Computer Help...(nf)

[b2kptbo]

My wife suggested buying a new computer instead of getting each other big gifts for Xmas (got me off the hook ). Thinking of a package deal, everything I have now in todays standards is basically a door stop. In my area have been looking at Staples, the Source and futureslop but going to check out MDG. Any feedback, pros & cons would be helpful. Gonna wait till after Xmas too see the prices then, thinking of putting out about a grand...

 

Thx, Bill.

[danc]

Go to a small local shop and have them build one for you. That way you get what you want, and probably for less too. I haven't bought a package computer yet.

[Fisherman]

Like Dan said, period. That integrated junk can cause you headaches down the road. Hardware like the monitor, speakers, etc can be bought separately with no problems if it breaks down.

[tjsa]

I agree also, if you have a store like that.

I am lucky, my workplace has a computer store right beside my office.

I can tailor everything to my liking, and while I am working.

[mikeh]

I found Best Buy to have a good selection, that is where I bought mine.

[mepps]

Tigerdirect.ca has some good prices.

Im a fan of Dell as well.

 

But Dans suggestion is probabbly best

[xrap]

Hey guys I'm also buying a coputer tho but just the tower. I found one that has a 2.93 processor that is what I'm basically looking for but the MHz is only 533. Just wondering what the MHz is used for and with it slow down my speed?

[IanD]

Another vote for the small shop/custom build. With a custom build you will be certain of the critical parts, power supply, HD's, motherboard etc. A lot of "package" units use non-upgradeable components that can be difficult or impossible to repair/replace if needed.

The cost is no greater than a big box store special.

[mason05]

2 words - Toshiba Laptop

[irishfield]

Our son has been building ours since he was in about grade 6 or 7 (ie..the last 10+ years) and no longer bothers going this route. He's found we can buy more power for less money just ordering from Dell and have it a couple days later. He does this with all the computers running off the server system at our Plastics plant, as well as many other happy customers. No issues to date with any Dell equipment...other than my wife's $5k lap top..but that's another story.

 

My current is a Dell Dimension 5150C..2.80Ghz/800FSB/1GB Dual channel SDRAM@533Mhz and 250GB/7200RPM serial ATA hard drive. 19" flat panel, 3.5 floppy drive for my old stuff, 8X CD/DVD burner w double layer write capabilty. 56K modem, optical mouse, Adobe 6.0/Corel photo/Firewall/Sound card all installed. 1year onsite service etc. $1368.10 + tax to the door.

Edited December 14, 2006 by irishfield

[tjsa]

Hey guys I'm also buying a coputer tho but just the tower. I found one that has a 2.93 processor that is what I'm basically looking for but the MHz is only 533. Just wondering what the MHz is used for and with it slow down my speed?

 

Did you get that Mhz right? Mine is a 750 Mhz pc, and is almost 6 yrs. old, and needs to be upgraded soon.

[setomonkey]

Here's another vote for Dell, fast, you can build the system you want if you have some knowledge of the technical stuff, and delivered to you within a few days. Decent prices too.

 

Mike

[tjsa]

Only reason I would not go the Dell route is because of the store right beside my office. Something screws up, its in and out, usually in less than 2 days, since they have all the parts in stock.

With Dell, you have a great warranty, but you have to bring it in and wait. Not a bad thing, but as with every manufacturer, sometimes the wait can be long.

My sister and best bud went through it with Dell, fully covered, but had a down time of almost 2 weeks waiting for parts. The local warranty depot does not stock the parts.

But the same can be said for most manufacturers.

[douG]

I would guess by your question that you don't need the latest and greatest tweaks and buzzes. Pick a price point, and go buy something new at TigerDirect. You can't go wrong. For a desktop, $1000 is pretty darn good.

 

Don't go to MDG. Period.

 

The highest rated laptops are Toshiba and Sony. The university stoonts here at home have laptops, and they are wonderful machines - the wireless internet connections they have are the bees' knees. You can sit in your backyard and chat on OFC at the same time. Too kewl. The laptops will be an extra 30 or 40% over what a similar desktop might cost.

[Smokey]

I had mine built right in town at PCparamedics the the bottom of high street. I found them to be quite competitive with pricing and I got exactly what I wanted. I've also heard good things about the new shop on Parkhill just across the bridge by Alicia's Hair salon. Sorry I can't remember the name but a buddy of mine says he a good guy to deal with.

 

Good Luck with it.

[tjsa]

You're right douG, the Toshibas and Sonys are highly rated, but Sony is too overpriced in my opinion. And Toshibas are not too out of range, bought 3 of them for 999.99 each.

To add to this, we actually do own one other brand, a Lenovo(Thinkpad knockoff) bought in september to replace an old sony(not my choice) and it has issues.

Hasn't failed yet, but interfacing issues with projectors is its main problem.

Stand alone, it may be OK.

OH, forgot, it has a battery issue also, and a prof who bought one also has the same issue. It won't hold a charge.

[danc]

I don't know if it's just luck, but in the past 10 years I've never had one of my 3 clones in for repairs. I had one in the shop for a virus removal in my early days of computer owning (my fault and something that I can correct myself these days), but otherwise I've not had a problem. I like the thought of being able to pick and choose just what you want in a computer. For instance, a a high end video card is important for me because of my photography hobby, but a high end audio card isn't. IMHO, buying from the local small guy will give you a great product at the same price or better than the big guys. Give them a look. .

[Corey]

OK... the 533 Mhz is the front side bus speed. Basically put, it's the speed of the highway that connects all the internals of the machine. It's a little on the slower side, 800 is about the least you should buy with the technology that's available today.

 

If you want a simple solution, buy a Dell. Their configurations are well tested and generally bug free. You are most likely to get the best deal there. If you want something more taylored to your needs, go to a descent computer shop and have them put something together. I would avoid MDG at all costs, their advertising model is crooked.

 

Best thing I can recommend when you get the machine is remve all the antivirus/antispyware packages and go to www.grisoft.com and download AVG antivirus and the antispyware program they have. Download the google toolbar and use the internet explorer popup blocker. With those 4 things, you should remain virus free, spyware free and virtually without popups and the software is all freeware. No monthly/yearly costs and very good protection.

 

Corey

 

ps. I have been doing this computer thing for nearly 20 years and kinda know what I am talking about.

[bigfish1965]

Corey is a network admin so I value his advice. I would only add that you should absolutely spend the extra cash on getting a decent DVD/CD burner. I have two on mine...they are great for doing back ups and pulling off GB's worth of images and junk.

I always go the custom route. I would buy the monitor from a place alike Best Buy, but have the box made custom.

I'm running two 120 GB hard drives. One for Windows and one for files.

The Windows drive is partitioned (100+20) as a scratch pad for Photoshop. IF you run Photoshop the partition is awesome...makes a big difference.

I have a junky sound card cause I don't care about that. Also a mid-range video card..not big into gaming but like hi-def DVD's.

My monitor cost more than my box...by quite a bit..cause I needed a high contrast LCD at 21" and Sharp had the one I wanted. They are much more affordable now then when I got mine (natch).

I may get a MacTel if they ever bring the speed over 3.0 Ghz and get witht he rest of the world and have better mouse options.

 

I have a laser wireless Logitech Media mouse. Damn fine instrument. I recently added a Wacom tablet (that toy is a total blast) and a junky Logitech Media keyboard (I'm forever spilling coffee into my keyboards).

 

Just be honest about what you are going to do with the computer and see a custom guy and he'll make it for you. My guy is in Niagara and I can give you his name by PM if you like.

[Corey]

Value my advice? haha who are you joking hehe. Partitioning drives is bad. bad bad bad. Here's the pros and cons...

 

Pros:

Seperation of system files from data files. Good if you have to reinstall Windows.

 

Cons:

- Overhead on the system. Your OS has to handle 2 file tables, also has to verify each partition each time a disk operation occurs (like verifying drives when you open your My Computer icon)

- Loss of drive space. Not a biggie, but your file table takes a percentage of the overall drive space.

- You will end up running out of space on the first partition. Causing you to install programs on the second partition, totally defeating the purpose of multiple partitions.

- Confusion to the user. Sometimes, if you aren't very knowledgable with the basic working of hardware and operatingg systems.

 

My honest opinion is throw a 100+ gig hard drive in for system and applications. Get an external drive that will connect via e-sata for keeping data on. External drive will run at same speeds as internal drives, but if you ever need service on your machine, you guarantee the safety of your data because you keep the drive at home.

 

You can get a *very* good DVD burner, 16x dual layer +/- for $40. It's pretty much the standard these days.

 

If you need help buying a machine and putting it together, we can goto my favourite shop in Niagara (cough summit direct cough) and pickup some parts, cruise back to my place and talk fishing for 3 hours while we put it together and install the software and then you are set to go.

 

I like to help people with simular interests to myself. Builds a better community.

 

cd.

[xrap]

The tower I want has a 3.0 processor and has 800 MHz. I saw some more expensive towers that have a better processor and lower Mhz and saw some that had a small processor and bigger MHz.??

[steve_paul]

Bought 3 this year - one for home from Dell we are very happy with and 2 from a local build shop here for the office that have both been very good as well. All reasonably priced and around what you would pay at one of the big box stores.

[Corey]

The best recommendation I can make at this point is to ensure that the computer you are buying is Vista compatible. When you purchase the computer, it should also come with the voucher for the free Vista upgrade that Microsoft is giving away.

 

If I were building a basic machine for myself today, here is what I would demand from a store trying to sell me one.

 

Gigabyte motherboard with an nVidia chipset

AMD Athlon 64 Dual Core CPU (4000+ or higher)

1 or 2 Gigabytes of RAM (DDR2)

nVidia based PCI Express video card

160 GB Sata-2 hard drive

LG 16x DVD-RW Dual Layer

LG 16x DVD-ROM

Antec Case & PSU (or another case with an Enermax PSU)

 

That would be my core system. Make sure you get a descent power supply. Enermax is my preference, I also like Antec or Thermaltake. Remember, the power supply is the only thing between your low voltage (5 & 12) and your 110v wall plug. Something to take into consideration is the weight of the Power Supply, the heavier, the better. If your Power Supply weighs a ton, then its got nice big resistors and capacitors in it, which is better protection for your expensive components inside.

 

I would also then get a nice external hard drive enclosure that has External Sata and USB 2.0, and maybe even Firewire (IEEE1394). From there you can use the external drive to store all your data (pictures, word docs, spreadsheets, etc).

 

Generally speaking, and descent motherboard will come with onboard audio which is good enough for anyone other than audiophiles. It will come with Gigabit ethernet, which is faster than any home user will use in the next 10 years.

 

With that said, the choice of peripherals is totally up to you. Optical mouse at the least, laser is the preference. Keyboard, I like the Microsoft keyboards, but that is totally up to you. Monitor, you can get lots of monitors have a look and pick one. I picked up a cheapie 19" LCD for the wife for $179 like 8 months ago at Future Shop, no complaints.

 

If you are going to get a printer, don't buy an inkjet. You can get a colour laser printer for $200 at the right time and the true cost per print is a third of the cost per print from any inkjet.

 

If you have anymore questions, ask em here and I will answer to the best of my knowledge.

 

cd.

[b2kptbo]

Thanks everyone for the great tips and advice, has been very helpful...

 

Thank again, Bill.

[Terry]

Corey that would be a great system and good advise

 

but what are they going to use the computer for..seems to be the first question I would ask......

 

if it's write emails and chat on this web site and nothing more then

I don't see the reason to buy a tractor trailer when a compact pickup truck will do the job..........

 

I know people with old windows 98 systems who tell me they are getting a new 1500 buck machine cause it's slow on the internet

I have them bring it to my house and hook it up to high speed and they save their money and get rogers or whatever is available

 

more then often doubling their ram give them everything they need too

 

I still love the system you suggested,

but b2kptbo what are your needs.... what do you use it for

 

gaming ,rendering, multitasking?

internet, photos/