GA Russell Posted December 24, 2011 Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 There is a small chance that I will be given for Christmas tomorrow enough to buy an inexpensive computer. My current computer is nine years old, and the repairman told me two years ago that it is not worth fixing. I have recently had problems. The screen once said that the Windows XP was corrupted, whatever that means. I use my computer to surf the web and for the Office Suite type applications. It seems like the internet sites become more developed over time, expecting you to have a new computer to handle what they offer. Are there brands to avoid? I think I've read that Dell computers are not as good as they used to be. I've also read that HP is not as solid a company as it used to be. True? How much memory should I get if I plan to keep it for five years? 4 gig? Is a single DVD read/write drive sufficient? I have a 650 meg Toshiba external hard drive that has never been opened to use as a backup. How large a hard drive would be appropriate? Any suggestions welcome! Please keep in mind that I don't expect more than four or five hundred dollars, if that much. My monitor is fine and doesn't need to be replaced. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete C Posted December 25, 2011 Report Share Posted December 25, 2011 My current computer is nine years old, and the repairman told me two years ago that it is not worth fixing. I have recently had problems. The screen once said that the Windows XP was corrupted, whatever that means. I use my computer to surf the web and for the Office Suite type applications. It seems like the internet sites become more developed over time, expecting you to have a new computer to handle what they offer. Nine years is an amazing life for a computer. Five is considered long. I have a new Dell laptop, and I love it, but you don't need anything as powerful as mine if you don't do heavy multitasking, like downloading multiple large files, listening to streaming music and surfing the web at the same time while a word document is also up . Any new PC will come with a minimum 2GB of RAM, or maybe 4, and if you're just surfing and using Word and Excel, you can really get by with 2GB, but the differential would be cheap enough to go with 4 anyway. I would go with the latest processor, Intel i5 (you could really get by with i3), as it's very fast. No need for more than one CD/DVD drive unless you do mass copying of discs. I think 500GB is probably the smallest drive most new PCs come with. If your other drive is really 650MB and not 650GB, it's about big enough for 12 CDs compressed to lowish bitrate MP3(that's about the same size as one CD-R)! Desktops are very cheap. For $350 you can get a Dell Inspiron 560 with i5 processor, 4GB RAM & 500GB hard drive. Other manufacturers should have similar configurations at similar prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted December 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2011 Thanks, Pete! Yes, I did mean that my external hard drive is 650 gig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted December 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2011 Here's another question. I don't have wi-fi. Should I get a router? (That's the same thing, right?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted December 25, 2011 Report Share Posted December 25, 2011 Here's another question. I don't have wi-fi. Should I get a router? (That's the same thing, right?) I guess the question is what are you looking to do. If you go with a laptop, then virtually all will have wi-fi (in fact I think they all would). If you get a desktop (which is the cheaper option), then you can either 1) just leave the computer plugged into the modem, 2) get a wi-fi router attached to the modem, but if you go this route, you would also need a wi-fi adapter for the desktop. Unless the modem is in a terrible location, you probably don't really need wi-fi. I recently bought an Acer desktop (and yes I would probably avoid Dell and HP) for $500 or so. I didn't bother with wi-fi. When I moved the desk, I just bought a slightly longer cable to hook it up to the modem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted December 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2011 I guess I forgot to say that I'm thinking of a desktop. When I got the desktop nine years ago, I also got a used IBM laptop. I never took it anywhere. It quit working maybe five years ago, and I've never missed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Garrett Posted December 25, 2011 Report Share Posted December 25, 2011 I was in the same boat earlier this year - I had a 9-year-old desktop that I'd built myself and was way overdue for replacement. I wound up replacing both my own and my wife's desktops (which was an even older Dell) with refurbished HP desktops from Micro Center. I found that with a little patience in waiting for the right deals to come along, I was able to get machines with 4GB RAM, 1TB hard drive, a quad-core 2.9GHz AMD CPU, and Win7 64-bit Home Premium for between $300-400. I think those are the minimum specs you should be looking at - the Intel i3 or i5 CPUs are certainly worthy as well, but you'll pay a premium over AMD CPUs for them, and in my experience you won't be able to tell the difference for web surfing, word processing, spreadsheets, and all the other basic functions you'd expect to perform on a computer. Gaming, video editing, or other similar activities that are CPU-intensive may be a different story. The only drawback with the machines I got is that the stock power supplies, at 250W, are really undersized if I start adding additional components - I will likely have to upgrade to 450W or better ones before adding bigger graphics cards, additional internal drives, etc. But I haven't had the need to do so yet, and may not any time soon. Why those specs? Quad-core CPUs are the de facto standard now. There's no excuse to settle for a dual-core unless you're really aiming for a bare-bones system, especially if you're planning on keeping it for a long time. As for the RAM, it's cheap, and you'll need more than 2GB for Win7 to run with enough pep when you have multiple applications open; right now I'm using 2.75GB of RAM with two mail clients and two browsers open (Firefox and Chrome, albeit both with quite a few tabs open concurrently). Hard drive space can be pretty variable depending on how much downloading you do, but I don't see too many desktops with the above specs with less than a 500-750GB drive these days. You can never have too much disk space. Refurb machines are worth looking at because "refurb" does not necessarily mean "used". In many cases, such as with the HPs I got, the manufacturer designates them as refurb because they're discontinuing them, and want to get rid of existing stock. The warranty is typically 90 days as opposed to 1 year, but you're getting a pretty steep discount in return for rolling the dice in that regard, and most hardware failures are usually going to happen within the first 90 days. I got my dad a refurb HP machine earlier this year that turned out to be DOA out of the box (stuck in a bluescreen loop), and HP promptly sent him a prepaid shipping carton to return it for repair, turning it around within a week after going over it thoroughly. My dad has considerable work experience in the retail electronics industry and is very computer-savvy as well, and he was pretty impressed with HP's customer service in dealing with this problem, but as the saying goes, your mileage may vary. The prices I mentioned above do not include a monitor. You should budget $150 or so for a 23-24" full HD (1080p) LCD monitor - 1920x1080 resolution. I've had good luck with Samsung and Asus monitors. 23-24" units are in the sweet spot where they're plenty big enough for regular use, including watching movies, while still being relatively cheap. Anything bigger starts to get considerably more expensive. I went from a 19" analog CRT to a 23" digital LCD and could not believe the difference in size as well as resolution. A decent-sized monitor will make a budget-priced system much more livable, so don't skimp here. I would strongly recommend a router even if you only have one computer and don't have an immediate need to set up a wifi network, because having your computer behind a NAT router makes it far more secure than using a software firewall only - the router's IP address is the only one that's visible to the public internet, as the router assigns private IP addresses to all the computers or other devices behind it. Think of it as cheap insurance, another layer in the onion that you need to build an effective security strategy against the legion of malware purveyors out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Thanks for the thoughtful replies. I forgot to say that I would like to watch streaming television. Not much, really, but for example...Since I don't get cable television, I have been unable to watch the Republican debates. Some of them have been streamed live on the internet by Fox and I believe CNN. I would have liked to have watched them, but my computer can't handle it. Wouldn't I need a minimum quality video card? What about a sound card? I don't listen to much through my computer, but I suppose I might as well get a decent sound card while I'm at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 From my experience, the standard sound and video on today's computers are sufficient for the purposes you state. You might want to upgrade the sound and video if you are an ardent gamer (i.e., play a lot of video games on your computer), but then you would be looking for a computer with a lot more power. As long as you have a decent internet connection, you should have no problem watching streaming video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Leeway, my TimeWarner RoadRunner internet connection is called "turbo speed", and I believe that it is much faster than what most people have. I believe that it is going to waste on my old computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Garrett Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 From what I can see from a bit of Googling, it looks like RR "turbo speed" is somewhere between 10-15Mb/s, which is plenty for streaming even full HD content (by way of comparison, most of the "internet TV" appliances for streaming video like the Roku, Boxee, Apple TV, and Google TV recommend a minimum connection speed of anywhere between 2 and 5Mb/s for optimal performance). And Leeway is right, most budget-priced computers these days have video and sound integrated onto the mainboard, so it's not really necessary to upgrade to separate, higher-performance video and sound cards unless you have a specific need to do so. I can stream full HD content on my computer and haven't noticed any lack of performance from the integrated video, and as for sound, your money is better spent on a good set of speakers before a new sound card. I like the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 system (which I think has been discontinued, but can still be had for considerably cheaper than the 3rd-party seller in the Amazon link). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 I don't know that much about the latest computer specs but an upgraded sound card might be needed if you need to make digital copies of vinyl etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Leeway, my TimeWarner RoadRunner internet connection is called "turbo speed", and I believe that it is much faster than what most people have. I believe that it is going to waste on my old computer. Not sure what "turbo" refers too but it sounds to me like you have a sort of gussied-up dial up Internet connection. If it is dial-up, you would be better served with a cable or DSl connection if possible, which provide faster connections and downloads. But don't anticipate trouble, as they say. If it has served you well so far, it will probably continue to do so, especially with a more up-to-date spec computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Leeway, my internet service is cable modem. My download speed is 22896 kbps, and my upload speed is 965 kbps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete C Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 (edited) Leeway, my internet service is cable modem. My download speed is 22896 kbps, and my upload speed is 965 kbps. That's about 3 times standard cable speed from Time Warner. I get about 7mbps, or 7,000kbps (they claim "up to 10mkbps for my standard option). In NYC, Turbo gives downloads up to 15 mbps for an extra $5 a month, and wideband (up to 30mbps) is an extra $20. It sounds like you don't really need turbo. Edited December 26, 2011 by Pete C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Pete, my bill is $29.95 a month. I think it's the least expensive from them that I can get, so I'm not complaining! But I think the service is being wasted on my old computer. Maybe I should ask...Considering I'm getting the service I am, what's the least expensive computer I should get that can take advantage of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete C Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Pete, my bill is $29.95 a month. I think it's the least expensive from them that I can get, so I'm not complaining! But I think the service is being wasted on my old computer. Maybe I should ask...Considering I'm getting the service I am, what's the least expensive computer I should get that can take advantage of it? That's a great price for the service. A $350 desktop like the configuration I quoted above is quite sufficient for your needs, and will do just fine with your speed. Here's another to consider, but I think the Dell I mentioned is a pretty good deal. I don't know what the bad rap on Dell is that you mention. http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AX1470-UR30P-Desktop-Black/dp/B005J28K3S/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 A Mac will save you many headaches. It will also run your PC software and do so exceptionally well if you install Parallels, which I use on my iMac when I do my St. Croix slave data work (the people in St. Croix need my database to be native PC. Anyway, it all works like a charm. My iMac is almost five, and Iam also still using a 20-year-old that has never needed service. The latest mini Mac is excellent and designed for people who are switching. It will use your old PC screen, keyboard, mouse, etc. BTW my neighbor had a Dell from hell and is now a happy Mac user. Dell has earned its bad name just as Mac has earned its good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete C Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 A Mac will save you many headaches. He's also trying to save money. No way he'll get a mac to fit his needs for under $500, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Wrong. Apple's own price for the new Mac Mini starts at $599 and their prices are always the highest. Factory refurbished Minis can be found for around $350. Do a Google. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 A mini would be an excellent choice considering you don't need a new monitor, keyboard, mouse, and portability is not an issue. Go refurb. No question. I think you'd get along fine with some of the other models listed, but with more frustrations. Good luck and have fun with your new computer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted January 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Just to follow up...I didn't get nearly as much money for Christmas to spend on a computer as I had hoped for. As a result, I've been unable to follow your suggestions. I settled on a refurb from Newegg which I believe is three years old. They would not add more memory for me, but I expect that won't be a problem down the road. There are two programs I want to buy, both requiring 1 meg memory, and this should do the trick for them. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883155189 Thanks again for your thoughtful suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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