Help Me Buy A Computer

**willy4pres** · 08.23.06, 11:05 PM

Hey everyone, I need some help. Me and the wife are thinking about a new computer but im not sure which way to go. Im embarrassed to say that I used to work with this stuff when I was still in the Marine Corps, but I never kept myself up to speed with the civilian stuff. I understand how everything works but I don't know shit about what's the latest and greatest, actually im not really interested in that stuff, I just want it to work. We have an old Dell Dimension 4100 (it's about 4 years old and it's pretty basic), so anything new will seem like alien technology to me.

This is what we use it for:

Basic word processing, downloading pictures, video calls, e-mails, playing music, that's about it. I wouldn't mind being able to buy some recording software but if that requires some crazy CPU option's ill probably decide against it. We don't play games, we don't edit video, none of that stuff.

I guess that's about it. If you have the time, please tell me what YOU would get, were even thinking about a MAC so were pretty open to anything, just as long as it doesn't cost to much (were trying to keep it around $1000.00, plus or minus $300.00). Oh yeah, I will need to at least have Power Point, Excel, Access, Word, and Outlook (or something like them, I have no clue what you MAC people use). I have an old burnt copy of Office, but it's old and everyone seems to be talking about 2003.

Thanks in advance, any help will be greatly appreciated!

**MikeL** · 08.23.06, 11:28 PM

Before you buy anything, go try a Mac. Garage Band would be something you might life, if you want to do some music making. http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

An iMac sounds like an ideal machine for you.

**onefootoutthedoor** · 08.23.06, 11:30 PM

Originally Posted by MikeL

Before you buy anything, go try a Mac. Garage Band would be something you might life, if you want to do some music making. http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

An iMac sounds like an ideal machine for you.

Excellent suggestion!

**seenbad** · 08.24.06, 12:00 AM

I saw a dual processor dell laptop the other day for 750 bucks. I almost bought it just cuz.

**fast98dodge** · 08.24.06, 12:12 AM

Go to www.jncs.com

That's where I got my computer...

Great price and great product...

**willy4pres** · 08.24.06, 01:57 AM

Originally Posted by MikeL

Before you buy anything, go try a Mac. Garage Band would be something you might life, if you want to do some music making. http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

An iMac sounds like an ideal machine for you.

I never thought I'd say this but a MAC seems like the way to go for us, I just don't know anything about software with them. Do they come with some kind of MS Office type of bundle, or do you have to buy it seperate?

To me this seems like a decent setup:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...Duo?sku=242594

Sorry about the MF link, but this seems to be the price everywhere else.

**Double Down** · 08.24.06, 02:43 AM

I'm a DELL guy. I've had tremendous success with them over the years and wouldn't try anything else. The one I'm using now is nearly two years old and I've gotten a ton of mileage out of it doing everything to editing music to editing videos. The thing still runs like a charm....have yet to see the 'blue screen of death' and almost never have any kind of screen freezes. I love it.

**MikeL** · 08.24.06, 02:46 AM

MS Office is something you have to buy separately. If you've got someone in school or working for a school in the house, you can get it for under $80 from Amazon. They've usually got good deals on Macs in general. I definitely make an effort to try one out in person, and get a good demo from someone that knows how to use it.

One thing you'll want to do is upgrade the memory to 1GB.

I set up an iMac for one of my customers last month. Beautiful machine, and an absolute joy to use. They come with an MS Office demo, along with a demo of Apple's word processor called Pages.

**MikeL** · 08.24.06, 02:49 AM

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...704700-1199935

Not exactly on the topic, but pretty amazing!

**jrk5150** · 08.24.06, 07:06 AM

I'll jump on his thread here - I need to buy a cheap laptop - will be used for Internet, Word processing, and maybe downloading from ITunes to an IPOD. That's it. Oh, and it has to be able to go wireless, that's the point.

Any place to look/stay away from? Haven't even looked at computers in 4 years or so, the HP desktop I bought back then is still working great. I just need a wireless option for my house, the desktop is in my 2 year-old's room, limits availability.

**TheresOnlyOneWay** · 08.24.06, 08:48 AM

Originally Posted by willy4pres

I never thought I'd say this but a MAC seems like the way to go for us, I just don't know anything about software with them. Do they come with some kind of MS Office type of bundle, or do you have to buy it seperate?

There was no way I was gonna buy any MS Office software for my Mac but my customers keep sending me stupid, worthless .doc files to deal with for art. You can go get Openoffice.org and download that for free which I did which will open the files and emulate that software. I believe NeoOffice is a newer version which will run more native to Mac. (I don't know much more about it as I try and avoid anything that isn't Mac.)

<Windows

**JCJanko** · 08.24.06, 08:56 AM

If you're not going to need a computer for anything other than basic word processing and such, any computer on the market will suffice. When I look into laptops, I always tell people make sure you get a good warranty since laptops are much tougher to repair. With a desktop, if a part goes bad it's fairly simple to replace (if you can pinpoint the problem, which is also not that tough). IMO, a $600 laptop with a 3-year warranty is better than a $1000 laptop with one year for the purposes mentioned above.

Oh, and I believe every laptop on the market has built in wireless capabilities. Just check the specs and find a router.

**jrk5150** · 08.24.06, 09:03 AM

That's what I figured - guess I'm looking for heads ups on good brands vs. bad brands. I know it's all subjective, but for all I know, there is a consensus to stay away from X brand of laptop. Just checking.

**willy4pres** · 08.24.06, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by MikeL

MS Office is something you have to buy separately. If you've got someone in school or working for a school in the house, you can get it for under $80 from Amazon. They've usually got good deals on Macs in general. I definitely make an effort to try one out in person, and get a good demo from someone that knows how to use it.

One thing you'll want to do is upgrade the memory to 1GB.

I set up an iMac for one of my customers last month. Beautiful machine, and an absolute joy to use. They come with an MS Office demo, along with a demo of Apple's word processor called Pages.

Thanks Mike! My wife teaches at our local community college, I had no idea you could get Office so cheap from Amazon. So MS Office will work on MAC's now as well? If that's the case im getting a freak'n MAC!

Thanks again everyone.