I really need to buy a new personal computer. Technology is moving along and leaving me behind.
I have a generic no name brand PC with Pentium II, 300mhz processor and 128meg of ram. It was hot in its day. The USB 1.0 port does not work anymore. I am running Windows 98 which I upgraded from Windows 95. The computer store that built it for me went out of business years ago.
My current computer is the third PC I ever owned so I know the big headache associated with switching over to a new computer and even though I DON’T want to do it, I really need to do it.
I already have in mind the options and features that I want in a new PC. What I ask from the forum is the pros and cons about the brand of computer that you own. Is it realiable? Is the company easy to deal with? Can you get service if you need it? Can you get technical help if you need it? etc, etc.
Transfering your old data to the new computer can be very easy now.
Two options:
Have the place that you buy the computer from install your old hard drive as a second drive in your new computer. You’ll be able to easily copy data from the old computer to the new drive.
Have the place that you buy the computer from burn your old drive to a DVD. You’ll be able to copy the data from the DVD to the new drive.
Mostly it’s an issue of getting data files like word processor documents, pictures, email, etc. from the old drive.
Find a place that is willing to do one of those two steps to copy over your data. Many places are willing to do that.
I am not so concerned about moving my data files. I can put my old harddrives in a new computer and get the data files moved over.
Moving all of the programs is the big problem. They have to be installed and many of them will probably not work so then you have to buy new versions of programs for the new operating system. Very time and money consuming.
I’m still using a 650 MHz Athlon. Granted, I run linux on it, which is much more customizable to use less system resources, and I don’t do anything more system intensive than record and mix digital audio. I built it from parts based on what I needed in a computer 5 years ago, and I intend to run it into the ground.
My wife uses a G4 iBook, and it’s pretty nice. I can’t stand the single mouse button, but I like that the interface is simple enough that I don’t end up doing tech support for my wife everytime her computer won’t “do what she wants.”
A couple years ago, I bought my mom a Dell desktop PC, so I guess they’re alright. She even used their phone technical support to fix some problems she was having with burning CDs, and she’s nowhere near computer literate. (Burning CDs was/is a huge feat for her.)
If I was forced to buy a new desktop computer tomorrow, I’d probably buy the cheapest iMac because:
I don’t like Windows.
They consume relatively little power.
They’re well designed and elegant.
My wife could easily use it too.
They run quietly without having buy specials fans and cooling devices.
While they seem more expensive than comparable PCs, assembling a PC with the above features isn’t much cheaper if at all.
The cons are:
Steve Jobs is annoying.
Mac zealots are annoying.
The ipod is way overpriced, and I want nothing to do with it.
The starting pricepoint is still kind of high compared to “budget” PCs.
They’re not very user maintenanceable, and the parts are relatively expensive and harder to come by than PC components. (Granted, they have their Apple Care comprehensive warranty program made for the less geeky types that don’t take everything apart.)
The one thing that I would advise is to not install windows XP. It is evil and will take complete control of your computer. “don’t touch it! it’s evil!” Windows 2000 works perdy good if you keep everything organized and don’t download any un-needed software.
I had 1 GHz athlon processor and a wee bit of memory and that worked fine for anything I needed to do. But then star wars battlefront came out, so I had to upgrade a tad.
OK, I wasn’t sure where you were at on the data transfer. I know what you mean about it all being a pain and an expense. I’m still using Windows 2000 because it’s not worth the effort to repave the computer with Windows XP and I would also have to spend some additional money for some utilities I use that would need to be upgraded or replaced.
If you’re technically inclined, one thing to be aware of is that most of the big name computers don’t come with a real Windows XP install disk. What you get is a special prepackaged image disk that will restore the computer if needed. Those kinds of installs have limitations. When I buy a computer I want the real deal Windows CD from Microsoft. I multi-boot. I would not be able to setup my computer the way it is if I didn’t have the real deal Windows CD from Microsoft. This may or may not be an issue for you. If it is then you’ll want to make sure that the computer comes with a real deal Windows install CD.
Oh, and don’t pay for Norton anti-virus or any other kind of anti-virus or security package. There are free options available for home use. Save yourself $60 or so. If you want a free option let me know and I can give you a link to them.
Another issue with the big name computers is that they often don’t have the second HD cable to plug in a second HD. The cable they come with can only handle one HD. If you’re going to plug in your HD to transfer data you’ll need to buy a second cable to be able to do that (don’t steal the cable from your old computer because the old cable is probably not up to the new data transfer standards).
As for computers, I’ve always gone to a local shop that builds to order. I say what I want and they put it together. I don’t need tech support so that’s never been an issue for me. With all the web based knowledge bases (from Microsoft and others) there isn’t much need for tech support if you know what you’re doing.
I personally think Windows is great. It did have it’s problems long ago, but they’ve fixed most if not all by this day and age. All that balogna is just bad reputation poopies. I’ve had my current computer (Gateway 500XL with XP) for over 3 years and it is completely problem free and it still can run high-end programs such as DOOM 3, etc. and runs perfectly. It’s never even had the “Evil Blue Screen” displayed through it’s precious monitor!
I have a compaq deskpro. With windows 98 SE and an intell pentium 3 processor. With a Gateway2000 Vivitron 1572 15" monitor. Its a peace of crap. I’ve had it for about 2 years, but it was someone elses before. Its freezes everyday, I reformat it once a month. Sometimes it doesn’t shutdown. But its still gets me on the internet and I can download stuff at a good rate. I do need a new computer though.
With so much bloat, I hope Windows works better than it used to, even if it does take far too much computing power just to run the basic OS. My hardware would scream for mercy if I tried to boot up Windows XP with all the current service packs. Regardless of software bugs, Windows still has problems, like being very prone to malware. Use whatever you want though. The more people use Windows, the less malicious hackers will try to attack the OSes that I use.
windows is horrible,
you only think windows is great because youve never tried mac os x
but if you are forced into buying a windows because it is cheap, wait till after thankgiving my teacher told me walmart is having some sort of sale with a laptop for only like 400 dollars then put linux on it.
Windows is fine, people just like to bitch about it, to make themselves feel superiour. My PC with Win Xp Pro does what I want, when I want, and never crashes. I understand that if you’re really in to messing about with stuff other OS can be better, but seeing as wheel rider is having to ask about what to buy he’s probably not too bothered about the minute differences. And yes I have actually used linux.
I should have been more specific with my original posting.
I don’t want a laptop. I want a PC (not a MAC) that I can actually open and replace things if necessary. I don’t like PC’s where everything is built into the motherboard. If something goes out, you have to replace the whole motherboard.
Good comment. I have run across this before and will keep it in mind.
That sounds good. Please provide links.
Another good thing to know. I will keep that in mind. Buying a new cable should not be a problem. At least they are cheaper than they were years ago.
My second and third computers were built by a local shop. I liked that. Problem is, the shop went out of business. Maybe I need to look around for another shop that can build computers. I don’t usually need tech support but it is nice to be able to get service if you need it.
