Need a new computer

PSOVLSK

I'm running a Dell with Windows XP that is over 10 years old, so I'd say it's time for an upgrade. Based on what I have now it's pretty obvious that I don't need anything too great. Mainly looking for a newer OS because there have been a few issues with XP since it's so old.

I'm looking for a desktop, not a laptop. I'm trying to avoid the major chains because that doesn't seem like the best place to find a good deal, but maybe I'm wrong. Anyone know of any good deals going on right now or any suggestions on what to buy?

How about this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883266592

txcoastal1

Paul,

Personally, I would build my own, but if you are looking to buy a built desk top then I would stick with Dell product.

If you are looking to stay with specs to last another 10 years my suggestion is a machine with an I5 processor and 8 gigs RAM

On a budget go I3 processor with 4 gigs RAM

Here's one with Windows 7
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/(S(02224dvo1cr15w45ydvrzm55))/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dfh&cs=22&puid=b0120ddc


Here's one with Windows 8.1
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/(S(02224dvo1cr15w45ydvrzm55))/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dfh&cs=22&puid=b0120ddc

If you don't like windows 8.1 download "Classic Shell" on the PC and it will feel like a Win7 machine

Windows 10 comes out next quarter and will have free Win10 migration for 8.1 users.

Also, I have bad 2 bad experiences with Newegg in the last year and there customer service has really gone downhill. I have literally spent 10's of thousands with them in the last decade and they wont see another dime from me which is sad.

Just my .02

Call me or talk to Ender

Cheers
Ron

thsmith

Microcenter power spec loaded with 7 and includes 8. No preloaded sw to unload.

gudnoyez

I would hold off until the windows 10 units show up without migrating from 8.1, I set up my daughter's new HP with 8.1 and hate it you can use the classic desktop setup but hate that machine. We have a Dell laptop running windows 7 love that one plus have 2 other dell laptops that I bought off of our flea market still running XP not one issue using Firefox browser on them they both run as good as our Dell running windows 7.

If you quit using Internet Explorer 8 on your XP PC and use Firefox you might have better luck and then when the new PCs with windows 10 come out get one just my opinion there a lot of computer gurus on the forum that can steer you in the right direction.

mrbigbluelight

txcoastal1 wrote: »

If you are looking to stay with specs to last another 10 years my suggestion is a machine with an I5 processor and 8 gigs RAM
On a budget go I3 processor with 4 gigs RAM

That's real good advice, IMO.

Here's where my money that I was going to use with my Polk Friends & Family coupon code for some gear went:

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-X8700-634BLK-Desktop-Windows-Premium/dp/B00LX4JJOK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419941384&sr=8-1&keywords=Dell+XPS+8700+X8700-634BLK+Desktop+(Windows+7+Home+Premium+64-bit)#productDetails

It shows $601, but it occsionally shows up for $529.
I5, 8 gb ram, 1 Tb hd, a discrete Radeon video card, rock solid good looking case.
With another $49 for another 1 TB WD Blue hd, another $49 for 8 gb of Kingston DDR3 ram, and my son got a pretty smoking machine for Christmas.

It runs whisper quiet with quite of bit of cooling air pushed through the case. Internal temps run 85 degrees. That's Fahrenheit, not Celsius. The highest we've seen so far is 102 degrees when he was rendering some videos while playing some downloaded game online (some addictive baseball game).

Anything beyond 16 gig of ram requires an upgrade from Windows 7 Home Permium to Windows Pro/Ultimate, etc.

I figure when Windows 10 comes out, Microsoft will be offering it for relatively cheap (so they can keep in the game).

Good luck !

voltz

I bought one from DigitalStorm, basically one of their cheapest cause its only for music I'm ripping to it as I did not want all of that on my Gaming Computer.
It is the quietest PC I think I've ever owned, and built really nice.

PSOVLSK

Thanks for the heads up on a couple of units and for the advice.

It looks like this is going to happen on Friday:

DSkip wrote: »

Paul, let me build one for you.

EndersShadow

PSOVLSK wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up on a couple of units and for the advice.

It looks like this is going to happen on Friday:

DSkip wrote: »

Paul, let me build one for you.

Awesome!

If I were close enough I'd offer to do the same... build PC's is fun!

voltz

I meant to add that I'd just have DSkip build you one, but you chose wisely, its not that hard to build one I had done many before but here lately I'd rather have someone else build for me like Skip

voltz

that what I always sort of did for my brother ..every time I upgrade my computer he got one of my older ones I would fix up for him....think I have had 2 PC's in my house since I had a 386-40 , built a 2nd one when I found out you could play a head-to-head deathmatch with DOOM using a NULL cable

PSOVLSK

Currently running a Dell Dimensions 520, so whatever I take home is going to be a fairly significant upgrade I think.

That's fine of course. I'll bother him more than he'll bother me.

PSOVLSK

Don't need a new computer anymore The greatness of CP has come through once again. Awesome people on this board!!

Skip and I spent the day together on Friday putting something together for me. Actually I spent the day watching him put it together, but who wants to hear specifics. All we needed were a new power supply and hard drive to upgrade me from my 8 year old Dell. The computer in question is one that once belonged to Halen, so it's making it's way through the Polk family like a nice pair of speakers.

I've been getting things set up the past few days and I'm amazed at how easy some things are that have been giving me trouble. On my old computer I have been unable to transfer pictures/videos from my iPad or my video camera. Last night I was able to transfer the videos and burn most of them to DVD in the matter of a couple of hours. And don't even get me started on streaming music. My network is less than optimal, but I'm able to listen to flac files in my H/T with limited issues (with a little help from Skip regarding a setup problem). I've never been able to do this before, so it's been quite a treat. I'm actually putting my Oppo 105 to better use and getting my money's worth out of it now.

Thanks to Skip and Halen for hooking me up.

dee1949

Ciao Guy's

Can anyone tell me why I need more than a Core 2 Duo 2.5 with 4gb memory, Windows 7 64bit.???

What software out there requires more then games. Maybe video editing. Really need to know.

AsSiMiLaTeD

The biggest bottleneck in the majority of computers today is the mechanical hard drive. I'm surprised at how many computers still ship with those as the main drive. They're great for cheap storage but pretty bad for performance. Solid State is now at a price that's affordable for most people, especially those buying a new computer, so I always make that a recommendation when possible.

EndersShadow

For me, a SSD is for the OS and programs. Long term storage files like pictures, video and music are on a spinny disc drive for me.

Until the price on large SSD's come down that is. But I see it being a couple years before a 3 TB SSD is feasible and comparably priced to spinny disc drives

WLDock

SSD's are still not cheap. Too costly to use as backup drives...but will be a must have for the next PC. I'm in a major computer hold right now myself. I need one really bad but I am really torn between a desktop and a PC. The single core desktop that I built ages ago I don't even use and I share a laptop with the wife. I tend to have/use my work laptop more than I should.

In my mind I want a desktop to have as a server to store music , pictures, video, etc. Then get a laptop for everyday stuff and set up as a super fast web browsing PC without a lot of files and programs. So, I guess to be happy I need to buy both....but if I had to get just one I'm still not sure which to get.

The thing that pisses me off about PC's is that I've used some CORE i5 WIN7 machines with 4 GB of RAM that were not as fast as they should be just browsing the web. My old dual core laptop is just as fast. Maybe more RAM is needed or things need to optimized? I really want a super fast web browsing machine. My Comcast internet today is faster than anything I've ever had but it sure does not feel like it most of the time.

EndersShadow

WLDock wrote: »

SSD's are still not cheap. Too costly to use as backup drives...but will be a must have for the next PC. I'm in a major computer hold right now myself. I need one really bad but I am really torn between a desktop and a PC. The single core desktop that I built ages ago I don't even use and I share a laptop with the wife. I tend to have/use my work laptop more than I should.

In my mind I want a desktop to have as a server to store music , pictures, video, etc. Then get a laptop for everyday stuff and set up as a super fast web browsing PC without a lot of files and programs. So, I guess to be happy I need to buy both....but if I had to get just one I'm still not sure which to get.

The thing that pisses me off about PC's is that I've used some CORE i5 WIN7 machines with 4 GB of RAM that were not as fast as they should be just browsing the web. My old dual core laptop is just as fast. Maybe more RAM is needed or things need to optimized? I really want a super fast web browsing machine. My Comcast internet today is faster than anything I've ever had but it sure does not feel like it most of the time.

I disagree. I bought my 128 gig SSD for 60 shipped to my door. Are the spinny discs less... yes but you dont need a massively big one either. 80 gigs is MORE than enough for a standard OS and programs. Heck I installed Win 7 on a 40 gig SSD and STILL had 8 gigs left over and the 40 gig SSD's can be had for dirt cheap.

Have you thought about making that single core desktop your server for everything? It might be perfect for that. Just add some more hard drives for long term storage and then get another laptop for yourself.

Just a thought.

I still use my Quad Core Intel 9650 @ 3.6 Ghz w 8 gigs DDR2 1066 & a ATI 5650 card that I built 5 years ago. I just upgraded to a SSD and its got much faster. My bottleneck (if you want to call it that) is the GPU, but since I dont game and it can do 1080p and play MKV rips fine, no need to upgrade.

It stores all my music, pictures, backups and the OS on independent drives. My movies are on an external for use downstairs (diff thread).

When the time comes Walt.... give me a call... we can talk and build you a low cost upgrade that screams.

voltz

I had a 120 ssd put into my gamer pc and tried to keep everything I could off of it except the os and needed stuff. was afraid to go smaller cause winblows can swell up on ya

sucks2beme

$100 1TB SSD? Not to worry. They'll be a fire or flood somewhere in Asia and
prices will skyrocket. It will happen days before I'm ready to buy one.

WLDock

EndersShadow wrote: »

When the time comes Walt.... give me a call... we can talk and build you a low cost upgrade that screams.

Man, my PC situation is rough right now. The old dual core Vista laptop the wife and I share is bogged down. The drive is broken up into two 80 GB partitions and one is about full. I need to reformat the OS and move some files off the machine. Not to mention my old desktop I built back in like....'2006 has not been used in years. I used to hang out on hardforum.com and it was my first build. It was about a year or two behind back then but I just wanted something to be able to play FarCry on. The MB has some type of ground issue. Here is the old sig:

Chaintech VNF3-250 MB • Athlon 64 3400+ w/BIG Typhoon cooler • ATI AIW X800XT w/Zalman VF700-Cu LED Cooler • 2x512MB Crucial Ballistix ,Western Digital Cavier SE 80GB • Plextor PX-716A DVD+RW • Lite-On LTR-522463 CD-RW • Seasonic S12-430 • DELL 2005fpw 20" LCD Coolermaster Cavalier

What a dinosaur, LOL! Maybe your right, I should get a new motherboard, processor, RAM, OS , HD's and make this into a server? I know I want some type of 3 drive RAID 5 setup with an SSD as the main. I was looking at 256 GB Samsung and Intel SSD's...those seem to be $140-$200 which is not cheap IMO.

dee1949

...great info below on those (old timers) who want to upgrade.

http://lifehacker.com/5891007/do-i-even-need-to-care-about-processors-anymore

cnh

Unless you boys are working with large data sets/equations for giant corps., doing HD video editing, or gaming at the highest level. Most decent Intel i5s or higher processors with at least 8Gigs of RAM and decent graphics card, is more computer than you'll need for quite some time.

PC nerds are like Audiophiles, bigger, better, faster, $$$! lol

My current laptop has the above features, it's now two years old running that nasty W 8.1 and hasn't missed a step in performance for "my" needs! Anything more would be overkill for me. And you can put together or have Skip put something as good or better together for chump change, these days!

I like Lenovos. They're fairly reliable, and when I taught at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing they're all we had in the classroom. Over a year and a number of different machines; they never failed me even though I had to negotiate the menus in Chinese-not so bad once you update your "technical vocab".

Also here is a question for our resident "GEEK SQUAD". Most laptops/PCs come with an SD card slot these days that can handle a lot of SD storage, they also have some essential OS items on a 26-32G SSD memory separate from the old style Drive. If you had a laptop that had an old HD, why not shove a BIG STORAGE SD card in there and put what you wish to run FASTER on it? Would that work almost as well as actually having an SSD in your PC. Or is there still a problem with access time?

Have fun!

cnh

txcoastal1

SD storage slots run like USB vs slots that SSD and SATA run of on the motherboard

WLDock

Thinking about picking up this broken PC I ran across on CL. The MB won't boot but looks to be getting power. I'm the fix it type so this is right up my alley. Even if I have to replace the MB it seems like a nice buy.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/sys/4837524103.html

$100
Specs:
8GB of Coarsair RAM
256GB OCZ Agility 4 SSD
1GB Nvidia BFG Tech GTX 280
Asus M3N-HT Deluxe/HDMI Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Deneb Quad-Core 3.0GHz Socket AM2

What do you guys think?

txcoastal1

Could be a bad stick of RAM giving them a no post

Easy fix

WLDock

Well, looks like they sold it. So, between used, and new parts to rebuild my old desktop I will find something.