Puter Power Question

[Pipp]

I need a new computer -- or something. I can barely use this one, takes forever to load pages, etc, mostly because of the memory issue I suspect, although I'm sure the software isfraught with errors.

Here's my current specs:

AMD Sempron 3000+
- 1.99 ghz
- 480 mb ram
- 120 gb hd (roughly 80 used, 30 avail.)
-running XP.

I can buy a newAMD 5000+ with 2 G of ram with whatever bells and whistles are standard in kit computers these days, running Vista, for $600 (plus a million in CDN taxes and levies). which comes withan Epson printer for $10, which I need. (Well, I need a printer, Epson is worth it if it's only $10).

Or I can throw a gigofram in the old one, I think for$100 (plus a hundred thousand in taxes and levies), buy a printer and probably a backup HD so I can clean up my error-challenged HD.

How much faster can I expect a new system to be, and how much of a pain in the butt is Vista?

(Or do I want to scrap both of them and order a cheapDell).



sas :?

PS: all I do is run the bunny board and thenew website,write stories and never erase ANYTHING. Not a gammer, don't use it formovies, nothingoverly intensive.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

How long have you had the current computer?

I've heard VISTA isn't all that great.

Why haven't you gotten rid of anything? can't you burn it to disk? organize that? or a flash drive?

Do you run maintenance? (disk config or clear your cache?)

We have about the same usage - add a few things the kids do, iTunes which keeps it busy and nothing else will work when we use it, some games not many, and we do fine. I'm thinking you need to clean up your computer.

 

[Flashy]

My brother is a computer genius so I enlisted his input. Any questions and I'm sure he will be happy to answer.

Howdy

Your current system is in need of an upgrade and i would reccomend buying the new one for several reasons:

1) Putting another gigabyte of RAM into your old computer may speed it up marginally, but you would have to find out what type of RAM your computer takes and if it can fit more RAM. This RAM will also be of a slower kind than the new option inlatest computers(DDR2). If you really wanted to upgrade your current computer, you would need to buy a new processor, which would need a new motherboard, which would need a new powersupply etc and you would end up building your own computer.

2) Buying the new computer will be more futureproof. You will benefit from a larger hard drive (almost certainly), faster and more RAM and a new processor.The AMD 5000+ is a dual core processor (2 processors in one chip) allowing it to do two simultaneous processes which will be much faster than yourold computer.

3) You can transfer all of your old files onto your newer system, incase your old computer goes to computer heaven; it shouldn't, but it could.

As for your Vista concerns; there are some advanced things that it will not let you do but it has a lot of plus sides. It is a resource hog (taking up a air bit of RAM and processing power) but it is altogether easier to use and updated regularly. I would currently reccomend Vista for anything other than extreme gaming (if you want to milk everything your computer can do for gaming) as it is incredibly easy to use and get to grips with.

All in all you will notice a massive difference in speed between this new system and your current one.

Hope this helps!
-Adam

 

[Michaela]

Pipp wrote:

How much faster can I expect a new system to be, and how much of a pain in the butt is Vista?

I have no idea about anything else, but I have Vista, and I far far prefer it to XP. It takes very little time to get used to.

 

[Bunnicula]

I think Adam said it all...not much to add. Except that when I bought, I made every effort to have all th RAM and memory I could afford. I have thousands of pics & videos on mine, run multiple programs at once, and no problems.

While we're on the subject, though, I would be interested in hearing what problems people have had with Vista (since I am hearing good things here). I've heard lots of "complaints" from Vista users, but no specifics.

Also, if you go to Vista on a new computer, are there software programs you already have and would want to transfer to the new computerthat it might not support? That is one thing I have heard...anyone out there who can clarify better? I am very interested as I plan for future computer purchases, too.

~Mary Ellen

 

[Flashy]

We have had lots of problems with XP programs and suchnot being supported on Vista, such as the printer, and various other things that I can't think of. Thankfully, the good thing about having a computer genius around is that he can sort these problems. He had to install things different from normal, but so far we have everything we need on all computers (three on vista, two on XP, one old boy on ME)except the printer installed on my mum's, which is proving a battle.

Had we not had Adam and his superior powers we would be floundering greatly and no able to use many things. But it does show that there are ways around most problems, which is always useful to know.

 

[JadeIcing]

Sas my hubbby knows lots about this want me to have him look at this?

 

[Pipp]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

How long have you had the current computer?

Do you run maintenance? (disk config or clear your cache?

I forgot to mention my multi-tasking addiction... at least 30 windows open at once.

Bo, I bought it three years ago, I remember that because it arrived just a few weeks after Pipp and she chewed through most of the wiresin prettyshort order. (It never was quite the same).

Maintenance isn't bad, doesn't need defrag or anything, but yah, I should clear my cache, thanks for the reminder.

Flashy, Bro and Michaela, thanks!! Great info!!! A new computer it is.

Now I just have to figure out how to pay for it. onderAt least it's cheap enough that I should only have to knock over a corner store and not rob a bank).



sas :crash

 

[Pipp]

Bunnicula wrote:

I think Adam said it all...not much to add. Except that when I bought, I made every effort to have all th RAM and memory I could afford. I have thousands of pics & videos on mine, run multiple programs at once, and no problems.

While we're on the subject, though, I would be interested in hearing what problems people have had with Vista (since I am hearing good things here). I've heard lots of "complaints" from Vista users, but no specifics.

How much memory did you get, and ditto on the programs, Mary Ellen, love as much info as possible on that one.

Alicia, input from Rob on that would be great, too.

I'm running mostly just the major stuff like the Office suite (including both Outlook and Outlook Express simultaneously) but I've got a lot of oddball tools I think.

What was the printer that didn't work?



sas :bunnydance: (who can barely post the query)

 

[Flashy]

I would presume that the Epson it would come with, that will work with Vista, but it might be worth checking.

Ours wasn't a straight printer, it was a printer, photocopier, fax machine and telephone in one and it was a 'Brother' something or other with letters and numbers after it. It is now usable though.

 

[MsBinky]

Pipp, was wondering where ya'd been. Sorry to hear about your computer troubles. :?

I would go for a new computer. Fact is, depending on how old, you might put money on it and then something else will malfunction etc. Kinda like an old car... I see that you already seem to have chosen that anyway :biggrin2:

Just to answer questions about Vista:

This is a very personal thing. I hate hate hate Vista. I hate all the million security pop ups that you get that you cannot turn off. Seriously, you click on something in the control panel, then the whole screen blacks out in order for this little pop up to show, you click ok, then it goes back, then you think you're ready to go but oops, another pop up, and another and it's like "Are you sure? Are you really really sure?" GAH :grumpy:I'm not very patient though, especially with computers. I love when it just works you know? I think my biggest mistake was seeing a mac. Now I just can't stand Vista at all. Lol.

And remote assistance? Don't get me started. Andddd it's always jamming when I have too much going. I do run big graphics programs though And because it has "fancy" effects, it's a bit slower when opening and closing things...

I think that it really depends on how much you do with it though. If you go into settings a lot, work with heavy programs, etc. you won't like it. My sister has Vista and knows next to nothing about computers so she loves it because it's really really simple for her. She basically goes on msn, browses, gets music, and types up school reports. So I think it can work for some people.I just do too much at once for this computer to follow

On the plus side, it is much harder for someoneto hack into unless you get a trojan, so it's pretty safe. And as for program compatibilities and hardware compatibilities, lots of old hardware will most likely require you to download the new drivers online. Buuuut they are there, and by now, pretty much everyone has modified their stuff to be compatible with Vista.

 

[MsBinky]

[ame=http://youtube.com/watch?v=VuqZ8AqmLPY]http://youtube.com/watch?v=VuqZ8AqmLPY[/ame]

This is the truest commercial they have done

 

[aurora369]

My advice: Get a new computer! You will get much more life out of a new one than upgrading your old one.

Check out Dell, my mom bought a new computer from them just before Christmas with Windows XP and more power then she'll ever need for about $300. You get one year of Dell's warrenty with your purchase and it's awesome. You can get the warrenty that covers all parts from any damage for any reason. So if Pipp chews something, you can have a new part by the next day.

Both Ryan and I have Dell laptops, and we've had nothing but good things.

Make sure you order a computer with XP, Vista is quite different and has issues with things like printers. Ryan tried to install a brand new printer on a Vista machine, spent all day on it and could get it working. Ended up having to return the brand new printer and exchanging for a different one. Many companies don't have the proper drivers or support for Vista yet. XP is stable (well, as stable as Windows can be...) and everyone knows how to deal with it and fix any problems that come up.

So, get a Dell, they always have sales on so just wait until a good one pops up. You can call in and get a system set up for you and a quote sent to you.

--Dawn

 

[mouse_chalk]

I've gotta say, I'm with Ms Binky. Vista is really simple to use, and looks great, but I've just found that there are many bugs with it.

I run Internet Explorer 7, and I randomly find that it wont let me have more than 4 tabs open, or sometimes 5, sometimes 3, for no apparent reason. I.E just seems to freeze up all the time. I also use iTunes to sync with my iPod and have had lots of problems with this. Vista recognises iPods as devices with bugs, and tries to fx them, which can corrupt the iPod completely (mine did this and I had to reset it).

When IE freezes like that, the only way to resolve it is to restart my laptop. I also find the security pop-ups annoying, but they don't stop me doing my work like IE does- you can imagine how frustrating it is for IE to die when you're in the middle of updating your blog with loads of pictures or something!

I also find it a lot slower than XP for starting up and shutting down, and generally loading programs. Currently, I'm dying to get rid of my Sony Vaio and get a MacBook, Steve uses them for his web development and they're so easy, plus he never has any kinds of problems with them.

However, Vista is the new operating system, and all new Windows machines will be using it eventually, so unless you switch to Mac, it's something that's inevitable really. I guess Microsoft will have to fix all the bugs on it sooner or later! You could also buy a Vista machine, and then install XP on it, so you can then switch back to Vista when it's more stable, if you don't like it that much.

Also, I agree with Dawn, all my family have used Dell before, and I think they're great value for money and work really well!

Good luck with your purchase!

Jen

 

[trailsend]

I can't add much lol - but I have Vista on my laptop which is all I use since Kevin is always on our desktop - and at first I hated it, but it just took some getting used to - now I don't mind it at all and it's easy for me to use. But it is different and I've found a lot of programs are not compatible with it.

Our desktop is the same, so slow, and it is completely unreliable. We have a ton of stuff on it and that's part of the trouble. It is soon to be replaced.

 

[TinysMom]

MsBinky wrote:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VuqZ8AqmLPY

This is the truest commercial they have done

OMG - I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Mac vs. PC commercials that they do - and this one is so true.

Eric bought Vista last year when it first came out (or was it the year before? I forget). He was so proud...

He's had nothing but trouble with his computer since then. Of course - he loves gaming and we do LoTRO as a family online - well - we try to- when his computer isn't down.

Me?

I hate Vista with a passion after using his machine when we visit. Will I switch? Probably someday...maybe....if I have to.....I'll probably do it kicking and screaming.

But after seeing his experience with it (and he still seems to like it - I think - although the last time we talked he wasn't as thrilled as he had been)....

I'll stick with my XP - for now.

 

[michele]

I agree with everyone that a new computer would be best. I also have vista on my computer it took a while to get use to but I love it now. The biggest problem I have is trying to send files to people that don't have vista (they can't open them) but there is a compatability mode that the files can be saved in so no big deal.

As far as Dell I hate them with a passion. I had nothing but problems with the computer and after only having it a little over a year I had to replace it. This was after replacing several batteries and chargers. The internet would close all the time, it wouldn't let me get on to certain sites. Half the time the programs on my computer did not work. Did I mention that I hate them?

 

[tundrakatiebean]

I've only ever had dell computers. I like dell because you choose a shell and then fill it with whatever you need it to have. If you get a laptop the chargers go belly up every once and a while, but they are easy to replace. My dad is an electrical engineer (or was, he works as college admin now) and always makes sure we have the newest/best whatever. If you want more info I can ask him to talk to you.

 

[mouse_chalk]

I don't know if they have it for Canada, but Dell also do an 'outlet' shop too, where you can buy refurbished PC's at certain specs for much cheaper prices. My previous laptop was an outlet purchase, and it was really good. You still get the 1 year guarantee too.

I would check for you but my stupid Vista machine has done the internet freezing thingy and I'm going to have to restart before I can check! GRRRRR! :grumpy:

Oh, and by the way, Sony Vaio machines are really good. Some of the models are really expensive, but you can get cheaper ones too at a really good spec. I have a Vaio, and it's lovely, apart from Vista!

 

[Pipp]

Thanks all, I just ordered a Dell.

Somebody suggested using their 'small business' option and not the home/home business, and that paid off.SBhad a better deal, and fasterservice (domestic, not outsourced).

They had a sale on a Vostro 200 (2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz - 2DIMMs;250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache). Ad says the regular price is $629, sale price is $359. Five tosix business days for (free) delivery, so I'll have it next week.

Seeing asI can sell my oldcomputer to my mom for $300, I don't even have to knock off a corner store, just lift a neighbour'swallet.

I forgot to order a dial-up modem, though, for an extra $10. (AOL dial-up is a cheap and easy way of maskingyour IP). I'll have to sweet talk Dawn's Ryan into throwing one in there for me.

sas :crash