Thread: Need a New Computer

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I'm looking at new computers and not sure that I want a lap top yet - but that isn't what I want to ask. Microsoft has come out with Vista but are still offering XP. My wife has Vista at work and the new version of Office 2007 (I think). It has been a horror story for her company. Reading a lot of posts on a computer web site, it seems that many are having the same problems - that Microsoft made changes just for the sake of making them and that many(most?) of the old appilcations will not work in Vista. I'm not sure that I'm seeing the correct story on the computer website. I do like XP and my Office '97, it's working well, but the PC is getting cranky and I think it's telling me it needs a new home.

So:

Vista - and why you like it and why I should
XP - and why the new PC should have it

Help

buy the system with Vista and load XP on it, you will have the restore disk for going to vista later after bugs are worked out of it, and most importantly the license covers vista AND XP. i run 2007 as one of the IT staff we are testing it out, I hate it, really I do. Things have been moved around too much and simple tasks have to be re-learned.

laptop versus desktop is an interesting question, lots of people want laptops and then when I talk to them about it they don't really have a need for it. any time somebody asks me for advice about what to get I spend time talking to them about 1. what they currently use computers for 2. what they realistically see themselves using it for in the future. most systems are overbuilt for what a real user needs.

Red

when i bought my new lap top the queen of mean scrubed my hard drive and reloaded xp on it , i have not had any problems with xp at all , a few of my fellow co-workers have vista on their computers and its a nightmare , the program is not user friendly at all , maybe one day it will be but for now im personally gonna use the xp..

I got Vista on my new laptop, don't get it. I'v had 2 counts of driver faliure because Vista likes to change them to make them better..

Cant change w/o getting new HD cause Acer decided to put the recovery stuff ON the hard drive, on a partition I cant remove w/o loosing all.

Looks like XP is still the winner tho I do like Dago's idea. I don't have a separate full XP OS disk, unfortunately, to go that way. I'm leaning towards the XP and dump most of the bloatware that manufacturers seem to want to install and load up the hard drive. Maybe, if my ship come in I can buy a good desk top and a low end lap top (wishful thinking) but like Denny, I have many pictures and they really fill up the lap top quick. Now, another Dell, an HP or possibly a Lenovo(which I believe is now Chinese owned)?? Dell service has hit the bottom and HP is sounding good - I wish I had the skills to build my own. Did a 386 once with some geek help long ago, but it was very mediocre in performance. Not a decision that needs to be made today but gotta get the research started and a plan going.

hey dave maybe this would work

I've just got a cheap old HP, and a cheap HP laptop for tuneups on the chipped stuff we play with. Both are about 5 years old and still work great.....

Originally Posted by IC2

Looks like XP is still the winner tho I do like Dago's idea. I don't have a separate full XP OS disk, unfortunately, to go that way. I'm leaning towards the XP and dump most of the bloatware that manufacturers seem to want to install and load up the hard drive. Maybe, if my ship come in I can buy a good desk top and a low end lap top (wishful thinking) but like Denny, I have many pictures and they really fill up the lap top quick. Now, another Dell, an HP or possibly a Lenovo(which I believe is now Chinese owned)?? Dell service has hit the bottom and HP is sounding good - I wish I had the skills to build my own. Did a 386 once with some geek help long ago, but it was very mediocre in performance. Not a decision that needs to be made today but gotta get the research started and a plan going.

Buy a barebones system w/ the motherboard and prosessor/ heatsink and fan installed. AMD dual core ( Athalon 64 X2 ) or Pentium dual core ( core duo or core 2 duo ) would be great, especially if there 2ghz per core or better.. this will give you the basics, the motherboard will be hooked up, all the pins for the lights will be plugged in, motherboard power ect... then all you do is add a hard drive, CD rom and memory, probably have it for $500 or so. Don't go For SATA HD's, there marginally faster but for the cost it's not worth it. IDE HD's are easier to hook up anyway, pin 1 ( red line on cable ) almost always points to power plug. set the jumper to cable select, make shure it is plugged in b4 the CD rom, set the CD rom to slave jumper.

Oh, I was looking on Ebay yesterday, there is a laptop refurbishing company that gives 30 day warrantys on laptops. I was looking at an IBM 600 they had listed, because I have 1 ( beater, non working screen, needs to be plugged into monitor but I use it as a backup ). it was gaurenteed except the battery wasn't ( 20$ new on ebay ) the laptop was somthing like $50 buy it now. theres a lot of laptops on ebay in the $10-150 range, some need stuff like hard drives and cd roms, but some are working.

All my computers (5 including the one at work) have XP Pro and Office 2000 to Office 2003 on them. I have both Vista and Office 2007 in my desk drawer and that is where they will stay until they get some bug fixes out on the market. Way too many problems considering how much they have been marketed.

The problem with most new systems, you don't get a choice of operating software. Vista is what nearly all companies are installing. Some might install XP / XP pro, or Linus, but not many. You may be able to get a seller to install XP Pro, instead of Vista, but you would have to buy from a company such as Dell or Gateway or a specialty computer builder, to get that option. Most big box computer stores won't give you the option.

You could also get a new computer with out any operating system installed, and then install one of your own choice. Some companies will do that as well. Check out systems at Tigerdirect.com, I believe they have systems without operating systems installed or will give you a choice of systems. I like Red's idea, but have never tried it myself. Just make sure you got all of the restore disks. Some companies load the restore software on to a partition on the harddrive. Great place to have it in a disk crash.

As others have stated, my advice is to stay away from both Vista and Office 2007, until the bugs are killed. Besides from what I have seen Vista will likely be repaced with another system in the very near future.

Keep it simple and however you do it install XP. You can't install it over Vista. You have to wipe the HD clean. Reformat it. XP Home has been bullet proof for me over several years with a handfull of freeze ups attributed to a zillion things open at once multi-tasking.

But you MUST run clean up utilities no matter what OS your run. Clean the browser cache or your machine will drag ass. Run Disc cleanup and defrag weekly. I use a couple freeware utilities that can do a bit more also.

DO NOT discount the value of having a 2nd HD on your PC. I have for many years. You can easily back things up or out lesser used programs there to keep C drive lean and mean. It is dead simple on a new machine to put the old HD in as drive D slave and simply drag files to new locations instead of endless copying to move them. Also you can install a different OS on the other drive if you have any issues with certain programs not running on a later OS. At boot up you can usually key into the boot menu and choose the which HD you want to boot with. Wanna run Vista and Windows 98? Knock yourself out.

Lots of good ideas here - but I sure can tell the young guys that grew up with computers from the frosted top seasoned folk.

I really think I could build a decent home brew unit myself - at least the desk top. Lap tops?? Not so sure but am going to look into both before I jump in for the big bucks pre made. Never thought about EvilBay for a dead lap top and I even have a listing there now!!

Originally Posted by DennyW

Dave, it's really not hard to build one. Look at me. 1999 was the first time I turned one on, and the blue screen made me cuss.

I built my son's dual core gaming computer for 530.00. The like ones all done were 13-1500.00. You just have to decide what you want it to do first. Some boards are not expandable. There you have to be careful. The low priced ones new, are usually that way. I have built mine also. Not as bold as my son's, because I do not game like him. I have 450.00 in mine. That's new case, new board, pen 4 processor, 3 hard drives. (I just got a 500 gig western digital, new, for 106.50) for the added pictures. I run the case air tight. I use 2 120 x 1" fans on the side, with filters. 2 80 fans on the back for exhaust. No dust, and runs really cool.

I guess I'd best start figuring out if this is the way to go - and quite frankly, think it is. BUT, I still have to make my wife happy as well so she can do her HR thing occasionally at home. The separate monster hard drive for pictures intrigues me as well as it is eating my current one, even with putting many on CDs.

I'll spec out a set of components and run by you via PM for a sanity check - any problem with that?

The motherboards you need to watch out for are the MATX boards, they fit in full size cases and work, but they come with 3 or less PCI card slots. it's what I have, and it works, but when I build my next 1, I'll be using a Full ATX board.

mine's 5 years old now, and I have upgraded once a year.

AMD sempron 2500+ ( 1.75 ghz )
512mb ram
128 MB AGP graphics card ( Nvidia 440 MX )
30gb Maxtor
160gb Western Digital
Lite On DVD RW DL w/ lightscribe 20x speed

I think I might have around $600 in it now after upgrades


I built almost the same computer for sombody else a few months ago, all he had was the case and cd rw remaining from another computer. I think we had $130 in parts

I use www.tigerdirect.com for parts myself but www.newegg.com is good to

Originally Posted by Matt167

The motherboards you need to watch out for are the MATX boards, they fit in full size cases and work, but they come with 3 or less PCI card slots. it's what I have, and it works, but when I build my next 1, I'll be using a Full ATX board.

mine's 5 years old now, and I have upgraded once a year.

AMD sempron 2500+ ( 1.75 ghz )
512mb ram
128 MB AGP graphics card ( Nvidia 440 MX )
30gb Maxtor
160gb Western Digital
Lite On DVD RW DL w/ lightscribe 20x speed

I think I might have around $600 in it now after upgrades


I built almost the same computer for sombody else a few months ago, all he had was the case and cd rw remaining from another computer. I think we had $130 in parts

I use www.tigerdirect.com for parts myself but www.newegg.com is good to

I generally use newegg for various things and have had pretty good luck - but did have to find out with a new CD/DVD writer that if you order OEM instead of accessory, you get the part - no instructions

I'll do my homework