From: "David Burton" Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 18:34:17 -0500 (EST) (Partially updated 8/5/2010) Warning: some of this advice is now obsolete! xxxx@xxxxxxx.org wrote: > What computer should I buy? CAVEATS: I don't know anything about Macs. Sorry. Also, I warrant that this advice is worth at least what you paid me for it. There is no other warranty, neither express nor implied. WHERE TO BUY: I don't think there's a HUGE price difference between buying at a store like Sam's Club or Best Buy etc. vs. buying online, by the time you add in the shipping, but NewEgg.com and others do have some attractive prices. The TigerDirect outlet store (on Capitol Blvd in Raleigh) often has great prices, especially if you don't mind doing rebates, but their customer service is poor (though they at least have better techies than WalMart), and you must pay attention to whether you're getting new or "refurbished" products. Note that the outlet store has only a subset of what they list on their web site, so be sure to call before you drive over there to buy something that you see on the web site. Here are some links: http://www.tigerdirect.com/retailstores/raleigh.asp http://www.pricewatch.com/ http://www.newegg.com/ http://www.intrex.com/ DESKTOP OR LAPTOP: If you need a laptop computer, get a laptop computer. But if you aren't sure whether to get a desktop computer or a laptop computer, get a desktop computer. You'll get more bang for the buck, and much better upgrade options in the future, and they are MUCH easier and cheaper to work on if something goes wrong someday. SPECS: I wouldn't worry too much about processor speed, becausetheyIntel & AMD CPUs (except Intel "Atom") are all very, very fast (except Intel Atom-based "netbooks," which are sloooow). But be sure to get at least512 MB4 GB of RAM memory.For processor architecture, I would give a slight edge to AMD Athlon 64-bit CPUs (or an Intel Pentium 630, which is also 64-bit), rather than one of the 32-bit CPUs. Most of the AMD CPUs these days are 64-bit, but many of the Intel CPUs are still only 32-bit. You won't see much difference now, but I think that eventually you might need to use software which will run best (or only run!) on a 64-bit machine. (But the 32-to-64 bit transition is not nearly as big a deal as the 16-to-32 bit transition was, back when dinosaurs like me roamed the earth.)The latest thing at the high end is"dual core"multi-core (2, 3, 4, or 6-core) CPUs. They are great for servers, but for typical home use I don't thinktheymore than 2-4 cores are worth the premium price. Here's a web site for comparing CPU speeds: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html SETTING UP YOUR NEW COMPUTER www.pcdecrapifier.com and www.ninite.com are two complementary time-saving sites for setting up new PCs. PCdecrapifier deletes the crudware & demoware that clutters up most new PCs, and Ninite makes it easy to install the good stuff. BRANDS AND QUALITY: Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much of a quality difference between the major brands of desktop computer. HP/Compaq, Acer/eMachines/Gateway, Dell, Toshiba, Sony, etc.. -- they're all made with pretty much the same parts, and they are all aggressively cost-reduced. Dell claims to be better, but they seem about the same to me. BUYING RELIABILITY: The two features that are most valuable for improving computer reliability are "ECC" (Error Correcting Code) memory, and "RAID" (Redundant Array of Independent Drives) duplicate ("mirrored") hard disk drives. Unfortunately, most computers these days do not support ECC memory. However, if you want to reduce your risk of losing the data on your hard disk drive, it is possible to buy that extra assurance, in the form of "RAID 1" (mirrored) SATA hard disk drives. I really like mirrored drives. They're not a substitute for doing backups, but they drastically reduce the threat from the most common cause of data loss, which is hard disk drive failure. Most computers do not come with mirrored drives. However, many SATA disk controllers will support mirrored drives under Windows, so if you get a computer which has one SATA hard disk drive, then you might be able to add a second one and convert them to a "mirrored RAID array," by installing the second drive, then going through a RAID setup procedure which copies the old drive to the new one and enables the mirroring feature. Note: About half of the new computers on the market use the new SATA disk drives, and the other half use the older ATA/IDE disk drives. The performance is about the same, but for some unknown reason the ATA/IDE controllers usually do NOT support RAID, and the SATA controllers usually DO support RAID. (Note: "ATA/100" or "ATA/133" or "Parallel ATA" or "Ultra ATA" or "PATA" or "EIDE" means the older ATA/IDE type, which is usually connected with a 2" wide flat ribbon cable. "ATA/150" or "SATA/150" or "SATA/300" or "Serial ATA" means the newer SATA type, which is connected with a 3/8" wide flat cable.) With disk mirroring you have two drives storing the same data, so you double the cost of each megabyte of data that you store, but you greatly reduce the chance that you will ever lose your data due to a hard disk drive failure. Since huge 160 GB SATA hard drives only cost about $100... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1648990 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1874117 ....adding a second (mirrored) drive is inexpensive protection for your data, and an awful lot cheaper than trying to recover your data from a dead drive... http://www.geeksalive.com/links.html#diskrecovery ....which sometimes doesn't work no matter how much you pay. Note #1: for best performance with mirrored drives, try to match the make and model of the additional drive to that of the original drive. Note #2: If you'll be using using Windows XP Home Edition, you need a RAID controller to use mirrored disk drives. However, Linux does not require any special hardware (other than a 2nd disk drive) to do disk mirroring. Its "software RAID" works well even with Parallel ATA/IDE drives. MAJOR BRAND VS. ASSEMBLED FROM PARTS: One of the things that makes the major brand computers so cheap is that they preinstall a lot of junk and trial version software, and the software peddlers pay them to do so. So the manufacturers can actually sell a computer for less than the cost of making it, and still make money on it. But when you buy it, the first thing you'll want to do to it is uninstall the trash. Places that put together machines from parts, like Intrex, could probably put one together with just what you want (e.g., RAID 1 mirrored drives), and install Windows XP for you, but that'll cost significantly more than a major brand prebuilt computer. If you decide to go this route, call Intrex (or a similar shop). You can also call me, and I'll see what it would cost for me to get one through the distributors that I use. MONITOR, MOUSE & KEYBOARD: If you want to splurge on something, get a nice 19"+ LCD monitor. You will love it! If you can get both monitor and video adapter with DVI (digital) connectors for not too much extra money, do that, too. But even with analog (VGA-style) connections, these big LCD monitors are just plain gorgeous. (But make sure you don't accidentally get a television, instead. Most TVs can connect to computers, these days, which can buying a monitor confusing. If the screen resolution is given as something like "720p" or "1080i" or "1080p" then it is probably a TV, not a real computer monitor, and the picture quality will be poor if it is used as a computer monitor. True computer monitors have screen resolution specified with two numbers, like 1280x1024, 1440x900, or 1920x1200. If it is 1920x1080 (a 16:9 aspect ratio), then make very sure that the screen looks good before you buy it, because that's normally a TV aspect ratio rather than a computer monitor aspect ratio, though some laptops have 1366x768 screens.) Optical mice are just plain better than the old rolling-ball mice. I use a $20 Microsoft optical mouse, and it is great. But I prefer a wired mouse to a wireless mouse. A wireless mouse will inevitably need new batteries just when you want to use your computer. A wired mouse needs no batteries, so it is always there when you need it. I also think that wired mice usually "feel" just a little bit more responsive than wireless mice. Look closely at the keyboard. Lots of keyboards, these days, have slightly rearranged the Ins/Del/ Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys, or the '\' key, or the cursor keys -- which drives me nuts when I try to use them. If you use another computer regularly somewhere else, be sure your new PC has the same keyboard layout, if possible. LAPTOPS: For laptops, mirrored drives are not an option, and lugging around your favorite keyboard is not very practical. In fact, lots of things aren't options for laptop computers. But a good mouse is an option. They all permit attaching an external mouse. I would spend the $5-$20 to get a nice optical mouse to carry around with it, so you aren't stuck using that nasty touchpad or thumb-thingy. I don't know what laptop brand to recommend. The Panasonic "Toughbook" line is a bit more rugged and reliable than most laptop computers, though very expensive.IBMLenovo also claims that their laptop computers are more rugged than most, and maybe they really are.(But if price is an issue, I know a guy in Michigan who fixes laptop computers and also sells laptop computers that he has fixed, and does good work, and stands behind his work. If I needed to buy a laptop computer, I'd seriously consider buying one that Ken had fixed: ikenfixit.com.)(Unfortunately, Ken has closed his laptop business.) SOFTWARE: You need both ONE anti-virus tool, and SEVERAL anti-spyware/anti-adware tools. (Note: spyware and adware are almost synonyms.) My recommendation is that you remove the McAfee or Symantec/Norton "trial version" anti-virus that probably came with your new computer, and replace it with something else. There are several good options, but I usually install Grisoft AVG. It is completely free for home use, and $49 for 2 years for business use (which is about half the price of Symantec/Norton), and seems to do a pretty good job. BTW, Microsoft has a list of anti-virus vendors, here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=49500 I also recommend that you install MalwareBytes (free) AND SpyBot (free). See my web page: http://www.geeksalive.com/links.html#antimalware For an "office" application suite (word processor, spreadsheet, etc.), if you don't already own Microsoft Office or don't want to pay the high price, you can download OpenOffice for free. It is not quite as "polished" as Microsoft Office, but it is really quite nice, and you can't beat the price: http://www.openoffice.org/ For internet access, if you are on a tight budget see http://www.freedomlist.com/ for the cheapest dial-up ISPs. Also, in 2004 I composed an email to someone with some ISP recommendations, some of which are still valid: isp.html EASING THE TRANSITION TO YOUR NEW COMPUTER: If you are converting from one Windows computer to another, consider using Microsoft's included "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard" (for migrating to Windows XP) or "Windows Easy Transfer" (for Vista or Windows 7) to migrate most of your documents and emails, etc. to the new machine. There are also tools you can buy which try to transfer your programs to the new machine. That doesn't always work, so you are probably better off reinstalling the programs (if you can find the CDs).Kim Komando says that a product called "AlohaBob" is best for this: http://www.komando.com/kolumns_show.asp?showID=8333(Unfortunately, AlohaBob is a discontinued product.) I hope this helps. -bro Dave