Tom Posted February 23, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 My PC is almost certainly on its way out. It's almost 4 years old with no major upgrades and is on almost non-stop so it's only to be expected. The most recent problem is a total freeze up, where everythign stops in its tracks, and i can't move the mouse or type anything in. I also has a selection of other quirks. Unless anyone has any bright ideas about fixing it I reckon I'll be buying a new PC. Dell are my 1st choice, as they seem to be very good value and I know they are good service as several friends have bought one. So, first question: would any of you wonderfull geeks out there reconmend anything over Dell (me building it myself isn't an option, I just dont want the stress)? Second: Dell all seem to be coming with Vista. Apart from the fact |I like XP, and it's never let me down I am also concerned that the key uses of my PC will no longer work, i.e. downloading films and TV shows and copying DVD's. Am I right in saying Vista wouldn't let me do that, or am I wrong? Finally: I have alot of media on IDE hard drives. Is this a format of drive that is now obselete, or should I not have too much problem getting a PC compatible with IDE? Thanks in advance!
Caris Posted February 23, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ Far far far better than dell, i was going to use them but built my own instead. There systems are AMAZING value for money and there is no catch as all the parts are using are good brands and models.
Bogbas Posted February 23, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 Well intel is trying to kill ide as much as it can. The core 2 duo chipsets (from intel, nvidia chipset(s?) have ide) don't have support for ide so motherboard manufacturers have to add chipsets for those. But it might be that dell doesn't have those (for example I think that new dell's don't have ps/2 ports for mouse/keyboard). And from what I've heard they alter the hardware a bit so the only viable upgrade solution will be dell or a new computer. I'd get a clone computer. That way you'd know exactly what you're getting and it's more flexible. And you wouldn't have to build it yourself. (And then there's that brands=evil in computers so I'm a bit biased...) Jordan can probably answer the vista questions, but I can't see how it would prevent that. But first I would try format and reinstall on the old computer. It might work wonders
Tom Posted February 23, 2007 Author Posted February 23, 2007 Thanks very much for the swift responses. That PC specialist site looks really good, and I have done some research on Vista and I think it's only Blu-ray and HD dvd copying Vista gets uptight about, still not sure though. I really dont want to get a new pc and discover my all my music and video no longer plays. I think i'll hook my IDE drives up via a USB caddy and just spend a couple of days copying data over. Whats a clone PC?
Emasher Posted February 23, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 In before Mac. don't worry i'll stay out of this one
Bogbas Posted February 23, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 Whats a clone PC? I accidentally used a dead term there. It was originally used for IBM- compatible pc's. But I meant like what the pc-specialist are selling. Pc's that haven't got a brand like dell, fujitsu-siemens, hp etc.
Shino Posted February 23, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 That PC specialist site looks really good, and I have done some research on Vista and I think it's only Blu-ray and HD dvd copying Vista gets uptight about, still not sure though. I really dont want to get a new pc and discover my all my music and video no longer plays. I've been using vista for sometime now, and none of my media is locked up. I think that issue will be only on media with DRM, not general media. So lets say you have a copyrighted HD-DVD movie, but you're hardware doesn't support HDCP, so windows will degrade the quality significantly or even prohibit from showing. But if you have the same HD-DVD movie but has already been cracked, you won't have any problems. (I think thats it)
Tom Posted February 23, 2007 Author Posted February 23, 2007 possibly some good news. or at least a temporary repreive from immediate death... turns out the recent freezing is most likely due to major overheating. My CPU fan had cut out for some reason, and it was so hot I burnt myself on the heatsink. Fan has now been checked over and the heatsink put in the freezer for a while. hopefully things'll be ok for at least a few more weeks. EDIT: Thank you nintendo for wii browser! i think it has died now, it is freezing before it's even finished loading up. just wondering if this could be due to a fried cpu due to the fan failing or if it would be something else. any ideas gratefully received, i really don't want to spend £500 on a new pc.
Jasper Posted February 24, 2007 Posted February 24, 2007 Buy a new one. once you've got fried it's best to get something for the future. if you buy a (good) new one, you'll be saved for the coming, say, four years. PC's don't last longer than four years untill they've aged out. Sad, actually, but macs don't seem to last much longer either. I would advise a mac, simply because it's a great system and you can run windows on it too, so you've got everything: a reason to buy a good computer for once and the chance to slowly switch OS. And I know some soddy bastard will come in and insult me for saying this. Go ahead - that's life - that's what all the people say. By the way, in five years from now Intel is planning to get you all shifted from dual-core to eighty-core processors (I'm not doing the search on engadget again, you can do it yourself). So if you wait five years and save heaps of many you might be the firsst one with an eighty-core. You'll have to survive without computer for the time being, though. You can do that, no?
Tom Posted February 24, 2007 Author Posted February 24, 2007 I can't afford a mac, but i just went to see a man about building me a new one. Should come to about £300 which isn't bad and will hopefully last 4 years like this one. i'm using parts from the old one, and he will be restoring some of my lost data from my last reformat, which is great.
Shino Posted February 24, 2007 Posted February 24, 2007 Buy a new one. once you've got fried it's best to get something for the future. if you buy a (good) new one, you'll be saved for the coming, say, four years. PC's don't last longer than four years untill they've aged out. Sad, actually, but macs don't seem to last much longer either. I would advise a mac, simply because it's a great system and you can run windows on it too, so you've got everything: a reason to buy a good computer for once and the chance to slowly switch OS. And I know some soddy bastard will come in and insult me for saying this. Go ahead - that's life - that's what all the people say.?By the way, in five years from now Intel is planning to get you all shifted from dual-core to eighty-core processors (I'm not doing the search on engadget again, you can do it yourself). So if you wait five years and save heaps of many you might be the firsst one with an eighty-core. You'll have to survive without computer for the time being, though. You can do that, no? If you wait ten years maybe you can get quantum computers! Or 20 different kinds of macs!
Jasper Posted February 24, 2007 Posted February 24, 2007 If you wait ten years maybe you can get quantum computers! Or 20 different kinds of macs! If I wait ten years for something, it's to hit your face hard. Ever wondered why you were name-called so much in the WIi forums? Drastic, and sad - that is what it is. If you're an anti-mac, at least respect it that others like them. If you're a catholic you should respect moslims. If I'm a Belgian I will respect the portugese jsut as much - but I doubt you actually deserve too much of my respect when making such calls on my behalf. Respect is such a simple thing, yet Shino doesn't really shine in that department.
Shino Posted February 24, 2007 Posted February 24, 2007 If I wait ten years for something, it's to hit your face hard. Ever wondered why you were name-called so much in the WIi forums? Drastic, and sad - that is what it is. If you're an anti-mac, at least respect it that others like them. If you're a catholic you should respect moslims. If I'm a Belgian I will respect the portugese jsut as much - but I doubt you actually deserve too much of my respect when making such calls on my behalf. Respect is such a simple thing, yet Shino doesn't really shine in that department. What happened in the wii forums as nothing to do with this, in fact there isn't really a reason for you to recall it, much less my nationality, stop associating me with it as much as I don't associate you with Belgians. As for the usual crap, I don't dislike macs, I dislike people who try to bring it to every single discussion, when its obvious not needed. The man has problems with its computer and you advise him a mac. Do you have something to gain from it? You're a god damn drone.
Jasper Posted February 24, 2007 Posted February 24, 2007 What happened in the wii forums as nothing to do with this, in fact there isn't really a reason for you to recall it, much less my nationality, stop associating me with it as much as I don't associate you with Belgians. As for the usual crap, I don't dislike macs, I dislike people who try to bring it to every single discussion, when its obvious not needed. The man has problems with its computer and you advise him a mac. Do you have something to gain from it? You're a god damn drone. Here's the well-known fact: if you want to get something done properly aand professionaly, get a mac.Ii'm sorry but that's a fact. I'm not the de-facto Mac-fan - far from. i've had my share of bad experiences. But today I was playing Spider Solitaire and some music using Windows media Player 11 on my parents computer - a windows XP one - and the computer just stopped twice in a row. Just stopped, no blue screen, just a sticking thing. the first thign i learned with windows is where the reset button is. I'm not dragging it into every discussion, but in a discussion like this one it's always good to leave your options open. Macs are fine computers and I do'nt understand why they should be left out in the first place. There's no need for your stupid Apple-bashing. I'm not putting them on a pedestal, but you're trying to say that if you buy a mac, you're buying crap wich is not true. And I only took that one thing because I remember lively how pretentious you were that one time, just thinking you were right anyway. Now let's keep this on topic, will we? EDIT: What have you got to gain from supporting Windows computers? You're just as much a drone.
Fields Posted February 24, 2007 Posted February 24, 2007 I can guarantee that if you do buy a Mac, it won't be dead on its arse after 4 years like your old PC.
Bogbas Posted February 24, 2007 Posted February 24, 2007 Oh ffs... Only gaming pc's last maximum of 3 years. Browsing the web, email, etc can still be done with a 6-7 years old pc. And I think that's the case with macs also. And as for stability, uptime for this pc (win xp pro): 10days, 1h, 18min, 45 seconds And during that time I have browsed the web, played games, listened music, watched movies etc. And it doesn't feel sluggish. On mac you'll get everything you would basically need from a pc, except games. But you can't upgrade it as freely as you could a pc. And generally the same hardware on mac is more expensive.
Shino Posted February 24, 2007 Posted February 24, 2007 Oh ffs... Only gaming pc's last maximum of 3 years. Browsing the web, email, etc can still be done with a 6-7 years old pc. And I think that's the case with macs also. And as for stability, uptime for this pc (win xp pro): 10days, 1h, 18min, 45 seconds And during that time I have browsed the web, played games, listened music, watched movies etc. And it doesn't feel sluggish. On mac you'll get everything you would basically need from a pc, except games. But you can't upgrade it as freely as you could a pc. And generally the same hardware on mac is more expensive. Thank you! I have a 15 year old pc that still works, it isn't even capable of showing jpegs but it works. And another one that's 9 and also works. None of them ever had hardware problems.
AshMat Posted February 25, 2007 Posted February 25, 2007 Bit of multi-national hatred going on these days eh?
Tom Posted February 26, 2007 Author Posted February 26, 2007 Oh ffs... Only gaming pc's last maximum of 3 years. Browsing the web, email, etc can still be done with a 6-7 years old pc. And I think that's the case with macs also. And as for stability, uptime for this pc (win xp pro): 10days, 1h, 18min, 45 seconds And during that time I have browsed the web, played games, listened music, watched movies etc. And it doesn't feel sluggish. On mac you'll get everything you would basically need from a pc, except games. But you can't upgrade it as freely as you could a pc. And generally the same hardware on mac is more expensive. that basically is a good summary of why i'm sticking with a windows PC. I don't play games on my PC, I mainly use it to download and play music and video, so I need a pc with easily upgreadeable hard drive for a start. I have also had very few stability issues with XP. My PC is frequently on non-stop for over 2 weeks. I think the longest I've left it on is about 2 months and it doesn't crash. I think XP is a user friendly, functional and above all stable OS. One of these days I will get a Mac, but I really can't afford one now, and when I do get one it will be in addition to rather than instead of a windows PC. Picking up the new PC tomorrow!
Jasper Posted February 26, 2007 Posted February 26, 2007 Bit of multi-national hatred going on these days eh? Apparantly not only international, concering the recent threads that have strangely dissappeared. :wink: I'm not hating anyone. Gaming PC's don't last long, but old computers don't last long either. Okay Shino, you computer doesn't even load JPEGs anymore. What's it worth using for, then? Surfing the web is a constant incoming of JPEGs. My dad's foru year old computer can't surf the web, lsiten to music and check the mail at the same time. Now if I'de buy a new computer, it could. I can guarantee that if you do buy a Mac, it won't be dead on its arse after 4 years like your old PC. Don't blame me, Shino, I pledged for a fair discussion for macs, not a blind-eye fanbase.
Fields Posted February 26, 2007 Posted February 26, 2007 Alright Jasper mate, don't have a go. You're the one who brings Macs into every tech thread there is. I was simply stating a (valid, IMO) point. If you can prove it wrong feel free. If not, please refrain from calling me 'blind' when you know very little, if anything about my stance in the Mac vs PC debate.
Jasper Posted February 26, 2007 Posted February 26, 2007 Alright Jasper mate, don't have a go. You're the one who brings Macs into every tech thread there is. I was simply stating a (valid, IMO) point. If you can prove it wrong feel free. If not, please refrain from calling me 'blind' when you know very little, if anything about my stance in the Mac vs PC debate. The word 'arse' reveals a lot. In the same breath with PC. I was just pointing out that I bring mac in only when there's a reason. If he stated windows computer, I wouldn't haave bothered getting mac in the topic. And then comes you who just says that windows is on it's arse after four years. That's not always true. Just aas much as macs are still good investments after five years. Ah well, i'm not here to fight.
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