New computer - opinions

[chrislp]

One thing to consider with a higher end GPU in a stock system is its power consumption. The PSU may also have to be reconsidered as well.

Yes good point.

Using a PSU calculator found here that system including the video card I mentioned uses up to 425W.

On the link provided where you want to build this system the Antec & Corsair 550W or 650W are the ones I'd personally get but the XFX 450W is a recommended PSU in that calculator. You're better off with a bit of headroom though if you upgrade parts later on.

Don't know how much that will break the bank as the case in your initial list had a PSU with it.

 

[Julia]

I'm a total technophobe. Hate the thought of having to adapt to different system, but running XP which I had put on a new computer about three years ago, I realise its time is limited.

Glancing through some of what's for sale, it all seems to have Windows 8.1. Can this come in a format not too far from XP in, say, a laptop? What are the advantages and disadvantages of it? I seem to have heard quite a few negatives but maybe that related to Windows 7?

Android?

Anything I buy must have keyboard and I'd prefer that it can be connected to elec. rather than being dependent on battery.

Any advice or information would be much appreciated.

Is there any device which acts as phone with voice recognition sending of texts and has the other above features as well?

 

[SirRumpole]

I'm a total technophobe. Hate the thought of having to adapt to different system, but running XP which I had put on a new computer about three years ago, I realise its time is limited.

Glancing through some of what's for sale, it all seems to have Windows 8.1. Can this come in a format not too far from XP in, say, a laptop? What are the advantages and disadvantages of it? I seem to have heard quite a few negatives but maybe that related to Windows 7?

Android?

Anything I buy must have keyboard and I'd prefer that it can be connected to elec. rather than being dependent on battery.

Any advice or information would be much appreciated.

Is there any device which acts as phone with voice recognition sending of texts and has the other above features as well?

Do you want to travel around with it, or just use it at home ?

Is it going to be used only for Internet, or other applications ?

Is it part of a home or small office network ?

Price range ?

Disk space requirements ? will you be downloading movies/tv, keeping large documents ?

I'm not sure I can answer your questions, but it would be good to have an idea of your requirements. I use Windows 8 on a laptop and it seems ok. For the average user like me I don't think the operating system makes much difference. I also use XP on a desktop and everything seems to work. The only reason I would upgrade from XP is because I have to as it is no longer supported.

 

[sydboy007]

I'm a total technophobe. Hate the thought of having to adapt to different system, but running XP which I had put on a new computer about three years ago, I realise its time is limited.

Glancing through some of what's for sale, it all seems to have Windows 8.1. Can this come in a format not too far from XP in, say, a laptop? What are the advantages and disadvantages of it? I seem to have heard quite a few negatives but maybe that related to Windows 7?

Android?

Anything I buy must have keyboard and I'd prefer that it can be connected to elec. rather than being dependent on battery.

Any advice or information would be much appreciated.

Is there any device which acts as phone with voice recognition sending of texts and has the other above features as well?

With a few config changes I was able to get Windows 8.1 back close enough to windows 7 that I was happy with it.

Having used it for a couple of months on my new laptop I'm reasonably happy with it. I just view the metro start page as like a big version of the start bar. Once you have that attitude then it becomes less threatening. It's also possible to boot into the standard desktop as well.

Some laptops come with win 7 and 8.1 so you have the option to stay with the more familiar start menu system on win 7.

I'd recommend buying a 15.6" laptop. There's always sales on this size and you can now get something with enough grunt to last many years for <$500. The portability also makes it easier to move around.

At home I use my laptop connected to a monitor and external mouse. Works quite well. If space is a premium you can use an external keyboard and hide the laptop away.

For longevity I'd recommend:

• Intel core I3 3-XXX previous or 4-XXX current model. Plenty powerful to do the basics.
• 4GB of RAM
• 500GB HDD - not so important since USB ports make it easy to connect an external drive
• USB 3.0 - at least 1 port. The speed increase for doing backups makes it an essential.

The current intel celeron processors are also pretty decent these days, and should last you a few years. Dell has laptops with the above config for $398, or you can get an all in one PC that's built into the monitor for $498 which means you don't have to use up space on the actual PC.

Feel free to PM if you see something you like and want a second opinion.

 

[Julia]

Do you want to travel around with it, or just use it at home ?

Mostly use it at home. I like using a desk with quick access to files etc.

Is it going to be used only for Internet, or other applications ?

Internet, email, no interest in games or downloading movies, books etc. Do want to continue using programs like Winsnap (screenshot), Camera and Scanner wizard etc.

Is it part of a home or small office network ?

Home office.

Price range ?

Initially I was thinking of something relatively cheap which will just let me get the idea of whether I want to switch now, or whether to hope to hold on to XP until something better than the current stuff comes out.

Disk space requirements ? will you be downloading movies/tv, keeping large documents ?

As above, no movies etc, but plenty of space to keep, eg ten years of tax returns and other documents.

 

[noco]

I'm a total technophobe. Hate the thought of having to adapt to different system, but running XP which I had put on a new computer about three years ago, I realise its time is limited.

Glancing through some of what's for sale, it all seems to have Windows 8.1. Can this come in a format not too far from XP in, say, a laptop? What are the advantages and disadvantages of it? I seem to have heard quite a few negatives but maybe that related to Windows 7?

Android?

Anything I buy must have keyboard and I'd prefer that it can be connected to elec. rather than being dependent on battery.

Any advice or information would be much appreciated.

Is there any device which acts as phone with voice recognition sending of texts and has the other above features as well?

Julia, I switched from Windows XP to Windows 7 last April and found it so much faster than XP.

I spoke to a specialist here and he told me Windows 8.1 will be in most of the new computers as from August 2014.......He advised me to avoid Windows 8.1 as there are certain complications with it....He did not elaborate.

 

[Muschu]

Mostly use it at home. I like using a desk with quick access to files etc.


Internet, email, no interest in games or downloading movies, books etc. Do want to continue using programs like Winsnap (screenshot), Camera and Scanner wizard etc.


Home office.


Initially I was thinking of something relatively cheap which will just let me get the idea of whether I want to switch now, or whether to hope to hold on to XP until something better than the current stuff comes out.


As above, no movies etc, but plenty of space to keep, eg ten years of tax returns and other documents.

Hi Julia

I have a reasonably new Lenovo ThinkCentre using Windows 7. Full size screen but the hard drive is built in behind the screen. Others might see a downside but my computer advisor uses the same setup.

It's "tidy", works fine and looks fine. Like you I don't get into movies or games but have a lot of stored information which I also put onto a backup "thing" every fortnight or so.

Might be worth a look. Not expensive but can't recall precise figure at the moment.

Current models seem to come with Windows 8 however.

check this out:

http://shopap.lenovo.com/au/en/desktops/thinkcentre/all-in-ones/e73z/

Rick

 

[So_Cynical]

Julia

Your first decision has to be Laptop or Desktop? lots of people have laptops as their main computer now, desktop sales have been in decline for quite some time...a mid range laptop with windows 7 or 8.1 can be had (cheap online) for around $600, low end $500 or a little less, desktops take off $100 (no monitor)

If its just for home a good (somewhat future proof) upper mid range desktop can be had for around $800, with a solid state drive for windows and a SATA drive for everything else, 8 gig ram and I3 (4th gen chip) you will get fast boot times and fast program start and execution.

All cheap (under $800) laptops will not have a solid state drive so you lose that advantage, the other disadvantage with laptops is the 15.9 screen size, i love my 24" monitor.

http://computers.mwave.com.au/searc...ptops_laptopsnotebooks type1:notebookslaptops'

http://www.mwave.com.au/desktop-computers/mwave-computers?sortid=1&display=list

 

[Julia]

Thanks to everyone who has responded.
Re suggestion of device with W. 7, I've not seen anything with that version advertised. It's all 8.1, about which I've heard so many adverse comments.
Can anyone enlighten me re what the problems are with 8?

How long is it likely to be before microsoft comes out with a replacement for 8, bearing in mind that my present computer with XP is running perfectly at present, despite m/s no longer supporting it. I've been advised that, as long as good virus, malware etc protection is there, then there's no reason why it shouldn't last for some time yet.
Syd, you, I think, work in the field. Does that make sense?

 

[pixel]

Thanks to everyone who has responded.
Re suggestion of device with W. 7, I've not seen anything with that version advertised. It's all 8.1, about which I've heard so many adverse comments.
Can anyone enlighten me re what the problems are with 8?

How long is it likely to be before microsoft comes out with a replacement for 8, bearing in mind that my present computer with XP is running perfectly at present, despite m/s no longer supporting it. I've been advised that, as long as good virus, malware etc protection is there, then there's no reason why it shouldn't last for some time yet.
Syd, you, I think, work in the field. Does that make sense?

A month ago, my Windows 7 machine "played up" and had to "go to the doctor", which left me stranded with an 8-yo XP box that I had kept as a backup for just such an emergency. Of course, XP with 2GB of RAM and an almost full 80GB disk is struggling. So I decided to "roll up": buy a new box as main production machine, refurbish the Windows 7 as main backup, and put the XP machine out to pasture.

The new PC is a naked box with 1TB disk, 8GB memory, quad video (sorry: a video card that can drive up to 4 monitors), and enough USB ports for all those extra bits and drives that I don't want to do without.
The Intel quad-core i5-4460 is about on a par with the second-highest Lenovo on Rick's website.

This machine came with Windows 8,1 pre-installed, plus instructions how to customise it to look and feel like Windows 7, which I tweaked even pretty close to the comfy old XP, for that matter.

Functionally, I found no reason to join the anti-8 brigade. After I finished the setup - creating plenty of intermediate restore points to be sure - there is hardly a difference between 7 and 8.1 during normal operations. You have to get used to right-clicking on the new "Start" button in order to find the Shut-Down option, and you need to tweak it a little to get rid of the predefined App panel with its annoying facebook and twitter and whatever else buttons. That's about all.

Most annoying is however the new Microsoft Cloud-cum-OneDrive strategy. Initially, I signed up to that new backup service because it appeared to be the only way to get LiveMail ported across. Annoyingly though, from that moment on, I could no longer use my local workgroup that links all my in-house devices via wifi. The original Administrator had been changed to the MS-controlled Outlook account, and I couldn't even add local users, but would have "upgraded" the other PCs in the household to Outlook accounts as well. Read the fine print in those "contracts" - it's scary what kind of rights and control over your data you assign to Microsoft!

So, I went one restore point back, wiped all links to OneDrive and clouds, and rejoined my in-house LAN.
Now I only need to find a way to install a working Mail client on Win 8.1; for the time being, all email is landing on the Win 7 machine - and that has now a local backup facility to a Western Digital 2TB "Elements" drive.
For all essential production data, the Win 7 PC acts as a data server - continuous backup included. With a fast internal wifi, transmission rates are more than sufficient.

To get back to your initial question, Julia:
If you want to run those basic functions, plus maybe MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint...) and prefer a full-sized keyboard, mouse, and big monitor - or two, three, four then don't be afraid of Windows 8.1; that can be set up to work just like XP you know and love. Just be aware that Microsoft would like to "help you" with data backup, which not only drives your Internet traffic through the quota roof, but also gives MS the power to set up a "profile" of your likes, dislikes, and - in your case of course non-existing - transgressions and inadvertent copyright infringements...

 

[sydboy007]

Now I only need to find a way to install a working Mail client on Win 8.1

Try thunderbird. It's free from the group that works on the firefox browser.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/

 

[Julia]

To get back to your initial question, Julia:
If you want to run those basic functions, plus maybe MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint...) and prefer a full-sized keyboard, mouse, and big monitor - or two, three, four then don't be afraid of Windows 8.1; that can be set up to work just like XP you know and love. Just be aware that Microsoft would like to "help you" with data backup, which not only drives your Internet traffic through the quota roof, but also gives MS the power to set up a "profile" of your likes, dislikes, and - in your case of course non-existing - transgressions and inadvertent copyright infringements...

Thanks for that, pixel. It's reassuring.
I guess no one can answer the question of - given my XP is running without any problems at present - when it might die? Would there be some warning symptoms before it just stopped working?
Apologies for my woeful ignorance about this stuff.

 

[SirRumpole]

Thanks for that, pixel. It's reassuring.
I guess no one can answer the question of - given my XP is running without any problems at present - when it might die? Would there be some warning symptoms before it just stopped working?
Apologies for my woeful ignorance about this stuff.

I think your hardware will die of old age before XP does. (Computer hardware I mean).

No support is being offered for XP, but if you don't load software that's only designed for later versions and don't try to connect devices that may not be compatible I think you'll be OK. Check compatibility with XP before you buy software or devices, and make sure your virus protection is up to date.

I've rarely had to contact Microsoft support about XP, and there is plenty on the Internet to google if you have issues.

Basically, I don't think there is any need to panic.

 

[Julia]

You're echoing what the computer tech I use when I have any problem said, Rumpole. What I don't want to do is go and buy something with W8 on it, just in case XP croaks, not really use the new device, and then find MS brings out something vastly superior to W8.

 

[Craton]

FWIW: I'm a bit of a techie in my day gig and service the consumer and the corporate alike.

Intel or AMD? Personal choice but don't dismiss AMD just because Intel is the current king of the block. So a good rule of thumb when building a system is to aim for future proofing as much as one's budget will allow.

Win8.1 is 3 x more secure than Win7 and 10 x more secure than WinXP. Win8 didn't float my boat but Win8.1 is better and have upgraded all my systems to this platform. I do still run Win7 on the test bench and play with Mac, Mint Linux and Ubuntu from time to time.

It is worth the smallish learning curve for going with Win8.1, one doesn't have to use the Modern UI as you can set the system to boot to the Desktop instead of the tiled Modern UI for those without touch screen systems.

OpenOffice or Apache OpenOffice as its now called is a great free alternative to M$ Office. It will open M$ docs/x, excel and ppt and save in these and pdf.

Thunderbird for email is cool.

H/ware and rule of thumb. Lower power consumption is being addressed by h/ware makers and something to consider when building. Again, a lot comes down to budget but if the system is mainly for office/home office with little media crunching to be done, lower spec is fine. Heavy media like vid editing and gaming or BitCoin mining go higher specs.

The price of SSD now very affordable, use SSD for operating system (o/s) and HDD for storage. I'm not a fan of hybrids at present.

4GB is ok, 8GB RAM should be the norm but again, go higher for media intensive work.

Graphics cards, allow approx. a 1/3 of the cost of the build. Remember, it's your eyes and some of us spend way too much time looking at screens so don't skimp on graphics card and screen costs.

K/board and mouse. Wireless is ok but for gaming, mechanical keys are superior.

Of course there are other considerations like Bluetooth, Wireless, 3G, BluRay, USB 3 and the like to think about. All adding to the fun of building/scoping out a new system without getting into the full on specs of i3/i5/i7, RAM, Nvidia, Radeon, AMD or maker and type of board etc, etc, etc....

Then there's the connectivity of devices. PC to phone, tablet and the like which can be a real bug bear. Smart phones and tablets are great but useless if I can't print out a work order!

 

[SirRumpole]

OK techies, what is a good quality brand of laptop in the $500-$1000 range ?

I've lost touch with the big makers.

Hewlett Packard had a good name, Dell ? what else ?

 

[Craton]

Depends on screen size, weight, battery life, yada yada...

ASUS, MSI, Toshiba, ACER, Sony, Dell, HP.

Links: note some are refurbed/reconditioned and come with warranty.

http://www.oo.com.au/Laptops-Notebooks_C1397.cfm

http://www.topbuy.com.au/computers-office/computers-system/notebook-laptops.html

http://www.graysonline.com/computers-and-electronics/computers-and-it-equipment/laptops

 

[skc]

Of course there are other considerations like Bluetooth, Wireless, 3G, BluRay, USB 3 and the like to think about. All adding to the fun of building/scoping out a new system without getting into the full on specs of i3/i5/i7, RAM, Nvidia, Radeon, AMD or maker and type of board etc, etc, etc....

Say... who in your opinion is the most reliable MoBo maker (for a desktop running Intel CPU)?

 

[CanOz]

Say... who in your opinion is the most reliable MoBo maker (for a desktop running Intel CPU)?

IMO = ASUS

 

[CanOz]

OK techies, what is a good quality brand of laptop in the $500-$1000 range ?

I've lost touch with the big makers.

Hewlett Packard had a good name, Dell ? what else ?

SirR, i've used Dell, Lenovo, and currenently an HP Elitebook.

Dell's were good, Lenovo's were better, but i'm happy with the HP now, but its totally solid state. I'd buy another Lenovo or HP but not a Dell again...