http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ How-To Geek Forums Topic: New PC a friend wants to order en Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:05:52 +0000 http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order/page/2#post-99897 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:48:57 +0000 Beauseph 99897@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>haha, doesn't take much to confuse me sometimes! :) </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order/page/2#post-99895 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:39:07 +0000 whs 99895@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Beauseph, you probably have reason to be confused on the CPU question. You have to understand that I am an oldtimer that worked on large system all my life. For me, the CPU was always the big box that was standing in the middle of the room with all the lights flickering. Thus I still call the central box "CPU" although that is not quite correct in PC terms because the box contains also the PSU, the RAM, the mobo, etc. Sorry if I confused you. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order/page/2#post-99890 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:44:04 +0000 SarahJames 99890@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Hi guys,</p> <p>Clarifying on the USB slot. He wants her to use an external card reader instead of a slot that has audio input possibilities, USB openings and card readers on the front like this:</p> <p><img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc103/RareSarah/front.png"></p> <p>At least that is what I understood.</p> <p>She has a fancy digital camera and has to transfer photo's often, so I think a seperate reader provides extra mess on your desk you just don't need &lt;LOL&gt;. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order/page/2#post-99885 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:10:37 +0000 LH 99885@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>It is a confusion that has been going on since before I started computing many, many years ago :( </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-99884 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:04:59 +0000 Beauseph 99884@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>wonder why WHS told Sarah that the CPU stands for Tower(computer tower only) earlier in the thread... Not that it matters what so ever.. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-99881 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:48:39 +0000 LH 99881@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit</a> </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-99879 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:28:37 +0000 Beauseph 99879@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>I'm still trying to figure out what a central processing unit is short for if CPU stands for the tower... </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-99878 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:22:05 +0000 LH 99878@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Hang on. A USB card reader is an external device. That would not come installed in a new computer. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-99875 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:13:46 +0000 whs 99875@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Hmm, that's too bad. But if she is so sold on that shop, what can you do. I hope she got at least a good price. I thought those Dell offerings with the hefty rebates were pretty cool. The 160GB HDD may be ok - depending what she does. My wife's first laptop (from Febr. 07) came with 100GB and she has had 50GB free ever since. And then there are always external disks that are very reasonable in price. This USB card reader story is really strange. I never had one break down. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-99810 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:48:11 +0000 SarahJames 99810@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Ok, without going into all the details she's getting a decent pc for a fair amount of money.</p> <p>Only things that I wasn't too pleased with was the 160GB HDD (really too small for what she is willing to pay and compared to what this machine can handle) and he refused to put in an USB card reader, because they break easily - so she'd have to use an external one.<br /> (Remember she's willing to pay extra, just so she can have the service this company offers, so shouldn't replacing that if it actually might break not be included? ...)<br /> My dvdburner is ready to collapse within a year of use - would that be a reason not to put one in too?<br /> Oh and I had a HDD crash on me too when my power was cut - let's build a pc without that too. &lt;LOL&gt;<br /> Sorry, but I thought that was plain ********. (Pardon my French;D)</p> <p>Cheers,<br /> Sarah. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-98903 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:31:22 +0000 SarahJames 98903@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Thanks, whs. Appreciate it:)<br /> I hope she'll get back to me with the proposal and doesn't say 'ok' right away, but you never know ...<br /> At least she has a far better idea by now of the possibilities and prices and she trusts these people, so I leave it to her own judgement:)</p> <p>@takeatoke - thanks for the link, but that's a bit too much;)</p> <p>I'll post back with any new developments;)</p> <p>Goodnight for now,<br /> Sarah. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-98901 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:16:51 +0000 whs 98901@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>takeatoke, I don't know. I think asking the poor lady to build her own PC might be pushing it. And she lives in the Netherlands where parts are not as cheap as in the US. I know that from my own experience here in Germany. Some parts cost twice as much (and more) as in the US.</p> <p>Sarah, That video card is OK - but there are a lot of others that are just as good. As a first thing, you want to look for the video memory - and 512MBs is decent. The cards with more memory (e.g. 1GB) are more upscale and may be an overkill. They are usually for gamers.<br /> If it is at all possible, have your friend talk to those people and ask them for a proposal. If you then post that here (including the price), we could evaluate and fine tune it. - Just trying to help. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-98895 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:05:11 +0000 takeatoke 98895@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Sarah, hi, the 4350 is a decent card for the price and for photo editing, and as far as cpu goes, she can build her own cpu for less than $300 u.s., i always go to micro center for all my pc needs cause they have great pricing and every part you can think of, check out the web site and you can get an idea how much a decent cpu should cost. <a href="http://www.microcenter.com." rel="nofollow">www.microcenter.com.</a> </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-98894 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:59:29 +0000 SarahJames 98894@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Ok, update on current events:)</p> <p>She got an email that indeed their website was outdated and she's been invited for a chat about her wishes over a cup of coffee.<br /> I've tried to give her everything I could think of that she needs to think of, but I don't have a clue as to what is a good graphics card.<br /> In the link whs posted I found this: 512MB ATI® Radeon™ HD 4350 graphics card<br /> Is that good? What should I be looking for?<br /> She'll be doing a lot of photoediting, video editing etc. so the graphics card is important.<img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc103/RareSarah/1uBvG2Fu1FCezNZ4mpk9deI7rDU.gif"> </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-98815 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:04:51 +0000 whs 98815@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Hmm, if she is stuck with this one company, it will narrow the options. But in any case, on the Dell website, you can always look for a comparable system and then see how this companies prices are. Btw: If she goes with a 32bit Vista, 3GBs of RAM are about as good as 4GBs. I notice practically no difference because I have systems with 3 and 4GBs. But for her photo and video work, it is worth looking at the graphics capability. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-98807 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:32:18 +0000 SarahJames 98807@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Thanks Whs - but she wants to buy at this particular company, so now she's send out a request for an offer and will send that to me, to have a look at it. She knows these people and suspects they just didn't update their website. I hope that is the case and they have something nice to offer.<br /> I was thinking it should have at least a 2.8GHz duo core processor and 4GBs of RAM;)</p> <p>@Rick - she won't be doing any troubleshooting herself, that's why she wants to buy at this company.<br /> And since I have made the Boot CD PE and Boot CD disc already I'll use mine if I get to be the one that helps her;)</p> <p>I'll post again when the offer comes in.</p> <p>Thanks for the input!</p> <p>Sarah. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-98782 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:48:01 +0000 raphoenix 98782@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>I would NOT be without a Floppy Drive when working on the Big Machines.<br /> ---<br /> They are old but [ invaluble ] for trouble shooting and setting up hardware BEFORE loading a high level O/S.<br /> ---<br /> Otherwise, one has to make Boot CD PEs, Boot CD Discs, etc., etc....<br /> ---<br /> A cheap and excellent tool for just 10 extra euro on ANY large machine.<br /> ---<br /> Best Regards,<br /> Rick P. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-98779 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:18:57 +0000 whs 98779@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Ya, CPU means the PC box without monitor, printer, etc. For €500 to E600 it should be possible to find something. I would start with Dell. I found them to be pretty competitive in Europe (unlike in the US) and they have a good service. I was looking at <a href="http://www1.euro.dell.com/nl/nl/thuis/Desktops/desktop-inspiron-545_headless/pd.aspx?refid=desktop-inspiron-545_headless&#38;s=dhs&#38;cs=nldhs1">this Dutch Dell website</a> and saw that they currently offer good rebates for on-line orders. I suggest you browse it a little (your Dutch is better than mine) and try to narrow it down. Then we can go from there. I think the second from the left (Totaal €429) is a good start and as far as I saw there is very little that needs to be added as an extra. It seems to have a 2.8GHz duo core processor and 4GBs of RAM standard - and that is a pretty good base to start from.<br /> PS: the operating system is always included - in this case Vista Home Premium. Check whether they offer a free Windows7 upgrade. I am not sure I read this right. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-98773 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:22:51 +0000 SarahJames 98773@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>@ whs - CPU means computer only? The site she gave me doesn't post prices and she had no idea really.<br /> So I figured 500 to 600 euro including Vista Home Premium. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/new-pc-a-friend-wants-to-order#post-98767 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:46:23 +0000 whs 98767@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>This is a nice model - for a museum. What is the price range she is looking at (CPU only)? </p>