OT: Time for a new computer
RedKnave
years old and never was top of the line, being cobbled together from parts
from surplus computers or ones gone bad. I don't know about you other
folks in IT in big companies, but in my org., it seemed like the users
always had better equipment than I did. Anyway, I've been out of the
business for over 3 years and I'm way out of date on this stuff.
I think I'm going to stick with MS, rather than switch to Apple. My
experience generally was that Dell was a solid choice. I've looked at
their stuff, and a few others, and have some questions. I'm not a heavy
gamer or graphics guy.
1. Dell still a good choice?
2. Should I go for the i7 processor?
3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure if
it's really necessary in the long run.
4. I have to admit to being more than a bit uncertain about the
appropriate level of Win7. I've been totally happy with XP Pro and
completely bypassed all of the issues and discussion about Vista and it's
versions.
5. RAM? 6-8 GB?
6. Video card?
Any help or advice you might be willing to render will be appreciated.
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BTSinAustin
> I think it's time I bought myself a new pc. The one I have is at least 6
> years old and never was top of the line, being cobbled together from parts
> from surplus computers or ones gone bad. I don't know about you other
> folks in IT in big companies, but in my org., it seemed like the users
> always had better equipment than I did. Anyway, I've been out of the
> business for over 3 years and I'm way out of date on this stuff.
>
> I think I'm going to stick with MS, rather than switch to Apple. My
> experience generally was that Dell was a solid choice. I've looked at
> their stuff, and a few others, and have some questions. I'm not a heavy
> gamer or graphics guy.
>
> 1. Dell still a good choice?
> 2. Should I go for the i7 processor?
> 3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure if
> it's really necessary in the long run.
> 4. I have to admit to being more than a bit uncertain about the
> appropriate level of Win7. I've been totally happy with XP Pro and
> completely bypassed all of the issues and discussion about Vista and it's
> versions.
> 5. RAM? 6-8 GB?
> 6. Video card?
>
> Any help or advice you might be willing to render will be appreciated.
Check out Dell Factory Outlet first. I got a quad core, 2.6 with dual 750
gig sata drives and 4 gigs of ram. gForce 8800 GT nVidia video card with
512 ram. All this for 600 bucks. This was a few moths ago so you can do
better.
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BTSinAustin
> I think it's time I bought myself a new pc. The one I have is at least 6
> years old and never was top of the line, being cobbled together from parts
> from surplus computers or ones gone bad. I don't know about you other
> folks in IT in big companies, but in my org., it seemed like the users
> always had better equipment than I did. Anyway, I've been out of the
> business for over 3 years and I'm way out of date on this stuff.
>
> I think I'm going to stick with MS, rather than switch to Apple. My
> experience generally was that Dell was a solid choice. I've looked at
> their stuff, and a few others, and have some questions. I'm not a heavy
> gamer or graphics guy.
>
> 1. Dell still a good choice?
> 2. Should I go for the i7 processor?
> 3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure if
> it's really necessary in the long run.
> 4. I have to admit to being more than a bit uncertain about the
> appropriate level of Win7. I've been totally happy with XP Pro and
> completely bypassed all of the issues and discussion about Vista and it's
> versions.
> 5. RAM? 6-8 GB?
> 6. Video card?
>
> Any help or advice you might be willing to render will be appreciated.
Sorry I did not finish. If you go 64 bit, get all the ram you can. 8 is
great.
I am an MSDN member and have been using Win 7 64 pro on my notebook since
the Release to Manufacturing version came out. I re-did my XP desktop to
Win 7 64 pro a couple of weeks ago and love it.
"You had better believe that there is no scarier sight on Earth than the
sight of Ramashiva transformed into the Angel of Death."
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4129434416_6fd338d387.jpg
johnny_t
provide you more than you have today, and practically more too, since
you are not a gamer or graphics guy.
Otherwise, punt man. You are suffering from upgraditis. You should
upgrade when you NEED to upgrade, not before. And if you need to
upgrade your questions and needs won't be this broad.
Kent Briggs
> 3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure if
> it's really necessary in the long run.
It's necessary if you want more than 4 GB of ram.
--
Kent Briggs, kbr...@briggsoft.com
Briggs Softworks, http://www.briggsoft.com
RedKnave
Thanks for the info. It helps.
________________________________________________________________________�
RedKnave
Thanks for this...I wasn't aware of the requirement. Of course, whether I
actually need more than 4 GBs for my uses is a good question.
________________________________________________________________________�
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misanthropic whackjob
> On Nov 23 2009 7:51 PM, Kent Briggs wrote:
>
> > RedKnave wrote:
> >
> > > 3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure
if
> > > it's really necessary in the long run.
> >
> > It's necessary if you want more than 4 GB of ram.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Kent Briggs, kbr...@briggsoft.com
> > Briggs Softworks, http://www.briggsoft.com
>
> Thanks for this...I wasn't aware of the requirement. Of course, whether I
> actually need more than 4 GBs for my uses is a good question.
You probably don't. Let me add, if you are buying this as your one and
only computer, and from the description of how you use it, i would go with
a laptop. Dell is fine (although I would go Mac, but that's just me).
--
I don't care about you! Fuck you! - FEAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyM4uAJBujA
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RedKnave
I'm not going to go through all the parts, but let me assure you that I do
need a new pc. Upgrading what I have in front of me is not a reasonable
option; I have enough background to know that. I don't want a(nother)
laptop. What I do want is a new pc that will serve me for another 6
years, which is why I'm trying to make sure I get something a bit more
robust than off-the-shelf at my local big-box store. If I can get 6
years, I may not have to buy more than maybe one more (I'm thinking that
by then nobody will use stand-alone personal computers.)
--------�
RedKnave
> On Nov 23 2009 5:30 PM, RedKnave wrote:
>
> > On Nov 23 2009 7:51 PM, Kent Briggs wrote:
> >
> > > RedKnave wrote:
> > >
> > > > 3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure
> if
> > > > it's really necessary in the long run.
> > >
> > > It's necessary if you want more than 4 GB of ram.
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Kent Briggs, kbr...@briggsoft.com
> > > Briggs Softworks, http://www.briggsoft.com
> >
> > Thanks for this...I wasn't aware of the requirement. Of course, whether I
> > actually need more than 4 GBs for my uses is a good question.
>
> You probably don't. Let me add, if you are buying this as your one and
> only computer, and from the description of how you use it, i would go with
> a laptop. Dell is fine (although I would go Mac, but that's just me).
>
> --
> I don't care about you! Fuck you! - FEAR
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyM4uAJBujA
Thanks; that really helps. I just replied to j-t that I really didn't
want a laptop, but I'm willing to open my mind to the possibility.
Assuming I was going to hook it up to a big monitor and keyboard, and not
really intend to lug it around much, if at all (I have a small laptop for
travel), why would I want a laptop rather than a desktop/tower?
misanthropic whackjob
I hate being tied to a desk if I don't have to be. I am a Mac sw
developer, and I normally use my MacBook Pro as my development machine
when I work at home. I have it hooked up to a 23" monitor, keyboard,
mouse, etc etc on my desk, but I can break it free, and lie down in bed
and play poker if I feel like it (and still have all my stuff and my
desktop set up how i like it since it is the same computer). And, you
know, I hate to have to sit out hands when I need to take a s...
--
I don't care about you! Fuck you! - FEAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyM4uAJBujA
____________________________________________________________________�
XaQ Morphy
> I think it's time I bought myself a new pc. The one I have is at least 6
> years old and never was top of the line, being cobbled together from parts
> from surplus computers or ones gone bad. I don't know about you other
> folks in IT in big companies, but in my org., it seemed like the users
> always had better equipment than I did. Anyway, I've been out of the
> business for over 3 years and I'm way out of date on this stuff.
>
> I think I'm going to stick with MS, rather than switch to Apple. My
> experience generally was that Dell was a solid choice. I've looked at
> their stuff, and a few others, and have some questions. I'm not a heavy
> gamer or graphics guy.
>
> 1. Dell still a good choice?
As much as I hate to admit it, because I'm currently in a small battle
with Dell over some stupid shit, I'd say they are the best choice right
now if you don't want to build yourself.
> 2. Should I go for the i7 processor?
I'm an AMD guy so I haven't been following Intel desktop processors. Some
general advice that I give, when I buy a processor I buy 2-3 steps down
from what is current and I know it will last 3-4 years.
> 3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure if
> it's really necessary in the long run.
Eventually everything will be 64-bit. That said, the industry has been
saying that for years. Just make sure in advance that all of your
components have 64-bit drivers.
> 4. I have to admit to being more than a bit uncertain about the
> appropriate level of Win7. I've been totally happy with XP Pro and
> completely bypassed all of the issues and discussion about Vista and it's
> versions.
Win7 is much, much faster than Vista and has a better interface.
Performance is very close to XP. If you go 64-bit I'd never consider
doing it with XP. Go for Win7, it's a good OS.
> 5. RAM? 6-8 GB?
Unless you have a specific need for that much, 4Gb is plenty.
> 6. Video card?
I spent $300 a little over a year ago for a video card that's probably
worth $100 today. Just get whatever you can afford. Pick your favorite
chip, ATI or nvidia and go from there. Anything in the top 5 chipsets
from either one will be fine.
---
Morphy
xaqm...@donkeymanifesto.com
http://www.donkeymanifesto.com
_______________________________________________________________________�
DELETETHIS
Windows 7 complaint video card system and dont worry about the rest of
it. If you get a computer with vista - MAKE SURE it has a free upgrade
path to Windows 7- It is where we are at and will be for a while. 5
years ago I would have laughed at this advice - I have built 100's of
computers over the last 20 years for friends (a number of them for
SERIOUS gamers) but things are different today - unless you are a
serious gamer or into video editing - most ANY computer built today will
do just fine. RAM is cheap but over 2gb is a little waste and hard
drives are so cheap that even if you store movies and pictures ( put
them on a DVD that most all computers have today) it is unimportant.
Get a GOOD monitor and make it big - it will improve your computer
experience far beyond the money you will spend on it. I dont much care
for Dell but I would not rule them out. Be aware that if you call them
you can almost always get a little extra on their computer if you
negotiate with them - usually not a lower price but a free upgrade or
two. This is above and beyond the "specials" they show.
Good luck - and for more free advice (you get what you pay for) email me
RedKnave
>
> Good luck - and for more free advice (you get what you pay for) email me
Thanks for the offer of more advice. I think I'm getting a pretty good
idea, with all the helpful comments here, but if I need more I may take
you up on it.
______________________________________________________________________�
RedKnave
advice. I have a much better sense of direction on this now than I did
earlier.
_____________________________________________________________________�
Paul Popinjay
news:h5rrt6x...@recgroups.com...
> And, you
> know, I hate to have to sit out hands when I need to take a s...
>
Thanks for THIS little tidbit of information!
(of course, I am imagining George Costanza and the flagged book)
Paul Popinjay
news:rasrt6x...@recgroups.com...
Why not one of these barebones kits I see advertised through Tigerdirect or
whatever?
And can you rate Ubuntu versus W7?
Clave
news:hefq5n$uan$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
<...>
> Why not one of these barebones kits I see advertised through Tigerdirect
> or whatever?
"Barebones" means nothing more than what the seller says it means. You
might have to buy the CPU, memory, disks, power supply, video card and/or
who knows what else separately, and you put it all together yourself at your
own risk.
Jim
Paul Popinjay
news:F-SdnVIf1ZqP6ZbW...@cablespeedmi.com...
>
> "Barebones" means nothing more than what the seller says it means. You
> might have to buy the CPU, memory, disks, power supply, video card and/or
> who knows what else separately, and you put it all together yourself at
> your own risk.
>
Some of them look pretty reasonable, and have all or most of that stuff.
Clave
By all means good luck to you then.
I guess "barebones" has other, "everything you need is here" connotations I
haven't heard of before.
Jim
Pepe Papon
<a1b...@webnntp.invalid> wrote:
>Thanks; that really helps. I just replied to j-t that I really didn't
>want a laptop, but I'm willing to open my mind to the possibility.
>Assuming I was going to hook it up to a big monitor and keyboard, and not
>really intend to lug it around much, if at all (I have a small laptop for
>travel), why would I want a laptop rather than a desktop/tower?
Funny, as I have both a desktop and a laptop, and I recently decided
that I'd like to eventually get rid of the desktop and use the laptop
for everything. There's really no need for the clunkiness of a
desktop anymore now that most peripherals can be connected with USB.
The extra internal hard drive space of the desktop is also unnecessary
now that external drives are cheap and easy to connect.
--
~ Seth Jackson
MySpace URL - http://www.myspace.com/sethjacksonsong
Songwriting and Music Business Info: http://www.sethjackson.net
Pepe Papon
<a1b...@webnntp.invalid> wrote:
>I think it's time I bought myself a new pc. The one I have is at least 6
>years old and never was top of the line, being cobbled together from parts
>from surplus computers or ones gone bad. I don't know about you other
>folks in IT in big companies, but in my org., it seemed like the users
>always had better equipment than I did. Anyway, I've been out of the
>business for over 3 years and I'm way out of date on this stuff.
>
>I think I'm going to stick with MS, rather than switch to Apple. My
>experience generally was that Dell was a solid choice. I've looked at
>their stuff, and a few others, and have some questions. I'm not a heavy
>gamer or graphics guy.
>
>1. Dell still a good choice?
>2. Should I go for the i7 processor?
>3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure if
>it's really necessary in the long run.
>4. I have to admit to being more than a bit uncertain about the
>appropriate level of Win7. I've been totally happy with XP Pro and
>completely bypassed all of the issues and discussion about Vista and it's
>versions.
>5. RAM? 6-8 GB?
>6. Video card?
>
>Any help or advice you might be willing to render will be appreciated.
I bought a new laptop a few weeks ago when my old one suddenly and
unexpectedly died. I didn't have time to research the options, so I
relied on the advice of the salesman from my local computer store
(they have proven to be highly trustworthy in the past).
He recommended an ASUS, which, so far, I am thrilled with. On his
advice, I chose 32 bit. He said that 64 bit doesn't necessarily
outperform 32 bit, and there are potential problems such as lack of
support for certain drivers.
The model I got is the K501J. The processor is an Intel T6600 at 2.2
GHz. It came with a 250 GB HD and 4 GB of RAM. For a laptop, it has
a huge 15.6 inch screen, yet it doesn't feel particularly heavy or
bulky. The unit looks and feels really slick. There's a built-in
webcam.
Paul Popinjay
> "Paul Popinjay" <paulpo...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
> news:heftdf$ion$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>
>> Some of them look pretty reasonable, and have all or most of that stuff.
>
> By all means good luck to you then.
>
> I guess "barebones" has other, "everything you need is here" connotations
> I haven't heard of before.
>
> Jim
>
Not bad for $179.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5367062&CatId=332
Jerry Sturdivant
"RedKnave"
> OK... I want to thank everyone for very helpful comments,
> suggestions, and advice. I have a much better sense of
> direction on this now than I did earlier.
Although I'm no longer much of a computer expert, I do have a little advice:
Consider two screens; it's the future. My son put a second one in for me and
it's been absolutely great. Especially when playing poker or doing billing.
I'd forward advice from him but he talks computer to the point I have no
idea what he's saying. One thing I did pick up on was his complaint that the
water pump on one of his computer's went out. Seems he's changing over from
water-cooling his CPUs. He's going to series in an additional pump and
change over to alcohol.
I don't know if that's advice you could use.
Jerry (who drinks alcohol) 'n Vegas
- It said "insert disk #3" - but only two will fit...
charrison100
That's just case, motherboard, ram and processor.
You still need Harddrive and dvd/Blu-ray at a minimum.
Chris
"Chris is loveable, but we all know he's not the brightest knife in the
drawer." - Paul Popinjay, 08/31/2009
"Chris H. may be loveable, but he is one card short of getting two birds
stoned." - Paul Popinjay, 10/20/2009
number6
> I think it's time I bought myself a new pc. The one I have is at least 6
> years old and never was top of the line, being cobbled together from parts
> from surplus computers or ones gone bad. I don't know about you other
> folks in IT in big companies, but in my org., it seemed like the users
> always had better equipment than I did. Anyway, I've been out of the
> business for over 3 years and I'm way out of date on this stuff.
>
> I think I'm going to stick with MS, rather than switch to Apple. My
> experience generally was that Dell was a solid choice. I've looked at
> their stuff, and a few others, and have some questions. I'm not a heavy
> gamer or graphics guy.
>
> 1. Dell still a good choice?
> 2. Should I go for the i7 processor?
> 3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure if
> it's really necessary in the long run.
> 4. I have to admit to being more than a bit uncertain about the
> appropriate level of Win7. I've been totally happy with XP Pro and
> completely bypassed all of the issues and discussion about Vista and it's
> versions.
> 5. RAM? 6-8 GB?
> 6. Video card?
If you multitask at all a Quad Core system is great ... Load up on
RAM ... If you watch a lot of movies online upgrade the video ...
otherwise don't worry about things ... Hell I've even gotten used to
VIsta ...
Search the COMPUSA site for specials ... Now that they are mostly mail
order ... they are a great place to buy discounted electronics ...
La Cosa Nostradamus
> Any help or advice you might be willing to render will be appreciated.
WALMART
Music
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7CBC79A5A43EA115&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL
Dec 21, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=BEACDF838531C36C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL
______________________________________________________________________�
XaQ Morphy
> Why not one of these barebones kits I see advertised through Tigerdirect or
> whatever?
I use a site called SMKsuperstore.com. For an extra $8 or whatever I can
get them to test the parts that I buy and warranty them together. I don't
have a lot of extra parts these days so I don't have the facilities to
test them myself, and I'm sick of ordering stuff from places and having it
show up DOA. I usually don't buy a whole computer, example: a few months
ago I got a motherboard/CPU and everything else stayed the same. I bought
it through SMK for a very competitive price and they pre-configured both
with the heatsink/fan and the warranty is on both working together.
> And can you rate Ubuntu versus W7?
I can't, no. I've installed Ubuntu a few times in various VMs but don't
do much with it.
For me Windows is the only OS I'll use. All of my apps are Windows based
so it makes no sense to do Linux. I know there's various emulators, but
you really can't emulate hardware and software to make something like
Cubase work reliably in a Linux environment.
Windows 7 is the best OS that Microsoft has released to date. I wasn't a
fan of Vista and went back to XP on both machines I had Vista on until the
Win7 betas were available. I'm a big fan of 7 though.
--------�
XaQ Morphy
> Not bad for $179.
>
>
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5367062&CatId=332
That processor is basically junk in today's world. If you do AMD go right
to the Phenom II.
________________________________________________________________________�
Irish Mike
> On Nov 23 2009 5:10 PM, RedKnave wrote:
>
> > I think it's time I bought myself a new pc. The one I have is at least 6
> > years old and never was top of the line, being cobbled together from parts
> > from surplus computers or ones gone bad. I don't know about you other
> > folks in IT in big companies, but in my org., it seemed like the users
> > always had better equipment than I did. Anyway, I've been out of the
> > business for over 3 years and I'm way out of date on this stuff.
> >
> > I think I'm going to stick with MS, rather than switch to Apple. My
> > experience generally was that Dell was a solid choice. I've looked at
> > their stuff, and a few others, and have some questions. I'm not a heavy
> > gamer or graphics guy.
> >
> > 1. Dell still a good choice?
> > 2. Should I go for the i7 processor?
> > 3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure if
> > it's really necessary in the long run.
> > 4. I have to admit to being more than a bit uncertain about the
> > appropriate level of Win7. I've been totally happy with XP Pro and
> > completely bypassed all of the issues and discussion about Vista and it's
> > versions.
> > 5. RAM? 6-8 GB?
> > 6. Video card?
> >
> > Any help or advice you might be willing to render will be appreciated.
>
> Sorry I did not finish. If you go 64 bit, get all the ram you can. 8 is
> great.
>
> I am an MSDN member and have been using Win 7 64 pro on my notebook since
> the Release to Manufacturing version came out. I re-did my XP desktop to
> Win 7 64 pro a couple of weeks ago and love it.
I bought a new Dell PC six months ago and am running Windows Vista 64 bit.
I also use Outlook 2007 for E-mail and as a PDA. Any advantage to
switching to Windows 7? Does Windows 7 support Outlook 2007?
Thanks,
Irish Mike
Irish Mike
I just bought a fully loaded, top of the line Dell Desktop with Vista 64
bit operating system.
Three pieces of advice. First, get as much ram as possible. Second, make
sure you have an HDMI port. Third, (and this is optional) buy Dell's
deluxe technical support package that lets you speak with North American
based techs. Shorter wait times and you don't have to waste hours trying
to communicate with a bunch of East Indians. Politically incorrect thing
to say but worth every fucking penny. You might want to get Windows 7
which was not out when I bought my system. If you go with Windows 7,
consider buying it retail instead of having it pre-loaded on your PC by
Dell. Reason is that if you buy it retail, you get 90 days of free
technical support from Microsoft and their support, on their software, is
the best available.
Irish Mike
RedKnave
Some good points, Mike. Thanks. I had been thinking about not buying
Win7 pre-installed, for a variety of reasons. I'll have to compare the
costs.
RedKnave
Which version of Win 7 would you recommend, Home Premium or Pro? The only
significant benefit of Premium is BitLocker, so far as I can tell, and I'm
not too sure I really need it under my circumstances. Over Home Premium,
Pro seems to give me XP mode, Domain connectivity, and auto backups, none
of which sound all that critical, or easily dealt with in other ways
(well, maybe not the XP mode, but I probably want to get away from XP
limits, anyway.)
_____________________________________________________________________�
DELETETHIS
that way-
below is a link to a $150 refurb computer with Windows XP
XaQ Morphy
> Which version of Win 7 would you recommend, Home Premium or Pro? The only
> significant benefit of Premium is BitLocker, so far as I can tell, and I'm
> not too sure I really need it under my circumstances. Over Home Premium,
> Pro seems to give me XP mode, Domain connectivity, and auto backups, none
> of which sound all that critical, or easily dealt with in other ways
> (well, maybe not the XP mode, but I probably want to get away from XP
> limits, anyway.)
I use pro on my machines at home, since that's what I'm licensed for. The
RC was Ultimate and I have 1 license for that but I haven't found a reason
to use it yet. Media center is on Pro so I don't see much I have to use
Ultimate for. I do need domain connectivity so I haven't even looked at
any of the Home versions.
_____________________________________________________________________�
RedKnave
> On Nov 24 2009 4:25 PM, RedKnave wrote:
>
> > Which version of Win 7 would you recommend, Home Premium or Pro? The only
> > significant benefit of Premium is BitLocker, so far as I can tell, and I'm
> > not too sure I really need it under my circumstances. Over Home Premium,
> > Pro seems to give me XP mode, Domain connectivity, and auto backups, none
> > of which sound all that critical, or easily dealt with in other ways
> > (well, maybe not the XP mode, but I probably want to get away from XP
> > limits, anyway.)
>
> I use pro on my machines at home, since that's what I'm licensed for. The
> RC was Ultimate and I have 1 license for that but I haven't found a reason
> to use it yet. Media center is on Pro so I don't see much I have to use
> Ultimate for. I do need domain connectivity so I haven't even looked at
> any of the Home versions.
>
> ---
> Morphy
> xaqm...@donkeymanifesto.com
> http://www.donkeymanifesto.com
Thanks. What I was thinking, but validation from someone who is current
is always good.
RedKnave
Interesting....It's certainly a hell of a lot better than what I've got
now. I'm going to have to broaden my search for potential deals, beyond
straight Dell. BTS's suggestion of Dell Outlet is a good idea, too.
------�
Bill T
>
> Which version of Win 7 would you recommend, Home Premium or Pro?
<<snip>>>
If you have to ask, you don't need anything more than Home Premium. (I
don't mean to be snarky.)
RedKnave
Yeah, I know how it is. I'm constantly telling my wife I didn't mean to
be an asshole, it just came out that way.
________________________________________________________________________�
chandler
> I think it's time I bought myself a new pc. The one I have is at least 6
> years old and never was top of the line, being cobbled together from parts
> from surplus computers or ones gone bad. I don't know about you other
> folks in IT in big companies, but in my org., it seemed like the users
> always had better equipment than I did. Anyway, I've been out of the
> business for over 3 years and I'm way out of date on this stuff.
>
> I think I'm going to stick with MS, rather than switch to Apple. My
> experience generally was that Dell was a solid choice. I've looked at
> their stuff, and a few others, and have some questions. I'm not a heavy
> gamer or graphics guy.
>
> 1. Dell still a good choice?
> 2. Should I go for the i7 processor?
> 3. 32 or 64 bit? I think I'd like to get the 64-bit, but I'm not sure if
> it's really necessary in the long run.
> 4. I have to admit to being more than a bit uncertain about the
> appropriate level of Win7. I've been totally happy with XP Pro and
> completely bypassed all of the issues and discussion about Vista and it's
> versions.
> 5. RAM? 6-8 GB?
> 6. Video card?
>
> Any help or advice you might be willing to render will be appreciated.
Picked up a gateway recently. minitower, 64 bit, Q8200, 4GB DDR3, 640 GB
HD, integrated graphics with a buttload of ports front and back. No
monitor. $400. My computing needs are fairly basic and with the money I
saved on the desktop I picked up a sweet little netbook for traveling. No
need for the I7 or 8 gigs of ram or a zillion gigs of hard drive.
Chandler
------�
Bill T
> On Nov 24 2009 5:46 PM, Bill T wrote:
>
>> On 11/24/2009 2:25 PM, RedKnave wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Which version of Win 7 would you recommend, Home Premium or Pro?
>> <<snip>>>
>>
>> If you have to ask, you don't need anything more than Home Premium. (I
>> don't mean to be snarky.)
>
> Yeah, I know how it is. I'm constantly telling my wife I didn't mean to
> be an asshole, it just came out that way.
>
Touche. But, I would recommend Home Premium unless you regularly
interact with Enterprise systems. If needed, you can get Bit-locker
equivalents as a 3-rd party add-on.
I installed Ultimate (beta) for several months, but I did not used any
of its extra features.
Clave
That's got more than most "barebones" kits I've seen, but I don't look at
such kits much.
If you're comfortable putting it all together yourself, configuring the
BIOS, and you don't mind not having a warranty for anything but individual
components, go for it.
Just bear in mind that *nothing* is assembled for you. You have to mount
the motherboard and power supply in the case, mount the CPU and memory on
the motherboard, buy and install a CPU fan...
I'm also suspicious of what their idea of "light gaming" is -- you may need
a new video card right out of the gate.
Jim
Clave
Chris is right on about the disk drives too.
Jim
otter
wrote:
> Take what comes on the machine for an operating system -- a LOT cheaper
> that way-
>
> below is a link to a $150 refurb computer with Windows XP
>
> >>http://www.donkeymanifesto.com
>
> > Which version of Win 7 would you recommend, Home Premium or Pro? The only
> > significant benefit of Premium is BitLocker, so far as I can tell, and I'm
> > not too sure I really need it under my circumstances. Over Home Premium,
> > Pro seems to give me XP mode, Domain connectivity, and auto backups, none
> > of which sound all that critical, or easily dealt with in other ways
> > (well, maybe not the XP mode, but I probably want to get away from XP
> > limits, anyway.)
>
> > _____________________________________________________________________
>
> - Show quoted text -
XP was fast, but really, really, buggy.
misanthropic whackjob
> On Nov 23 2009 11:15 PM, Paul Popinjay wrote:
>
> > Why not one of these barebones kits I see advertised through Tigerdirect
or
> > whatever?
>
> I use a site called SMKsuperstore.com. For an extra $8 or whatever I can
> get them to test the parts that I buy and warranty them together. I don't
> have a lot of extra parts these days so I don't have the facilities to
> test them myself, and I'm sick of ordering stuff from places and having it
> show up DOA. I usually don't buy a whole computer, example: a few months
> ago I got a motherboard/CPU and everything else stayed the same. I bought
> it through SMK for a very competitive price and they pre-configured both
> with the heatsink/fan and the warranty is on both working together.
>
> > And can you rate Ubuntu versus W7?
>
> I can't, no. I've installed Ubuntu a few times in various VMs but don't
> do much with it.
It is good to have a Linux computer around (Ubuntu is fine) in case you
have any NAS devices that are formatted with ext2/3 or xfs, just in case
one of the disks goes belly up. I have had better luck with fsck and
xfs_repair on a Ubuntu box than running on the NAS itself.
>
> For me Windows is the only OS I'll use. All of my apps are Windows based
> so it makes no sense to do Linux. I know there's various emulators, but
> you really can't emulate hardware and software to make something like
> Cubase work reliably in a Linux environment.
>
> Windows 7 is the best OS that Microsoft has released to date. I wasn't a
> fan of Vista and went back to XP on both machines I had Vista on until the
> Win7 betas were available. I'm a big fan of 7 though.
>
> ---
> Morphy
> xaqm...@donkeymanifesto.com
> http://www.donkeymanifesto.com
--
I don't care about you! Fuck you! - FEAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyM4uAJBujA
Pepe Papon
<"minus200(DELETETHIS)"@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>Take what comes on the machine for an operating system -- a LOT cheaper
>that way-
>
>below is a link to a $150 refurb computer with Windows XP
I bought a refurb laptop 2 years ago. The motherboard died on my
last month. A motherboard should last a helluva lot longer than 2
years. I'd be careful with refurb machines.
Clave
news:ndlpg55dnvngm2are...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:28:27 -0600, DELETETHIS
> <"minus200(DELETETHIS)"@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>>Take what comes on the machine for an operating system -- a LOT cheaper
>>that way-
>>
>>below is a link to a $150 refurb computer with Windows XP
>
> I bought a refurb laptop 2 years ago. The motherboard died on my
> last month. A motherboard should last a helluva lot longer than 2
> years. I'd be careful with refurb machines.
I wouldn't touch a refurb.
By the same token, laptops are one of the exceptions to my "never buy an
extended warranty" rule, and I've never bought one that didn't pay for
itself.
Jim
Paul Popinjay
news:9qgtt6x...@recgroups.com...
> On Nov 24 2009 8:34 AM, Paul Popinjay wrote:
>
>> Not bad for $179.
>>
>>
> http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5367062&CatId=332
>
> That processor is basically junk in today's world. If you do AMD go right
> to the Phenom II.
>
Ok, but I listed the cheapest one on the page to show that some of them are
pretty reasonable. Also, some of them have hard drives too. Looks like
none of them have cpu coolers, though.
Paul Popinjay
>
> By the same token, laptops are one of the exceptions to my "never buy an
> extended warranty" rule, and I've never bought one that didn't pay for
> itself.
>
Perhaps with an expensive laptop, but I just don't see how a warranty is a
good choice on desktops when you can replace things so cheaply now. Am I
wrong about that?
Paul Popinjay
news:1df9d739-adef-4922...@k17g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
> XP was fast, but really, really, buggy.
What are you talking about, "buggy"? No it wasn't. I would venture that 9
out of 10 geeks on this newsgroup would disagree with you and say that XP
was not buggy. You're the one who's buggy. You insect.
Paul Popinjay
>
> Windows 7 is the best OS that Microsoft has released to date. I wasn't a
> fan of Vista and went back to XP on both machines I had Vista on until the
> Win7 betas were available. I'm a big fan of 7 though.
>
Ok, here's the deal. I don't like this new shit about only being able to
use something on one or three computers. I never did do Vista, and have
used my same XP disk to put it on more than a few computers. Yes, obviously
I am a little behind the times because I know they have been doing this for
awhile. I damn near bought W7 last night based on your recommendation that
it is a good thing, but then I got pissed that I could only use it on one or
three machines or whatever and said fuck that shit and walked out of the
store. So wtf, is there anyway to get around this one-computer or
three-computer limit? I am guessing there is. Can you or Clave comment on
this, please?
Meanwhile, Ubuntu encourages you to put it on as many systems as you want.
Big difference in philosophies.
-PP
BillB
"Paul Popinjay" <paulpo...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:hejg5f$9e4$3...@news.eternal-september.org...
> Perhaps with an expensive laptop, but I just don't see how a
> warranty is a good choice on desktops when you can replace things so
> cheaply now. Am I wrong about that?
No, you are not wrong. Turns out you've been right about everything. I
am really keeping an eye on the Chinese now.
BillB
"RedKnave" <a1b...@webnntp.invalid> wrote in message
news:0sdrt6x...@recgroups.com...
You should build it yourself. By far the best way to go. You'll have
fun, you'll learn a few things, you'll get exactly what you want for
less money, and you'll end up loving your computer more (mainly
because it will be better). Win 7 all the way on a new computer,
although if you are on a really tight budget you could even try
Ubuntu. I just built a new computer not that long ago, so I'm not up
on all the latest processors. I went with an Intel E8400 dual core. It
was dirt cheap and runs air-cooled at 3.2Ghz without a hiccup. I think
4GB of RAM is more than sufficient for most users needs at this time.
If you aren't gaming you should be able to get a good video card on
sale for $50 or less.
Paul Popinjay
news:YBcPm.32714$ZF3....@newsfe13.iad...
>
>
> No, you are not wrong. Turns out you've been right about everything. I am
> really keeping an eye on the Chinese now.
What's this shit? What do you want from me? I'm NOT loaning no money.
Clave
news:hejg5f$9e4$3...@news.eternal-september.org...
Wouldn't know. I build all my desktops.
Jim
Clave
> "XaQ Morphy" <a1c...@webnntp.invalid> wrote in message
> news:hvftt6x...@recgroups.com...
>
>>
>> Windows 7 is the best OS that Microsoft has released to date. I wasn't a
>> fan of Vista and went back to XP on both machines I had Vista on until
>> the
>> Win7 betas were available. I'm a big fan of 7 though.
>>
>
>
> Ok, here's the deal. I don't like this new shit about only being able to
> use something on one or three computers. I never did do Vista, and have
> used my same XP disk to put it on more than a few computers. Yes,
> obviously I am a little behind the times because I know they have been
> doing this for awhile. I damn near bought W7 last night based on your
> recommendation that it is a good thing, but then I got pissed that I could
> only use it on one or three machines or whatever and said fuck that shit
> and walked out of the store. So wtf, is there anyway to get around this
> one-computer or three-computer limit? I am guessing there is. Can you or
> Clave comment on this, please?
You want advice on how to circumvent a Microsoft license agreement?
Is that what you're asking for?
Jim