new computer help!

whitewash

whitewash

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my dads computer has finally given out and he wants a new one building up. bvut im out of touch with the latest technology computerwise.

basically he wants to do the usual word processing, web browsing etc (school teacher) as well as view (he doesnt edit) his photos from his camera (only a 4mp camera). gaming isnt something its going to be used for. so it doesnt need to be uber quick, just nice and solid.


anyone tell me what sort of processor im gonna need, as ive lost touch with them. ill then just order up a barebones system, processor, ram and HDD from a computer company and biuld it for him. probably get him a new monitor and keyboard as well seeing as everything on his old computer is a bit past it.
 
have a look at the dell deals and offers, you can get him a nice little system with a flatscreen monitor for £329 inc VAT and delivery - its hardly worth building them up now mate for the hassle you get.
 
I couldn't agree more - a few years ago I used to build my own pooters, nowadays I can't get the components and case for the price Dell are knocking them out for. They're also bloody good systems, I've got 10 of them at work and they're like clockwork!
 
Yup , unless you want a uber-quick gaming machine or other specialised beast you're better of getting the latest deal from Dell or PCworld (spit...). You get a nice warranty and less chance of being blamed when it explodes :)
 
That was the kiss of death! I'm gonna get to work tomorrow and find the whole network's crashed :bonk:
 
Darksaber said:
have a look at the dell deals and offers, you can get him a nice little system with a flatscreen monitor for £329 inc VAT and delivery - its hardly worth building them up now mate for the hassle you get.
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yeh i noticed this in some newspapers, and i was solely tempted by one as it fits his needs just priced one up for £414 inc vat all in, dont think i could build one for much less than that.


best thing is that its difficult to find a computer with parralel and serial ports on it, so looks like my dad will have to go broadband and ditch his 56k serial model. THANK.****.FOR.THAT!

cheers guys
 
You could always get a USB to serial RS232 connector.... Maybe a PCI modem board....?
 
or he could stop living in the past and funding freeserve>wanadoo>orange £12 a month for 56K internet when £15 will get him broadband.....:shrug:



not gonna give him any options that will allow him to retain his 56k modem!
 
chuckles said:
You could always get a USB to serial RS232 connector.... Maybe a PCI modem board....?
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Might as well format the PC when you get it and stick Dos 6.22 and wfw 3.11 on there too ;)

Although those things are really handy when you really do need to get some arcaic piece of hardware working and all you have is USB ports. Got some of them at work for something somewhere.

I miss the good old days :(
 
Be sure to partition up the HDD so you have Windows and program files on C: and the data on another partition. I'm sure Windows will fall over in one year when it's been loaded up with adware, spyware, etc. and you'll be called back to fix it. :D
 
Buy him a Mac. It'll be so much better for him, and you won't get phoned all the time about stupid little problems!

I got my parents one and they really like it, and find it a lot less problematic than the PC they also have!
 
Matt. said:
Buy him a Mac. It'll be so much better for him, and you won't get phoned all the time about stupid little problems!

I got my parents one and they really like it, and find it a lot less problematic than the PC they also have!
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How dare you swear on this forum!

Since Windows XP was installed as standard on PCs the number of callouts I get from friends and family has dropped exponentially - its very difficult to break it. Most things can also be fixed using remote assistance.
 
Darksaber said:
How dare you swear on this forum!

Since Windows XP was installed as standard on PCs the number of callouts I get from friends and family has dropped exponentially - its very difficult to break it. Most things can also be fixed using remote assistance.
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The typical 'i've never used a Mac, but it must be rubbish' person :p

I use XP too, and have been a Windows user for 10yrs+, but a Mac is a very good option for someone who wants to use the internet/email/photos/etc... as everything is so well integrated and just 'works' :)

Dell's are cheap, but they're built to a price of roughly £3, and therefore break quite a bit, well, that's my experience of them from using Optiplex's in a business environment, but i could well be wrong :D
 
I've used a mac before, I remember playing leisure suit larry on one years ago, it only had one mouse button and the floppy drive eject button was on the keyboard.
 
I'm a mac user all the way :D . Used PC's for years as I was using 3D programs such as 3DMax (not available on mac) & thought I'd never make the change.
I am soooo happy that I did - I was using a custom built, absolute monster of a PC, unbelievably fast, loads of memory, great graphics card (you get the picture, it was the dogs danglies) when I tried out the G5 Dual processor. I've never looked back since. I will admit though that the one mouse button thing was a major pain in the ass, but I have a graphics tablet with buttoned pen & a three button mouse & every single button works like a charm (y)
I just never had the confidence to stick with PC, I spent more time wondering when the damn thing was going to crash next rather than concentrating on my work. I still own a PC though & know my way around the insides of one (you tend to learn about stuff like that when having to take your computer apart every 5mins :LOL: ) but it's gathering it's own weight in dust!
(I need an "I love Apple Mac smilie!)

P.S. Cheers Kamion for the mention (y)
 
IBM PC compatibles are great, if you use linux :LOL:
 
wouldnt touch a mac, quite simply because he uses pc's at school, has always used pcs and all his software is pc based, also my little sister uses pcs at school and i dont want her to have to deal with a different system at home. plus macs suck wang

arnt macs computers designed for idiots anyway :shrug:

ordering him a pc from dell tonight, job done
 
nowt rong wi macs!!! I've got both :razz:

Although get an intel mac and you've got best of both worlds :razz: :razz:
 
Well you know where thats headed don't you?

The mac will fast become a PC, OSX whatever will run on PCs too and the mac will just be another manufacturer of PCs.
 
yeh u cant beat Dells deals at moment for decent pcs :)
seen some of their adverts, daughter is getting one soon for her Uni work for about £329 delivered. Reminds me, I not upgraded mine for 3 years, the credit card is itching to get out again!! :)
 
whitewash said:
arnt macs computers designed for idiots anyway :shrug:
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I'm going to have to second Glens :razz: & :razz: in your general direction :LOL:
I moved to mac because I'm one of those people that likes my computers to be reliable, if that makes me an idiot, then pass me the dunce hat & you can find me in the corner :D
I do actually own both, have two PC's and my G5, I just find I prefer my mac - suppose it's all down to personal choice & whether or not the move would be worth it (I do miss the fact that if you wanted to do anything on a PC, someone will have made a program to do it!) wheras on a mac, programs are a little more limited (not with virtual PC but I'm not a fan of that at all) but my design programmes always contain extras & since thats what I use my mac for, that suits me fine. (y)
 
I started my computer life in many other forms.....MSX, Spectrum etc, before being an Amiga boy for many years, until I finally settled on PC's.
Been on the PC scene for many a year and since I got into design / photography I've yeaaaarned for a Mac.

While the PC has its strengths, in this field, the mac wins I reckon.
 
I went right through from the paddles to Atari2600 to Speccy to C64, Atari ST, Amiga, consoles and then PC.

I accept that there are many reasons why people choose to use what they do - its down to personal preference and we're all entitled to our opinions.

In terms of reliability and pcs it depends on the hardware and the software you're running. When I built my PC up I did it sourcing decent kit from suppliers I know - I also accept that I reformat ever 6-9 months to keep things running smoothly however, I'm not sure if macs have the same sort of maintenance but I doubt it.

Each to their own and live and let live - or something.
 
This is going a bit off topic now really!

Anyway, Darksaber, with OS X you don't need to do anything like defragging or other time consuming and unnecessary 'maintenance' tasks :)
 
Actually, windows XP is the only windows operating system (apart from ME but we won't go there) where a defrag actually does something good.

Its not OS specific though, as even my Sky+ box has a defrag feature so all it means with OSX is that it does it on the fly, using up more resources when you need them and not allowing you to start/schedule a defrag when you go to bed and you're not using the PC anyway ;)
 
there's a chance the disks could be fragmented. In this case, you might benefit from defragmentation, which can be performed with some third-party disk utilities.
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Oh yes they do :p
 
They call it optimisation and use the excuses of larger disk capacities and the way that OS X writes files to the drive as not needing it. Looks like it still does need it in some circumstances - rather like the way windows does.

Anyway, this is well off topic,

www.dell.co.uk :)
 
Macs, Linux, BSD etc are way less prone to fragmentation that Windows.

Remember if you buy a cheap Dell, that all you get. They are office machines. I know i deliver by the hundreds. They all go to offices and schools.

They seem cheaper cause you get a better deal on windows software etc
But you can install you windows on more than one machine in your home.
Upto three machine but there are conditions.
 
brummie said:
They seem cheaper cause you get a better deal on windows software etc
But you can install you windows on more than one machine in your home.
Upto three machine but there are conditions.
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One license code = one copy windows. I'm not sure you should be giving out information like this which isn't true. If you buy a new computer with windows on it preinstalled its an OEM edition of the OS - its licensed for that PC only even up to the point where if you replace the motherboard in that PC it won't activate as "technically" it isn't the same PC.

There are student and teacher copies of MS office which allow you to install on up to three computers in your house but as far as windows goes each machine needs its own license unless you are using a volume licensing key and you have a piece of paper to say you have x number of licenses.

The cheap Dell machines are perfect for anyone that doesn't want to play games. All that they are lacking is a 3D accelerated graphics card so gaming is pretty much out.

I bought the Dell 1300 laptop for £329 a few months ago and its the cheapest you can get, its fine for everything but games, even photoshop runs fine on it - I wouldn't want to try editing video on it too much though.

Theres always been a trend in the industry for people to spend as much as they can afford and get the best machine they can, I prefer to let people tell me what they'll use it for and compare that to what there is - even the cheapest dell "office" machine will last your average home user 5-6 years no problem as long as they use it for office/internet/photos/whatever and not the latest games.
 
Darksaber said:
One license code = one copy windows. I'm not sure you should be giving out information like this which isn't true. If you buy a new computer with windows on it preinstalled its an OEM edition of the OS - its licensed for that PC only even up to the point where if you replace the motherboard in that PC it won't activate as "technically" it isn't the same PC.
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According to a microsoft representative i spoke to over the phone you can install and activate upto three machines on a single licence.
I didnt question the technical details like OEM. I had no reason to disbelieve them but i do remember it being a foriegn call centre so i spose they may have got it wrong as we didnt understand what we were saying to each other properly, dunno.
 
The microsoft representative is wrong, although as you say it could have been the language barrier - I hate foreign call centers with a vengeance.
 
I have a Mac but very rarely use it. Only useful when it's raining. Umbrella is more practical most of the time.
 
brummie said:
According to a microsoft representative i spoke to over the phone you can install and activate upto three machines on a single licence.
I didnt question the technical details like OEM. I had no reason to disbelieve them but i do remember it being a foriegn call centre so i spose they may have got it wrong as we didnt understand what we were saying to each other properly, dunno.
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As mentioned this is not correct, but there is a similar scenario which the representative may have been thinking of (it sounds like he doesnt know what hes talking about though).

Anyhow heres what the representative may have misunderstood :

How does Microsoft Product Activation work?


Product Activation works by validating that the software's product key, required as part of product installation, has not been used on more PCs than is allowed by the software's end user license agreement (EULA). In general, Windows XP can be installed on one PC and Office 2003 or Office XP can be installed on one PC and the laptop computer used by the user of the one PC. (For specifics, please see the EULA accompanying your product.) Product key information, in the form of the product ID, is sent along with a "hardware hash" (a non-unique number generated from the PC's hardware configuration) to Microsoft's activation system during activation. In Windows XP SP1, the product key itself is sent in addition to the product ID. Activation is completed either directly via the Internet or by a telephone call to a customer service representative. Activations on the same PC using the same product key are unlimited. Product Activation discourages piracy by limiting the number of times a product key can be activated on different PCs.
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Check for yourselves here
 
Whatever you do DON'T buy an e-machines. Our last two have gone wrong just after the warranty is up, and a chap I work with had the same thing happen. If it's over the 12 months you can't get ANY joy out of asking for a warranty repair either. :shake:
 
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