In Need of a New Computer and Need Some Advice

[gunghorjc]

Well, I guess need is subective, as my computer still functions. I suppose the better term to use is in want of a new computer. ;)

Mine is a laptop, HP, going on about 6 years old.

I use it mostly for internet and browsing as well as storing my pictures and photo editing. So it's not like I need a gaming computer.

Seems there's a big push for Apple computers, but are they worth the price for a MacBook Pro?

I was kind of leaning towards building my own desktop, but without any experience at it, I'm a bit lenient. A buddy of mine from high school builds his own computers and he says he won't buy a pre-built computer ever again. The reason I was thinking of a desktop was to be able to upgrade the computer as technology continues to improve.

Any thoughts? I'd like to hear them. This laptop I'm on now is about on its last legs.

 

[theLords]

I have had my Macbook OSX 10.4.11 for almost 7 years now. I haven't ever had a virus and my laptop is still going strong. In fact the exterior will probably fall apart before the interior ever does!

I'll be getting a Macbook Pro in a year or two. I'm excited!

 

[tim-from-pa]

Macs are great, but expensive.

Oftentimes people load their own Linux, esp Ubuntu but not everyone wants to get that involved, even though Linux is free. Consequently, they end up with Microsoft and the myriads of viruses that plague only that OS and never the others.

However, don't despair. I understand that some stores (I believe it's Staples or one of those red-iconed electronics places) sell computers and laptops with Ubuntu installed for a minimal cost. Since you don't seem to want a computer for anything fancy, it would be good to give up the Microsoft cattle trail now and go to a user-friendly and real durable (and cheap) OS. Just ask around, I'm sure you can get somebody to do that for you.

 

[Sparkey]

If we rule out Mac's because of expense (and I agree, they are rather expensive - I've also been out shopping) -- we can also rule out top end Intel based CPU's. If you want something in the $500 to $750 range for a new desktop and try to build it yourself (if you're anything like me) that too becomes difficult. I thought about building my own desktop (because I used to work as a Systems Analysist in an IT Dept) - and the choices of things that I wanted, like a good graphics card or a blue-ray disk player or a fancy CPU added up really, really quick. Believe it or not, my home designed system ended up costing more than a MAC.

I finally gave up and bought the best pre-built Desktop (64-bit with Win7) that I could afford and am very happy with the choice. It's probably good to explore both avenues and then choose according to a pre-determined price range. There are lots of places that offer electronic build-your-own or custom your own computers - just build a couple virtual computers online and check how much they cost. Then go and look at the pre-made equilivants and compare. It's all about trade-offs these days.

What I ended up doing was going to Costco.com and buying one from them online - one that had a $300 rebate. Turns out I couldn't build an equilivent any cheaper. I did end up reloading the system (to get rid of all the junk software included) barebones Win7 then customed the software choice with stuff I had previously purchased.

 

[Nick]

If we rule out Mac's because of expense (and I agree, they are rather expensive - I've also been out shopping) -- we can also rule out top end Intel based CPU's. If you want something in the $500 to $750 range for a new desktop and try to build it yourself (if you're anything like me) that too becomes difficult. I thought about building my own desktop (because I used to work as a Systems Analysist in an IT Dept) - and the choices of things that I wanted, like a good graphics card or a blue-ray disk player or a fancy CPU added up really, really quick. Believe it or not, my home designed system ended up costing more than a MAC.

I finally gave up and bought the best pre-built Desktop (64-bit with Win7) that I could afford and am very happy with the choice. It's probably good to explore both avenues and then choose according to a pre-determined price range. There are lots of places that offer electronic build-your-own or custom your own computers - just build a couple virtual computers online and check how much they cost. Then go and look at the pre-made equilivants and compare. It's all about trade-offs these days.

What I ended up doing was going to Costco.com and buying one from them online - one that had a $300 rebate. Turns out I couldn't build an equilivent any cheaper. I did end up reloading the system (to get rid of all the junk software included) barebones Win7 then customed the software choice with stuff I had previously purchased.

I largely agree with Sparrow.

I'm a Microsoft person, but have heavily looked into Macs recently, and have had three Linux distros in the past, but am still on Microsoft Windows. Often it's a matter of preference and what you want to sacrifice, because each OS requires a sacrifice, whether it be time, effort, maintenaince, technical knowledge, money or a bit of security. You have to decide which one it's going to be. Know what you want and stick to it.

I would advise against going into a store and buying a computer, unless you're sure of what you want, becasue most of those sales people are there to make a sale. Don't go to them for technical advise. Do your research before hand. Often online purchases can be good. I know Dell do some good online deals.

 

[gunghorjc]

Thanks everyone! It'll be a few months while I save up for a new computer so plenty of time for me to do some research!

Not really sure what I need, but I should at least look into getting something that will work for my needs in the future as well, not just right now.

Pretty much all I use it for right now is internet, word processing, and my photo storing/editing with Adobe Elements 9. Which barely runs on my current computer.

 

[Sparkey]

A walk through for my recent purchase:

When I wanted to consider building my own I went out and made several decisions -- trying to match computing power and price to my requirements (I'm a student and wanted Office 2010).

To build it on my own would include buying
Case and Power Supply
Motherboard
Processor Choices: (including heatsink and fan or other cooling)

Low End
Medium CPU power
Top End Processor​

Memory
Hard Drive
DVD / ROM Drive
Video Card
Sound Card (Some motherboard include this 'onboard')
IDE / EIDE and/or SATA Cables
Operating System
Other Software
_____________________

What I found was the the cost of the system went up pretty quick when I tried to build around a Top-End CPU. One thing leads to another and so if I had a good CPU then of course that means I want extra memory, fast hard drive (SATA) and a better motherboard as well as my unstated goal of having great graphics so I could play games and get satisfaction.


For instance:
When trying to build my own, dropping my dream TOP END CPU spec to something a little more affordable:

• AMD HDT90ZFBGRBOX Phenom II 1090T Black Edition Six Core Processor - 3.20GHz, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz RETAIL approx $189

and dropping total memory to 4 Gig helped keep the costs down -- but since I don't own a seperate Blu-Ray Disk player and like movies I started playing with system builds that would include a Blu-Ray player and spending money that I "saved" on the CD-ROM/DVD player and graphics card options. That pushed the total system price up again so that it made sense in the long run to find a $300 rebate offer at a store and buy pre-built. Either way would have resulted in a great computer - but I chose pre-built because my bottom line was that it gave me more for my money than I could build myself. CPU Manufacturers are getting very competitive these days.

Oh, one more thing that should be considered when building your own system - the "external" I/O devices and by that I mean the keyboards, mice, printers and monitors that will likely need to be upgraded. Also - when building your own - the Operating System (in my Case, Windows 7 Professional) needs to be included. As a student I was lucky that way being eligible for student prices for both Win7 and Office 2010.

Here's a link to a computer (not saying it's the best) that gives a starting point for comparison - Costco - ZT Desktop AMD Phenom II Quad-Core Processor 955 3.2GHz Lifetime 24/7 Toll-Free Support

costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=11632133&whse=BC&topnav=

You can cut-n-paste (add the www part) and see a $500 computer that to me is a balance between needs / wanst and cost.

 

[gunghorjc]

Thanks Sparrowhawke! I like the looks of the desktop actually. Definitely blows my current laptop out of the water.

My current laptop when I look at System Properties says;

AMD Turion 64X2
1.61 GHz, 960 MB of RAM
99 GB of Hard Drive Space (pretty much all used up)

Hopefully this lasts me just a little while longer till I make the choices. I've always been told that desktops, while they lack portability, are easier to upgrade and keep going for longer than laptops.

So is that a trade off I'm wanting to take? Dunno.