I am looking into purchasing a new computer but not sure what I need in the way of memory and processing. I would like to do photo imaging and videos, spreadsheets for bills and write, go online that sort of thing. What do I look for and anybody know how much memory or RAM or whatever it is called that IW ill need for this?
Dell is always advertising, wondering if that si the way I should go....
jode
Oh thanks! I was going to go into BEst Buy sometime this week and see what theyahd but do not want to be "taken" down the river on a price.
I will compile a list for you and let you know..thanks! Mostly I just want what I had on my opther computer and was actually thinking about having it worked on. It was one of my mom's, mine fried. IT was old so I didn't mind, I do not live to be on the computer but do miss doing research on it and working with the photos I take. LAter after my daughtergraduates I was going to switch to cable rather than dial up...still nto sure on that though.
Thanks!
jode
Okay well, just let me know! And I really do recommend the Geek Squad, they don't get paid for sales, so they're laid back.
Get a couple of different opinions. Our "geek squad" has been wrong many times. I wouldn't trust them to give me advice on how to plug a computer in.
Make a list of what you want to do and post it, get advice here. Take that advice, check out a couple of different local stores and go online to see what you can get for prices, etc.
My two boys are very good with computers. I'd be happy to have them look at what you're looking for and give you their suggestion.
make a list.
memory will depend on what your doing with video and which o.s. you'll be using.
which o.s.? (operating system?)
xp?
vista?
linux?
Ok, I am not that good with the mechanics of this all but I know I would like to do the following:
Use photo shop, change video tape to cd, burn cd's ( although I do have an external one of these that is USB) several USB ports, memory enough for many pics and some video, scan things with my scanner, I would like the processing to be fast, a flat screen is not necessary I have a monitor that works just fine, I would like to upgrade on it when I want new software, run quicken, run Microsoft word, Windows 2000 is fine unless there is another one any of you would suggest, I would liek to play a few computer games so I want quite a bit of memory, want either Norton or MCaffee anti-virus, ( my sis has CD's for these but they are quite old), my keyboard and mouse are relatively new so if I could use those that would be nice.
I have never bought a computer, my son was a computer guru and my fiance' was a wiz at them so all my computers have been built and upgraded by them. I know very little about them except how to use the software and load items.....I really appreciate all this help!
jode
You know......I don't usually go for Wal-Mart's stuff...BUT
For picture processing get as much memory as you can afford. 1 Gigabyte should be the minimum you get now (Windows will run better anyway). The processor speed should be 2.1 GHz or better. If you stick with a name brand (HP/Compaq, Dell, etc...) they will normally come with Microsoft Works which gives you a word processor, spreadsheet, database that is really an older version of Microsoft Office and does everything that a casual user needs. A new computer should come with Windows XP and should have a free upgrade to Microsoft Vista. Quicken is normally an extra expense item, although many come with Microsoft Money. Any new computer will come with several USB ports and a firewire port (for digital video cameras, etc...)
If you are going to do Video you probably want a DVD burner, make sure that it is DVD +/- R (plus and minus) so you can burn either one. Good video editing programs are pretty much a religion. Microsoft Movie Maker does a decent job for free but doesn't have any bells and whistles. I use Movie Edit Pro which is more complicated. The main thing you need here is disk disk disk. Video takes a huge amount of disk storage. Don't settle for anything less than 80Gb and if you can you should probably go to between 100 and 300. The DVD burner will burn CD's also so that is not a problem.
If you want to do conversions from Video tape you will need a video card which is normally not standard. Be careful because the cheaper ones are analog only and won't handle digital inputs or the new HD format that will be the only thing being broadcast in a few years (2009 I believe). You might want to consider one of the units that automatically records from tape to dvd (I saw one for around 0 at Walmart) and then edit and remaster from the dvd instead of the tape.
Most systems come with 3 months free of Anti Virus which you can make use of. I would suggest looking at AVG which has a free anti-virus scanner with automatic updates that is really pretty good (recommended by AARP also...woops, my age is showing).
I got my computer from Dell a couple of years ago. I had a friend spec everything out. I've been very happy with it and have had very little trouble except the motherboard went bad in the first year. They hopped right over and installed a new one in my house.
Dell has an excellent reputation in the business world. I agree about getting as much RAM and disk space as you can afford. I used to do a lot of graphics and I have always maxed out all my computers. When I get income again, I think I want to upgrade to a different computer. But as I said, it's been over 2 years.
And cable is definitely worth the difference if you love video, pictures and researching. Your pages download so much faster. It's the difference between walking on the side of the freeway and driving your car.
My high speed connection helps me save money because I can look for the best deals, find information I need, compare services like plumbers, car repair, etc., look up recipes...
I bought our laptop from Bestbuy for my daughter's high school graduation. I really liked the kid that helped us out. He was very nice and knew what he was selling. We told him what we wanted it for and he set us up. The best part was : I got a bestbuy card and have one year to pay it off without interest.
Gotta love that Geek squad vw bug!!
You get extra points for it when you play slug bug!! LOL
Jode,
I would recommend you get Windows XP on it. We have ME on one of ours and have run into several programs that will only work on xp these days so we have to put them on our laptops that have xp.
Good luck! Laura
Oh god, you have ME?!? I'm soooooooooo sorry :(
I agree. My hubby was just talking about switching it to xp. That is the only worthwhile windows program now that will cooperate with all the new software!
I have xp on my laptop. I don't touch the desktop anymore. I hate it. Plus, it nevers runs right cause the kids and hubby are always downloading crap and bringing in other crap with it! NOBODY is allowed to touch mine and amazingly I never have one problem
I am 36, we didn't have computers in school or anything when I went!!!
I have a homegrown pc company called microworx and there are probably some in your town city as well.
MY pc is gosh 4- 5 years old but was advanced and is still great now. course I want all the bells and whistles some day
but what I really want is like 3 hard drives of 2 TB each lol.
just think we are into tera bite hard drives?
gosh who remebers dos? lmao
or even worse apple 2?
atari 800?
hewet packards? uggg
how about these? radio shack computers?
yup pcs have come a long way since those dark days.
but what I really want to see is the internet 10 times faster than it is now and graphic cards that are about 30 times better than the best right now.
Mark, I remember all those things. When the IBM PC came out at work, all the engineers were so excited. My boss pushed me into using them for graphics and writing. I blew 3 hard drives trying to get those early machines to do graphics. I talked them into MACs instead. It took years for PCs to catch up on those things.
But like you, I want more power, speed and memory.
tank you all so much, you have been a big help! Now I can start looking around. Wow tera bite> that is news to me, I just do not know much about computers that is for sure, probably something I NEED to know!
jode
well they are still new and pricy but as in all things pc related in 6 months they will be like 200 bucks.
I am really excited because you have all heard of the PS3? yes I know its a game well no, its that cell processor in those things that will come to pcs soon. this is a major step above what we have now and I also hear some new stuff is on the way.
The cell processor is so above what is currently in our pcs that I have heard of some cancer docs getting very excited about the research applications.
I can only hope that the same is true for arthritis research these newer and more powerful computer chips that will soon be replacing our old pcs have to help at least we can hope right?
well I have a rd appt tomorrow and I am nervous first because I already don't kike this guy for giving me appt runaround.
I may just be a nursing student but ill let him know i wont let some office railroad me either because i'm just the helpless pt.