New computer - opinions

[Craton]

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

For me it's Gigabyte especially with its Dual BIOS but yeah, ASUS and even MSI are right up there. Foxconn is another.

Locally Dell and HP from my perspective have a far superior retail customer support service. Acer, Sony and Toshiba require the unit to be returned to a city (back to base). Only worked on Lenovo (IBM) at the corporate level so that's onsite. I do like the ThinkPad that my partner uses, but I like this little Dell Vostro I'm typing this on too, I also like my little ASUS ultra portable and I like my Toshy that is our onsite lappy, I like my iPhone 5, I like my Gigabyte builds especially my home PC with its SSD, I like my MSI builds and I'd really like a tablet too...oh, and I'd like a Surface Pro 3. Oh dear, I think I need :1zhelp:

 

[pixel]

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

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.

Thanks heaps, Craton
You saved me a lot of pain/ searching/ trial and error.
As mentioned elsewhere, I've been totally put off by M$'s grab for control; therefore, I refused to port Live Mail across to the new Win8.1 machine and planned to research alternatives.
As I've been using Mozilla's Firefox for years, I am delighted to find Thunderbird. Set it up for the first of my POP accounts and received and replied to the first message within ten minutes. Brilliantly easy!

Thanks again!

Ditto for your other comments; I have made the same experience with Win 8.1;
The only reason why OpenOffice isn't for me: I have a large number of Excel macros running most of my business applications. Unfortunately, OO won't run those, and I dread rewriting many man-months of Macro-4 code that's still working perfectly in MS Office 2010.

 

[FxTrader]

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.

AMD architecture is indeed adequate and usually cheaper as well but the residual value is poor relative to Intel based product. If you like to recycle your hardware and upgrade every few years, AMD based systems are a poor choice.

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.

Agreed, Win 8.1 is now my preferred destop O/S though I am not a gamer so have no concerns about backward compatibility with a game library.

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.

Win8.1 does not provide the functionality of the old desktop Start menu but there's a great freeware product called Classic Shell http://www.classicshell.net/ that does. The Win8 Metro interface is primarily useful for touch screen devices.

For those interested in a low cost lightweight notebook, consider also the Macbook Air. The Air's construction and battery life leaves the competitors far behind and you can, via Bootcamp, dual boot to either OS X or Win7 / 8. The retained value of the Air is also superior to the competition. I expect the next generation of Air to also include a higher resolution screen (presumably retina.)

 

[Craton]

Thanks heaps, Craton
You saved me a lot of pain/ searching/ trial and error.
As mentioned elsewhere, I've been totally put off by M$'s grab for control; therefore, I refused to port Live Mail across to the new Win8.1 machine and planned to research alternatives.
As I've been using Mozilla's Firefox for years, I am delighted to find Thunderbird. Set it up for the first of my POP accounts and received and replied to the first message within ten minutes. Brilliantly easy!

Thanks again!

Ditto for your other comments; I have made the same experience with Win 8.1;
The only reason why OpenOffice isn't for me: I have a large number of Excel macros running most of my business applications. Unfortunately, OO won't run those, and I dread rewriting many man-months of Macro-4 code that's still working perfectly in MS Office 2010.

Thank you pixel for the feedback. Absolutely my pleasure, am glad to be of assistance.

Re: your macros and if you want to pursue OO, this may help from here: https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=56330
Have a Google Fu for: AndrewMacro 5.33. Using a “default application” to open a file.

The link I found and shortened: http://tinyurl.com/ppr3xj7
Opens a .odt file (my Office 2013 opens the file no worries) and is titled: Useful Macro Information For OpenOffice By Andrew Pitonyak. Look for 5.33 in the doco.

 

[Logique]

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

I've had a great run with a Gigabyte S Series m/board running with an AMD processor. Having Dual BIOS is very reassuring.

 

[skc]

I've had a great run with a Gigabyte S Series m/board running with an AMD processor. Having Dual BIOS is very reassuring.

My computer just died this morning. It won't get past the BIOS screen and can't register the keyboard. May be it "heard" me typing about new MoBo and got upset.

I will need to give it some TLC tonight...

Or I need that new MOBO sooner than I thought.

 

[Craton]

AMD architecture is indeed adequate and usually cheaper as well but the residual value is poor relative to Intel based product. If you like to recycle your hardware and upgrade every few years, AMD based systems are a poor choice.


Agreed, Win 8.1 is now my preferred destop O/S though I am not a gamer so have no concerns about backward compatibility with a game library.


Win8.1 does not provide the functionality of the old desktop Start menu but there's a great freeware product called Classic Shell http://www.classicshell.net/ that does. The Win8 Metro interface is primarily useful for touch screen devices.

For those interested in a low cost lightweight notebook, consider also the Macbook Air. The Air's construction and battery life leaves the competitors far behind and you can, via Bootcamp, dual boot to either OS X or Win7 / 8. The retained value of the Air is also superior to the competition. I expect the next generation of Air to also include a higher resolution screen (presumably retina.)

All good, valid points.
Main issue with Mac is s/ware and connectivity and of course, the learning curve, although not as much of a drama nowadays.

Dual booting can be a real drag on productivity.

Win8.1. The GUI is no longer called Metro (legal dispute with a German( ?) company) hence now called Modern UI.

Yes, the big nuisance appears to be no Start button but if one sets the system to boot to the Desktop and right clicks on the Windows icon, located where the old Start button was, many useful functions are located right there. I know it's a pain to start with but in a short time it becomes second nature.

Right click then use Run, type in say winword or excel, outlook and voila! One can also pin shortcuts to the Taskbar making it even quicker.

To boot to Desktop. Go to the Desktop, right click on the Taskbar, click on the Navigation tab and in the Start screen section, check the box next to When I sign in or close all apps on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start.

 

[Craton]

My computer just died this morning. It won't get past the BIOS screen and can't register the keyboard. May be it "heard" me typing about new MoBo and got upset.

I will need to give it some TLC tonight...

Or I need that new MOBO sooner than I thought.

Ouch! Good luck with that.

 

[macca]

Must be the season, I am PC shopping as well, many thanks to all those who have shared their knowledge

Now I just have to work out what it all means !

 

[sydboy007]

Anyone looking to buy a new laptop / pc can check out the dick smith ebay store - 20% off all their products listed up to a maximum of $500 discount per transaction.

http://deals.ebay.com.au/#sunday

use code CDISKSMITH20 on checkout.

The below laptop at $400 would make a decent browsing and basic use computer.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Acer-Asp...4135990?pt=AU_comp_laptop&hash=item3cdfe182b6

 

[SirRumpole]

Anyone looking to buy a new laptop / pc can check out the dick smith ebay store - 20% off all their products listed up to a maximum of $500 discount per transaction.

http://deals.ebay.com.au/#sunday

use code CDISKSMITH20 on checkout.

The below laptop at $400 would make a decent browsing and basic use computer.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Acer-Asp...4135990?pt=AU_comp_laptop&hash=item3cdfe182b6

Thanks syd.

 

[sydboy007]

http://shopap.lenovo.com/au-outlet/itemdetails/23247L5/445

quite a good deal for a portable laptop. $449 deliver. Is the previous model as the X240 has just been released.

The HD is on the slow side at just 5400 spin speed, but the upside is lower power when using the battery.

 

[SirRumpole]

I've just been browsing for a basic tablet and found iPad Mini and ASUS Nexus 7.

I just want for internet browsing, ABC news streaming, iView etc while travelling.

Budget pricing is desired < $300 if possible. Can these use Skype and send receive email ?

Any other options in this market segment ?

What else can these things do ?

Thanks

 

[bellenuit]

I've just been browsing for a basic tablet and found iPad Mini and ASUS Nexus 7.

I just want for internet browsing, ABC news streaming, iView etc while travelling.

Budget pricing is desired < $300 if possible. Can these use Skype and send receive email ?

Any other options in this market segment ?

What else can these things do ?

Thanks

Can only speak for the iPad, as I have not tried the ASUS.

Yes, it can Skype and send email. There is probably an app available (for free or for just a couple of dollars) that can do almost anything you want on the device. You can get apps to allow you to process Microsoft Office documents (or Apple Works documents) if you want to continue to work while on the road (personally I normally just "read" such documents while travelling as I think updating and sending back to the desktop still needs a bit of work).

If you think of all the apps available for a smart phone, then the iPad can probably run the same (or IOS equivalents for Android apps) but has a bigger screen to play with.

Although outside of your budget, I think the iPad Air 2 is probably the best tablet on the market, but the mini is fine too.

 

[pixel]

I've just been browsing for a basic tablet and found iPad Mini and ASUS Nexus 7.

I just want for internet browsing, ABC news streaming, iView etc while travelling.

Budget pricing is desired < $300 if possible. Can these use Skype and send receive email ?

Any other options in this market segment ?

What else can these things do ?

Thanks

G'Day Sir,

I take it you have had Windows-compatible devices before? If so, the only mobile gadget I'd choose would NOT be from Apple. If you've had nothing but Apple Mac, ignore my comments.

Devices starting with the letter i will work with applications from Apple. However, even simple things, like special characters that I use in my ISP passwords, can create nightmares.
Maybe there is an iApp for such things; maybe you can even buy Excel. But you better check out the additional costs those extras will add to your budgeted "< $300".

I had an iPad for a short time, but sold it on eBay.
While it is true that iPad has a web browser (Safari) and lets you access email, they don't tell you that your email connection may have limitations, depending where your existing email is being hosted. For example, if I wanted to delete an email from my Server, I had to physically log on to the email server and remove it. On my Windows PC, whether I use Live Mail or Outlook, all accounts can and have been set up so inbox and outbox mirror each other. And if I move an email from an inbox to a Local folder, it's automatically removed from the Server's Inbox as well.

 

[bellenuit]

G'Day Sir,
I had an iPad for a short time, but sold it on eBay.
While it is true that iPad has a web browser (Safari) and lets you access email, they don't tell you that your email connection may have limitations, depending where your existing email is being hosted. For example, if I wanted to delete an email from my Server, I had to physically log on to the email server and remove it. On my Windows PC, whether I use Live Mail or Outlook, all accounts can and have been set up so inbox and outbox mirror each other. And if I move an email from an inbox to a Local folder, it's automatically removed from the Server's Inbox as well.

It certainly hasn't been an issue with me and I have been using iPads since the iPad 2 came out. I use Apple's Mail app to access my Gmail emails and have had no problems to date. Not only does it delete or archive mails on the server, it also flags them as read, so if I switch to another device (iPhone or Mac) it will be seen there as having already been read. Even if there are limitations with the supplied Mail app (not that I am aware of any), there are alternatives from other app developers, some free or just a few bucks.

 

[pixel]

It certainly hasn't been an issue with me and I have been using iPads since the iPad 2 came out. I use Apple's Mail app to access my Gmail emails and have had no problems to date. Not only does it delete or archive mails on the server, it also flags them as read, so if I switch to another device (iPhone or Mac) it will be seen there as having already been read. Even if there are limitations with the supplied Mail app (not that I am aware of any), there are alternatives from other app developers, some free or just a few bucks.

It may depend on the email protocol:
I've never used gmail, although I've been forced - reluctantly - to set op one yahoo account. Both of those run with MAPI, I believe, and that protocol could well work OK; it's the PoP accounts on my Domain Server that I had problems with.
I don't synchronise my personal data through "Clouds" of either persuasion. (Are Apple iClouds and the various M$ offerings of One.Net compatible? Not sure...) I keep everything on my own Win7 Server HDD. That created additional problems when I tried to access pictures and data files on iPad, or save snapshots taken with the iPad to my Windows-based desktop server.

 

[bellenuit]

It may depend on the email protocol:
I've never used gmail, although I've been forced - reluctantly - to set op one yahoo account. Both of those run with MAPI, I believe, and that protocol could well work OK; it's the PoP accounts on my Domain Server that I had problems with.
I don't synchronise my personal data through "Clouds" of either persuasion. (Are Apple iClouds and the various M$ offerings of One.Net compatible? Not sure...) I keep everything on my own Win7 Server HDD. That created additional problems when I tried to access pictures and data files on iPad, or save snapshots taken with the iPad to my Windows-based desktop server.

Yes, I have set up Gmail with IMAP (not MAPI). POP is an option, but not as functional as IMAP (at least when I looked 5 or 6 years ago). I let IMAP take care of the synching of emails between devices and do not synch through iCloud.

 

[Wysiwyg]

What else can these things do ?
Thanks

I have a 16 GB Ipad 4 that connects with WIFI or 4G. The WIFI is great through my router and can remote control my A/V receiver via an app. and connect to internet. Apps for most things are free or pay, Internet access via Telstra 4G is fast. Takes video and photos. Touch n swipe screen (clear screen film wise choice), Safari search engine is basic. Plenty of other bells and whistles. I use mine to read and listen to books with Kindle and Audible apps., to play chess and checkers, to play my music through the A/V receiver loud , to watch and take video, to take photos, to skype, to watch the markets when away from desktop, e-mail reads sends normal with usual e-mail address, got 12 GB of data with a year expiry. Streaming is continuous.

 

[CanOz]

I've got a 128gb iPad Air and love it. I have my work schedule, work email, personal email, Google chrome, a ton of apps that I use frequently and a ton of free podcasts for when I'm driving...love it.