New or New-to-me Computer

[Spartan26]

I Need Help! I'm in the market for a computer. Unlike the bulk of this forum, I have a scant knowledge of computers [See: Missing Avatar] But if there's any doubt to my intpness, I spent seven hours looking online yesterday, e-mailed three friends and called a couple of others trying to accumulate and decipher data. Completely overwhelmed/sense of doom/you name it. If I'd otherwise woke up feeling the way I do now, I'd be in cardiology unit of Cedars-Sinai demanding they kick Liz Taylor out so they could throw me up on the latest machine.

Here's what I need it to do: work. The unit I have now is this old Dell that I got at a swap meet. $20, it's only a 166. :o My friend had to put in a harddrive for me. I'd go through him again but he's since moved away. :(

It should be really simple because I basically only use MS Word, Final Draft and the Internet to go to sites like this or webcast through something like Launch Yahoo. Half the times I play a video it looks more like a slide show, though.

Now, if I had the capability, I'm sure I'd burn songs left and right. Occasionally, a DVD will come out that has a computer interactive menu where you can do such things as download the script. That'd be cool to do but unlike splurging for side airbags, a dvd drive would be an expense I'd be pissed if I never got to use.

It is also foreseeable that I'd burn dvd's. Not like copies of Old Skool or Friday the 13th part 57 I get over at Blockbuster, but more like director's reels, short films, live performances... These would be either my work or of friends, not some service I'd look to provide to make some extra beer money.

So now comes the 7-11 Economics. If I'm already spending .99 cents for a soda, I'd be an idiot not to get the Big Gulp for $1.09. But if a Super Big Gulp's $1.19, I should get that since I'm already breaking a quarter. But, if I get a Double Gulp for $1.29 that'd be like three times the size of a regular soda for only 1/3 more in price. But then what am I going to do, spend the rest of the afternoon running to the bathroom? Who needs that much soda? I'll have to be somewhere that'll have ice because it's not going to stay cold for as long as it's going to take me to finish. How much of that Double Gulp is going to be wasted? 8O

If 256 RAM is only $20 more I should get it, right? If I spend an extra $69 getting a CD WR/DVD ROM, I should get the DVD DR for $89? But if it's not something I'm going to use, should I pocket the $60 and upgrade later? I don't know! :cry: Is 20 gig hard drive big enough? It never ends.

I was thinking I could always buy additional devices later on. But then I heard that external units don't work as well as hoped. Would I be able to rig my PlayStation II to play dvd's through a computer if it doesn't have a dvd drive? I mean would the software normally included or Windows XP handle it?

I was looking primarily at eBay. Like I said, I don't know computers so I don't know if these brands or models are any good: AMD Athlon, XTech, SBS Spark??? And others have no brand or model but maybe a chip type like Celeron. Do I just need to stick to a Pent 4 to be safe?

What about Dell refurbished? What do I need to make sure it contains that I won't have buy to keep me up and running? Then there's Gateway. Any good? Do they sell used ones of those? I have to pick up peanut butter and tuna at Costco, would I do just as well throwing a computer in the cart while I'm over there standing in line? I think they sell e-Machines. Why do I feel I should fear those? :ph34r:

Any suggestions would be great. Oh, budget! Of course I want the most bang for the buck. If I could keep in the $400 range that'd be great. I know certain packages with other items (e.g. monitors, scanners, waffle maker, etc) can drive the price up but still be a good deal.

Thanks :cheers:

[Birdsnest]

They say that one thing you never want to buy used is a computer or laptop, because you have no idea if its been dropped, or what has happened to it.

I think you can just go to a circuit city and let them know what you want in the system. Or, you can go to www.consumerworld.com and look for links on shopping comparison, or www.epinions.com, they might be able to tell you. I can tell you that Dell is very popular, so it must be pretty reliable. Otherwise, I will let others tell you about specifics. Perhaps www.zdnet.com has some reviews on computer equipment.

ZD nets top picks:
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4002-6606_16-1008157.html?tag=ont-tp

[SensEye]

I have often recommended Dell to non techie people I know. They have pretty good deals and are generally reliable. If you go to their website make sure to look under small business as well as home (they often have better deals under small business).

I took a quick look and you can get a 2.4Ghz Celeron with 256MB ram and 40gig hardrive, cd rom, windows XP for $299 + shipping (entry level small business).

Not great, but light years ahead of your 166 fossil. No dvd drive or monitor (I assume you can use your current one?). You can upgrade
if you want to pay more.

Regarding processors, AMD or Intel (Pentium or Celeron) would all be fine for your purposes. Just go for the best deal, you don't need to worry about a P4.

[Claverhouse]

My, American prices are cheap compared to here.

On that, all I can say is make memory your priority; then as big a hard drive as possible, say 160GB. ( I'm using a 2GB right here and you always need more space ). If possible get 2 instead, one to mirror the other.

Installing a Hard Drive is really really simple: if you never do anything with hardware, you should at least practise this. As SensEye implies, most modern processors will do what you want.

Personally I'd never buy a new computer, cos I could never justify spending masses of money that could go on books; but each to his/her own. If you do buy a 2nd-hand one, and say add a new primary HD you can make a clean install of whatever Operating System you choose. [ Never be seduced into thinking that the files on a 2nd-hand system may be interesting, they never are ( unless you've got a fetish for old invoices ), the programs being old freeware and stuff that never quite worked with Windows 95 . The exception being if it's got MS Office, which is good; but you can get OpenOrg for free, which is better ]

I've had Dell, but wasn't that impressed: I'm using my old Dell monitor now, after 3 computers: but at present with a HP Compaq Deskpro. Don't buy a HP Compaq Deskpro.



Claverhouse :ph34r:


[ Note that any HD over 10GB should be partitioned into smaller drives: you do not want to run Scandisk on a 100GB drive unless you've got a few days to spend away from your computer ]

[Groty]

So now comes the 7-11 Economics. If I'm already spending .99 cents for a soda, I'd be an idiot not to get the Big Gulp for $1.09. But if a Super Big Gulp's $1.19, I should get that since I'm already breaking a quarter. But, if I get a Double Gulp for $1.29 that'd be like three times the size of a regular soda for only 1/3 more in price. But then what am I going to do, spend the rest of the afternoon running to the bathroom? Who needs that much soda? I'll have to be somewhere that'll have ice because it's not going to stay cold for as long as it's going to take me to finish. How much of that Double Gulp is going to be wasted? 8O



LMAO!!!


Dell = Good, Gateway = Bad

Run with the Celeron deal. Sounds like you're not gonna be running anything too hefty.

[int]

Refurbished is OK if it has a warranty of some sort. Dell == good. I'm using a Dell laptop right now, love it, and recommend them to friends and family. Besides, if you got a used 166 that's still working - there's something to be said there (my Compaq 133 died a few years ago - it was a sad day).

Fear teh e-machines.

For Internet and word processing a Celeron is great, but check out the requirements of any games or specialized software/hardware you use to see if you need a Pentium. I'd also recommend a fresh OS install, then only install the software you use - most pre-packaged systems are bloated and you can free up a whole buncha disk space if you install only what you need. I'd start at 256 for memory and go up to a gig tops. Drives - start at 20 gigs and go up if money permits. You can always add a big one later to store stuff on. 20 gigs will get all your software loaded (usually) and running well.

What are you thinking of making external?

[Spartan26]

What are you thinking of making external?

I'd only get an external dvd burner. Something I don't need now but could see a use for maybe early next year. I'm not going to do any editing or adding titles or laying down soundtracks on my computer, but having the ability to get a copy of a completed short or compliation of material out to someone the day after meeting or to send out entries to festivals (not necessarily theater quality prints) could be huge.

If I could save money now and buy in later that'd be great. But I'd rather take the hit now if external dvd drives don't work so well or are generally over priced.

[Jezebel]

If you're getting a new prebuilt machine, don't just look at the specs. Technical support IS important, no matter if you think you can fix it yourself or not.

If you plan on doing custom upgrades or replace anything yourself, hardware OR software, many places don't like you to change ANYTHING from the way it was when you got the computer. I have called tech support that would not help me until I formatted the computer and put it back the way it was when it was shipped out. If you decide to upgrade/add/replace any hardware yourself, some places will terminate your warranty.

I have had good experiences with Dell (who are more open to you changing things yourself, will even help replace hardware yourself over the phone instead of taking it into a center which can then take weeks to get the computer back)

I have had bad experiences with hewlett packard/compaq (shipped with bad hardware, took 5 months for them to fix it, unhelpful technical support staff, tech support won't help until system software is all installed as it was when it was shipped)

[int]

So my wife's laptop (a Dell Inspiron 5100) dies today.

I just spent 30 minutes on hold with Dell. Then I told the guy, "Look, I'm a tech. I think this machine's proc burnt out." We then went through 45 minutes of me doing silly things. An hour and a half later he eventually says, "Your proc is burnt." Plus he was in India. I wonder how much that call cost them?

Although support.dell.com is one of my favorite sites, their phone support has been outsourced overseas and has started to get confusing, compared to what it was. I remeber the days I could make a call and a tech would be in our office replacing 4 motherboards in 45 minutes.

Ah well, their computers are still at the top of my list.

[Jezebel]

So my wife's laptop (a Dell Inspiron 5100) dies today.

I just spent 30 minutes on hold with Dell. Then I told the guy, "Look, I'm a tech. I think this machine's proc burnt out." We then went through 45 minutes of me doing silly things. An hour and a half later he eventually says, "Your proc is burnt." Plus he was in India. I wonder how much that call cost them?

Although support.dell.com is one of my favorite sites, their phone support has been outsourced overseas and has started to get confusing, compared to what it was. I remeber the days I could make a call and a tech would be in our office replacing 4 motherboards in 45 minutes.

Ah well, their computers are still at the top of my list.

That's true. The last time I spoke with someone on the phone from dell it was someone from India and we had communication problems. I went through the same thing with my cd-burner, and that probably took more than 45 min.

But it was resolved in one phone call and I had a new burner in the mail within 2 days. Could use improvement, but still better than what I've had to deal with from other companies.