PC's

[Dr Maturin]

I have owned my Gateway PC since April of 2000 and it's still going strong. I have maxed out the RAM and done other upgrades, but come next Spring, it'll be time to get a new one.

So here are my questions:

1. Should I still go with Gateway? Though I've never had a problem with mine, I have heard stories and they seem to increase over the years.

2. Dell? I get a 10% corporate discount. I have heard good and bad about Dell.

3. Aside from the monthly leaps in processor size, are there any upcoming "breakthroughs" I should wait for? I plan on buying the computer in March.

[Ranger1]

Well it all depends,what are you doing with your computer? surfing and office? games? heavy games? CAD apps?

[Dr Maturin]

Well, just a home computer. Of course, I am going for the fastest processor available, and I am getting the best graphics card, not just for games, but for viewing pleasure. Some guy told me about a recent jump from 32MB to a 64MB something or another?

[Ranger1]

Well if money is not an issue then there are many new things,and of course even newer things will get released in the near (and far) future.
If you decide to go for "the best possible processor" then i would say go with AMD 64-bit.
Since im no AMD fan i can't get into much details.

As far as Pentium goes,there should be a 4Ghz processor in the very near future (maybe 4th quarter of 2005 not sure).

-When it comes to memory,they just released DDR 600Mhz (omg!),there are even DDR-II but looking at their banchmarkings i would go with DDR-I still.

-Graphic card is a blast,the fastest and most packed with features card is the Geforce 6800Ultra (and if i remember correctly cost around $500).

-With monitors im a bit weak,you can choose from CRT to CRT-flat to LCD to plasma..thats your choice really.

-Hard drives: there is the fastest one (by the time ill write this they will probably release something even faster heh),which is the Raptor,i can't get into too much details but a quick google search will give you it specs.

[Dr Maturin]

<<Well if money is not an issue then there are many new things,and of course even newer things will get released in the near (and far) future.
If you decide to go for "the best possible processor" then i would say go with AMD 64-bit.
Since im no AMD fan i can't get into much details.>>

Money is not an object, as it's a five year investment and if I go with Dell, there is the 10% off.

<<As far as Pentium goes,there should be a 4Ghz processor in the very near future (maybe 4th quarter of 2005 not sure).>>

Sounds good.

<<-When it comes to memory,they just released DDR 600Mhz (omg!),there are even DDR-II but looking at their banchmarkings i would go with DDR-I still.>>

Cool.

<<-Graphic card is a blast,the fastest and most packed with features card is the Geforce 6800Ultra (and if i remember correctly cost around $500).>>

Wow. I may go for the one a few levels below this one.

<<-With monitors im a bit weak,you can choose from CRT to CRT-flat to LCD to plasma..thats your choice really.>>

I'm not getting a monitor. I have a big 20".

<<-Hard drives: there is the fastest one (by the time ill write this they will probably release something even faster heh),which is the Raptor,i can't get into too much details but a quick google search will give you it specs.>>

I want at least 120GB.

And I will need a DVD-R.

Hey, which browser does everyone use? I have shunned IE from my compy and I now use Opera. I have been using it for a year and I love it. That built in pop up blocker is great.

[Ranger1]

-If you want 120GB go with WD or Maxtor SATA connections (make sure your new motherboard will have SATA connections).

but i would hold that thought cause there should be SATA-2 connections soon which make the current SATA speed looks like a floppy speed.

-DVDR i just got one and im VERY happy,the NEC-3500A its a 16X -+RW and 4X DL.

-Im using FireFox,the best browser imho.

[Dr Maturin]

I gotta love a browser named after an Eastwood film

What is special about it?

Have you tried Opera and if so, are there any negatives about it that you know of? Such as security?

[Ranger1]

No sorry,never used Opera.

-I love FireFox,i can only compare it with IE since these 2 are the only browsers ive tried (oh sure the old Netscape Navigator,but that was years ago).

Its faster then IE,it has a pop-up blocker built-in (but so does IE now since the SP2 update),you can change Themes and the most craziest thing is the tab browsing,at first you will go "hu-huh what im gonna do with that" but when you get used to it,it rocks,it lets you open unlimited amount of pages in pages...i dont know how to explain you gotta try it.

[Dr Maturin]

Originally posted by Ranger1
No sorry,never used Opera.

-I love FireFox,i can only compare it with IE since these 2 are the only browsers ive tried (oh sure the old Netscape Navigator,but that was years ago).

Its faster then IE,it has a pop-up blocker built-in (but so does IE now since the SP2 update),you can change Themes and the most craziest thing is the tab browsing,at first you will go "hu-huh what im gonna do with that" but when you get used to it,it rocks,it lets you open unlimited amount of pages in pages...i dont know how to explain you gotta try it.

Sounds much like Opera.

[Ranger1]

Well,you can always give it a try,if you dont like it,uninstall it

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

[Atanvarno]

For what it's worth I prefer Opera over Firefox, but download Firefox and give it a go. I use Firefox to access Gmail, because Opera doesn't support ActiveX, or something like that, because of security issues, I think, but other than for that I use Opera. It just feels superior to me.

[Radhil]

Firefox doesn't do ActiveX either, as far as I know. ActiveX is a proprietary M$ tech anyway - I don't think any other browser uses it.

I could be wrong tho'.

As far as computers - I have heard good and bad things about both Gateway and Dell, and they all seem to sort of even out. I might give the edge to Dell, but that's only because I have a few '90s era Gateways that my boss insists we use as spare before he'll drop dollar one on a new tower. Bias is grand. I build mine from parts, so I can't say one or the other for sure.

New graphics tech is kinda ridiculous too - IIRC the newest chipsets from nVidia and ATI are basically just two high-end cards linked in parallel, using special new PCI interfaces. Which is a neat trick to be sure. Just not worth paying triple for.

The 64 bit processors are the newest "trick", kinda like the newest graphics cards. There's precious few programs that can use them to full potential yet, so more than likely you'll be using them as a 32 bit processor anyway. I'd just get a high-end 32 bit chip. Cheaper, for your five years. And it seems like the era of double chip speed every couple months is dying out, so I wouldn't worry too much about settling. (Oh, and I like AMD - but that's also simple bias).

[Dr Maturin]

<<The 64 bit processors are the newest "trick", kinda like the newest graphics cards. There's precious few programs that can use them to full potential yet, so more than likely you'll be using them as a 32 bit processor anyway. I'd just get a high-end 32 bit chip. Cheaper, for your five years. And it seems like the era of double chip speed every couple months is dying out, so I wouldn't worry too much about settling. (Oh, and I like AMD - but that's also simple bias).>>

You don't think five years is a long enough time for software to develop to the point of mass use of the 64?

On a side note, I remember hearing way back in the 90's that when Sega claimed the Genesis was a 16-bit, it was actually two 8's side by side. This doubling up thing seems to be a recurring theme.

[Radhil]

*shrug* Probably only take one. All that's really required is some tweaking to current programs, much like any port between platforms, and this would be even easier. It just takes time to do so.

Regardless of availability of apps that take advantage of 64-bit, I don't think there's a great deal of demand for it. Which in the end would slow the market down.

But then, I buy from a sheer highly limited money perspective, so all this could just be justification to shield me from buying the latest toy. I just think it's right. Your mileage and desires will always vary.

[Capt.Montoya]

Have you considered a Mac?
The ones with G5 processors are 64 bit, and the system is optimized to take advantage of that, even if not all applications are 64-bit optimized (the 64 bit version of Windows is a patched one, not until "Longhorn" will Windows be 64-bit native). Due to differences in computer architecture a "slower" (by MHz count) G5 processor can be more effective than an x86 in processing tasks.

And Mac OS X is quite robust and with less problems...

"A Journal du Net article reports that about 8% of Windows sessions require a machine reboot. The relevant quote (translated from french) is: "The average rate of failures requiring a system reboot has been measured at around 8% per session. This number varies widely depending on the version of Windows. Windows 2000 has a failure rate of 4%, and NT4 is at 3%, whereas Windows XP is close to 12%." The study was originally made by Acadys and Microcost and gathered data from 1.2M machines belonging to about one thousand companies over a period of one month in seven different countries."

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/16/1254230

Opting out: The single most effective way to avoid viruses and spyware is to simply chuck Windows altogether and buy an Apple Macintosh. Apple's operating system, Mac OS X, is harder for the criminals to infect, and the Mac's market share is so small that hackers, virus writers and spies get little thrill, financial gain or publicity from attacking the platform.

There has never been a successful virus written for Mac OS X, and there is almost no spyware that targets the Mac. Plus, the Mac is invulnerable to viruses and spyware written for Windows. Not only is it more secure, but the Mac operating system is more capable, more modern and more attractive than Windows XP, and just as stable.

Macs are as good as, and often better than, Windows PCs at doing the most common computing tasks: Web browsing, e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, photos, music and video. The Mac version of Microsoft Office can handle Windows Office files with ease, and it produces files that Office for Windows handles effortlessly. Apple's computers are also gorgeous.

Walt Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal ( http://ptech.wsj.com/ptech.html )

I like Firefox, but I tend to use Apple's Safari as my default browser, it also has pop-up blocking and tabbed browsing.