computers

[Sean Hughes]

I may need a new computer very soon for the home. I've always had PCs and will continue. I currently have an AMD processor and was probably leaning towards and intel processor this time. Can any of you offer any insight on which way to go, AMD vs. Intel, and why?

Thanks

[Dennis Peacock]

I have used machines with AMD processor's and machines with Intel. My longest lasting machines have been the one's with Intel chips in them, but, I also had very good luck with the AMD chipsets. Why? I have no clue. That's just the way it has worked out for me. My dad swears by AMD. Best of luck to ya.

[RickT Harding]

Go with the Intels. The latest intels are more powerful and power effecient than the AMD chips. AMD is supposed to have an answer coming soon, but it's not out there yet.

Don't forget to load up the ram on the new machine if you plan on running vista. When I ran it for a few days it sat at 1gb+ in use so I'm suggesting 2gb on these things. (Or go load up a decent linux distro :) )

[Joe Pelonio]

I haven't noticed any difference in the processor. What I have noticed is that Dell has been pretty reliable except for a power supply that went out days after the warranty expired. We've also had terrible experience with overheating on an HP laptop.

[Chuck Wintle]

Sean,
I would lean towards Intel because, as others have said, they seem to have an edge over AMD in terms of reliability and performance. Since most processors are so powerful that the difference is really only noticeable with benchmarking programs. Are you planning on building your own or will you be buying an HP or Dell?

[Sean Hughes]

right now, i'm leaning towards a dell. any others someone would recommend?

[Dennis Peacock]

right now, i'm leaning towards a dell. any others someone would recommend?

Sean,

my last 2 computers are Dell computers. One lasted 6 years of heavy/hard use and the other one is one that I have now that replaced the older one I had. For some strange reason....Dell has got it right for a nice/stable PC environment.

I sure hope my Vista comes in soon. I got 4GB of memory in this box and Vista orta be happy about that. :D

[RickT Harding]

right now, i'm leaning towards a dell. any others someone would recommend?

I would stay away from the dells unless you're getting into the business line of their machines. I work for a medical school and if I had a dime for every messed up dell cheapo machine they've brought me...

I've been buying Lenovo desktops at work and I've had some good luck with them so far. If you're going laptop, nothing is nicer than a thinkpad and they're built so much nicer than other consumer laptops. (I also have an HP dv5000t, Toshiba, and Apple 17")

Just my experiences from home/work.

[Mike Cutler]

Sean.
I'm with Dennis on the Dell's, and I'm a Mac guy. I have a 1.6gHZ Dell 8100. most of it's problems have been self inflicted.
Choose your video card wisely. Processor speed and technology are a little stagnant right now, so video cards are getting a lot of focus.
DVI, Dual link DVI, SLI ,extended busses, and PCI slots. It's harder to choose a video card than the actual processor.
ATI is having problems with their latest generation of Radeon's. The fans are very noisy and the chipsets are overheating due to fan failures. A lot of folks are replacing the OEM Radeon fan with and Arctic unit. make sure that the computer power supply can handle the upgrade to the current generation of video cards.
Nvidia seems to be more stable right now.
As far as AMD versus Intel; AMD and ATI are the same company now. I would go with an Intel processor chipset personally.
Are you planning to upgrade to a larger monitor? This can add a little fun to the decision.:confused:

[Al Wasser]

For whatever it is worth, Dell appears to be loosing market share to Hewlett Packard. I would sure look at the HP's. You might also visit the library and look at Consumers reports for their thoughts

[Jack Hogoboom]

I just went through this process myself. I am a die-hard Dell guy, having bought my first one back in 1987 (sure wish I'd bought the stock then, I'd be living out in Laguna with Mark Singer:rolleyes: ). I love Dells, but have also noticed that HP is making a lot of inroads. Their products seem a little more intuitive and a little better designed than Dell's current offerings. They also offer a better price/performance matrix than Dell.

After a lot of soul searching I ordered a top of the line HP about three weeks ago. I got it last week. It was a beautiful piece of machinery and very easy to set up. The problem was that every single time I accessed the Internet, the system would crash and give me the dreaded blue screen of death (yes, Mircosoft apparently kept it for Vista). After six hours of excruciating attempts at tech support, HP declared it defective and told me to send it back for a new one. My fear, though, is that it is a software problem because all the hardware diagnostic tests came back clean. If so, I'm concerned the new box will have the same problem. HP didn't have a clue why it was happening and they tried really hard to fix it. Yet, I'm left a little uneasy about the chance of this repeating itself. It just may be too early to be migrating to Vista.

If I had my druthers, I'd go Apple all the way. Their products blow everyone else's away. My son has a MacBook Pro that is a thing of beauty. My problem, though, is I can't use Apple products with my work VPN so I'm stuck with a PC.

Hope this helps and that you have better luck with your purchase than I did.

Best,

Jack

[Ryan Myers]

I have a Dell desktop and a Dell Inspiron Notebook and a Gateway Solo Notebook. I also have a large Dell color laser printer and a Dell laser MFP machine too. I have had nothing but great experiences with Dell.

Previously had a Compaq Presario notebook. At one year old it started overheating, then the power jack connected to the motherboard eventually broke loose at 1-1/2 years old (out of warranty of course) and fried the motherboard. 900 bucks down the drain:mad:. It had an AMD processor which worked just as good as anything. I still think Intel has the upper hand.

I've had my Dell desktop for 7 years with no brakedowns what so ever, once I got past the Windows ME that was loaded on there. Dell notebook is going strong at 1-1/2 years old. The Gateway I bought used, so I can't comment to much on the longevity of it.

My wife has HP tablet/notebook PC from work at it seems like a very well built unit. I would stay away from Compaq products, maybe I am little biased but they seem poorly designed. HP now owns Compaq, but I think they engineer their products a lot better.

Note for Dell. If you decide to go this route, it is better to purchase through their small business division, then you get US based tech support. All home products go to India for tech support. This is what I was told by one of their reps on the last purchase I made.

[Larry Browning]

I sure hope my Vista comes in soon. I got 4GB of memory in this box and Vista orta be happy about that. :D

Dennis,
Get ready for lot's of surprises with Vista. I ordered a new Dell with Vista Home Premium installed. Off the top of my head the list of stuff that doesn't work is:
Most 3rd party anti-virus and firewall (Except the Big names Norton, PC-Cillion etc..)
Some of the CD/DVD burner software features don't work.
VNC software (like UltraVNC).
You will need to upgrade your printer driver, and other drivers.
I purchased an HP NAS and it could not be accessed until I disabled the PC-Cillion firewall. (It seems to work with the windows firewall for now, HP says they will have a fix for it soon)
More stuff that I can't think of now.

It seems that most software venders have PLANS for make their products Vista compatible, but not too many actually have them available.

Anyway, most of the incompatibility issues will be fixed eventually, but if I had to do it over, I would wait until SP1 to install Vista.

As it stands right now, every time something doesn't work like I think it should, I imediately think it is a Vista thing. With XP, the operating system was way down on the list as to possible causes, now it's at the top.

Bottom line is be careful what you wish for.. you might just get it!!!

[Dennis Peacock]

Thanks Larry.!!! I won't actually have Vista until later in April from Dell. I do have a lot of apps that I use and to loose that functionality would basically cripple me for work and pleasure. Maybe I won't install it until I see SP1 out. ;)


Dennis,
Get ready for lot's of surprises with Vista. I ordered a new Dell with Vista Home Premium installed. Off the top of my head the list of stuff that doesn't work is:
Most 3rd party anti-virus and firewall (Except the Big names Norton, PC-Cillion etc..)
Some of the CD/DVD burner software features don't work.
VNC software (like UltraVNC).
You will need to upgrade your printer driver, and other drivers.
I purchased an HP NAS and it could not be accessed until I disabled the PC-Cillion firewall. (It seems to work with the windows firewall for now, HP says they will have a fix for it soon)
More stuff that I can't think of now.

It seems that most software venders have PLANS for make their products Vista compatible, but not too many actually have them available.

Anyway, most of the incompatibility issues will be fixed eventually, but if I had to do it over, I would wait until SP1 to install Vista.

As it stands right now, every time something doesn't work like I think it should, I imediately think it is a Vista thing. With XP, the operating system was way down on the list as to possible causes, now it's at the top.

Bottom line is be careful what you wish for.. you might just get it!!!

[Al Wasser]

I have been kinda lucky I guess. I found a local guy who builds computers and when they go bad he fixes them. When it is time for a new one, I set down with him and dicuss needs, he figures a price, builds it and transfers all the old data to the new one and gets it up and running. He give me a one yr warranty. I love this arrangement. Probably not the cheapest route but I don't have to send thengs in or wait on the phone for customer service and get someone I can't understand. I suppose almost every town has one if you can find them

[Larry Browning]

Thanks Larry.!!! I won't actually have Vista until later in April from Dell. I do have a lot of apps that I use and to loose that functionality would basically cripple me for work and pleasure. Maybe I won't install it until I see SP1 out. ;)
Dennis,
There are really problems with some of the software we use at work for remote connections. We use the Cisco VPN connector and it really takes some babying to get it installed properly. We also use the Avaya softphone for voip to takeover my office phone when I am away. I was told that there would not be a vista compatible version of the softphone software until September.(maybe Jim Becker can shed some light on this one) The Trend Micro corporate anti-virus we use doesn't seem to work with Vista right now either. So you should check with your network guys to make sure you can setup to tele-commute before you make the Vista plunge.