Buying a New Computer

I hope this email finds you well. I am a friend of Mike Bennet and he recommended you as I am looking to purchase a new desktop computer. He said that you were the guy to talk to about great computers that wont hurt my wallet too much. I would appreciate any info you could give me about what you might have available and the price range that I would be looking at. Thanks so much for your help!

I no longer build custom desktop systems since you can get a basic internet/email/photos system for around $400. I simply help with recommending what manufacturer/model and then assist with the data transfer from the old system.

If you intend to do more like editing videos, playing the later computer games, processor and memory heavy software like Norton, Quickbooks, etc.. then you may need to spend a little more money. In addition, do you need a whole new complete package or do you only need a new desktop tower unit? The most money that the majority of people need to spend for a great desktop system is around $800 - which includes new monitor screen, and everything else.

The 2 things to look for in any new system is the CPU (processor) and the system memory (DDR RAM memory). The bare minimum to look for is a "dual core" or core duo CPU either from Intel or AMD that has a clock speed of at least 2.0GHz. As for the system memory, bare minimum is 2GB of DDR2 SDRAM. Most systems you'll find today will meet these requirements and may have a faster CPU and more system memory. For $400 you can find systems that meet these minimum requirements and are great for email and internet and photos.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks so much for your advice, Jason.
My son, Steven, is a 13 year old who enjoys video games. He has a question for you, if you have a moment.

Hey I've been looking for a new computer for a while but I need some advise on some of the computers availible. I want a fast gaming computer for some of the latest games in the whole range of graphics intensity, but I don't want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on the most extreme computers I can find. I've been looking at Dell and Alienware gaming desktops but don't really know where to start. Could you help me out with choosing.

Two questions for you:

1. What are a few examples of the games you are looking to play? Newest games like Fallout 3, Street Fight 4, Empire Total War, Dead Space or the new Warhammer game? Or more like last years games Unreal Tournament 3, Half Life 2, etc? Or the extremem 3d games like Windows Solitaire, Blackjack and pinball? ha I joke.

2. Are you looking for a new complete system (new monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc.) or just the desktop tower/unit?

#1 I would like to play some of the newer games like Empire Total War.
#2 My main goal is a new tower computer. With a good computer, is it necessary to also get a new monitor with high definition capability?

Edwyn Harrison wrote: ... is it necessary to also get a new monitor with high definition capability?

You don't have to get a new monitor - though current LCD monitors will be better than one you may have now with better refresh rate, contrast ratio, native resolution, etc. The main reason to get a new monitor is if you want one that is simply bigger. Most monitors (CRT and LCD) have been able to do high definition for years - as HD for monitors simply means being able to display a resolution of 1280×720 or 1920×1080 - which most monitors have no problem doing. It has only been a recent development that the actual video/movies themselves are now formatted to this higher 720p or 1080i resolution. If you see monitors advertised as HD or "HD ready" that's more of a marketing ploy. HOWEVER, when talking about flat screen TELEVISIONS and LCD/Plasma TV's - you want to look for those that say HD capable/ready as it's only fairly recently (last couple years) that these new TV's have been able to display at 720p or 1080i resolution. Not all flat screen tv's can do these HD resolutions.

From the past 3 or 4 years up until a year ago, most people don't need to get a new monitor with a new system as most computers' graphics port used the blue VGA connector (trapezoid shape) and the old CRT and current LCD monitors mostly sported the VGA connectors too. Since last year though, with this whole HD hoopla and blue ray standards, majority of graphics cards now come with both a VGA and the newer DVI connector (white and rectangular)... a few graphics cards only have a DVI connector and give you a seperate DVI-to-VGA adaptor. So when you get a new computer with the latest video card, chances are you can still connect it to your current monitor and it will work - and that a VGA-to-DVI adaptor is available if you need it. But since costs for these monitors continue to drop, you most likely will want a new monitor anyway. Sorry my answer is kind of ambiguous. Essentially at this point, getting a new monitor is a personal choice and will not be a technical requirement forced onto you due to the newer computer hardware.

I will get you a price quote on a few systems that will work very well for you. I'm thinking in the lines of either a Intel core duo extreme cpu or an Intel quad core, both at 64-bit with 64-bit windows vista. the intel quad core cpu is the newest cpu but i don't always recommend those yet since those processors release more heat and require better cooling, costs more, may be noisier and the speed benefit is not substantial. those who do video editing and similar applications benefit most with more cores. Not necessarily with games.

I'll get back with you..

I'm shopping for a new Lap top - any suggestions where to buy? What kind?

Lilly,

I was recently at the local Costco and found good laptops in 3 distinct price points:
>> $300 Netbooks with Intel Atom CPUS, approx 1GB system memory, 9" - 10" screens
>> $500 - $700 Intel core duo (or AMD dual cores) with approx 2GB of system memory, 15" - 16" screens
>> $800 and above, Intel core duo with approx 4GB system memory, 15" - 16" screens

The majority of people use their systems for just email, surfing websites, and photo transfer/uploads... so they fit into the $500-$700 category. So these systems with an Intel dual core or AMD x2 (also 2 cores) CPU works great for the money. If you look closely on the laptop specification stickers or price sheet, the Intel or AMD CPU should have a speed or "clock rate" of 2.0GHz or higher while still maintaining this price range. Also for the price expect at least 2GB of DDR2 system "RAM" memory. You will also get Windows Vista whether you like it or not.

However, if you expect to RAM-hungry software financial software like Quickbooks or graphics software like Photoshop, Illustrator, Publisher, and Acrobat Pro, then you will want at least 3GB of system RAM memory to accommodate all these programs running at the same time. A faster processor will also benefit - which means looking for a CPU that is higher that 2.0GHz... something like 2.4GHz or higher. As a result of the more RAM and faster CPU you will be in the $800+ range.

The cheaper Netbooks ($300-$400) are intended for just internet and email and light word processing, spreadsheet and photo transfers/uploads. These netbooks are SLOWER by about half compared to the standard laptops. Most netbooks come with only 0.5GB to 1.0 GB of system RAM memory and an Intel Atom processor. Netbooks are intended mainly as an extra system around the house or office to check email and surf the web. Since the screens are very small, you will go crazy with constanly scrollilng up/down/left/right as web pages and programs are larger than the netbooks' screens and display at one time. It is possible to still install the heavy quickbooks and photoshop software on a netbook, but it will run slow and you will either be squinting alot or you will be force to make all images larger (lower resolution) and as a result forced to scroll up and down a lot.

The most you will need to pay for a laptop that can do all the heavy graphics, financial, video software would be about $1200. Expect at least 4GB of system RAM memory and even a QUAD core CPU. I do not talk about hard drives, wifi, cd/dvd drives as those are all included and hard drive capacity is more than most people will ever need - unless you download music 24/7 and edit and save home videos onto your laptop - and not onto an external hard drive. Another note, if you want to by a Mac laptop - expect to pay about $500 more for the same specifications and functionality... so instead of about $1200 for a high end laptop, expect to pay up to $2000 or more for the same hardware.

For those of you who want to play the latest games on your laptop... add about $200 on top of the prices that I've talked about... which gets you the upgraded 3D video card (at least 512MB of video memory). If you want a Mac laptop, add about $300 to get the same upgraded 3D video card, and expect to install some software on your Mac that can run a "virtual" version of Windows so that you can install the 80% of games made that are only for Windows computers. Also, your mac will run the game a bit slower since it also has to run the virtual windows environment at the same time, but on the upside, at least Mac looks very pretty.

Finally when it comes to which manufacturer you want to choose, in my opinion it doesn't matter as most get all their hardware from the same vendors. The only difference between manufacturers is how they dress up the outer case of the laptop. Each manufacturer also has different levels of customer service and warranties. So when looking for any computer, laptop or desktop, the choice of the manufacturer has no bearing on how fast or useful the computer will be. The speed and usefulness is mostly determined by the power of the CPU and amount of system RAM memory that comes with the system. The choice of a manufacturer only is important when considering outward appearance, customer service, and warranty. Dell's are traditionally cheaper and Sony's are traditionally more expensive for the same type of hardware. All other manufacturers tend to fall in the middle. Macs are in a category of their own since you cannot put a price tag on style, hip-ness, and cool-ness. You buy a Mac not for cost-effectiveness but for image. I know, I poke fun at Macs all the time.

Any preferences Dell vs HP?

Lilly McCune wrote:Any preferences Dell vs HP?

Though all manufacturers load lots of crap and trial software on their computers, Dell loads less crap that HP. Believe it or not, some retailers like Best Buy and Fry's electronics offer to uninstall all that crap for a fee. So it's well known that the initial junk software can handicap your system right out of the box.

Couple weeks ago I setup 2 new HP desktop systems and HP has really outdone themselves with this fancy shmancy HP System Advisor and management software. It gives you a redundant program toolbar at the top of the screen and integrates all this unneeded software updates functionality into the new computer. HP is notorious for their extremely BLOATED software when installing their officejet, photosmart, or other HP all-in-one (aka. 3-in-one) printers/scanner/fax machines.

Dell also throws in their software into new computers, but it's not as numerous as HP. You still want to remove most of was Dell branded software is installed too.

So in the case of comparing a Dell with an HP laptop, I would get the DELL laptop. Again the actual hardware in the laptops are virtually the same quality among all manufacturer.