I get much better support from myself+usenet+web than from some lame your-call-will-be-answered-in-20-minutes tech support line.
How Big is Your Hard Drive?
by teenyuck 34 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
cosmo
Can you say SCSI!
-
ashitaka
Recommendation:
I work for IBM, so I wont recommend the obvious one. I like dells on the whole, compaqs are garbage, HP's are certainly not as nice, low budget. Gateways CAN be ok, but I used to install them...trust me....they have a whole lot of HDD bugs in the beginning. They're shipped individually, instead of with other comps, so they get trashed around and it destroys the drive. Replaced a lot of video cards on them puppy's, too.
So, I guess a mid-range IBM, Dell, would be nice, maybe 1.6 ghz amd, 512 DDR like these guys told you, a nice 64 meg Nvidia Video card (the video card is important...get a nice one)......you can get a combo DVD player and CDRW, but this'll run you 75 dollars more than getting the two components separatly.
Hp Printers a nice on the whole. Digital cameras? You got me there..never even used one.
ashi
-
ashitaka
Also, get a faster HDD, 10,000 RPM is nice and fast. And somebody mentioned good support.....THAT IS A MUST!!!!
BTW, IBM does all of Dell's support, so you'd be getting the BEST!!!
-
apostate man
Do not get a Mac! They are great for graphic design or some more specific tasks but overall you want a PC. I myself need to upgrade. I have a Compaq 4860, 333mghz, PII, 8 gig hard drive. SLOW these days. I contenially have to un-install software to make room for new stuff. I suggest a 40 gig hard drive, Dell or Gateway. AMD is a good chip but I have always liked Pentiums. Most systems come with CD burners these days and a graphics card would be nice to. I have found some great deals recently for around 800-900 bucks US. Shop around.
-
Simon
I think you're best going off price rather than 'raw spec'. Most OC Systems now are way overpowered for what most people need (do you *really* need a computer that can render scenes like Toy Story to do workd processing on?)
I have a 500Mhz AMD with 10Gb HDD ... nothing cutting edge - cost £279 but works fine and very compact (but I did stick 512 Mb in there). I'm looking at a bigger HDD and will probably go for the 80Gb Seagate IV which is very quiet - the difference between the fastest and slowest is nanoseconds so I going to get the one that wont annoy me by making noises.
I have a Dell laptop and must say it's been great and the service has been excellent. I've used HP servers and desktops and think they are garbage. Other 'big names' like Compaq are really aimed at corporates and you'll be paying for the name. I would suggest going for a middle of the name brand or Dell for the security / support.
Don't go off processor speed though ... memory is what makes things fly - I'd rather have a 500Mz processor and 512Mb ram than a 1Ghz processor and 64Mb. If you buy the *very* fastest processor then it depreciates very quick so go for one that is 1 or 2 steps down for better value.
-
teenyuck
Well, I looked at all your advice, printed it out, printed out consumer reports and pricing from Best Buy, CompUSA and Circuit City...plus CNET www.shopper.com...
I know retail places usually do not have the same model...this time they did...Compaq and HP.
For an HP with 1.6 GHz processor, 512 DDR SDRAM, 80 Gig harddrive, no monitor, 3 year tech support etc., and MS Office, at Circuit City the price came to $1428.00. With better speakers and surrond...this one also has the 64 NVIDIA GeForce2 MX video card. It also has a CD-Rom and a 16x/10x/40x CD-RW.. The Compaq model 5423 was about $150 more. Both HP and Compaq run MS XP. So does the Dell below. I could not find a retail store that sells MS 2000 on a new box...
For a Dell, with 1.8 GHz processor, 512 DDR SDRAM, 80 Gig hard drive, no monitor, 2 year tech support, MS Office, Harmon Kardon speakers with surround and subwofer, Sound Blaster sound card, CD-Rom and a 16x/10x/40x CD-RW, same video card as HP, the price was $$1447 plus tax of $12.00 and shipping of $95. The system bus is 266 MHZ on both also...
I ordered the Dell....I spoke with my husband and to get a more reliable computer has been the goal...hopefully this will work at least 3-5 years. The sound is better, the reputation is better and the tech support, from all reports and recommendations, is better with Dell. Paying a little more for the Dell made sense...
Plus, they have 90 days same as cash...Can't beat that at the retail store right now.
I am pleased. Now I can hook up my color printer, scanner and laser printer...they said the system has all the brands software built in for the printers and scanner I have. I will have it in 1-1 1/2 weeks.
I really appreciate all the comments and information. I went into the retail store (Circuit City) and read off all the things you all suggested. The guy seemed impressed I knew so much...
Thanks for all the help and advice. I did not have a clue when I signed in this morning what to buy or what to ask....you made me sound smart!
Once I get it up and running I will let you know how it works...
-
teenyuck
I ordered without a monitor because we bought a flat panel monitor a few months back...The Dell folks said that the model, Proview, will also work with the new box.
-
Farkel
: I'm partial to computers with AMD processors rather than Intel. The AMD processor (with AMD's equivalent clock rating to the Pentium 4) is as fast as the Pentium 4 for nearly everything, and about 30% faster doing complex math stuff. The "2000+" model is equivalent to the Pentium 4 2.0 GHz and is quite a bit cheaper.
What's a "hard drive?" I'm using a cassette drive on my Commodore Pet computer. It seems to wurk pretty gud.
I have a question, though. Does anyone know where I can get my 8" floppy drive re-calibrated? I'm having a hard time finding disks for it these days, too.
Farkel
-
TD
Wow Amazing! Where can I get an 800 mhz bus? I’m suffering from “bus” envy here.
I put together a system from the ground up a couple of weeks ago. --Swore to my wife that after this, I would be OK for at least a year
AMD Athlon XP 1900+ on top of an SIS chipset. FSB speed is 266 mhz, (for PC2100 DDR) SDRAM clock is 133 mhz, (No surprise there) PCI bus speed is 33 mhz, AGP bus speed is twice that (Duh!) USB bus is something like 52 mhz, but nothing on the whole damn system except the CPU itself meets or exceeds the 800 mhz mark.