Computer Buying Advice

[bigginger]

Yep, the far superior home video format hat died because VHS was marketed more forcefully - THAT Betamax? Same deal with Macs, except they haven't been killed off - just used by fewer people, usually the world's genuine free thinkers.

[d_harris]

and Linux is for geeks right Andrew??

[Rob_Jennings]

PC buying:

first off if you want a PC with windows then get one, its up to you what you want and if you're happy with windows stick with it. MAC are no better and no worse than windows machines. I use windows and Linux and to be honest both are just as easy and difficult in their own way.

1: set your budget and stick to it, you should get a pretty fair machine for around 400-500 and top spec gaming for 1000 but you probably dont need that sort of power (mostly graphics power). What ever you do don't look at them again after you buy, as they always keep getting cheaper. these prices are complete with monitor etc, take off 200 quid if you have keyboard, mouse monitor and will reuse those

2: concentrate on memory, the more of this the better, then hard drive, larger and faster the better. processor avoid the low budget centrino ones if you can these have limited cache (local processor memory) so are naturally slower EVEN if the quoted speed may be higher eg centrino 2GHz will feel slower than say a 1,6GHz other processor. The new duo or dual core machines are common and cheap enough now so invest in one of those if you can.

3: look in shops, but buy on line, generally you are saving at least the overheads unless they happen to be dumping old stock machines at a bargin price.

4: at the moment I would say stick with XP, Vista is still too young and full of problems, perhaps another year and it will be stable

I've used Dell machines a lot, they are not the cheapest but offer good value. Other suppliers like Novatech can have good deals but possibly less support.

[d_harris]

Novatech support is non-existant, don't buy from them unless you know exactly what you are getting

[bigginger]

and Linux is for geeks right Andrew??

I didn't say that, and happen to disagree Too many years of working with 'computer support' people who really think that they know it all - it just jerks my chain.

[d_harris]

Just for the sake of information, I am ceasing to use windows on my main system as of tonight. I am in the process of backing EVERYTHING up and then I am going to do a complete wipe and re-install of Ubuntu.

[chickenjohn]

Linus used to be for Geeks, but nowadays you can get (or download) and easy to install disk and when Linux is up and running it comes with a lot of other useful stuff. Open office seems to be pretty good for office apps for example!

[d_harris]

And with ubuntu you can even surf the net while you are installing!!! (guess what I'm doing right now!)

[chickenjohn]

iS Ubuntu currently the Linus of choice these days? What apps does it come with?

[JimK]

iS Ubuntu currently the Linus of choice these days? What apps does it come with?

Ubuntu (and it's related distributions Kubuntu and Xubuntu*) are pretty easy to start working with.

Whether they're the Linux of choice is a difficult question. To some they are, because they are and apparently always will be free. Distros like Linspire are very easy to work with but charge something. You get official support with them though.

I use RedHat Enterprise Linux - it's the flavour of Linux that most tools in my job require.

If you're going for a free, community-supported Linux then please note: you must try and work out your problem before you start asking questions. People support systems like Ubuntu because they want to help, and they do it in their spare time.

Read this, it will help in getting support when you have issues with free Open Source software.

As for apps: a large set are available by using the System Configuration tool to download and install packages. The compatibility of these is checked and maintained by the people developing Ubuntu. A vast universe of apps are available if you want to get a bit more involved in setting things up.

*The difference between Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu is simply the window manager they come with. Ubuntu uses GNOME, Kubuntu KDE and Xubuntu uses xfce. The last one is generally easier on system requirements. You can always change what you use afterwards anyway.

[d_harris]

If you need an application to do something you will almost definatly find something that will do it. The only thing is that if you want to do gaming forget playing cutting edge games. If you need that you need windows