Users try to save Windows XP

[Caveat Emperor]

Thanks for the information. I am not surprised though.

Hey, if that's your thing, more power to you. I don't enjoy anything with the words "some assembly required."

Plus, in this era of wireless-everything, I don't see the point to owning a desktop system unless you have a serious need for computational power. For most casual and business use, the ability to move beyond the confines of your desk/office outweighs any other considerations IMO.

[AtomicDumpling]

Hey, if that's your thing, more power to you. I don't enjoy anything with the words "some assembly required."

Plus, in this era of wireless-everything, I don't see the point to owning a desktop system unless you have a serious need for computational power. For most casual and business use, the ability to move beyond the confines of your desk/office outweighs any other considerations IMO.

Yeah, it would be hard to live without a laptop. I use mine all the time to run my websites and check the Internet a hundred times a day.

But I love my desktop too. When I am doing some serious database work I need my giant monitor and some desk space to spread out my papers while I work. I don't play games that much lately, but a desktop kicks the crap out of a laptop for gaming.

I guess laptops are great for casual computing, but you need a powerful desktop for the serious stuff. It all depends on what you use the computer for.

[KronoRed]

Any laptop that can do decent gaming is going to be power hungry and hence you will not be so mobile.

[Reds4Life]

My current laptop has Vista, and I haven't had any issues. I do have 2GB of ram in it though. I looked at Mac's before I purchased my current laptop, after I looked at the prices they wanted I laughed and walked away.

[redsrule2500]

If you have a machine that can run it, Vista is fine.

Macs never have these kind of problems because they specifically build their machines for their operating systems. Microsoft doesn't. They build their OS for any computer in the world.

[TeamBoone]

The 64-bit versions have no cap, for instance, I'm using 8Gig of RAM. While yes, it's overkill for the average user, RAM is dirt cheap right now and why now?

If you were buying a new laptop, how much memory would you want (minimum)?

Thx.

[pahster]

If you were buying a new laptop, how much memory would you want (minimum)?

Thx.

4.

One thing to consider is that, so long as the laptop's motherboard is capable of taking more, you might buy the minimum that you can and then buy more separately. This would most likely save you an awful lot of money. You'd have to either pop open your lappy yourself or have the new RAM installed by someone else, though. It'd likely be worth it.

[*BaseClogger*]

while we are asking for suggestions about laptops, what do the people think of the HP Compaq 8510p? It's got a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB of memory, a 160 GB hard drive, and Windows Vista Ultimate. Thanks.

[Reds4Life]

while we are asking for suggestions about laptops, what do the people think of the HP Compaq 8510p? It's got a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB of memory, a 160 GB hard drive, and Windows Vista Ultimate. Thanks.

The last HP I owned got so hot you could cook a steak on it.

[KronoRed]

I have an HP and it does get pretty hot, works fine otherwise, and I've dropped it a few times

[*BaseClogger*]

Thanks guys. Is the temperature gonna matter besides making my hands even sweatier?

[KronoRed]

It'll get loud as the fan kicks on

[TeamBoone]

Thanks for the answer to my question.

Re Compaq: My first computer was a Gateway which after about 5 years was killed by a virus. Very good computer and I'm still using the monitor. My second and current computer is a Compaq. I've had it for about 5 yrs as well and it's been great so far.

I have never had the problem of it getting hot. The only time the fan got loud is because I hadn't opened up and cleaned out all the gunk/dirty dust that accumulates over time. Since doing that, I don't even hear the fan.

Clean your internal CPU's regularly (at least every 6 months) folks. It makes a world of difference.

As for a Compaq laptop, I have no idea. But I really want a laptop (I wouldn't give up my desktop though). I'm greedy; I want both.

[GIK]

I have a Compaq (designed by HP) and it's been rock-solid reliable. But the fan is loud and it gets pretty darn hot.

It's getting close to upgrade time and I've heard a lot of negativity around Vista, so I'm not sure. I haven't really used it (my home and work PC's run XP). Less is more, IMO, re: an operating system. We'll see...maybe I'll try a Mac this time.

[AtomicDumpling]

Generally speaking, more powerful computers are going to run hotter than less powerful computers. The three components that generate the most heat are the CPU, the video card and the power supply. If your computer does not have a stand-alone video card it will run cooler. Of course computers without stand-alone video cards won't perform very well either.

When buying a computer the brand name is not very important. None of the top brand-name computer "manufacturers" actually manufacture anything. They just buy components from the actual manufacturers (like Western Digital, Intel, Gigabyte, Kingston, AMD etc) and plug them together in a case. Then they stick their own logo on the case. If you were to open up a Dell, Gateway, HP, Acer, Apple, Compaq or whatever brand of computer you would see they are all the same inside. If you compare computers of different brands that have the same specifications for CPU speed, hard drive size, amount of memory etc. you will find the included components are identical in most cases.

The rest is just marketing. Some people are willing to pay extra for certain brands, but they aren't really getting anything better for their money.

If you have the time and desire you can buy those exact same parts and plug them together yourself -- and save several hundred dollars for your trouble. You would end up with the same computer as you would by buying a Dell, HP, Apple etc. In fact you can easily make a better computer and still save lots of money.

Go down to Best Buy and open the side panel of one of the computers. Write down all the parts inside. Then go to the parts section of the store and add up the prices of all the components. You will be amazed at how low the cost of the components will be. If you look up those prices on the Internet you can save even more money.

The only downside is you don't get any tech support should something malfunction down the road. But you shouldn't need any tech support because building your own computer will teach you all you need to know to fix it yourself.

You can't really build your own laptop/notebook computer however. Building a desktop is easy. Building a laptop is possible, but it is much harder to find the components and you won't really save any money.

Computer companies make more profit from the optional extended warranty and all the advertisements, trial software and other crap they install on your computer than they do from selling you the actual computer itself.

As far as XP versus Vista, my opinion is that most of the time it doesn't matter. XP is perfectly adequate 95% of the time. If you have a cutting edge computer with 64 bit quad-core processor and are running two SLI-based video cards you would have to use Vista. Vista is more secure and has more gadgets and bells & whistles, but you can download most of them as add-ons to XP if you want them.

I can't think of a single good reason to buy a Mac. They cost more money and are inferior computers compared to PCs with the same specs. They aren't upgradeable and they won't run 85% of the software on the market unless you pay $100+ extra for a copy of Windows. Apple products always cost more and underperform their leading competitors. Ipods aren't as good as MP3 players from Creative Labs and others. Iphones aren't as good as the latest Blackberries. Try them out head to head and I am sure you will agree. Apple is all about trendy marketing, sleek design and peer pressure.