“On A Long Enough Timeline…

by

ASUS.

/thread

I have a couple of computer geeks in the family.  Whenever it has been time for a new computer they give me all sorts of info about how we could build one, here’s the price list, shop from this place or this place, knowing you computer by building it is good, all that shit.  They get offended when I buy a Dell (I am not amazingly loyal, Dell has jsut had the best price for what I was shopping for when I was shopping).  Buying one from a big company always is cheaper than having the geeks build one.  I also get to hear from the tech geeks about all the time they spend fixing the computers they build for family and friends.  In about 10 years of Dell ownership (total of three machines) I have had to replace one video card and one hard drive-both when at different times the power went out). 

Buy direct from a PC maker’s site.  Buy a computer that was cutting edge two years ago(unless you are working with high end animation). 

Oh and get a cheap UPS.

Personally, I hate laptops - small keyboard, small screen, small on processing power, and don’t even get me started on those worthless little thumbpads to replace real mouse.

Get a tower PC and a widescreen monitor and don’t look back.  If you are looking for price and performance in one package, get an HP.  Dell tends to use lower quality hardware and always seems to have OS installation issues.

I am a HUGE fan of a two-computer setup: a cheap-but-fast-ish desktop for whatever and future upgradability, and a netbook for mobility.

Brand and operating system are personal preferences, but I’ve had good luck with Dell (save for the cheap as shit memory they always sell. Buy the minimum then get your own from Crucial!).

I been building PCs for a few years.
so let me fill you in on a few things, first decide what you want to do with it, and then how much you want to spend.
Once that is decided, wander over to NEWEGG and do your shopping.
Read the reviews, check the specs, keep a eye out for combo deals. I have been using them for a few years now and am very happy.

Me personally, i got a Dual PC set up, One PC set up for surfing the net, and anotehr for gaming/3d modeling and home theater. The last one is hooked to a 22 inch wide-screen and my 40 inch HDTV. THAT kick ass. Keep that in mind to if you have a LCD TV.

The only real problem with Dell is upgradability, they tend to use some proprietary hardware, such as mobos and memory.

I’ve dropped a couple of laptops in my day. I’m also a creative, so I’m more on the side of the VRAM, video card to measure performance. That said, I’m more about what you do to determine what you need, almost in the way of a mechanic and his tools.

If you’re really only blogging and social networking, using the internet, that type of thing… I would suggest going for something on the cheap. If it’s a laptop, you could really get by with a 15 inch or whatever.

I like Macs, but I would never buy one. The only reason I have one now, is because my company fronted me one. I also have one laptop I no longer use (I think a small HD monitor Toshiba) that I’d sell to you for a song. Why don’t you email me about it? I really don’t know what to do with that thing, but it might have found a purpose.

also have one laptop I no longer use (I think a small HD monitor Toshiba) that I’d sell to you for a song. Why don’t you email me about it? I really don’t know what to do with that thing, but it might have found a purpose.

he he he!! ill trade you, “I like big butts”..... for the Laptop!

I’m sorta with SO.  I hate most laptops, which is why my primary machine, while a laptop, is a 17” macbook pro.  I want the power, large screen and decent sized keyboard.  I also have a Mac Pro in my home office, mostly for periodically doing video editing/conversions and it’s my primary itunes storage; I have an apple TV and rip a lot of DVDs.. plus I’ve bought some TV seasons.  At work, I have a linux desktop with a dual monitor setup.. but I am actually pretty comfortable working at home on my mbp.  Anything smaller then the 17” is just too small for serious work IMO though.

I bought a netbook, off woot.. mostly because it was dirt cheap (refurb) and I wanted to play with one. While it’s an interesting toy, there’s no way I can do any serious typing (or reading really) on it.

For gaming, I’ve mostly given up on PCs.  I got tired of the upgrade treadmill and dealing with windows.  I’m happy with consoles (got ‘em all).  The consoles have the plus at home with the huge TV, kick ass surround, and comfy chair. :)

I’ll second the combo deals on newegg.  I got a really kick ass deal on a box for my new linux server at home a few months back.  12Gig RAM, case, power supply, 1.5TB disk, mobo, quad i7, and it was like $1k total with tax and shipping.  As much as I don’t care for doing system builds anymore, it was such a steal I couldn’t pass it up.

Oh, and for surfpunk:
bender ~ {510}$ grep -i asus dmidecode
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.

heh… P6T. That’s what came with that deal.

I bought a netbook, off woot.. mostly because it was dirt cheap (refurb) and I wanted to play with one. While it’s an interesting toy, there’s no way I can do any serious typing (or reading really) on it.

There are some netbooks that will run OS X Leopard, apparently. One of my colleagues did this and loves it (apart for the time when he couldn’t get powerpoint to work just prior to a department presentation.

More details here.

Ugh. My own motherboard died, so I feel your pain, and I’m going to be getting a new Dell, too. All I can say is stay away from refurbished computers if you can help it and I second buying straight from the manufacturer.

Oh the irony.. the hdd in my mom’s iMac ate it last night too.  Explains why the Time Machine backups were failing for the last couple weeks.  Taking it into a store today to see how the applecare support is.  With all the macs I’ve bought in the last few years, I’ve not had single issue, and this disk dies inside of 5 months.  IME though, hdds fail more then everything else put together in computers.  With our compute farm at work, disks fail pretty regularly.. power supplies, motherboards, etc.. rarely.

stogy: Yeah, already tried that on my Aspire One.  I got it to start the installation but it panicked with a ref to unsupported cpu family/stepping.  I think it’s the Atom cpu not supported.  Anyway, my issue with netbooks isn’t the OS (I’m actually pretty impressed with ubuntu netbook remix on here) it’s the tiny keyboard and smaller screen size.  Perfect size and battery life for a media player on a flight though.

Ugh. My own motherboard died, so I feel your pain, and I’m going to be getting a new Dell, too. All I can say is stay away from refurbished computers if you can help it and I second buying straight from the manufacturer.

build your own!
its much more satisfyingly.. and you know what in it..

I’ve not had single issue, and this disk dies inside of 5 months.  IME though, hdds fail more then everything else put together in computers.  With our compute farm at work, disks fail pretty regularly.. power supplies, motherboards, etc.. rarely.

I find that dust and vibration seems to be the biggest cause.
I killed a old Seagate in my PC in the garage. I had it hooked up to my 500 watt stereo,and the vibration off the speakers and Sub, must have did it in.

As far as laptops go, I always go with Toshiba. One of the main reasons is that they are one of the only manufacturers to include restore CD’s with their laptops (Dell and others charge you extra to get restore CD’s).

Also, I tend to stay away from AMD processors in laptops. For some reason, the performance is not as good as the Intel processors. Just my opinion.