what pc do you normally use

[Grey_04]

just wondering what people had for computers?
i'm currently using an acer aspire5516, not really that impressed with it but it works. thought i'd post a pic of my cool wallpaper while i was at it.

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Me? Personally I would never buy a big name PC. I much prefer assembling them myself. No preloaded unwanted software, nothing but exactly what you expected. My rig is pretty old now and dated, but she is every bit as fast as the day I assembled her. Running an ASUS M2N68-AM SE2 Motherboard with a 250g HDD running ubuntu linux and a 320g HDD running windows7. I added the windows a lil while ago, hardly ever use it but when I have to for school. All with 2g of ram. I bought a video card but it only lasted a month before bricking. Ugh. I'll never beat SCII.

I will however say 4 years ago I bought a refurbished Gateway laptop loaded with windows media center......it will prob be the best computer I will ever own. It died after my sister dropped it with the power cord in, the extra leverage on the plug cracked the motherboard.

 

[AllanD]

"Big Name" computers are easier to maintain and often get drivers and firmware automatically updated, something that cannot always be said of computers built purely from parts.

"Big name" computers are more often "stable".

My personal Desktop computer is an HP dc7600 Workstation with a dual core processor two 750gb data drives and three 160gb drives for the operating system and "other stuff"

The only parts of my computer that actually are "HP" are the MoBo, the CPU cooler and the front panel USB/audio jacks.
The original HP case was too confining.

Setting up a LOT of computers for others I prefer either HP/Compaq or Dell because they are the easiest to service.

While it is likely possible to get better performance by "rolling your own"
"rolling your own" is only very rarely as stable or predictable to a mass produced BUISNESS computer.

a consumer computer? You get whgat you pay for when you buy shit from WalMart


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[TwoTrackMind]

see mine again @: http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93422

I personally like to work on my PieceaCrap almost as much as my truck (which isn't much some days). And, like my truck, I'd much rather improve it than just fix it. I suppose if you're afraid of them, you're better off letting someone else be in charge of your PC's health. Im sure many computer nerds take their trucks to the dealer to have them fixed.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I had an IBM Thinkpad T-22 since around 2001 sometime. Got it as a deal when I started college. It survived quite a few years of use and abuse and just recently died on me. It's still sitting here but I haven't decided what to do with it. Last time I fired it up, all my programs and files seemed missing and when I tried to open one of the program shortcuts on the desktop I got a blank white screen. Not even the courtesy of the famous Blue Screen Of Death.

That was the first and last big name computer I bought. My next computer was assembled from parts. That ended up being because I couldn't find the computer that fit my needs on a shelf without spending ridiculous amounts of money and getting a bunch of stuff that was useless to me with it.

I've been happy with my home-built comp. It now sports a 2.4 GHZ quad core Intel processor (thanks to Holyford86), 4 gigs of Ram, 250 gig hd, Omega Striker 7.1 sound card, EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ vid card, and a bunch of other goodies. Oh, yea, I built it when you could only find Vista around here so I got an XP Pro disk for it, I had no desire or need for Vista.

Now I have a pile of parts that used to be a gateway. Soon as I get around to getting a case, hd, and monitor, I'll be putting that back together. I got it for parts and can use some of the spare parts I already had with some new parts to get another comp put together.

Someday I'll buy another lappy too. And I want to build another desktop from scratch.

 

[AllanD]

Just remember that like working on your truck, working on it for upgrades is "fun"
but working on it because it stopped running isn't.

The most aggrevation I've ever had are with aftermarket mother boards.

My last computer was an Asus board and while it worked there were fundemental issues with the OS install, and it refused to work right when re-installing the OS on a clean drive...

that board has an impressive array of IDE and SATA jacks but you can't use more than half of them at any given time (By DESIGN)

My mother will like it as it currently is, but I wanted to pound a wooden
stake through it's CPU.

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[ufgators68]

All we use, at the office, are Dell computers. Easy to work on and easy to configure.

Even the laptops are easy to tear apart and fix.

Right now I'm running a Dell Vostro desktop with a 512mb video card, dual monitors, Core i5 processor, 4 gb of memory(only 3gb usable), Dual 320gb HDD.

It's a lot nicer than it's predecessor.

 

[CJREX]

Listed in the order I like and use them. All these are in my home office.

1. Apple Imac
2. Quad-core Phenom self-built running Windows 7 Ultimate
3. Windows 7 Professional on Toshiba Netbook
4. Apple Macbook dual booted between Vista annoyed and 10.6.4
5. HP Core 2 Duo desktop running Ubuntu 10.10
6. Toshiba Tecra notebook Windows XP

I have to answer questions about a lot of different OSes

 

[Jaymz9350]

Core i5 655k running @ 4.5 ghz (also have an i5 750 still debating on which I like better)
4 GB DDR3 1600
Ati 5870
500 GB OS drive and a 320 GB and 1.5 TB storage drive
Vista home premium 64 bit
Slightly modded CM 690 case
22" samsung LCD

I won't ever deal with a pre-built pc again. They use cheap parts and have little warranty. Most of my parts have 5yr-lifetime warranty where a pre-built has 1yr without paying extra.

 

[xnickitynickx]

I adore my MacBook when I'm using a real computer. But for most of my browsing, my iPad is the weapon of choice

 

[cody93]

ive only had one new off the shelf computer, rest were built from parts, i worked for a pc repair shop for years, so ive accumulated plenty of pc's from early 80's 4.77mhz pc's to 3 ghz pentium's for free, i used to do motherboard "salavging" by fixing some that could be fixed, usually replacing the capacitors. my current pc is the first one to be mainly built from new parts, i got the parts 2 years ago as a christmas present, until then i was using a scrap built pentium 4 2.4ghz, with 512 mb rambus ram, wich is danm hard to get, rambus was a big flop in the pc industry, and a 80gb hard drive plus a 5.25 inch and 3.5 inch floppy. the case was duct taped to gether and the power supply was failing so it would lock up on cold starts, so you had to press F8 and let it sit for a few mins before selecting "start normaly" it was a real pile of scrap but i did alot of gaming and 3d modeling with it.

my current rig is a 2.4ghz quadcore with 4 gb ram, 1.5 TB hard drive, ATI 4870, and windows XP, i dont like or need vista or 7, there not worth the upgrade and i dont like the new interface.

my secondary pc is an old 386 that was the first pc i got, back in 2005 :O its pretty fast for a 20 year old pc, i used it more than the HP desktop with a amd athlon 64 my dad went and bought me. i still use it for light stuff, mainly IRC and old skool DOS gaming on the real thing, not some emulator. its a neat experience getting a 20 year old pc on the interwebs.

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

my secondary pc is an old 386 that was the first pc i got, back in 2005 :O its pretty fast for a 20 year old pc, i used it more than the HP desktop with a amd athlon 64 my dad went and bought me. i still use it for light stuff, mainly IRC and old skool DOS gaming on the real thing, not some emulator. its a neat experience getting a 20 year old pc on the interwebs.[/QUOTE]

Dude, thats the coolest thing I have heard in a while. Best thing I have done is use a old computer case from like 1993 and stuff a brand new mobo and all the modern goodies in it....lol

 

[IndianScout]

pre built computers are crap..

mine is custom built

Intel 930 Quad
12G ram
2x GTX 470
XFI Titanium

and lots more,,

but I work in the gaming industry most people don't need this high spec of a box..

 

[cody93]

yea, lots of prebuilts have crap parts in them, such as cheap powersupplies, Bestec brand powersupply usually go out after a year or two and fry the motherboard with it.

 

[AllanD]

pre built computers are crap..

mine is custom built

Intel 930 Quad
12G ram
2x GTX 470
XFI Titanium

and lots more,,

but I work in the gaming industry most people don't need this high spec of a box..

you are right, not everyone needs a lightspeed gaming computer

Frankly most of the people I deal with are awed by a properly functioning
2.8GHz prescott P4 because what the P4 is replacing is truely awful
I retired (by scrapping) two P3-450's this week.
Imagine surfing ebay on a P3-450 running XP with 256k of ram?
With an OS that hadn't been maintained had it's registry cleaned or even defragged since the OS was OEM installed in mid-2004?

can you say "S - L - O - W" ?

Sure you can...


I know I don't need a lightspeed desktop, I DO however need my desktop computer to possess as near the reliability of an Estwing hammer as I can achieve.
and no "handrolled" machine will do that, as well as a purpose built buisness desktop will and you CAN replace the low bidder crap.

yea, lots of prebuilts have crap parts in them, such as cheap powersupplies, Bestec brand powersupply usually go out after a year or two and fry the motherboard with it.

If I had $0.20 for every bestec powersupply I've shitcanned...

as a matter of fact I do... because they weigh around 2# and unsorted scrap metal is running $0.10/lb

And I just gave someone back their Dell 2400 with it's dead Bestec P/S and MoBo... I gave it to them with another perfectly identical Dell 2400
(I have half a dozen) and a clean install of XP-sp3 and they couldn't be happier... "It runs like new, but even faster!"
Well 7200rpm drives and maxing out the RAM tends to do that...