Time for a new computer--need advice
 

I am looking at getting a new computer for the house. My wife is getting a job that needs a setup that contains these specs--

at least 2600 ghg
512 ram with room for more
all the normal goodies ie---cdrw/dvd, video/audio goodies, etc.

I have been looking at Dell, but where else can I get a good deal and a reliable setup??

Personally I'd stick with Dell or you could have someone build one for you. I like Dell b\c of their warranty and their pc's aren't bad at all. How much are you planning to spend? You can get a Dell spec'd out to what you're talking about for around $800 - $1000.

That is what I figured. I also see that Dell has refurbished pc for about 150-200 less.

Speed
 

DELL is my favorite and I'll bought more than my fair share. I've got a Dell Inspiron 8200 right now docked in a port replicator w/ accessories. You want speed, up the RAM to a Gigabyte or more if yours will take it.

RAM is like a truck moving stuff, the bigger your truck, the less trips it has to make to move stuff and so the faster it gets moved. 512 is adequate, but up that to a GIG and you'll be smoking! :smokin:

:guitar:

Dude, get a Dell!

I have a Dell Inspirion laptop that I really like. The great things about a laptop are:

You can take them with you just about anywhere,
You can dock them, using a different screen and other devices,
They have excellent video cards built in (128MB video cards)
Great warranty

There are three different types of Dell Laptops:
Insipirion
Lattitude
Precision M60

If you have the bucks, get the Precision Latpop, they are a much better quality build. I have a Precision M60 at work, docked most of the time, and an inspirion 8600 at home. Love em both.

Apple.

You might still be able to find some MDD G4s at places like MacMall.

Room at least for 2, and maybe 4 gigs of RAM.

1.25ghz processor, which roughly translates to 2.25ghz in the PC world.

2 firewire 400 ports, good for miniDV, etc.



And if you've money to burn, you could always get a Dual Processor G5.

Up to 8 gigs of RAM, Superdrive, firewire 800...

And a capability to RAID drives together under OSX.

Sweetness.

Just an FYI -
Our IT people love Dell but lately Dell laptops and desktops have been crashing all over our campus. UCSD bought tons and tons of crateloads of Dells to upgrade all the systems all over campus and one of the IT girls and I were talking, she doesn't know if we got a bad batch or something but they've been running into A LOT of crashed hard drives lately. Mine is the 3rd or 4th to go in our dept. in the last month.

Like I said though, our IT loves Dell and continues to but they're baffled with all the crashes that seem to happening all across campus.

Thanks for the replies--money IS an object unfortunatly, that is why I am looking at all of my alternatives.

Well, what will the primary usage be?

Anything graphic or DV and I say a Mac will beat any PC's pants off.

But for... whatever it is PCs do, I'm sure a Mac would be overkill.



I like to look at the sustainability and quality of the computer.

Mac=

No viruses and few exploits.

Unix base for near infinite application runtime.

My gf's 2001 Quicksilver G4 (733mhz), which I'm on now, is maxed at 1.5 gigs of RAM and can still run iDVD, Photoshop, Final Cut Express, and most anything else no problem.

Meh, just thinkin'

Unfortunately, this is just a myth perpetuated by Apple/MacIntosh Fanatics. While the much smaller user base of Apple has limited the Apple's exposure to virii, there are over 40 Mac-specific virii (with their countless variations). Additionally, any VB macro virus (the virii that spread mostly in Word and Excel) that can attack a Windows PC can also attack an Apple PC in the same manner. The Mac even has the new "MP3 Concept" virus that hides in an MP3 file.

Don't think that just because you have a Mac, that you can't/won't get a virus.

~Bill

From what I've come to understand, while there are potential for viruses, none have thus far been found "in the wild." What's more, none of these viruses are worms, which propagate by themselves.

That is, they will all require the user, one with administrator access, to install a program.

The mp3 'virus' was more a proof-of-concept trojan designed by a security company to illustrate how OSX icons could be mislabeled and used to run arbitrary code. This also made use of applescript's ability to execute powerful systemwide commands 'under the user's nose.'

Safari (Apple's in house browser app.) had exploits as well, mostly pertaining to the same applescript problems, but I know these have since been fixed by Apple.

From everything I've read most say that all OS's are roughly the same potential for exploitability, but that OSX is still inherently more secure due to it's having been designed with security in mind.

There's also the fact that OSX is built on the open source darwin kernel, which means more than a few people in Redmond have been over the code.

Meh.

If you limit the discussion solely to OS X, you are correct that there have been no worms yet discovered. Previous flavors of the Mac have had fun with the AutoStart 9805 and Mac.Simpson worms, to name two. However, other virii and malware are out there "in the wild." Little known fact - the first computer virus "in the wild" was back in 1981. What machine did it run on? The Apple II. This was, of course, back before IBM compatible PCs were the dominant force in computing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the first account created an admininstrator account? Yes, I'm aware that Apple recommends that you then create a second account without admin access and use that one, but how many users read every bit of the instructions? I'm sure there are many who only have the 1 admin account on their machine.

Actually, Bo Lindbergh wrote the threat demonstration and posted a link on the comp.sys.mac.programmer.misc newsgroup. The security company Intego found it there and began singing about it. And it is actually an MP3 of someone laughing, not merely a mislabeled icon. If launched in ITunes, the sound plays. But if executed in Finder, the sound plays and a warning pops up. You are correct in that it is a proof-of-concept trojan, but the flaw actually goes back to the original operating system. And it wouldn't be difficult to have a more malicious payload.

And it still has exploits that have not yet been fixed (as of last month, anyway).

There are many discussions that "Macs are inherently more secure" or that "Macs get less attacks not because they are more secure, but because there are less of them" out there, and I don't want to get into one of those. There are no hard facts that can conclusively determine either of those statements is true. I merely wished to bring up that just because you own a Mac, it doesn't mean that you don't have to worry about virii, which your original statement (Mac=no viruses) implied.

~Bill

~Bill

Yeah, I said that wrong.

I suppose I should have said, "The level of viruses built for OSX is far less than those based on the Wintel platform."

Even then I suppose it still would have been off.

Yes, the first acct. is an administrator acct. What I meant in this statement was that the user has to actually agree to install the malicious program on the machine; that once downloaded it won't simply run itself. Again though, this is ignoring the Safari URI Applescript exploits recently discovered (several of which have now been fixed by Apple).

And even then, the exploits recently seen are still only limited in their destructive capability to one user's profile (the installer's profile). At least as far as I know.

Alright, my computer knowledge/terminology has reached it's limit.

I've been through many, many computers...
Locally custom built, off the shelf Sam's Club crap, Toshiba Satellite, Apple iBook, Powerbook X2...etc...

Right now, I have:
15" 1.5GHZ Powerbook G4
1gb Ram
64mb Radeon Video (9800?) (option for 128mb)
80gb 5400RPM HD
Combo drive

I love this powerbook. I never have to restart, never crashes, never have any sory of problems. Simply put: perfection. Super portable, great battery life (4+hours realisticly), backlit keyboard, firewire 800, usb 2.0, airport, bluetooth. Oh, did I mention it's freakin sexy??! :readit:
BUT: at $2600 WITH a student discount, a little bit pricey. Worth it? Hell yes.

BTW: My mom has a Dell Inspiron 8200. What a piece of crap. Build quality is terrible..creaks, cracks, case bends..it has windows! Whan can you expect for $1400 though?

You guys lost me back there. For the jub my wife is doing it needs to be a PC. I went shopping on Sunday and was looking at a Compaq, HP, and e-machine. I have been told not to go with e-machine though. I am also staying away from a Celeron processor.

Any non-apple opinions?

stay away from SILLY-ron machines. they are a neutered pentium.

another story: i called dell yesterday cause a machine here had a dead HD. i talked to a dude named terence. i then started with "like the terence trent darby dude who was a singer from 10 years ago?"

he said yes and we started laughing about it. so that call started out great.

in the end, i called before 4pm their time and today, around 1pm, our mail dudes delivered the new HD...