PC suggestions please!!

[ashish-m6.net]

hi everyone,


a friend of mine is looking to buy a PC... he is not looking for something spectacular... his budget is something around AU$1000

he will mostly be using it to watch movies and play some games (not the ones that require high end configs) and run some accounting packages for doing his uni work....

any suggestions??

[alex042]

Just get one with a DVD player? I used to watch DVD's and play games on my Duron 900mhz without too many problems so you should be fine with almost any new computer especially considering most are at least 2-3x better than what I was using.

[Robert]

http://dellstore03.dell.com.au/public/cart/configurator.jsp?prd_id=308258&sr_no=2

[markblair]

Unless he knows how to build one and wouldn't mind spending a little bit more doing so, I would always recommend a Dell (http://www.dell.com/). Nothing out there can beat their deals and their products, except a custom built machine of course. ;) :D

[alex042]

Dells are nice, but they're all mail order. Personally, I like to be able to walk into the store I bought something to get it fixed or replaced. Also, I don't have the same convenience of having much of a shipping place anywhere near like I used to. But I guess if you have a secondary computer sitting around you can use while you wait for the Dell if it needs repair then that might be an option.

[ashish-m6.net]

hey everyone,

thanks for all your suggestions... we went to the local computer fair and he got a great deal there.... no.. not on a desktop.. but on a laptop :)... changed his mind at the last moment....

this is what he has got now...

PIV 2.4 Ghz mobile technology
20 Gb HDD
Onboard AGP
384 MB DDR RAM
14 Inch Screen

for AU$525 :)

[acidbase]

I am nuts in laptop.

Which is better P4 system or centrino or mobile?

[ashish-m6.net]

i am as ignorant about those terms as you are :)

[alex042]

Which is better P4 system or centrino or mobile?
I believe the centrino is a chip designed for laptops (aka a mobile chip). Typically you may see newer laptops come with the centrinos whereas pc's may still come with the p4's.

As for laptop vs desktop, I find my desktop easier to work with but its just not very portable so thats where a laptop comes in handy.

[acidbase]

Thanks for the comment.

Apparently, I have been investing on desktop because of the upgradability and the mix-n-match possibility. Love to boost my computers with gadgets.

However, I would think of investing something on a laptop to add to my collection. Well more likely to bring my work ard and do. Will a centrino chip be stable with high performance usage?

Sorry if I have side-tracked the post.

[Cow]

Centrino's rock! End of story. :)

[tibsie]

I prefer AMDs myself

http://www.toms-hosting.com

[acidbase]

One or two years back, I was still hesitated about using AMD.

Has the AMD chips improved alot over the years? Heat dissipation rate? Stability and compatibility with other devices?

BTW, how are AMD chips performing in servers? life span?

[tibsie]

I have always found AMDs to be reliable. My desktop has been known to be on for up to a fortnight before being rebooted for the sake of it.
For the cheap to mid-high end performance market I think they rule. For the absolute top end then it has to be the P4

[Trigger]

Centrino's are easy on the power so longer battery life 4 - 5 Hours which is great for a laptop. Personally I went for the P4 as it was a desktop replacement and I can take it with me to go see customers, normally see 2.5 hour on the battery so its enough most of the time.

Laptops have a slower hard drive 4200RPM as standard although they are now starting to use the newer 5400RPM drives but thats still slower than 7200RPM for a standard desktop. So any application that requires large file swaps will lag on a laptop.

Get as much ram as you can 512MB minimum, if you are into heavy graphics then get 1GB it will help even out the lag from the hard drive as more can be held in memory.

If you are running Windows a good power down restart will always help (don't we know it) so to make sure you clear the memory cache don't forget to disconnect the battery as well as the power cable, otherwise its just a soft reset.

Upgrades can be a pain unlike a desktop, so upgrading the hard drive generally requires stripping the laptop down. So get what you can afford upfront. External hard drives on USB2 or firewire are great for backups and to regain much needed space (they are also faster than the internal hard drive to use!)

Final word:
Fast laptops come at a price either $$$$ or weight, remember laptops are always behind in technology so what you buy today is already out of date so the value drops FAST. If you spend $3000 then in 6 months it will be worth $2000, in a year your shiny new laptop that still looks great will only be worth $1000. If you are not sure what you want buy a cheap one or better yet second hand have a play for 6 months to figure out what you want to use it for. You wont loose much money that way buying something that does not suit you.

[x-trememodz]

I have always found AMDs to be reliable. My desktop has been known to be on for up to a fortnight before being rebooted for the sake of it.
For the cheap to mid-high end performance market I think they rule. For the absolute top end then it has to be the P4

Have to disagree here, the AMD 64 bit procs outperform the top end P4's

[markblair]

I've always been a fan of AMD processors. The only reason I use Intel is if I buy a Dell PC which comes with them. Otherwise, if I'm building a PC (for any reason) I choose AMD. :)

[alex042]

AMD and Intel each have their pros and cons. Personally, I lost some faith in Intel respecting my privacy after the news that some of their chips were broadcasting info, but other than that, they both do the job and nowadays it's mostly preference.

[markblair]

Just found this article today and I thought this was interesting. Notice the bold section. :) AMD FAN boys and girls must probably be celebrating worldwide and dancing on the supermegasoarawayinfostrasse after reviews from all over the world proved to the rest of it that AMD indeed now produces the fastest processors in the world in all categories - budget to server high end. The expiry of NDA's yesterday night means that there has been a raft of reviews of AMD's latest desktop CPU all over the web.

Sudhian reviewed the two-headed monster which features a Toledo core, SSE3 support, improved memory loading and a maximym TDP of 110W and compatibility with AGP motherboards such as the nForce 3 ones. Sudhian is rather surprised that the dual Athlon 4000+ core X2 only bares a 4800+ PR. The X2 is the best processor out there, bar none. http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23110

Now of course fast doesn't always mean good but still this is something to consider for those running servers. I just think this helps to prove that Intel isn't the only chip out there that is suitable for high-end servers.