Dell Dimension. I will also be upgrading to at least DSL from 56K dial up during the transition. What system do you, what are the specs, what did you pay for it, and would you change anything?

I will use the cpu generally for internet surfing, some music type stuff, and some limited gaming.

I'm leaning towards a laptop just for portability, but am not afraid of a desktop. Also leaning towards Dell just b/c thats what I've always had....but I'm not sold on anything at this point other than some form of higher speed internet.

Thanks & please help me out!

zac

 

[Aleforge]

In your case I would buy a cheaper dell laptop with a wireless NIC card. That way you can lounge around the house and surf on your new highspeed connection. Plus it allows you to bring your computer to your brew sessions for easy access to the web and any brewing software you might use. :cross:

 

[GuateBrewer]

Get the white MacBook, sounds like you keep your gear for a while and any budget PC will be slow with Windows Vista.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

Get the white MacBook, sounds like you keep your gear for a while and any budget PC will be faster with Linux anything

there I fixed that for you

 

[Kevin Dean]

My ultimate suggestion, as I tell all of my friends, is find a geek you trust and ask them for ten minutes of their time. Explain to them you want a new computer, and show them what you do with your existing one (the showing is important, most geeks instantly recognize things most users never notice about their browsing habits).

This geek, if he's worth his salt, will notice what you can and can't live without (say your "light gaming" requires some Windows only feature like ActiveX he'll instantly discount the Linux or Mac routes), your habits and very importantly, your price range.

Knowing next to nothing about your use habits, I'd suggest checking out the Dell laptops with Ubuntu Linux on them (I'm really liking that Studio 15...). For someone who does basic stuff, Macs would work, but the price of a Mac is often not worth the gains unless you've got a feature that makes the Mac really shine (if you'd have said "I edit photos" or "I like watching movies on my laptop" I would toss the Mac in there too). Windows XP is essentially discontinued now, and the fact that you keep your hardware for a long time means you're going to want an operating system that still has lots of life in it and Ubuntu is CERTAINLY that. Vista opens a world of problems, and again considering that you keep your systems for a long time, the extra freed resources will ensure that it stays speedy longer. You'll not have to worry about anti-virus scanning or adware blocking, updates are central and one-click easy.

 

[arturo7]

My ultimate suggestion, as I tell all of my friends, is find a geek you trust

+1

You might try to find a one man geek squad. An independent guy who sells/installs/services computers for small and medium businesses. Not that the guy would necessarily be any cheaper than Dell or whoever, but the attention and service is excellent. If you call with a problem the guy knows you and your rig because he built it.

 

[wild]

My Sony took a dump on me and now I have a new computer comming in over the next two days. These are the parts:
APEX TU-163 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Antec earthwatts EA500 500W Power Supply
Intel G31 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Celeron Dual-Core Processor
2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 Desktop Memory

for under $300 including shipping.

 

[Homercidal]

Laptop is nice for portability, but gonna be more expensive than similar desktop. If you are gaming (light, yeah right!) then it's Windows. There are some very good games out there for Mac and Linux, but there are many many that are not.

My suggestion, in addition to having a geek help you, is to pick a price and get all you can for that price. Look for sales. If you are going for laptop, Dell has some interesting sales all the time if you know where to shop and are willing to wait a couple of weeks to save a hundred or two.

My experience is that even the best brand-name computer is cheap on the low-price end. Expect crap if you are going cheap.

You *could* build it yourself and save money, but only if you are building a pretty nice machine, and buy parts at a place like Newegg.com.

 

[zac]

After a month of doing nothing.....

looks like aI am in the market for a Dell laptop that is somewhere around 1K, not more than 1.2K. SWMBO wants a printer, so price includes a printer.

Studio?

Inspirion?

dumbed down XPS?

i enjoyed this more when i was fresh out of college & actually knew about this stuff........


thanks
zac

 

[ChshreCat]

After getting a laptop, I'll never buy a desktop again.

 

[johnlvs2run]

After 15+ years on the net I finally put together my first system earlier this year, similar to Wild's, with parts from newegg and less than $300. I'm happy with it other than the faulty biostar tf8200 nvidia chip which doesn't play nice with linux ubuntu, so I'm moving to linux sabayon. I'll definitely put together all computers from now on.

Newegg.com - Once You Know, You Newegg

After taking apart an older computer to get used to where everything goes, and making sure the new motherboard chip is tried and true, it's a cinch and fun to put together a new system. Basically I just saved wishlists on newegg, researched the parts and ratings for a few weeks and then ordered.

Update: Linux Sabayon has been working flawlessly for a year.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I'm lucky enough to have a brother that works for IBM, so I got a used laptop for pretty cheap with his employee discount. I'm happy with it.

 

[Kevin Dean]

After getting a laptop, I'll never buy a desktop again.

Incidentally, my experiences with laptops have always ended badly, and I refused to get anything smaller than mid-tower up until my phone was able to run a standard Linux installation. :S

http://foreverdean.info/kevin/images/comp1.jpg

Above is a picture of my last laptop (incidentally, my last Windows PC too!) and the reasons I hate them. I'm too lazy to resize so I just linked.

looks like aI am in the market for a Dell laptop

My recommendation still stands. I strongly suggest a Dell Studio 15 with Ubuntu Linux on it for the reasons I cited earlier in this thread. The basic model is $694.

Dell Studio 15 Laptop Details

If you're not picky about your printing, I'd also suggest an Hewlett-Packard all-in-one printer, you can pick one up at Wal-Mart for about $99.