[Archived] Buying A New Computer

[colin]

Evening All,

My computer is getting old and will soon need to be recycled, so I'm looking out for a new one.

Any help and advice from the more techno-savvy readers will be appreciated.

I don't really have storage problems as I've got a 500 Gb external hard drive for back-up

I need internet access, some word processing, half decent storage for photographs (although these can be saved to the external hard drive.)

I don't do games.

As with many things, the internet is a source of far too much information and it's making my brain hurt. My default would be to wander down to the local PC World and just buy something there.

Anyway, all advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[adopted scouser]

When I got the flat nearer Alty I bought one of these >

I bought it in Currys with a 19" wide screen monitor to match, round about £500 all in. I'm not that techie but it's 2gb RAM, 500 gb Hard drive and a quad core processor running Windows Vista.

The whole thing has a black lacquer finish and it's bloody quick.

Nick

(Just trying to figure out my new phone now ! )

[LeChuck]

Do you want/need an entirely new system Colin or will you be using your monitor/keyboard/mouse etc. from your current system?

[colin]

Do you want/need an entirely new system Colin or will you be using your monitor/keyboard/mouse etc. from your current system?

Le Chuck, my mouse is OK as is my keyboard. I'll probably go for a new monitor though.

& Thanks Nick for the tip. I'll take it on board. It's much better than anonymous internet chatter.

Everyone else, please feel free to pile in with advice. It will be appreciated.

[S15]

I really can't recommend buying a Mac enough.

One slightly bigger outlay on price meaning you can forget viruses, popups and general f***ing up forever. They also last longer.

One month with a Mac and you'll forget that PC's ever existed, and you'll wonder how you ever coped without a Mac.

[broadsword]

Whatever make/ operating system you get, I would recommend a laptop.

Unless you need a lot of computing power (which, since you won't be running games, is unlikely), then the convenience of having a laptop and binning the ruddy computer desk is a liberation.

If you also have a wireless router it means you can use your computer anywhere in the house.

I'll never buy a desktop ever again, and I speak as someone who does a lot of work from home. I've been working from home tonight sat in front of the telly! :-)

[Presty On Tour]

Agree with Bryan, get yourself a laptop and you will never go back to a desktop.

[Paul]

I'll add my vote for a laptop. Much more versatlie for all the obvious reasons plus you can pack everything away. As you already have screen, etc you might consider a small note book and just plug everything into it. We have an HP Compaq nx7400 and it's great. I also have two newer HP Compaq's at work and they just keep ticking along without a murmur. My son bought himself a Sony Viao about 8 weeks ago and it's very good

[Stuart]

Agree with Bryan, get yourself a laptop and you will never go back to a desktop.

Depends what you want to spend. I'm guessing you are used to using PC's so I'd go with Bryan's laptop suggestion too, plus make it a 3gb (or more if poss) RAM.

Have to admit though, I'd love to go for a Mac iBook of some sort though - if I could afford it!

[colin]

Thanks Shillitoe, Bryan, Presty, Paul & Jisty.

Your advice is appreciated.

I think I've got a week to decide .....keep them coming

Thanks

[American]

We're going to be looking soon. My one suggestion would be to find something with a Blu-ray drive. Not only will it be able to double as a Blu-ray player, but it seems that more computers are starting to use these, so a few years down the road it could be standard.

Only problem I'm finding with that is there are hardly any laptops below 700.

The new one is for the Mrs. I'm happy with my Mac Book, but I've always been a Mac guy, having formerly done graphic design.

[dannydisco]

I really can't recommend buying a Mac enough.

One slightly bigger outlay on price meaning you can forget viruses, popups and general f***ing up forever. They also last longer.

One month with a Mac and you'll forget that PC's ever existed, and you'll wonder how you ever coped without a Mac.

Couldn't agree more. I grew up with PC's and stayed loyal to them and windows for years.

Initially I was given quite a 2nd hand macbook for work and have never looked back. It has never missed a beat and the performance is still as good as the day I got it. Never had any issues with using ms office or exchanging files with pc users either.

[BRFC Casuals]

I really can't recommend buying a Mac enough.

One slightly bigger outlay on price meaning you can forget viruses, popups and general f***ing up forever. They also last longer.

One month with a Mac and you'll forget that PC's ever existed, and you'll wonder how you ever coped without a Mac.

Please bear in mind that any computer is only as good as the software that is available for it ie everything is deszigned for PC, every website in the world works on a PC, games are designed for a PC and the only reason why you wont get a virus on a mac is because no-one is going to write a script that has only a few thousand computers to infect when they can target over a billion PCs.

The hardware may or may not be better with a mac but where you can pick up a good PC laptop at £350 - £500 you need to more than double that for a mac

Just bought an Advent 5712 laptop for my mum £320 from PC world she loves it

[American]

Please bear in mind that any computer is only as good as the software that is available for it ie everything is deszigned for PC, every website in the world works on a PC, games are designed for a PC and the only reason why you wont get a virus on a mac is because no-one is going to write a script that has only a few thousand computers to infect when they can target over a billion PCs.

The hardware may or may not be better with a mac but where you can pick up a good PC laptop at £350 - £500 you need to more than double that for a mac

Just bought an Advent 5712 laptop for my mum £320 from PC world she loves it

Absolutely nothing at home that my wife does on her PC laptop that I can't do on my Mac laptop.

The games we play (Her: Sims and me: FM), are both available on both formats, as are a lot of other major games. Office is available on both, or Open Office, if you're cheap like me. Never had a single problem with a website between Firefox and Safari.

[OhmiBRFC]

Laptops are conveinent, but, they have a much shorter life span (especially the newer models) and can be more expensive if things go wrong.

[S15]

Please bear in mind that any computer is only as good as the software that is available for it ie everything is deszigned for PC, every website in the world works on a PC, games are designed for a PC and the only reason why you wont get a virus on a mac is because no-one is going to write a script that has only a few thousand computers to infect when they can target over a billion PCs.

The hardware may or may not be better with a mac but where you can pick up a good PC laptop at £350 - £500 you need to more than double that for a mac

Just bought an Advent 5712 laptop for my mum £320 from PC world she loves it

I encourage you to do some research as everything in your post is incorrect.

I do however agree that Macs seems overly expensive however from past experience any cheap laptop usually needs replacing after a couple of years due to the fact they are very poorly made. I appreciate there will be exceptions, but believe me, a Mac has a minimum five times the lifespan of any budget PC.

[RoyRover]

Depending on what your budget is, I'd have to go with shillito and say that Macs are the way to go. They are more expensive, but are better machines generally. You may even go for a Macbook, which would be more expensive than your standard desktop PC, but are still fantastic machines. My friend who works for IBM in Chicago would disagree with me. He would say that if you want to look cool in Starbucks, then get a Macbook, but if you want something that works, go for a PC! I find Macs to be far more user friendly and there is now a greater network and ability to have them serviced, with Apple stores and licensed dealers all over the place. I had a problem with my Mac a few months ago and even though I had got it from the U.S a few years ago, I just took it to the Apple Store in Belfast and they helped me. Again, it comes down to what you want to spend and what the computer is used for. You can lease Macs now as well and have total coverage on them. This maybe something to think about?

[Tris]

I got my wife a new laptop for her birthday last week - and did lots of research (mainly elsewhere, but I got a lot of info from the various threads on here and by pm - much appreciated folks ...) - - - and I actually did a complete u-turn in the Mac v PC debate.

I ordered a Mac (from their online store) and was going through with it, on the basis that only the best will do (and by that I absolutely acknowledge that Mac is the best).

48 hours later, I cancelled the Mac order, on the basis that the best doesn't equate to the correct value for money ratio ... and there are many better options out there for everyone except those who are wedded to Mac because of the brand.

So the birthday present ended up being a very nice Sony Vaio, Windows 7 pre-loaded, fantastic spec (and screen), I really can't fault it.

The real pinch is this though. I could buy three of this model of Sony Vaio laptop, for the same price as the Mac I initially ordered. I've already acknowledged that the Mac is the best ... ... ... but it's not 3 times better. Some of the unspent cash will go on a 5 way ethernet switch and a networked 1TB hard drive to back up everything we need to back up - something often neglected but the money is better spent there.

What is more ... the Sony I chose was best value on Amazon, but only 6 quid cheaper than at PC World. It turned out to be available "free" at PC World on taking on a 2 year mobile broadband deal. They push you towards Vodafone (5GB / month) but 3 have a far better offer - 15GB per month.

Of course it's not really free, but I wanted that for my own laptop and travelling, so this really has been a fantastic deal all round. I also got PC World to match and indeed improve on peripheral offers (software and extras).

I would usually be the last person to sign up to something like that (my own laptop was sourced direct from Toshiba from a mate in the USA when the exchange rate was better) ... but on this occasion PC World had absolutely the best deal out there - to my astonishment.

So Colin - decide exactly what you want, google the alternatives, google the deals that are out there, go and try the machines in PC World or John Lewis, take your time and you can end up with a new computer for much less than you might expect to pay. Can you tie it in to a home broadband or mobile broadband deal?

But make sure that you sense check everything with an independent view - be that on this or other websites, or by paying a quid to which.co.uk for a one month look at their totally untainted views.

[JC4LAB]

If getting a laptop and you do a lot of number crunching go for one with a numeric key board so you can put the figures in quick....

[Paul]

- and I actually did a complete u-turn in the Mac v PC debate.

I'll add to this colin, both my son and a friend of mine have recently made the same decision. I think we all know Macs are very good but they simply are unlikely to be 2 or 3 times better unless you have a very specific use in mind. I'm not setting out to knock Apple because they have some great products and have very cleverly planted themselves right at the top price-wise. Great marketing because everyone expects Apple products to be exepnsive, and they are!!

My son desperately wanted a Macbook Pro. It was his own harde-earned money from a summer job, other than pointing him in the right direction on how to get a good deal I expressed no opinion. He reached the point of finding the best deal, was ready to buy and then after a few days thought decided to go for the SonyVaio. His words were basically he reached the conclusion the Mac was a fashion accessory!! and knew he could get better value for money with a standard laptop.

If getting a laptop and you do a lot of number crunching go for one with a numeric key board so you can put the figures in quick....

Second that, it's important and you only find out after you've bought the thing.

[IanCottam]

Colin,

I'm a Mac user too, and could advise on pros/cons.

Email me off list if you like.

Regards

-Ian

ps: people are right that they are a little expensive, but

some people think they are worth it

[S15]

I understand they aren't user friendly at first if you've never used one but after a week you find yourself having to readapt to PC's.

The other thing I would encourage you to consider is how slowly the value of a Mac declines. I still see 3-4 year old Macs going for £400+ on Gumtree and eBay, so whilst I agree a mac might not be 3 times better than all 400 odd pound PC's, the chances are if you decided to reconvert later down the line (which you won't ), you can still end up with no loss overall, as there is always someone desperate for a Mac who would snap your hands off at paying anything under £500, even in a few years from now.

[IanCottam]

Macs are great if you're a graphics designer. If you're not a graphics designer then having a Mac is total overkill (considering the high prices of them).

I think the Macs-are-good-if-you-do-graphic-design is an oft-quoted red herring these days.

It may have had some validity twenty odd years ago when Photoshop performed better on a Mac (or maybe even was available on the Mac before the PC, my memory is hazy).

Since the above defends Windows, I'll add a few comments as to why I use Mac:

- OS X feels subjectively more pleasant to use than Windows (though I admit 7 is the best Windows yet)

- they never come with the tons of crapware that despite being an expert I can never quite get rid of all of it on a PC

- Spaces (= multiple desktops you switch between) is a great way to organise your work and play (and yes I run Windows in one of the spaces too, as we have a couple of Windows only programs at work; extra Tip: do it via Virtualbox which is free software)

- there is basically a single version of OS X (when you buy a PC you don't know which features are missing from the OS without quite a bit of research)

- time machine is the best backup/restore system I've ever used (if you don't have to do anything to backup, amazingly it actually gets done)

- they don't slow down over time (likely due to the absence of extra crapware that Windows programs seem to install constantly)

- they don't have any virus threats (yet... I know)

- if you but Apple toys (i.e. ipods and iphones), they just work better with Macs (unsurprisingly)

- if you use a Macbook (laptop), the sleep/hibernation function when you just close the lid works perfectly, and certainly better than any Windows based laptop I have ever tried

cheers

[colin]

Everyone,

Thank you very much for your comments & advice, they all have been very much appreciated and have educated me somewhat.

I should have mentioned that my current computer is pretty much steam-driven and it's 7 years old. So any improvement will be a great leap forward. I'll recycle it to someone who can appreciate it.

I don't need a laptop, because I do't need to heft it around the house. I don't need mobility. I'm OK with a little computer desk for internet & word processing. The same specifications for a laptop & a desk top favour the latter on price.

Similarly I don't really think I need a Mac (although I appreciate it has its advantages.)I've used one a few times and it seems really smooth and fast.

Thanks to Ian Cottam. If anyone knows about computers he does.

I'm taking Friday off work to go and buy something.I'll let you know what I've got.

If it's a given that I have the brain to reload my internet software......

Once again thanks for the advice & suggestions.

Colin

[IanCottam]

My last word then...

make sure it is running Windows 7 (and not Vista!).

regards

-Ian