#1Jun 29th, 2009
It’s a 256ram and 10 gigs hard drive Celeron crap.
Some people say 2.2 gigs ram and 400 gigs hard drive is too slow Is this true?
What’s the minimum I should get?
1855 others browsing the Canadian Forums! Join us!Any Ideas For A Computer
It’s a 256ram and 10 gigs hard drive Celeron crap.
Some people say 2.2 gigs ram and 400 gigs hard drive is too slow Is this true?
What’s the minimum I should get?
#2
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009
Custom made is the way we usually go. And we hate proprietary crap because you HAVE to use the brand's parts.
#4
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009
All depends on what your doing with it..
Surf the web and word processing and all you need is a $550.00 to $700.00 basic BestBuy / Futureshop special..
Surf the web and word processing and all you need is a $550.00 to $700.00 basic BestBuy / Futureshop special..
#5
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009
I hear that 4gigs or better Ram and at least 640 gigs hard drive.
I want to hang onto it for at least ten years
Do
I want to hang onto it for at least ten years
Do
#7
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009
I hate to say this but at the rate of technology there is nothing that will last you 10 years..
My main PC has lasted about 4 years now and its outdated.. But it's not an out of the box PC, so I can upgrade parts of it as I wish.. Laptops are not as easy but the way of the future..
My main PC has lasted about 4 years now and its outdated.. But it's not an out of the box PC, so I can upgrade parts of it as I wish.. Laptops are not as easy but the way of the future..
#9
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by Liberalman
I have 4 gigs of RAM,My computer has to be put out to pasture.
It’s a 256ram and 10 gigs hard drive Celeron crap.
Some people say 2.2 gigs ram and 400 gigs hard drive is too slow Is this true?
What’s the minimum I should get?
running at 2200 Mhz
200 gig hard drive
Advanced DVD drive
22 inch acer wide screen LCD monitor
a card reader to plug the camera into.
I got all this for under $700.00 in Nanaimo.
You could probably do better in a bigger city
#10
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009
What do you want it to do? I'd go Alienware if I was into gaming and didn't mind brand name stuff. Hard drives are into TBs these days (that's a lot of storage), as Frank said, "All depends on what your doing with it..
Surf the web and word processing and all you need is a $550.00 to $700.00 basic BestBuy / Futureshop special..".
Our desktop is a Asus P5GD1 Motherboard, with Pent 4 processor, about 700 GB worth of hard drives, Audigy 2 sound card, Radeon 1650 graphics card I think, etc. Upgrading soon to 4 GB RAM from 2. Next vidcard will be 1GB memory. Thing is we can upgrade parts as we want to rather than have the thing shipped to a dealer for proprietary parts to be installed.
Surf the web and word processing and all you need is a $550.00 to $700.00 basic BestBuy / Futureshop special..".
Our desktop is a Asus P5GD1 Motherboard, with Pent 4 processor, about 700 GB worth of hard drives, Audigy 2 sound card, Radeon 1650 graphics card I think, etc. Upgrading soon to 4 GB RAM from 2. Next vidcard will be 1GB memory. Thing is we can upgrade parts as we want to rather than have the thing shipped to a dealer for proprietary parts to be installed.
#11
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by #juan
Hi Juan, yes the cost of the computer in most stores is not the bulk of the cost of your PC.. I used to sell these and most PC mark up's are in the 4 to 8% margins and that is extremely low.. I have 4 gigs of RAM,
running at 2200 Mhz
200 gig hard drive
Advanced DVD drive
22 inch acer wide screen LCD monitor
a card reader to plug the camera into.
I got all this for under $700.00 in Nanaimo.
You could probably do better in a bigger city
Where they get you is in the Software where they can get 100% profit..
Of course if you got the system and ran Ubuntu it would cost you $0 for software..
#12
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by Francis2004
We bought our desktop in '87 and still have it. Lots of the parts have been replaced though.I hate to say this but at the rate of technology there is nothing that will last you 10 years..
Quote:
I wouldn't begin to try upgrading a laptop. Don't think I've even seen a custom built one. We have a Sony Vaio Z series and its a cool lil machine.My main PC has lasted about 4 years now and its outdated.. But it's not an out of the box PC, so I can upgrade parts of it as I wish.. Laptops are not as easy but the way of the future..
#13
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009
Our desktop is a Asus P5GD1 Motherboard, with Pent 4 processor, about 700 GB worth of hard drives, Audigy 2 sound card, Radeon 1650 graphics card I think, etc. Upgrading soon to 4 GB RAM from 2. Next vidcard will be 1GB memory. Thing is we can upgrade parts as we want to rather than have the thing shipped to a dealer for proprietary parts to be installed.
Exactly LG.. That is what I do and get Asus board myself.. ATI Video cards and used to get SB Sound Cards.. Hard Drives all used to be Quantum ( Now Maxtor ) but lately I have switched to Fujitsu for 3 year warranty. My Monitors are all Samsungs for 3 year warranty as well and the store I deal requires no receipt as they have known me for over 20 years.. I do upgrades when required and money permits..
Exactly LG.. That is what I do and get Asus board myself.. ATI Video cards and used to get SB Sound Cards.. Hard Drives all used to be Quantum ( Now Maxtor ) but lately I have switched to Fujitsu for 3 year warranty. My Monitors are all Samsungs for 3 year warranty as well and the store I deal requires no receipt as they have known me for over 20 years.. I do upgrades when required and money permits..
#14
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009
Yeah. Custom is definitely the way to go for us. Our monitor is a 19 inch widescreen I-inc we bought when they cam out and is still doing well. Think we paid $140 for it. Speakers are Altec Lansings. Canon printer that cost about $70.
#15
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by Francis2004
I already had windows XP and some software from the last computer. I also have Ubuntu but I'm not quite ready to use it by itself.Hi Juan, yes the cost of the computer in most stores is not the bulk of the cost of your PC.. I used to sell these and most PC mark up's are in the 4 to 8% margins and that is extremely low..
Where they get you is in the Software where they can get 100% profit..
Of course if you got the system and ran Ubuntu it would cost you $0 for software..
#16
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009
Jeeeeeeeeeez. Juan is the second person to mention Ubuntu. Maybe worth snooping a bit into info here. I have a buddy who's constantly mentions Linux. But then he also mentioned to our paraplegic buddy, paragolfing. She spat back, "Not on your ******** life!!" lmao (Para friend commented on her fear of heights. I think she was referring to para-skiing or whatever it's called. She's gawdawful funny sometimes).
#17
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 29th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by L Gilbert
Les I use Hard Drive Trays for my home computer.. That way I can have my "Windows" hard drive and my "Ubuntu" drive that I can load at anytime without disrupting my system anytime.. Jeeeeeeeeeez. Juan is the second person to mention Ubuntu. Maybe worth snooping a bit into info here. I have a buddy who's constantly mentions Linux. But then he also mentioned to our paraplegic buddy, paragolfing. She spat back, "Not on your ******** life!!" lmao (Para friend commented on her fear of heights. I think she was referring to para-skiing or whatever it's called. She's gawdawful funny sometimes).
Ubuntu is probably the easiest Linux system to run.. Come fully loaded with Open office and Firefox..
It's pretty cool..
#19
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 30th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by L Gilbert
Yes LG.. It's a two part tray that fits where your CD Rom drive goes ( if you have extra bays ). The inserts hold you Hard Drives and you can buy the extra insert for a second Hard Drive to swap. I have 5 Hard drives that I swap on a regular basis depending on what I am doing.. Very practical in the sense I can have a work drive and home drive so that work / home is never infected or mixed together. *feeling really pc illiterate* Hard drive trays?
#20
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 30th, 2009
Neat. I use 1 external plus 2 separate internals.When necessary, I'll just add another external. But the dvd double layered thingies carry a lot of info, so I don't expect to be getting another hd anytime soon.
#21
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 30th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by Liberalman
Try a Mac and you'll never go back. Superior operating system and quality hardware. A little more expensive but will outlast most PCs two to one.My computer has to be put out to pasture.
It’s a 256ram and 10 gigs hard drive Celeron crap.
Some people say 2.2 gigs ram and 400 gigs hard drive is too slow Is this true?
What’s the minimum I should get?
#22
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 30th, 2009
Tough to upgrade or update, stores carrying Mac stuff are hard to find, .....
#23
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 30th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by L Gilbert
That is a myth. I have upgraded and updated over fifty unites in the last couple of years and I live at the end of the road in the middle of nowhere. I can take a ten year old mac and upgrade to take on most PCs on the market today and they will still out last them. And many of the parts are the same as a PC, like hard drives and RAM, optical drives, printers. monitors, scanners, etc. macs are not proprietory any more, especially when the switched to Intel chips and can run Windoze natively, as well as Linex, all at the same time.Tough to upgrade or update, stores carrying Mac stuff are hard to find, .....
Right now I am running a dual processor G5 1.8 Ghz with 2 Gigs of RAM. 2 80 Gig SATA hard drives, DVD burner and 256 Meg ATI video card. I run three printers, a scanner, a 19" wide screen Gateway LCD and a Logitec THX sound system. I have a complete graphic arts, publishing and entertainment system all within reach of my comfy chair. And I got it all on eBay for the price of an equivelant PC.
#24
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 30th, 2009
Cool. I was just going by what I'd heard. This thing runs at 3.3 GHz. Our laptop runs at 2.8 I think.
*wonders why anyone would need 3 printers* Ahah!!! Lots of fresh cash!
*wonders why anyone would need 3 printers* Ahah!!! Lots of fresh cash!
#25
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 30th, 2009
I am not really a computer person.
But Microsoft forced me into learning a bit about it.
Constantly bogging systems.
Never enough memory.
Crash after crash.
Lost emails, lost spreadsheets.
Every Widows system that I owned seemed to need to be completely wiped and reinstalled on a yearly basis.
Maybe its me.
I got so sick of having to rip hard drives out of failed boxes to get at important information.
And yes I know I should have been backing up more often.
My last HP a one year old cheap piece of crap just died.
So I bought a Mac.
The thing boots up in seconds.
It will run windows if I need it to.
Pricey though.
I hope my luck changes.
Trex
But Microsoft forced me into learning a bit about it.
Constantly bogging systems.
Never enough memory.
Crash after crash.
Lost emails, lost spreadsheets.
Every Widows system that I owned seemed to need to be completely wiped and reinstalled on a yearly basis.
Maybe its me.
I got so sick of having to rip hard drives out of failed boxes to get at important information.
And yes I know I should have been backing up more often.
My last HP a one year old cheap piece of crap just died.
So I bought a Mac.
The thing boots up in seconds.
It will run windows if I need it to.
Pricey though.
I hope my luck changes.
Trex
#26
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 30th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by Liberalman
No. Those aren't really the factors that determine how slow or fast a machine is, but as others have said, what you need depends entirely on what you want to do with it. You need high end hardware only if you do a lot of gaming or run heavy scientific calculations, those are the only applications that'll take the hardware to its performance limits. Windows Vista is a serious resource hog too. I think custom made from components is the way to go, but that's only because that's what I like to do, it's one of my hobbies. Some people say 2.2 gigs ram and 400 gigs hard drive is too slow Is this true?
At a minimum, whatever you're doing, I'd suggest at least a 2 GHz processor, 2 Gb of RAM, and a 500 Gb drive. That'll give you a satisfactorily functional XP or Vista system for routine office automation tasks, email, web browsing, photo storage, stuff like that, and those I've seen on the shelf at Best Buy and Future Shop and a dozen other places for around $600-$800. If you do gaming, need powerful apps like Photoshop, download movies and music, you'll want more of everything: a 3 Ghz dual core processor, quad core if you have apps that can use it, 4 Gb of RAM, two 500 Gb drives. I'm not a fan of really big single drives, that's a single point of potential failure for everything you've stored on it. My system has four 250 Gb drives in it, two of them bootable (one with XP, the other with Ubuntu), one is designated solely for backups of critical stuff, and one is for my personal files, correspondence, essays, reference material, photos, and such. I don't download movies and music files, if I did I'd upgrade a couple of those drives to 500 Gb. I also have two external 500 Gb drives that plug into USB ports, which I use for offline backup and moving stuff between my desktop and laptop. I'm a little paranoid about backups, and everything I really care about, like my photos, I have three copies of on different drives.
Some other observations: XP will run fine with 1 Gb of RAM, though 2 is better, and it's unlikely to be able to see more than about 3.5 Gb even if you install 4, Vista is useless with anything less than 2 Gb of RAM, no processor slower than 2 GHz is worth a nickel, any version of Linux will run much better than any version of Windows on the same processor and RAM, if you use wireless networking any version of LInux (at least any of the half dozen I've tried) will give you a major headache, and Ubuntu LInux is by far the best current version of Linux for the technically challenged. And if you like Windows games, Linux is useless.
#27
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 30th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by Trex
If it outlasts two of you former machines, it will be worth it. If it doesn't crash half as much or burn out hardware, if you don't lose anything, it is worth it. Regular maintenance (run Disk Utilities every month) and you should be fine. At regular intervals (once a month at regular use) boot into Safe Mode (hold down the Shift key at start up). Once it is fully up and running, reboot normally. This should defrag your files. Takes about five minutes.
My last HP a one year old cheap piece of crap just died.
So I bought a Mac.
The thing boots up in seconds.
It will run windows if I need it to.
Pricey though.
I hope my luck changes.
Trex
Last edited by Cliffy; Jun 30th, 2009 at 05:29 AM..
#28
Re: Any Ideas For A Computer
Jun 30th, 2009Quote: Originally Posted by L Gilbert
Les,Cool. I was just going by what I'd heard. This thing runs at 3.3 GHz. Our laptop runs at 2.8 I think.
*wonders why anyone would need 3 printers* Ahah!!! Lots of fresh cash!
I publish my own books and cards. I use an old HP B&W LaserJet with a Duplex unit (prints both sides of the page) to print the guts of the text and an HP colour LaserJet to print covers. I use my Epson photo colour ink jet printer to reproduce my art of glossy card stock.
(if I could find a way to produce the holographic strip, I could print fresh cash)
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