[okiedokie]

and why?

Thanks for your help!
Okie

[Mystry]

whatever model computer you are using...get any but that kind...lol...really though...you should think about what you want to do with your computer...gaming...or just internet and e-mails msn ...or video and audio intensive work...or business...keep these in mind when shopping and you'll be fine...sorry if that's not much help but all I got at the moment...a good rig though should be fast enough to do whatever you need it to...take care my friend

[Raynaadi]

I talked to my engineer friend when I was in the market for a laptop. He recommended HP so thats what I got. He said to stay away from Dell and Gateway. This guy is a technical wiz so I went with what he said. I've been very happy with my laptop. Its just a simple HP Pavillion, one of the lower end models since I just use it for internet and nothing else really.

It all depends on what you want to do with it. For awhile I was really into creating graphics so I was gonna get a Mac. But that passion kinda faded. For basic internet browsing and such, my HP is perfect. I do watch videos online a lot and it handles that great.

What are you looking to do with your new computer?

Yeah. It is kinda like asking 'what kind of car should I buy'.

Need to know what you plan on using it for (four door / two door etc)

[Perna]

HP is good; both my husband's and my desktops are HP as is his newer, high-end laptop as are both our printers. My laptop is an older Dell Latitude D600 and I haven't had any problem with it.

I would try something inexpensive and see how you like it and think about something bigger and better in the future as prices drop and technology changes. I put most of my "files" online, on my Web sites so when one of my computers breaks, I don't lose everything or have as much of a hassle starting up again with a new computer. So, I don't need a whole lot of space, speed, or power; I don't do any online gaming and my graphics are mostly online, etc.

So, a simple computer is what I'll buy next; the HP store has their <a hrerf="http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Usage&v1=Everyday+computing&series_name=C700T_series">Compaq Presario</a> laptop starting at only $500 and it comes with a good warranty, phone and Internet tech support, etc. It's probably the sort of computer I will buy next when I get tired of this laptop. I've used HP's support before for my desktop and it worked well.

Okay. Well... I should probably put in a word for Macs :-)

1) You don't have to worry about viruses. It is a matter of controversy whether macs have *never* gotten viruses, but everyone who I know who has a mac doesn't have virus protection and they have never gotten hit.

2) Good quality components and a solid design. Other computers can have variable quality on the components (cheap stuff made in china or wherever). Macs are fairly solidly American products, and what is delegated out is quality controlled fairly well.

3) Great for music / photo / video kind of stuff if you are into doing (making) that kind of thing.

4) Doesn't get so cluttered with crap. While microsoft will put little backups and splatter temp folders everywhere where you can't possibly find them to delete them macs simply don't seem to do this.

5) Your system will ask you if you really do want to download that thing from the internet or if you really do want to run that program that you have downloaded from the internet. You have to put in an admin password to do that. That is better security, basically. You don't accidentally download stuff and your computer doesn't do that without getting your permission in the form of an admin password.

6) Time machine backups (external harddrive required) are a BRILLIANT and NO FUSS way of saving the total state of your system incase you do get the dreaded crash. You can even search through your desktop (and directories) as they were at past points in time. Easy to find stuff you accidentally deleted! I do a time machine backup every night and it is really very simple to do.

7) While it takes a little bit to get used to Leopard compared with Windows once you get the hang of it it really does seem a whole heap simpler, more intuitive, and cleaner (less junky). But that being said you can run windows on macs these days if you really really really really want to (though I don't know why anyone would).

8) Less updates. I think this is mostly a function of not having to worry about virus protection. With my last system updates would come through every second day or so. Now... I have a lot less updates coming through. That is good, I think, because updating is a pain in the butt.

9) System is more stable (better designed). Less crashing and freezing up.

10) Nice features / design. Magsafe adaptor that is magnetic and will simply disconnect if you trip over it rather than crashing your computer to the floor (with respect to laptops). Nice number of ports all tidily tucked away on one side of the computer rather than distributed all over. Nice feel keyboard (firm touch and not too 'clacky'. Cool features on the touch pad (can set it up to do right click and two finger scrolling through documents).

[DocClyde]

I take it you like Macs?

[pachyderm]

> Other computers can have variable quality on the components (cheap stuff made in china or wherever). Macs are fairly solidly American
> products...

Actually they are made in Asia also, in many cases.

I have, use, and like my Mac.

[AAAAA]

I've had good luck and bad luck with all brands of computers... except macs, I've never been brave enough to dive in to the macs.

I just bought another Dell *ducks*. But it has a 4 year warranty, so I figure it'll be obsolete before the warranty runs out.

My daughter has an IBM, she's pretty happy with that. Boys all have emachines, both laptops and desktops (they're Gateways, but I didn't know that at the time) and we really haven't had a problem with them.

My absolute favorite thing about Dells is that you can wipe them clean to factory settings in minutes. I don't know why I like that but I do. You get all of that crap on your computer over time, and I put all my valuable information on a jump drive and wipe it clean and start all over again. Love it love it love it. But their customer service isn't the greatest.

[DocJohn]

Working with computers for a living, I've had experience with virtually every brand imaginable (including Macs) and I think all the mainstream brands are pretty much the same --

You will always get some that shouldn't have made it past quality control, but get into customers' hands anyway and then they complain about them. We've had good reliability with an older set of portable Compaqs (which I still buy used on ebay because they are cheap and reliable), but when I had to buy a new portable for my wife's work, we went with a brand-new HP and just got a really, really bad product (it's been sent back 4 times in 2 years for various problems).

In desktops, have owned modern Gateway and HPs, no problems with either (very cheap models, too). We also have owned Dells and others, no problems with them either. Macs are good if you like them, just stay away from the models with the known issues (some Macbooks mostly).

I recommend desktops over laptops if you don't have a need for a laptop's portability, only because everything on a laptop is always a lot harder and usually far more expensive to replace if it goes wrong. A laptop is one of the few times I would consider buying an extended warranty coverage.

Good luck!
DocJohn

My daughters Lap top had to have hard drive replaced after 18 months use at college
Sons had to just be cleaned out....Lap top his was a used one....

[okiedokie]

Hi,
Well shoot! I'm more confused now that ever! LOL

I've never owned a Mac, although am impressed with Alex's list. I'm so used to Windows and PC's that I'm afraid I might be too old to start anew.

I have a laptop so am wanting to purchase a desktop. I don't game at all. It has to be a workhorse because I will use it constantly. Photography, publishing, music, writing, money (stocks, bonds and other stuff, internet (for PC and research.) I must be able to run a lot of programs concurrently. I would also like to run all the security cameras and gates around my property on it.

Does that help with providing an opinion?
Thanks a bunch,
Okie

[wanttoheal]

Macs are great for photography and music (and design stuff) especially and from my experiences, they are major workhorses. I'm a complete Mac baby now (it's not hard to adjust to no matter the age), but a lot of programs don't run on Macs so I would check that if you are considering a Mac at all, especially since you already have programs you would want to use.

My daughter got a new Dell and hates it to death. We've had old Dells that were the bomb diggity. Probably any computer would work. Just get the fastest processor with the most RAM and the biggest hard drive you can find.

Good luck with your search.

[DocJohn]

I don't think one platform is better than another for personal use. It completely depends on what your background is and I encourage folks to stick with what they know (e.g., if you are a Windows users, stick with Windows; if you are a Mac user, stick with Mac). It takes a lot of time and effort (that people usually underestimate) to re-learn how to use an entire computer platform, and how the computer works, how to do basic tasks -- basically everything! Unless you have a real need to change platforms, I'd recommend against it.

My experience with Windows is that I regularly run Windows XP on multiple computers with no stability issues, no reboots, no viruses, do some serious graphics and musical work on them, and some computers I will leave on for weeks at a time (going into sleep mode when I'm not using it). I rarely reboot these machines.

No matter what computer platform I chose, I would definitely get virus protection. "Never say never" is an infamous motto in the computer world, and just because they are not as widely disseminated doesn't mean Macs don't have viruses written for them (they do).

If it's a new machine, it's likely going to have Windows Vista on it, which has even more security precautions and such than XP does. If you buy a Windows Vista PC, make sure it has at least 2 GB RAM and a separate graphics card for it to run smoothly and well.

John

[kimmydawn]

I agree with what Doc John has said about having the 2GB if purchasing Windows Vista.

I have two Compaq desktops that I've had for 5 years each...wonderful great machines. They run XP and I've never had a single issue with either of them...even after daughter downloaded some viruses back in the day from getting MP3's.

I purchased a Compaq notebook and LOVE it!!! It runs Vista, but when I bought it I had many questions...having never owned a notebook, but I had questions about Vista too. I really didn't want it but they had none with XP.

He said I would be alright if I didn't do alot of downloading, gaming and the such...if I did alot of pictures to download them to an external hard drive. He explained that Vista requires MEGA space so I couldn't do alot of those things on my laptop because I didn't put out the extra bucks for the larger RAM.

That's all I know.

I wish you luck!

KD

[DocJohn]

Yes.... Windows Vista has been a nightmare in terms of its rollout, so I would either (a) buy a mid-level system (not entry level/cheapest) to ensure it can run Vista well or (b) hold off a few months before making a purchase, as they continue to refine and work out the issues with Vista.

My sister-in-law and family recently purchased a cheap e-Machines desktop that supposedly was certified to run Vista. Compared to their older XP machine, it ran like a dog. I spent a wonderful afternoon over there removing Vista and installing XP on the new machine, because it simply wasn't strong enough hardware to actually run Vista well.

In my opinion, Microsoft completely dropped the ball with Vista's release, and will likely pay for it in years to come as sales reflect that.

The way to overcome this issue is either buy a machine with XP installed on it (still a possibility for some PC makers), buy a copy of XP to install on your new machine instead of Vista, or purchase at least a mid-level machine that adequately supports Vista's requirements (generally about $800 - $1000 for a laptop or $650 - 750 for a desktop, minimum).

John

J

[okiedokie]

Hi,
I was actually one of the beta testers for Vista and I HATED it!! Seems I'm not alone. Most folks do, some for the reasons you've stated. Big companies like Dell and Gateway are now offering the consumer a choice as to whether they would prefer XP or Vista. I'm an XP girl, for sure!

John, thanks for saying what I suspected about learning a new platform. I don't have the time, interest or energy to invest in that!
Take care,
Okie

There haven't been any 'in the wild' viruses discovered on OS X 10.

So... Er... What are the virus protection programs for mac (also unix and linux) scanning for????

Microsoft files can get viruses, yup. If you send on a file that has a virus to a PC user and that PC user doesn't have virus protection then they can get the virus. Poor them. They should have had virus protection.

There was a malware / trojan (that worked via spotlight - which isn't a feature of safari):

> The only way you can get the Leap-A malware on your machine is if you take some action to put it there yourself. You might receive a file from a buddy in iChat, or download something from the Internet, or open an attachment to an e-mail message. The program code is presently hiding in what claims to be pictures of OS X 10.5, Apple’s next major OS X upgrade. To get Leap-A on your machine, you must (a) receive the file, which is compressed; (b) expand the archive; and (c) double-click what appears to be an image file to execute the code. You cannot get the malware by simply browsing the Internet, reading e-mail, or chatting with friends in iChat.

So to catch that the user needs to:
1) Receive a compressed file
2) Decompress
3) Open it

The system asks you 'are you sure you want to download this off the internet?'. The system asks you 'are you sure you want to open this program that you downloaded off the internet?'. There isn't much that you can do to protect the user from themself...

In the words of someone else:

> To date, since the release of the first Mac OS X product by Apple 9 years ago, I (a professional consultant on Mac and Unix systems for more than 10 years now) have yet to see a single virus for this platform.

> In fact, a user of Mac OS X had less of a threat of getting a virus over the last 9 years than they did of getting hit by lightning. And this isn't an idle boast, as a Mac user who was struck by lightning pointed out once.

> So here is a question for you... based on threat of lightning striking you (which currently is greater than the threat of you getting a Mac OS X virus), do you put as much time and effort into protecting yourself from lightning as you do from virus attacks on your Mac? A virus attack on your Mac may cost you your data, but being struck by lightning could cost you your life (a consequence significantly higher than data loss in my book).

> What steps are you actively taking to protect yourself from lightning? And are they more extensive than the steps you are taking to protect yourself from Mac viruses (which are currently a significantly smaller threat)?

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...=430436&page=3

______

It is hard to say how much time it takes to make the move from Windows to Leopard.
How much time does it take to make the move from newer versions of Windows to Vista?

Part of how time consuming it is can have to do with what you want to do with it. The dock functions like the start menu so opening programs (and pinning programs to it for easy reference) is easy enough.

You can save files on your desktop for even easier reference simply enough.

You can buy a two button mouse if you want.

It isn't SO hard to make the switch (I don't think). Might slow you down for a spell, but the gains (may) make it worth it.

But... Depends on what you want to use it for, perhaps.

Have you checked out the i-life software?

[Perna]

I bought an eMachine 8-10 years ago and it was the worst computer I've had; that was back when computers came with Windows ME. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,125772-page,2/article.html

The eMachines is the only computer I've had anywhere that has out-and-out failed me. Normally I get a new computer if my husband gets one; I get one a year later or something since it's not "fair" that he have a new one and I don't, LOL.

[DocJohn]

The one brand I would entirely stay away from is eMachines. They make nothing good and if you've had a good one, it's by luck....!

[katheryn]

omg you tell us now, we have had a emachine for a few years
no its not been good first the dvd rom went, lucky it was under warntee , but since waranty has gone we have replaced all bits possible the sound card and its gone again
so i wouldnt go for a emachine again

our new one is a hp with vista hopefully we dont have so many problems