Wong & Owens Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 OK, so I am going to be buying a new home computer soon, and because I get older and less hip by the second, I have lost track of the level that processing technology is reaching these days. Could someone get me up to speed as to what specs are top of the line these days, what specs are a year or two old, and what specs are way past relevance? I'm talking processor speed, memory capacity, etc. Also, which brands are best? I hear Dell or Micron. Does that sound right? I mainly use the computer for burning cd's, and the internet. Any help would be much obliged! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldmember Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 my computer is a 1.5 gig, 256 mb, toshiba laptop which i bought bout a yr ago. perfect for burning cds and internet. for a brand new computer, the specs all depend on how much ya wanna spend. either way should get a processor between 2.5-low 3 gigs. memory should be at least 512 mb... brand is pretty much personal preference with a couple that are pretty bad. if a lot of people say they had probs with a brand stay away. i've had good luck with compaq and toshiba and bad luck with the el cheapo brand e-machines (but know someone with good luck with one ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen Prawn Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 I just bought a dell a few months back and I got the 3.2GHz processor, 1G DRAM. The hard drive I bought has 250G on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapkomet Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 I just bought a dell a few months back and I got the 3.2GHz processor, 1G DRAM. The hard drive I bought has 250G on it. BIG computer. Did you SEE the size of that HARD DRIVE??? Meeeooow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Just Say No to the cheap iron (=Wintel) and get a mac. I love my dual-2GB G5, even if it looks like a giant cheese grater. ^^ cheese grater of the Gods ^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Just Say No to the cheap iron (=Wintel) and get a mac. I love my dual-2GB G5, even if it looks like a giant cheese grater. ^^ cheese grater of the Gods ^^ This is like the Emperor telling everyone to buy his clothes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 This is like the Emperor telling everyone to buy his clothes. Shut up and BOW DOWN already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 AOL and a Mac, so easy to use even a college professor can figure it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldmember Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 i haven't liked mac since one ate my zip disk with the entire semester's homework on it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wong & Owens Posted July 22, 2004 Author Share Posted July 22, 2004 Just Say No to the cheap iron (=Wintel) and get a mac. I love my dual-2GB G5, even if it looks like a giant cheese grater. ^^ cheese grater of the Gods ^^ That was another concern of mine. Are Pc's still better on most levels? Or have the Macs caught up yet? I haven't owned an Apple since I had a IIe way back when. I'm more comfortable with pc's, but if mac's are really better, I'd be willing to learn how to use one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 i haven't liked mac since one ate my zip disk with the entire semester's homework on it... It was bestowing one of life's lessons on you - backup, backup, backup. That kind of applied knowledge should cost extra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 It was bestowing one of life's lessons on you - with a Mac, backup, backup, backup. That kind of applied knowledge should cost extra I was just talking to an adult who had her laptop with her Master thesis stolen. She offered a $500 reward for the Word file and some related documents and the culprit could keep the machine. It broke my heart. She had zero backup. :headshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 That was another concern of mine. Are Pc's still better on most levels? Yessirree, PCs are still better on most levels... IN THE FRIGGIN' BIZZARO UNIVERSE!!! What PCs have going for them, admitedly, is ubiquity in the marketplace. If you go the mac route on an office network you previously had to be ready to do a little personal IT work as well to gget it to play nice. That's largely a thing of the past though, and they integrate prretty seemlessly into most existing networks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Yessirree, PCs are still better on most levels... IN THE FRIGGIN' BIZZARO UNIVERSE!!! What PCs have going for them, admitedly, is ubiquity in the marketplace. If you go the mac route on an office network you previously had to be ready to do a little personal IT work as well to gget it to play nice. That's largely a thing of the past though, and they integrate prretty seemlessly into most existing networks. Translated, they are becomming more like PCs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldmember Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Translated, they are becomming more like PCs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Translated, they are becomming more like PCs Come to think of it you might be right. My computer has crashed three times this week - very PC-like indeed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Come to think of it you might be right. My computer has crashed three times this week - very PC-like indeed... Did anyone know you had a Mac before naming you a moderator? The nice thing about owning a Mac is you can be assured every one of the 900 or so sold last year were handbuilt one at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedge Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 I'm still running this E-Machine I bought in Summer of 2000. I've added some memory and put in an extra hard drive and burner, but the thing still purrs like a kitten (well, there is a transistor blown somewhere and it can't shut off, but oh well). It's funny because all the kids at school had Dells or Compaqs that they spent like $300-400 more than me and every one of them had some horrible error once or more during college. The worst I had was a worm and a reinstall of Windows when I did something stupid. It's weird how computers work out... Depending on what you are looking to do with it, you may want to get one with Hyperthreading, if you get a PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wong & Owens Posted July 22, 2004 Author Share Posted July 22, 2004 Depending on what you are looking to do with it, you may want to get one with Hyperthreading, if you get a PC. What the hell is hyperthreading? Some computerized sewing program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 If you do buy a Mac, Southsider2k4 can help you change your screen name to Wrong & Owens Seriously, in the olden days of the mid 1990s there actually was some differences in quality and some really screwy prices. You could get taken if you were not careful. Today, retailers and manufactures think of these as closer to washing machines than scientific tools. Head into Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, etc. or read the ads this Sunday and match up the best buy at the price point you are at. It is hard to really make a bad decision on a Wintel machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 It is hard to really make a bad decision on a Wintel machine. That statement is an oxymoron. It is supposed to read... It is hard to really make a bad decision unless you buy a Wintel machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 That statement is an oxymoron. It is supposed to read... Just remember, he's from Florida where they couldn't figure out a voting maching. Perhaps Mac is better for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedge Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 What the hell is hyperthreading? Some computerized sewing program? Hmm... how to explain this... Sometimes a program needs to do two things at once. For instance, AIM needs to process networking information (i.e. sending and receiving message packets) and it needs to simultaneously process the user interface. These actions need to occur simultaneously. In the old days of single processors, the program got broken into threads (by the programmer) and the CPU would switch back and forth between the threads really quickly and process both seemingly at the same time. In fact, a lot of OS's did this (I think some may still do it). They run a number of processes as separate threads and the OS processes on each for a bit based on priority and program size. Now, a while ago they came out with the idea that if a computer has two processors, it can do this sort of parallel processing faster. Thus you could have a computer processing on two separate threads at the same time. I'm not sure if performance enhancement was ever proved from a theory standpoint, but in many instances, parallel processing can yield a performance boost. Threading also takes advantage of time when a processor would normally be idle. It allows the processor to maximize its performance more regularly. For example, where execution resources in a non-Hyper-Threading capable processor are not used by the current task, and especially when the processor is stalled, a Hyper-Threading equipped processor may use those execution resources to execute the other scheduled task(s). The upshot of all of this is that Hyper-Threading can give improved support for multi-threaded code, allowing multiple threads to run simultaneously, improved reaction and response time, and increased number of users a server can support. Basically, it can make your computer faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wong & Owens Posted July 22, 2004 Author Share Posted July 22, 2004 Hmm... how to explain this... Sometimes a program needs to do two things at once. For instance, AIM needs to process networking information (i.e. sending and receiving message packets) and it needs to simultaneously process the user interface. These actions need to occur simultaneously. In the old days of single processors, the program got broken into threads (by the programmer) and the CPU would switch back and forth between the threads really quickly and process both seemingly at the same time. In fact, a lot of OS's did this (I think some may still do it). They run a number of processes as separate threads and the OS processes on each for a bit based on priority and program size. Now, a while ago they came out with the idea that if a computer has two processors, it can do this sort of parallel processing faster. Thus you could have a computer processing on two separate threads at the same time. I'm not sure if performance enhancement was ever proved from a theory standpoint, but in many instances, parallel processing can yield a performance boost. Threading also takes advantage of time when a processor would normally be idle. It allows the processor to maximize its performance more regularly. For example, where execution resources in a non-Hyper-Threading capable processor are not used by the current task, and especially when the processor is stalled, a Hyper-Threading equipped processor may use those execution resources to execute the other scheduled task(s). The upshot of all of this is that Hyper-Threading can give improved support for multi-threaded code, allowing multiple threads to run simultaneously, improved reaction and response time, and increased number of users a server can support. Basically, it can make your computer faster. Good job with the description. Yes, that makes sense. But, when I think about it, I think I could make my current computer just as powerful as anything on the market today, if I just gave it more cowbell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedge Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Good job with the description. Yes, that makes sense. But, when I think about it, I think I could make my current computer just as powerful as anything on the market today, if I just gave it more cowbell. Thanks man. Yeah, unless you're doing really hard core stuff, I'd say don't get hyperthreading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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