Questions to ask when buying a new computer...

[selbbub78 0]

I haven't bought a computer in a while, and I'm looking at a few for someone. I'm so out of the loop, and time is so completely limited on finding the information, I know that you guys can help me out (RIGHT?)! I'm also looking for what are good components right now.

Basically, I want to get a computer that is okay, not horrible, not amazing, but something that pictures can be put on, maybe music, just a general every day home computer. It doesn't have to be anything TOO fancy. Heck, it doesn't even need a webcam
Can you help?

Please?!?!?!
CReW Skies,
bubbles

"Women fake orgasms - men fake whole relationships" – Sharon Stone
"The world is my dropzone" (wise crewdog quote)
"The light dims, until full darkness pierces into the world."-KDM

[ntrprnr 0]

The ONLY question you need to ask:

"Which way to the nearest Apple store?"

The rest will take care of itself if you ask the above question.

_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

[VTmotoMike08 0]

+1

I just bought my first apple computer, a 13" macbook, and I love it! I don't think I will ever own another PC. Everything just WORKS with minimal screwing around and headaches. Its so pleasant to use
Its also way easier to pick thru the few choices of apple computers than the dozens of different brands of PCs.

[mrwrong 0]

The most important question if you are going for a PC.
"Can you deliver it with Windows XP instead of Vista installed?"

Go for a quad processor, minimum 2Gigs of RAM and a HDD of minimum 300Gigs
A hefty graphics card is only necessary if you plan on playing heavy games or doing video editing....

That’s my $0.2

“The sum of intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.” - George Bernard Shaw
He who dies with the most toys, wins.....
dudeist skydiver # 19515
Buy quality and cry once!

[Andrewwhyte 1]

+2

[faulknerwn 37]

+3 Once you go Mac you'll never go back.

[jonstark 8]

Even with the Mac you'll want to know just how much and what software is installed and whether it is demo or yours to keep with no additional fees. I used to buy Dell which came loaded but then bought a HP from Best Buy only to find out it had little software and I had to pay to get what I needed. Same happened when we bought our daughter her Macbook.

jon

[VTmotoMike08 0]

Good point. If you go with the mac, you will need to plan on spending about $150 for the MS Office bundle. (But I got it for free because of the software agreement that my school has with apple
If you are like most people, you can't really do without MS Word and Excel. The included picture and video software is great and is more than enough for basic home use.

[hypsin 0]

If you need a home computer that will "just work" (tm) and you are willing to pay premium for it - go mac. But with macs you get what apple decides to give you - that means upgrade options are pretty limited but eh.

If you don't want to buy into the whole mac lifestyle - any average priced, brand name PC will do. HP is not too bad. Thing is that with all these tech advances you no longer need much (relatively speaking) to do everyday stuff. Hell, even an average PC is an overkill for daily tasks (unless gaming). So options are unlimited.

If there is Fry's Electronics around you - pay them a visit. Sales geeks over there actually know wtf they are talking about and will be able to suggest a decent system.

My 2 kopeks.

[popsjumper 2]

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with macs you get what apple decides to give you

How is that different from any other computer type?

The first question I would ask is:
Given the advantages of the Mac operating system over the Windows operating system, how much are you going to pay me to take the Windows OS?


If you screw up and get the Windows machine...do NOT buy into the Vista bullshit.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[hypsin 0]

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The first question I would ask is:
Given the advantages of the Mac operating system over the Windows operating system, how much are you going to pay me to take the Windows OS?

Hmmm... Ok, I'll bite. What are some of those advantages?

[AggieDave 6]

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Once you go Mac you'll never go back.

I used to have a Mac at work that was actually worth a crap (back when I worked in the IT field). Then again, I had formatted all the worthless crap off of it and installed a Linux distro.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[JohnMitchell 14]

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bought a HP from Best Buy only to find out it had little software

I just picked up an HP notebook from BestBuy, I was shocked when I went to type a letter that I had to install Word. Seems like word processing would be in the basic package. Luckily we had Word handy to install. It would have sucked to have to go out and buy it.

[SuFantasma 0]

Quote

Quote

with macs you get what apple decides to give you

How is that different from any other computer type?

The first question I would ask is:
Given the advantages of the Mac operating system over the Windows operating system, how much are you going to pay me to take the Windows OS?


If you screw up and get the Windows machine...do NOT buy into the Vista bullshit.

Pops, wake-up! There is no such thing as MacOS anymore... it's Unix ... you can get it for free... personally, I run Kubuntu 8.10 + KDE 4.1 .... and all the software is FREE... yes as in no cost... no coin

Y yo, pa' vivir con miedo, prefiero morir sonriendo, con el recuerdo vivo".
- Ruben Blades, "Adan Garcia"

[cocheese 0]

Will this thing get porn?

[murrays 0]

Quote

Good point. If you go with the mac, you will need to plan on spending about $150 for the MS Office bundle. (But I got it for free because of the software agreement that my school has with apple
If you are like most people, you can't really do without MS Word and Excel. The included picture and video software is great and is more than enough for basic home use.

Depending on how much you need Office, you can download Open Office for free. I have a copy on my work machine but haven't used it too much. There are a couple of free alternatives to MS Office Open Office and another one that I can't remember right now.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[popsjumper 2]

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Pops, wake-up! There is no such thing as MacOS anymore... it's Unix ... you can get it for free... personally, I run Kubuntu 8.10 + KDE 4.1 .... and all the software is FREE... yes as in no cost... no coin

I'm old school. I can't get Mac X out of my mind.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[popsjumper 2]

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Hmmm... Ok, I'll bite. What are some of those advantages?

How about not having to buy into that "computer geek" lifestyle?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[mnealtx 0]

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If you are like most people, you can't really do without MS Word and Excel.

www.openoffice.org - problem solved for free.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[skittles_of_SDC 0]

I was gonna make a wise ass comment like "Do you sell Apple?" but it looks like everyone beat me to it.

[yoink 321]

There's all sorts of rabid fanboy posts here, just as there always are in any computer thread, in just about every forum I've ever seen.
I still don't get why people are so polar when it comes to a computer. You know what. Either will work. And either will break. And yes, I own both.


selbbub, if you're only wanting to use it for music, pictures and word processing, you don't need a lot of power from the processor, or even RAM. Honestly, you could do all of that on a machine 10 years old without trouble...
Unless you're storing thousands of photos, and thousands of music tracks, 250 - 300GB of hard drive space should be ample. Ask that your machine has the capacity to upgrade with another hard drive later should you need it.

Be realistic about how much stuff you're going to put onto the machine and what you're going to use it for.

Ask the guys at the store what programs come with the machine and tell them what you want to do on it & Don't be talked into some super computer designed for video editing or gaming unless you need it.

[Thanatos340 1]

The first question you should ask Yourself is "What do I plan to do with this Computer?"

Once you answer that, Then you can go from there.

The MAC Drones will push to get you to join the Cult of Apple. If you place Style over substance, then that may very well be the way to go. Reverend Jobs has some Kool-aid waiting for you.

If you need to Run Business applications, You are much better off with a PC. Yes, You can run most Business application on a Mac in a PC Emulation mode but do not expect to be able to get any support from the developers if that is the way you choose to go.

A MAC is much simpler to use than a PC.. That is because you simply cant do as much with it (Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say you can do most things but you have to them exactly the way that Reverend Jobs has decided that you should do it). A MAC will not have as many problems as a PC because they limit what you can and cannot do to a much greater extent. MACS do all the Basic things you want to do VERY well and they are simple to use. If your needs are never going to go past the basics, Then MAC is a great choice.

And I agree with avoiding Vista as well if at all possible. Vista was a POOR attempt by Microsoft to create a more MAC like operating system that failed on all levels. XP is still available and is much better.

[HSPScott 0]

"The MAC Drones will push to get you to join the Cult of Apple. If you place Style over substance, then that may very well be the way to go."

If you compare what the Mac comes with system wise and have to upgrade a PC to that, the Mac is not any more expensive. The pc "upgrades" are just standard on a MAc.

" You can run most Business application on a Mac in a PC Emulation mode".
Not emulation mode, you can actually boot straight to windows if you have to. Also, PC magazine tested the laptops out there and the MacBook Pro was the fastest at running Windows Vista.


"A MAC is much simpler to use than a PC.. That is because you simply cant do as much with it"
Only most of the major movies are edited on them. You canpretty much do anything on a Mac that you can do on a pc.

[Thanatos340 1]

Keep drinking the Kool-aide. It will all be better soon.

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If you compare what the Mac comes with system wise and have to upgrade a PC to that, the Mac is not any more expensive. The pc "upgrades" are just standard on a MAc.

It is about choice for me.
With a PC, I can decide exactly how I want my PC configured. Which Video Card, Which Hard Drive, Which Sound System, Which DVD Burner I want.
Apple makes those decision for you. Your choices are much more limited. Especially in the more Stylish Macs.

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Only most of the major movies are edited on them. You can pretty much do anything on a Mac that you can do on a pc.

Mmmm.. I thought SUN had that market pretty well cornered. Regardless if that is still true or not, the ability to edit Movies (Something the MAC is VERY good at) is not what most people want out of a Personal Computer.

I am not bashing MAcs. They are very good at what they do but as a Software developer, I dont care for them. Too many limitations. I am the type that still likes to drop to a command prompt and do exactly what I want to do exactly the that I want to do it.

Like I said, If all you want to do is check your email, Surf the web and edit movies.. MAC is a great choice. If you need to run Business Applications and like to do things YOUR way instead of Reverend Jobs deciding on exactly what you should be allowed to do and how you should do it, Then PC`s are the way to go.

And the worst thing about MACS is the way MAC Users tend to Glaze over and froth at the mouth when talking about their Holy MACS. Sorry.. I just don’t get the Apple Cult at all. It is a Computer, A Simplified Computer that does most things very well. It is NOT the second coming.

[skittles_of_SDC 0]

Dude, it's Mac not MAC. You're driving me nuts.
A MAC refers to a MAC address (Media Access Control address), used to identify a unique piece of networking hardware. A Mac is a Macintosh computer.

Thank you for your time.