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Off Topic => Computer Help => Topic started by: suzysu on April 30, 2005, 09:01:05 PM

Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on April 30, 2005, 09:01:05 PM: Hi - still wondering about buying a new PC or laptop. Have decided the wireless option is a bit too confusing for a useless techie like me :blink:

What do you think is the most futureproof RAM and Hard drive that I would need. I obviously want it to last as long as possible :rolleyes: but don't want to over do it. I use it mainly for word processing, internet and storing piccys of the girls.

Also, does the type of processor make a big difference? :ph34r:

Any help would be great, thanks x
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: ReadingSteve on April 30, 2005, 10:17:26 PM: Hiya,

This may sound like a bit of overkill, but I'd recommend 1GB of RAM and 60GB of hard disk space, if you can afford this. It's much cheaper to buy now that you're buying a new system, rather than upgrading later.

Processor does make a difference - many people reckon that Celeron is too outdated to be any good, but honestly any other current Intel or Equivalent processor should be fine.

HTH

Steve
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on April 30, 2005, 10:19:58 PM: Thanks for that Steve ;)

Big hug for Buddy x
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Pammy on April 30, 2005, 10:21:23 PM: if you want to do piccies - then more is best! I'd say go for at least a 60gb hard drive - although you'll prob find you can't get one that small now :D 80gb plus seems to be entry level now.

RAM - deffo agree 1gb

Processor - Pentium 4 or an AMD Athlon should do the trick nicely for you and give you a good few years use.

Depending what you've got now though you might be able to upgrade what you have to this spec and save a bob or two. It all depends how old your current system is really.
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on April 30, 2005, 10:35:27 PM: Pam - thanks for that ;)

My PC is is 7yrs old now - Athlon 550 ....... so quite old :ph34r: and its really struggling and keeps crashing :rolleyes:
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Pammy on April 30, 2005, 10:38:21 PM: I think I'd get a new 'un then :D

Motherboard etc will be too old to take what you need now. Nothing would be compatible :blink: ;)
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on April 30, 2005, 10:39:50 PM: .........forgot to say, have just been looking at Dell's and they seem cheap but when I looked at spec did'nt include floppy, video card and soundcard, they were extra :rolleyes: - why is everything so complicated, wish you could just have a good all inclusive package - too much choice for a computer dim wit like me :rolleyes:
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Pammy on April 30, 2005, 10:41:57 PM: tbh - for what you need - you'll get a perfectly acceptable package from PC World for a decent price! And they often have good deals on over the Bank HOl - simlarly Comet, Currys etc. E Machines are good and can be got from most stores like the ones mentioned.
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on April 30, 2005, 10:43:49 PM: ;) Thanks Pam - will have a look x
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Magic Star on May 01, 2005, 12:23:57 AM: There was as advert on this evening for what looked like a good deal at PC world, with 17 TFT £499
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on May 01, 2005, 02:53:18 PM: Thanks Em - will have a look ;) x
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Mary on May 04, 2005, 09:41:25 AM: I'm in the same position as you Suzy, want a new PC but have no idea what to get or the best way to buy one :rolleyes:

The chap who has sorted our PC problems in the past (very knowledgable and reasonable) has said he'll build one for us. Is this the best way to go? We're going to see him tonight to talk over ideas and specs. :blink: :rolleyes:

We also want a printer/scanner/cd writer etc. as well as the best spec possible so that 6 months down the line we don't regret anything. Can't wait to get a flat screen too ;)

No idea what screen would be best or printer etc. It's all too mind boggling for me and hubby hasn't much of a clue either :rolleyes:
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: tobycat on May 04, 2005, 09:52:29 AM: Hi Sue

I got my new one about a year ago and we bought it from Dell. They were very good - no problems about buying from them again in future.
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suki1964 on May 04, 2005, 09:59:08 AM: Mary getting a self build IS the only way to go, even if you know nothing about pc's. This way you get to spend your money only on the things you want and dont get ripped off putting loads of money into software you will either never use or can get free of charge. It may come at a price more then the big pc companies appear to be able to sell, but usually theirs are full of cheaper componants and 6 months later you find you cant up-grade

When deciding on the printer, be honest about what you really use it for. No point in buying the most expensive photo printer if you only do one or two pictures a year. If like me you use the printer mainly for text then one that has excellent text and reasonable photo quality would be the way to go. Personally if I want a hard copy of a photo to keep in a frame, i send it off and get it done by fuji
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Magic Star on May 04, 2005, 10:08:53 AM: As of 12 May Aldi will be having a fabby laptop on sale :)

Heres the spec:-

nVIDIA GeForce Go 6600 with 128MB DDR3 PCI Express.
Superior notebook GPU with hardware acceleration for Microsoft DirectX9.0 shader model 3.0 powering higher performance and visual effects on todays hottest games.

15.4" WXGA display
16:10 widescreen

Multi format DVD burner 8x DVD + R/RW dounle layer

Fast 100gb hard drive disk drive

1024 MB DDR 2 Ram 533MHz

Digital TV tuner

Analogue stereo Tuner

Intel Pro/wireless lan 2915 ABG

5 in 1card reader

Soundsystem

Bluetooth mini USB adapetr class 1

High speed interfaces

1 x PCMCIA type 11 card bus supported modem and lan

Battery Smart Li-Ion battery

Huge software package
Microsoft, windows XP home SP2, microsft workssuuite 2005, microsoft flight simulater 2004, cyberlink dvd solution (powerstarter, power dvd, popwerproducer, powerdirector, power2go, powerdvd copy, powerbackup, photonow, media show) cyberlink power cinema 4.0, skype software inl headset, wanadoo preload.

24 months manufacturers warranty
120 mins free telephony
Includes carrybag

all for a snip of £999.99 inc vat :)

It should feature on their webpage over the next few days :D

www.aldi.co.uk

HTH
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on May 04, 2005, 04:01:23 PM: :) Thanks for the info everyone - I am still not sure which is the best way to go. :blink: I would really like a laptop, but the broadband modem won't reach to where I would want it and I'm not sure if I can get an extension - off to have a look on the website shortly :rolleyes: Also not sure if I can move the broadband from my current PC to the laptop :blink:

If I go for a new PC I have the problem of saving my files, as it does'nt have a CD writer and also I'll have to work out how to move MS Office to the new PC.

..........this is all way to complicated for a PC dumbo like me :rolleyes: :blink: :lol: :lol:

Mary - hope you get on ok tonight - let me know how it goes ;)
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Mike on May 04, 2005, 04:25:01 PM: I'm shopping for a new laptop too, Sue.

I've narrowed it down to a few possibilities: I decided what spec I want, bought Computer Shopper and PC Advisor magazine, looked what was available, and drew up a shortlist. It gets a bit confusing as there are so many different types of processors about at the moment, so I've been bombarding my technical friends with emails "is this a good processor?" etc. I'll also go for a 3 yr warranty as that kind of thing is important to me, and there are a few companies that provide them as standard, though most provide 1 yr and you have to purchase an extended warranty at extra cost.

Happy hunting anyway :)
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on May 04, 2005, 04:36:14 PM: Mike - I've been buying computer mags for some months now and still can't make up my mind, its all so confusing, so much choice nowadays :blink:

Good luck with your search xxxxxxx
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Mary on May 04, 2005, 04:39:47 PM: So come on Mike, let us in on all the advice you've been given. I want to go along tonight sounding as if I know what I'm talking about :D :blink:

Suzy, will let you know how we get on :unsure:
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on May 04, 2005, 04:45:22 PM: Thanks Mary - good luck ;)

..........where are you Mike? :lol:
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Mike on May 04, 2005, 04:52:00 PM: I'm here! :D

Well, I knew what spec I wanted within my budget (I'm not spending any more more than £800), so it was just the type of processor I needed help with as I don't know anything about them! I've narrowed it down to two laptops with identical specs, apart from the processor: one with an Intel Pentium 4- 530+ HT (3.0GHz Prescott) Processor, the other with an AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Processor.

Almost all of my friends have told me to go with the Pentium 4, so I think I probably will. That's all I can say really :D
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Cob-Web on May 04, 2005, 05:56:41 PM: Quote
:) Thanks for the info everyone - I am still not sure which is the best way to go. :blink: I would really like a laptop, but the broadband modem won't reach to where I would want it and I'm not sure if I can get an extension - off to have a look on the website shortly :rolleyes: Also not sure if I can move the broadband from my current PC to the laptop :blink:

Suzie

We have wireless networked the house so I can use my laptop anywhere and still surf etc - PM me if your interested as OH has some spreadhseets he did for a colleague recently that sets out what you need and how it works :huh:
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on May 04, 2005, 06:20:33 PM: :) Aw thanks Rachel - have pm'd you ;) x
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on May 04, 2005, 06:21:20 PM: ;) Thanks for info Mike x
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: PennyB on May 04, 2005, 10:18:04 PM: Quote
Hiya,

This may sound like a bit of overkill, but I'd recommend 1GB of RAM and 60GB of hard disk space, if you can afford this. It's much cheaper to buy now that you're buying a new system, rather than upgrading later.

Processor does make a difference - many people reckon that Celeron is too outdated to be any good, but honestly any other current Intel or Equivalent processor should be fine.

HTH

Steve
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Do you mean 1GB of RAM as even on some of say Dell's good machines you can't get 1GB of RAM or do you mean 1000+ MB
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Mary on May 04, 2005, 11:06:44 PM: Went along tonight to see the chap who is building us one and he's already done it :rolleyes: Hubby had rang him a couple of weeks back about the idea and he got going on it immediately.

He talked us through everything (mind boggling :blink: ) and basically it seems to have everything we need plus tons more B) . Don't ask me to go into detail as he bombarded us with so many figures and facts that I lost the plot.

He's also coming out to set it up for us and look at networking our other PC's (my laptop and our old PC which my daughters can use). Which leads me onto the questions of wired or wireless networking :unsure: He advises wired as he says there are security issues regarding wireless ones. Any thoughts anyone?
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: daunting on May 04, 2005, 11:13:32 PM: I'd be interested to know what security issues there are with the wireless one as i have that for my sons laptop and was going to do the same when my daughter gets one in a couple of months!!

I think a purpose built computer is a great idea as when looking for Pc's i found that there isn't one that has everything you want so ended up settling for the best that could be bought with the money available.
And then buying things to make it better :huh:
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: suzysu on May 04, 2005, 11:14:46 PM: :) Glad you are sorted Mary ;) x
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: ReadingSteve on May 05, 2005, 08:50:12 AM: Quote
He's also coming out to set it up for us and look at networking our other PC's (my laptop and our old PC which my daughters can use). Which leads me onto the questions of wired or wireless networking :unsure: He advises wired as he says there are security issues regarding wireless ones. Any thoughts anyone?
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Quote
I'd be interested to know what security issues there are with the wireless one as i have that for my sons laptop and was going to do the same when my daughter gets one in a couple of months!!

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I'd definitely recommend wireless. It can be quite safe if you follow a couple of simple rules.

1) Make sure that the router you get has a firewall built in - don't rely on the software routers that you get with Windows.

2) Make sure you set up encryption on the wireless system. This means that you need to enter a "key" on the set-up for the wireless router, and then the same key on each of the PCs that you want to access the network. Otherwise if you run "unencrypted" anyone within range can share your Broadband connection and potentially access the PCs on your network.

Having said that, there is something nice about having a piece of wire connecting you to your network! But think about having wires all around the house......
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: ReadingSteve on May 05, 2005, 08:52:35 AM: Quote
Quote
Hiya,

This may sound like a bit of overkill, but I'd recommend 1GB of RAM and 60GB of hard disk space, if you can afford this. It's much cheaper to buy now that you're buying a new system, rather than upgrading later.

Processor does make a difference - many people reckon that Celeron is too outdated to be any good, but honestly any other current Intel or Equivalent processor should be fine.

HTH

Steve
[snapback]122715[/snapback]

Do you mean 1GB of RAM as even on some of say Dell's good machines you can't get 1GB of RAM or do you mean 1000+ MB
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Hi there,

Yes I mean 1024MB. You can definitely get by with less - 256MB would be the minimum these days, but if you want to be future proof, I'd go for the 1024MB right at the start. Probably won't add more than £100 or so to the price of the PC.
Title: New Pc/laptop
Post by: Mary on May 05, 2005, 08:56:08 AM: Thanks for that Steve ;) When he comes out to set up the PC I shall discuss this with him.