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New Computer Purchase Advice
Topic Started: Sep 15 2013, 11:39 AM (793 Views)
dogleg
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My 2004 Compaq Presario I'm afraid has seen better days.( 120GB Hard Drive) I want a computer with similar 'power' so I guess I need to look for a laptop. Any suggestions? Thanks.
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Dialtone
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The computers being offered today probably have 10X the processor and storage capacity of your old, I'm guessing, single core Compaq. My favourite place to comparison shop is the Future Shop, have a look at this one http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/hewlett-packard-hp-pavilion-500-desktop-computer-intel-core-i5-3330-1tb-hdd-8gb-ram-windows-8-500-098/10258649.aspx?path=8a9759fdbf3474b59bde3896cbb56e65en02

Lots of deals on right now, so if you've got a few bucks to spend, you can really get a good PC at a decent price.
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wildie
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I assisted my cousin in searching for a new computer and we found an excellent HP laptop at the Future Shop. It cost about $350 and came with 6 gig of memory, a 750 gig hard drive. ( a AMD cpu ) and Windows 8.
The big box stores will offer to set it up for you, for a hundred bucks. Don`t do this! New computers come with step by step directions to get it working. Follow this and save yourself a C note.
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dogleg
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I looked at a Toshiba laptop Satellite P50T for $900. ( Future Shop) It has a disc port on it which are becoming scarce on the laptops it seems. Kind of pricey though it seems to me but if you want the 'horsepower' I guess you need to pay for it. Any other ideas? Thanks.
Edited by dogleg, Sep 16 2013, 09:15 AM.
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Dialtone
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Hi DL, you could do a lot better than the P50T. The reason it is pricey is that it is a touch screen and a Toshiba, but when you check the specs, there isn't anything special about it, only a dual core processor running at 1.8.. slow by today's standards. Check out the others on the Future Shop site, here is an HP 17" screen, less money than the Toshiba, with a lot more processing power, more ram, and 4 usb 3 ports. Also read the online reviews on the site, usually a good indication.

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/hewlett-packard-hp-envy-17-3-laptop-silver-intel-core-i5-3230m-1tb-hdd-12gb-ram-windows-8-17-j034ca/10255825.aspx?path=5374f9201ee3f00246d7fefab9c43a69en02&SearchPageIndex=1
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wildie
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Dialtone
Sep 16 2013, 09:45 AM
Hi DL, you could do a lot better than the P50T. The reason it is pricey is that it is a touch screen and a Toshiba, but when you check the specs, there isn't anything special about it, only a dual core processor running at 1.8.. slow by today's standards. Check out the others on the Future Shop site, here is an HP 17" screen, less money than the Toshiba, with a lot more processing power, more ram, and 4 usb 3 ports. Also read the online reviews on the site, usually a good indication.

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/hewlett-packard-hp-envy-17-3-laptop-silver-intel-core-i5-3230m-1tb-hdd-12gb-ram-windows-8-17-j034ca/10255825.aspx?path=5374f9201ee3f00246d7fefab9c43a69en02&SearchPageIndex=1
That is a sweet deal. Fred! Makes me think that it could almost lay rubber on the road. LOL!

Physically, its not unlike my Pavilion laptop that I'm fond of!

However, most people who like to email, maybe play around with some photos and perhaps use Skype to keep in touch with friends can do so with a machine that costs in the $400 range.
USB3 maybe the latest offering, but most people really don't have a requirement for it. I suppose, down the road, external solid state hard drives will become common place, then perhaps USB3 would be useful.
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Dialtone
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Agreed Bill, dogleg had mentioned the 900 range, so figured I'd help him unleash a few moths from his wallet. I like spending other peoples money. Some could get by with a 7 inch tablet like I'm typing on now. biggrin 04
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wildie
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Dialtone
Sep 16 2013, 03:57 PM
Agreed Bill, dogleg had mentioned the 900 range, so figured I'd help him unleash a few moths from his wallet. I like spending other peoples money. Some could get by with a 7 inch tablet like I'm typing on now. biggrin 04
My fat fingers won't fit on a 7". I had to spring for a 10".

i find that I use my tablet, more and more! Great for checking emails!
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Trotsky
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dogleg,

Why are you wedded to a laptop? We have both, and we BOTH feel that the desktop with it's 23.5 monitor (wish we had bought a 25 inch) runs rings around the laptop with it's 16.5 inch screen and tiny EVERYTHING...and remember, aging eyes like BIG.
And typing on a REAL keyboard blows away the inconvenience of a laptop keyboard.

And one can write volumes on how hateful those touchpads are.

Here's a great source for good prices on whatever you choose...
http://www.TigerDirect.com

(Moderator, why is linking not working for this site?)
Edited by Delphi51, Sep 20 2013, 11:44 AM.
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FuzzyO
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Dunno, tried to fix it without success.

ETA: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/
Edited by FuzzyO, Sep 17 2013, 02:45 AM.
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Dialtone
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wildie
Sep 16 2013, 04:35 PM
Dialtone
Sep 16 2013, 03:57 PM
Agreed Bill, dogleg had mentioned the 900 range, so figured I'd help him unleash a few moths from his wallet. I like spending other peoples money. Some could get by with a 7 inch tablet like I'm typing on now. biggrin 04
My fat fingers won't fit on a 7". I had to spring for a 10".

i find that I use my tablet, more and more! Great for checking emails!
I bought a Targus tablet protector / case for my Samsung at Costco, it included a stylus which I find works great and also doesn't leave finger marks on the glass. These tablets are convenient for many things, I have all my email accounts now located in one area, and notification when anything arrives. They aren't really great for web browsing or some PC tasks requiring a large screen and lots of power, but viewing Youtube HD is quite enjoyable, the audio is great, and with the 32Gig micro sd card, enough storage for thousands of songs, many pictures and movie clips, and several full length movies. My wife has a 7" Nexus, which has a quad core processor and 16 Gig internal storage, plenty of space for anything and it performs most tasks faster than my Samsung. Great little gizmos for under $200, and we find we are using them more every day.
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dogleg
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I think with your help and the salesmanship of Future Shop I am leaning towards sticking with the desktop. They have a Gateway DX4380 (8Gig, AMD10 -3.4 Gig processor ) for $400. Also I will buy a 500 GB hard drive for $60. for backup. For portability I will get a tablet. Any advice ,comments, etc? Thanks again.
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Dialtone
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dogleg
Sep 17 2013, 04:47 AM
I think with your help and the salesmanship of Future Shop I am leaning towards sticking with the desktop. They have a Gateway DX4380 (8Gig, AMD10 -3.4 Gig processor ) for $400. Also I will buy a 500 GB hard drive for $60. for backup. For portability I will get a tablet. Any advice ,comments, etc? Thanks again.
That's a pretty good deal, lots of CPU power, RAM, a big 1T HD (running at 7200 rpm.. that's good), built in Wifi, bluetooth, USB 2 & 3, .. for $400, buy it now before they run out. Tablets are always on sale somewhere, personally I would get your new PC and backup drive first, get used to it, and then shop for a tablet. Are you getting another monitor for your new PC ?
Edited by Dialtone, Sep 17 2013, 04:59 AM.
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wildie
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dogleg
Sep 17 2013, 04:47 AM
I think with your help and the salesmanship of Future Shop I am leaning towards sticking with the desktop. They have a Gateway DX4380 (8Gig, AMD10 -3.4 Gig processor ) for $400. Also I will buy a 500 GB hard drive for $60. for backup. For portability I will get a tablet. Any advice ,comments, etc? Thanks again.
Lots of good deals on desktops these days! They want to get rid of them as they aren't selling. Everybody wants a tablet, instead.

The backup drive is, I would assume is an external case with the 500 gig inside. If so, this sounds like a good deal.

The Gateway machine, I'm unsure of? I seem to remember Trotsky having trouble with a Gateway! Yes/No Trotsky???

Gateway is a low end ACER, not their premier product.

I have two ACER laptops here, that are less than 2 years old, that are deader than a Dodo. I have been buying HPs for myself and my family over the last few years and have yet to have a failure. (touch wood)
It seems to me, that ACER (Chinese) uses cheap capacitors and that dry out quickly.
I know that we have several members here, using ACERs without a problem. Its just that I see more dead ACER machines, than others.
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dogleg
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I think I am about ready to explode! I bought a new Gateway tower which worked for about 3 hours and crashed out. My new one seems OK but the Outlook email service will only let me send emails but I cant receive any. My email outfit is no help. I have Windows 8 and their email service is OUTLOOK. Any suggestions as to how I can activate my system to let me get incoming emails. Good luck trying to get answers from Microsoft.!!!
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