Calling all computer gurus... need advice

[Seabiscuit]

The first time and second time were both out of warranty period so I had to purchase an extended warranty. Now, I would like to know if some last longer then others. I use my computer a lot and would like to get 3-4 years of time out of my next laptop.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

True... the software has to utilize it, but, if you have the extra cash I would go for the dual. More and more software is being built to utilize these multi-core processors. The processor in your post up there is a dual, it looks pretty sweet.

Monitor looks nice to me, Acer makes good stuff. I bought an Asus 20" widescreen last year and love it.

My bulb went out twice in my HP laptop. The cost to replace was very expensive. Do laptop companies disclose laptop bulb life?

Wow... Up until recently the only thing to ever die on my laptop was the mini "deathstar" harddrive... which lasted me 3 years of abuse. The samsung replacement I got has held up to 4 years of abuse. Honestly, it's a wonder my laptop hasn't turned into a molten puddle after years of being on nearly 24/7/365....



What about this for another possible computer... granted it needs a case, PSU and Memory...

 

[DeanMoriarty]

I would say the bulb going out in 3-4 years is uncommon. Twice in this time period and you've got something faulty. I've never actually had to replace an LCD bulb.
The hard drive, deathstar, lol... is normally the first thing to go on those things.

LBR... Abit makes nice motherboards. Looks good to me, except, I would get Sata DVD burner if that motherboard has enough Sata inputs.
And don't count on recieving those mail in rebates anytime before you start collecting social security, lol.

 

[Seabiscuit]

...And don't count on recieving those mail in rebates anytime before you start collecting social security, lol.

True True,,,, I got my computer rebate stuff.... Its Sirius Radio that owes me my rebate check since January 2007.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I would say the bulb going out in 3-4 years is uncommon. Twice in this time period and you've got something faulty. I've never actually had to replace an LCD bulb.
The hard drive, deathstar, lol... is normally the first thing to go on those things.

LBR... Abit makes nice motherboards. Looks good to me, except, I would get Sata DVD burner if that motherboard has enough Sata inputs.
And don't count on recieving those mail in rebates anytime before you start collecting social security, lol.

Yup, the original harddrive was a Travelstar, cousin of the Deskstar... when I was complaining about it dying on me, I had a couple people tell me that I did better than most, the majority of those died within the first year or two, hence Deathstar.

I'm not sure that I'll be buying any CD drives or DVD drives for awhile, that was just a list someone else put together for me.

So far I haven't had a problem collecting rebates on stuff that Newegg sells, but yea, I'm not going to bet the bank on gettin anything other than the instant rebates.

I guess the main thing now is trying to figure out which to go with, Intel or AMD... both of the ones I've posted so far are, near as I can tell, well within my budget.

Also, should I go with the home edition of XP, or the PRO edition of XP? My laptop has the PRO edition of 2000 on it... but I'm not sure what the difference is.

 

[Seabiscuit]

When manufactures refer to core size is their a difference between "duel core" and "2 duo". The more expensive ones tend to be "2 duo"

If you buy a 2 gig of memory is their a big difference between the two?

 

[DeanMoriarty]

Well... Pro has more networking components, administrative tools, etc. It depends on what you're doing with it. Home is sort of stripped down for basic users.
I'm still fond of 2k pro. It may not be as flashy as XP, but as far as stability and security goes, I still used it for a couple years after XP came out. I know several business owners that still use it. XP did catch up eventually though, to be fair.
The processor choice is yours... I think they both make fine processors... I just prefer AMD for getting more performance for my money. If you ever want to toy with overclocking, I would also choose AMD.
Maybe in the next few days I can go through and see about a setup I'd recommend for you, if you're not in a huge hurry to get going on it.

Seabiscuit, check this out.
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=33307
I'm really not sure what you're asking me about memory...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Well... Pro has more networking components, administrative tools, etc. It depends on what you're doing with it. Home is sort of stripped down for basic users.
I'm still fond of 2k pro. It may not be as flashy as XP, but as far as stability and security goes, I still used it for a couple years after XP came out. I know several business owners that still use it. XP did catch up eventually though, to be fair.
The processor choice is yours... I think they both make fine processors... I just prefer AMD for getting more performance for my money. If you ever want to toy with overclocking, I would also choose AMD.
Maybe in the next few days I can go through and see about a setup I'd recommend for you, if you're not in a huge hurry to get going on it.

Seabiscuit, check this out.
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=33307
I'm really not sure what you're asking me about memory...

I like 2k pro on my laptop, but it doesn't like some of the games and programs I have so that's why I figured stepping up to XP would be better. I've heard that stuff ment for 95/98/ME pretty much all load and work fine on XP.

Right now I'm leaning towards AMD, but what I know about processors and motherboards isn't enough to fill a thimble, so I'm hesitant to just go out and order up one or the other.

I'd like to take a good bit of time to learn all I can and to explore possibilities, but the bottom line is, I want to be ordering a computer by the end of this week, preferably sooner. With my laptop in death throes and having to fight to use this computer, plus all the distractions when I'm trying to work on school work and everyone keeps marching past... I'd like to have a comp in my room and if things get noisy, I'll just plug a headset into my stereo and relax.

 

[Seabiscuit]

I have two laptops right now and looking to buy another one.... I'm such a nerd. Since they are both in really good working condition it would be a good decision to hold bad back for now.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Ok...

So on one of the other forums I'm on and posted asking about a computer... a guy on there said that his roommate is always building new computers with the latest parts and getting rid of the old systems....

So I want an opinion on this... pricetag is around $500 with XP-pro (licensed)

MOBO:
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 89W Dual-Core Processor

Heat sink is from a AMD Opteron (copper sink w/pipes and AL fins) 70mm Fan on sink, 120mm on rear case

MEMORY:
2x - CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

OPTICAL DRIVES:
2x - Lite-On 20x LH-20A1P drive

CASE:
COOLER MASTER Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Case

CARD READER:
SABRENT CRW-UINB 52-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader w/ USB 2.0 Port

GRAPHICS CARD:
SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB PCI Express x16 Video Card

HARD DISK:
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA Hard Drive

POWER SUPPLY:
Antec earthwatts EA500 ATX12V v2.0 500W Power Supply

AUDIO:
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

 

[Seabiscuit]

Ok...

So I want an opinion on this... pricetag is around $500 with XP-pro (licensed)

If your good at troubleshooting motherboards then you should be fine. I had a problem and could not figure out the problem with my buddies computer. That can be a major headache, especially after spending five hundred bucks.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

If your good at troubleshooting motherboards then you should be fine. I had a problem and could not figure out the problem with my buddies computer. That can be a major headache, especially after spending five hundred bucks.

Troubleshooting a motherboard could be a problem... I wouldn't have a frickin clue where to start....

 

[Seabiscuit]

If it works out then you'll save a couple bucks. More likely though it will be a pain in the rear.

 

[DeanMoriarty]

Is the Mobo broke? Did I miss something?

I would pass on this.
That's a first gen dual core processor, and 89w is going to produce significant heat (Heat is bad, mmmkay). I can see why they have a massive cooler with pipes on the thing. Socket 939 is outdated, that's the fastest processor they made for it. PC 3200 is slow by todays standards, and you won't be able to put faster RAM in this thing. At least the Mobo, CPU, and RAM are 3-4 year old technology. The GPU might be a bit newer.
It might be worth $500 for everything... Just know you're buying a system with no overhead for upgrades... and one that might have heat issues.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Is the Mobo broke? Did I miss something?

I would pass on this.
That's a first gen dual core processor, and 89w is going to produce significant heat (Heat is bad, mmmkay). I can see why they have a massive cooler with pipes on the thing. Socket 939 is outdated, that's the fastest processor they made for it. PC 3200 is slow by todays standards, and you won't be able to put faster RAM in this thing. At least the Mobo, CPU, and RAM are 3-4 year old technology. The GPU might be a bit newer.
It might be worth $500 for everything... Just know you're buying a system with no overhead for upgrades... and one that might have heat issues.

And that's why I asked... Thanks Dean!