New computer in my future

[pawncop]

The IT guy at the police department told me today that he hoped I was not married to my computer. It is toast. He is going to offload my files, and wipe the hard drive.

So will need to get a new one pretty soon, probably get a laptop and hook it up. It looks like it will cost about 600 to 700 dollars. Will stick with Dell, it lasted a good while.

Using the wife's when she's not on it.

 

[Dennis The B]

You're...

...fortunate that the hard drive didn't belly up.

When you get a new computer, it will be good insurance to do two things:

• First, buy a stand-alone back-up drive; about ten-twenty times your new hard drive. Run a backup the same time every week. One of these will set you back about $120.
• Second, subscribe to a service like Carbonite. They back up your files to a secure off-site server. It takes about a week to completely back up your files. It's done in the background, so it doesn't affect on going usage. Runs about $70 annually.

Cheap insurance.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

Get a Mac, money well spent.

 

[DeadAye]

My desktop computers have been Dell for many years.
As for laptops though:
My job required me using a laptop in all weather on airport ramps. Not only the regular outside weather stuff, but burned Jet A and lots of concrete dust too.
THE ONLY laptop computers that would hold up were Toshibas. Our office computers were Dell laptops and I was going through 4 Dell *Industrialized* laptops a year. I tried several and wound up killing only 2 Toshibas in 3 years. And one of them was from Taiwan Customs disassembling it for *inspection*.

So - My advice (for what it's worth), Dell desktop computers - Toshiba laptop/notebooks.

YMMV

 

[gunlovingirl]

I always had Dells, but the last one I got wouldn't even boot up. Sent it back and got an HP. Had trouble with the keyboard. Sent it back. Asked the experts here and got recommendations for Toshiba. So far, so good. Would have liked a Mac, but out of my price range.

 

[mg357]

buy a few flashdrives for saving important stuff

 

[Dave from Pa]

Another vote for Mac,really like the one we have.

 

[novalty]

My wife has a Mac that she uses through her school. Have used it and like not having to use anti-virus software. However, she is on her 4th one in 3 years. The first one lost the screen, second the harddrive died on her, and the most recent wouldn't even start up. From this experience I would buy an extended warrantee if I bought a Mac.

 

[venomballistics]

Heat is the enemy of any electronic device.
when we see a computer chip, we see a fair sized block with numbers on it and pins coming out of it ... thats not "the chip" ... the real chip is a tiny wafer less than a quarter inch square that's buried inside that a fore mentioned package we think of as "the chip".

Why go on about this distinction? ... well that tiny wafer in a modern computer has an energy density that is, volume for volume, dead on the heels of the core of a nuclear reactor.
She's a makin' some HEAT baby.

Knowing this .. I NEVER recommend a laptop as a primary machine ... that heat needs to be dissipated which doesn't happen as efficiently in a laptop as it does in a tower by virtue of the internal space to allow for bigger fans and greater volume to allow the heat to radiate into

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I've had several Dell units over the years and have had good luck them. Web site customizing was great for selecting what I wanted while not having to pay for I didn't. Typically, the technology would get outdated before the unit failed. I still have a Dimension 9100 desktop and it works great. I finally gave away the Inspiron 5000 laptop to a friend who needed it more than I did. I've since gone off the deep end with Apple stuff... 27'' iMac, iPad and MacBook Pro... but for a Windows system I think Dell is a good way to go.

My wife has a Mac that she uses through her school. Have used it and like not having to use anti-virus software. However, she is on her 4th one in 3 years. The first one lost the screen, second the harddrive died on her, and the most recent wouldn't even start up. From this experience I would buy an extended warrantee if I bought a Mac.

I use my American Express when purchasing stuff like this. It extends the warranty an additional 1yr.

 

[sps282]

Another vote for Mac.....I've had my imac 7 years and has never missed a beat! They are expensive, but before I was buying a new computer every 18 to 24 months.

 

[cmort666]

Dell USED to be ok, but their quality control went straight down the toilet 7-8 years ago. I did work for one guy who pushed Dell. A bunch of them all took a header one after the other. And these weren't in hostile environments, but in a high end clothing store ($200 belts, etc.). I replaced motherboards, power supplies, etc., over and over. Another customer of his was a filter factory. They bought a machine through UPS to be a shipping and receiving machine with barcode scanner, scale, etc. It came in on a Wednesday or Thursday and didn't last through Monday. It didn't run long enough for me to install the software on it. If you do buy a Dell, get the gold support. There's a good chance you're going to need it.

Cleveland Clinic leases HPs almost exclusively, and they seem to hold up very well. One of my previous employers also bought almost all HP, including network servers and also had good luck.

I build all of my PCs. It's like building an AR15, only with less physical effort. Nowadays, they're both just commodities which you can completely customize to your taste. One problem with name brand PCs is that if something proprietary breaks at a critical time, after hours, you're SOL. EVERY PC I own (other than a laptop) can (other than the motherboard) be made operational again at any time of day or night with a trip to a Super Walmart. That's usually not the case with proprietary machines. I don't know about now, but HP machines were wildly proprietary, even down to the floppy cable. The power supply was like nobody else's in the industry. Apart from the motherboard, just about anything in either of my working desktops can be replaced at 2:00am on a Sunday morning.

Regarding the hard drive from the dead machine, it's not really necessary to copy everything off of it to some other kind of media unless you just want to. As long as it's working, you can buy yourself a EIDE or SATA to USB hard drive adapter. When you get your new system, just put the drive in the adapter, connect it to the computer and you have access to all of your old data. I've saved a lot of people a lot of trouble doing that and you don't even have to open up the new computer or mess with 5-10 DVDs (if not more).

 

[labworm]

In the workplace always had a PC.

The only brand that has ever been in my home for the past 15 years, MAC, why not the best?