Looking at computer options

[Panthor]

My father switched to a mac last year, his main use is for photos and music.  He loves it, finds it much faster and easier to use tha his previous windows machines.  I have to say i do like it but there are some drawbacks, like having to learn how to use a mouse with no right click.  Also one thing i found out the other day that annoyed me with it is that if you plug in an NTFS formatted hard drive then it will only give you read access and you have to download an app to be able to gain write access.

[redthunder]

I know it's not quite what you asked but..


I have to recommend a desktop. You can get a very good Intel i5 processor, 8gb+ of ram, a large solid state hard drive + a huge regular hard drive for storage, official copy of windows and all the bells & whistles for between £5-600. Sure it's not portable but the performance won't be beaten, particularly with a SSD for your operating system and most used software. You then have the added bonus of being able to upgrade individual parts in 12-24 months to make it more modern and last longer.


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-378-OK&groupid=43&catid=2476&subcat=2563


You can spec this up like so





This is a monster of a computer, will do all you ask of it and more. Down the line you could add a graphics card or more ram to make it even better.

[Slaninar]

I would also recommend avoiding the SSD and just getting a good old regular Hard Drive.

[Dead Eye]

That's actually not a terrible price for that sort of spec system...

Definitely steps you could take to reduce the price as well, of which removing the SSD as Slaninar suggests would be a start



I actually, to a degree, enjoy spec-ing systems out using suppliers like Scan... the bit I don't like is not being able to click "Buy Now" :P

My current plans are for a new home NAS system, but that's not until next month anyway :P

[Hedgetrimmer]

I can not recommend you to avoid laptops enough. Unless absolutely necessary to work on the road.

Slaninar has a good point, desktops are dirt cheap these days! And when you're on the road, your phone does most of the work, right?

Why?

SSD, NAS, NTFS.............WTF? 

[VNA - BMW Wank]

I'm still using a desktop.
Bought it at the end of 2008.
Only thing is it's VISTA64, so not only is it running windows least used version but it's running the even rarer 64bit version.  So I'd guess windows are itching to cut my support.  Already noticing software upgrades that are coming out with no VISTA support.
Anyway hoping to make a bit more space for it, get a bigger desk and get a 23 inch monitor as well as keeping my current 19 inch job.
I did recently have a wee look at getting a new PC, and compared PC prices with a MAC, well lets just say make sure you are sitting down when you check the mac price.
Anyway I'm trying to put it off as long as poss.  Getting any new machine running the way you want it is a pain in the butt.

[Hedgetrimmer]

I did recently have a wee look at getting a new PC, and compared PC prices with a MAC, well lets just say make sure you are sitting down when you check the mac price.
Anyway I'm trying to put it off as long as poss.  Getting any new machine running the way you want it is a pain in the butt.

Yeah, the iMac is expensive, but it seems to do the things I want to do rather well - or, in a way I like.

I am aware that every system will have it's advantages and disadvantages, but due to the above, the Mac seems good to me. I'm not the kind of person to want to do regular upgrades, just want something to last me a few years, or a lifetime if that were possible (but I'm not that naïve  ).

I really am keen on getting something that takes up a lot less space than my current desktop, and like the idea of having just the one thing that I can use anywhere in the house. Plugging it in is not going to be a problem, and with a 12 hour battery life, that's even more so.

[Dead Eye]

Vista isn't a terrible OS as long as you have a PC powerful enough to run it :P Compared to other versions of Windows it certainly is resource hog in every way... Windows versions have always had a sort of tick-tock cycle of being awesome or crap...

95 - Not that great
98 - Awesome
ME - Crap
XP - Awesome
Vista - Crap
7 - Awesome
8 - Not that great

So hopefully 9 will be somewhat better :P I've gotten used to the little annoyances that 8 brought along, though for some reason 8.1 seems to be even more annoying in some ways In any case, it's irrelevant if you want a Mac :P


For reference;
SSD = Solid State Drive (no moving parts)
HDD = Hard Disk Drive
NAS = Network Attached Storage
NTFS = New Technology File System - a type of drive format which is default on all Windows machines since XP I believe

Nick, I'm happy to try and translate any techno-babble if you ever want... though I'm off for 2 weeks now... so, yeah... bad timing... oops...

[ChristoT]

You missed out 2000, Liam. That was another super stable operating system that came in before XP, just after ME.

An awesome system, XP was built on top of most of it. 

[Dead Eye]

Windows 2000 was the business / professional release of Windows ME including variations marketed to datacentres

[ChristoT]

Windows 2000 was the business / professional release of Windows ME including variations marketed to datacentres

Er - really? My Mum's computer had ME, and ran like shite. Kept crashing, and took ages to open anything

My brother and I had a tower running 2000, never had any trouble at all. In fact, it still runs!

Wikipedia holds the answer: 2000 was built on top of the NT4 - one of Window's most stable OSs ever. And 2000 Professional (which was the version we had) was apparently marketed as a desktop OS for businesses. Still ran Age of Empires and Combat FS pretty well! 

[Dead Eye]

Although irrelevant to this thread; 2000 was built on top of NT5 It still doesn't matter though as it was a business platform; it's not like I included Windows Server 2003, 2008 or 2012 in my list :P

[evesdad]

Nick if you are anything like me, most of what you have read in this thread might as well be  blah,blah, blah, blah,windows,blah, blah,memory,blah,blah,blah.  Last pc I had by the time it got to 2.5 years old I used to have to switch it on an hour before I wanted to use it because it would take so long to do updates and whatever other mysterious things they have to do to keep working. My mac is now five years old and hasn't slowed down a bit.I just want a computer to switch on and work, not have to "maintain" it ffs. As far as I am concerned it should be like any other domestic appliance you buy, use it till it doesn't work anymore then change it.

[locksmith]

Cant help on the technical front but.....

You say how great the shop was, spending time with you, making sure you get what you want, but you'll probably buy it elsewhere, more than likely one of those places that "know bugger all about it" to quote your own words   

Just think who's going to be the most helpful if you have a little teething trouble

[redthunder]

I would also recommend avoiding the SSD and just getting a good old regular Hard Drive.

Both is better 


Really though. I bought a 64gb SSD about a year or so ago and just installed Windows on it. I then had a regular 1TB hard drive for storage. Which i've managed to fill so put in another 1TB last week. The great part about it is having Windows on the SSD means everything is super quick from booting up to browsing forums.


If I had to recommend just one computer upgrade to anyone, a SSD would be it. The prices are becoming more reasonable by the day, there is no reason not to buy one. In terms of value the performance boost per £ is unrivalled.

[Slaninar]

I would also recommend avoiding the SSD and just getting a good old regular Hard Drive.

Both is better 


Really though. I bought a 64gb SSD about a year or so ago and just installed Windows on it. I then had a regular 1TB hard drive for storage. Which i've managed to fill so put in another 1TB last week. The great part about it is having Windows on the SSD means everything is super quick from booting up to browsing forums.


If I had to recommend just one computer upgrade to anyone, a SSD would be it. The prices are becoming more reasonable by the day, there is no reason not to buy one. In terms of value the performance boost per £ is unrivalled.

For everyday use, there is no need for super fast SSD. Not with these prices still. My computer with a regular HDD still boots up faster than I can make cofee. 

[HarryHornby]

Hey Nick, just throwing it out there, I have an NUS student card, if you do decide to go apple, give me a shout, we can get it cheap between us 

[rustyrider]

For everyday use, there is no need for super fast SSD. Not with these prices still. My computer with a regular HDD still boots up faster than I can make cofee. 

and with an SSD it would be booted before you've filled the kettle.  Prices aren't bad these days, not over here anyway, 250Gb for well under £100 for an internal 2.5" laptop drive.  Plenty big enough for a laptop.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Cant help on the technical front but.....

You say how great the shop was, spending time with you, making sure you get what you want, but you'll probably buy it elsewhere, more than likely one of those places that "know bugger all about it" to quote your own words   

Just think who's going to be the most helpful if you have a little teething trouble

Yeah, I know, and they also offer various extended support packages that are appealing for a dimwit like me. So I could end up paying the extra to get the extra - might be worth it to me.
 

Hey Nick, just throwing it out there, I have an NUS student card, if you do decide to go apple, give me a shout, we can get it cheap between us 

Cheers Harry, might take you up on that (this isn't immediately imminent - maybe in a few months time, but my computer does seem to have some problems, possible virus, so I'm mostly using my Dad's, not ideal).
 
It has occurred to me that an iMac coupled with an iphone for when out and about on the bike would be a good way to go, as the compatibility of the two might make for an efficient overall system. And it has been pointed out to me that I could get the phone off ebay for about £100. (iphone 4).
 
Still no word as to why laptops are crap then? 

[HarryHornby]

modern laptops aren't crap to be honest.  They are mainly the computer of choice now so components are much better than they used to be.  Processor speed is good and they come with a good sized hard drive.  The main downside with a laptop (mac or PC) is that they can't really be upgraded, extra memory, yes and a bigger hard drive yes but nothing else.


A desk mounted PC, you can change the motherboard, graphics card, sound card, add additional ports etc etc BUT the amount of people who really need to do this are very few.


For what you need a windows (or mac) laptop would be spot on.


With regards to syncing your iPhone to the machine, the Mac uses iTunes to do this, the same as a PC, so the phone will sync fine to the PC as well as the Mac.


With regards to getting a second hand I phone, I did this last year, there are some good ones out there, just need to be a little patient :-)


Let me ask around at work (I work for a University, in the IT department) and see what the options are for not too expensive graphics packages for a PC.

[Fazerider]

Feature-wise, laptops are fine... they're just crap from an ergonomics point of view. I don't get on with trackpads and having the (pokey) keyboard right under the screen is a real pain in the neck/back and wrists for me after a very short period. So far as computing power goes, the Mac mini is effectively a laptop, just one without a built in screen or keyboard.

[VNA - BMW Wank]

95 - Not that great
98 - Awesome
ME - Crap
XP - Awesome
Vista - Crap
7 - Awesome
8 - Not that great

Weird.  98 was still a business OS, it was pretty shite for hame use as it just didn't do multi-media stuff.  It wasn't very stable either.  That when the mac really was king.  Windows was a business machine, mac was everything else.

XP was when they levelled the playing field, it was a full multi-media OS, now anything you could do on a mac could be done on a PC.

Vista - crap?  In 2008 I had to upgrade my 2003 XP machine, it just wasn't coping with basic tasks like photo editing any more.  I was feart, everybody said VISTA was a nightmare but at the same time I didn't see any point in buying a new PC with an old OS and not when I could have a 64 bit OS.  I still don't know what all the fuss was about, VISTA is a far better OS than XP, it's smarter and more stable than XP.  But it looks like a lot of software developers no longer think it's worth supporting, so at some point I'll be pushed onto 8 or whatever is on the go at the time.

I would also recommend avoiding the SSD and just getting a good old regular Hard Drive.

A matter of price I guess.  I'm thinking it's the way to go.  Not only is it way faster but it should be far more reliable.  Hard drives are much better than they used to be, but they all go pop eventually which can be a real pain in the butt.

Anyway technology, I kinda felt that up to and around the mid 00's I was keeping up with all this stuff, I could understand things and fix any issues or problems I came across.  Now I just feel old.  I just can't keep up and am totally lost when there's a problem.

[Buzz]

I'd do something like this, the portability of a laptop with the looks of a proper desktop: -

i5 Laptop with no Operating system- £460
Win7 OS - £0 (ahem, ahem)
Photoshop - £0 (cough, cough)
24 inch - Monitor - £120
Wireless keyboard/Mouse - £17

Don't buy a Mac, you're paying treble for the flawless form and an equal function.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Interesting Buzz, can you explain that lot a bit more?

Win7 and Photoshop = £0?
How would you set that system up?

Win7 now outdated with no support? Any problems here?

[Slaninar]

Interesting Buzz, can you explain that lot a bit more?

Win7 and Photoshop = £0?
How would you set that system up?

Win7 now outdated with no support? Any problems here?

In my country no one pays for software at home. Just when you have some business. No one comes to your house to see if you have genuine software.


Win7 still has regular updates. Though some new laptops don't come with Win7 drivers... but on some Win7 works OK with "Win8" drivers..