advice on a new computer

Reply #38

amsoly41 — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 20:34:27 GMT

clamav

or

ClamWin Free Antivirus is a good antivirus

Reply #37

psykomo — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 22:06:36 GMT

SORRY.........about that Todd

IF I say IBM...........................can I expect an........ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUST got aa..........................LOTTO ERROR ...........messages after

posting.................................COODOESSSS............to MIKE????????

anyway................................thanks to all who post.......................

GOOD LUCK$$$$$$$$$$$$$ with computers

Reply #36

psykomo — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:36:16 GMT

This is a super good .............POST$$

I...me, my......HAVE read enjoyed ALL post on this POST know

many who ask this ..................................................??????????????

PSYKOMO has also, pointed it out to a few that work at IBM!!!!!!!!

reaction was not THAT...........great???????????????, because, we

have several....................................................................IBM'sssss

THANK$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.....MIKE!!

PSYKOMO... [ More ]

Reply #35

LOTTOMIKE — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:18:42 GMT

i think your right raven.it was starting to make loud humming sounds also.

Reply #34

Raven62 — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 11:13:43 GMT

Sounds like a overheating problem: Check all the fans (one may be malfunctioning) and clean out the buildup of dust.

Reply #33

LOTTOMIKE — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 02:04:42 GMT

the old HP i had literally kept shutting off.i would be doing something and poof it would just shut off power and all.then it would take 20 minutes to get it back on for awhile before it had another episode.i'll keep it for emergencies but it ain't worth much anymore.

Reply #32

GASMETERGUY — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 01:41:39 GMT

You did good. What are you going to do with your old one

Reply #31

buckike — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 18:24:15 GMT

It is always good to take someone with you if you don't know anything about software or compurters,over the years I never had any problem with geeting support from microsoft or from any item that i purchesed, never had to take any items back. checked prices at other stores always higher I never got stuck with any illegal software ,i can return any item to the vevders store.

Any vender thats selling illega or bogus sofware sould be reported

Reply #30

Todd — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:20:55 GMT

Windows Live OneCare works very well on Vista for virus and firewall protection, and cleans up your PC every four weeks and reminds you to backup.

Reply #29

SirMetro — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:45:19 GMT

A few years back, I use to participate as a vendor at those type of computer shows. Was great fast cash (and awesome profits). If you think they are not making money, think again.

Word of WARNING to everyone. Be VERY VERY leary about super cheap prices on name brand software such as Microsoft Office, VISTA, or any other typically high dollar software that generally exceeds several hundered dollars.

At computer shows, you will find 3 types of software, Authentic, OEM and Fake

Authentic i... [ More ]

Reply #28

SirMetro — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:35:31 GMT

Best thing to use on any computer is common sense.

I have 2 computers at home and neither have ever had a virus and I do not run a virus program on either.

At the office, I am the only one who has not had their computer infected by something.

All said and done, due dillegence, install the free tool bar from Yahoo and the basic set-up with your computer. Then simply pay attention to what sites you visit. I have personally found MSN's web sites to be the most natorious for pop-ups. Once I... [ More ]

Reply #27

four4me — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:36:16 GMT

if your using aol macfee comes free with aol 9.0 security edition or aol 9.0VR

you don't need to load every virus proteion on the market on your pc. doing that slows things down. unless you know how to turn them on and off.

Reply #26

justxploring — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:35:21 GMT

I've tried just about everything. I had Norton Internet Security for a year, then tried McAfee but uninstalled it. Now using AVG 7 which is a free download. I also run Windows Defender which is also a free download. McAfee is a memory hog. At least that was my experience.

Oops. I just noticed you will be running Vista, so I don't know what's recommended. My suggestion is to download the different free programs to see what you want to buy. Windows One Care has a free 90 day trial if you... [ More ]

Reply #25

LOTTOMIKE — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:13:55 GMT

mcafee scan came with this computer.it says free for 90 days then it starts charging so i didn't except.what is the best thing to use on a new computer.

Reply #24

four4me — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 03:23:51 GMT

512MB of PC4200 DDR2 SDRAM (expandable to 2GB)

put 1 gig of ram in it and you'll be thrilled to no end.

Reply #23

LOTTOMIKE — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 00:28:42 GMT

i have yet to hook it up but today i bought a EMACHINES T5082 - Desktop PC

Amazon.com: EMACHINES T5082 - Desktop PC: Electronics

This doesn't seem like too bad of a choice does it

Reply #22

awwcrap — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 22:17:11 GMT

My cp was built by a good friend,,,,100's cheaper than computers purchased at a store or mail order..

Reply #21

buckike — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:38:51 GMT

I like to go to the computer shows check to see if one will be in your area, The one in my area have

hundreds of venders competing ,The prices are lowere there than the stores. They have all kinds of parts,ink,pinters ect.

Reply #20

amsoly41 — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:00:35 GMT

HP makes some good stuff.

I would recomend picking up some blank DVD disks (+R or -R and not +RW or -RW)

to make your Backup disks (HP has a good tool to back up the machine)

it will backup to around 15 CD's or 3 DVD's (that was with XP)

it may take more with VISTA

It took me around 2 1/2 hours to backup a new HP machine with XP (3 +R DVD's)

It is well worth it

I would not skip backing up the machine (I am not saying you won't. I just know a lot of people put it off until... [ More ]

Reply #19

LOTTOMIKE — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 03:12:36 GMT

i'm going tomorrow to office depot.think i'm going to get an HP with vista.i went there today and looking at right 900 dollars for the monitor plus the other stuff that comes with it.these prices of 500 or 600 must be without the monitor or maybe without vista.i have yet to find an HP that cheap with the whole thing included.any more advice or dialogue is welcome and appreciated.

Reply #18

DoubleDown — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:28:24 GMT

I did use their memory advisor tool, and it was a great help...

I had one of my laptops in the shop for a little tune up and they wanted to install more memory. They wanted $150 for a 256 MB stick and I was able to find the same for $80 at Crucial.

I can do it myself pretty easily.

DD

Reply #17

justxploring — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 16:54:45 GMT

You're very welcome, DD. Did you use their memory advisor tool? I've been using Crucial for years. My desktop came with 48MB (one 16 dimm and one 32) so I added a 128MB Dimm when I upgraded to 98SE from 95. As I said before, it still runs great, but a 266mhz processor is too slow. It's fine for composing letters or for dialup as a backup, but not for downloading. I start pulling my hair out when it's loading. When I bought my laptop, the people at Toshiba were clueless. Seriously, they could... [ More ]

Reply #16

DoubleDown — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:59:32 GMT

JXP, thanks for the tip on Crucial.com.

I ordered a memory upgrade for one of my laptops today..

DD

Reply #15

SirMetro — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:31:40 GMT

Don't leave out the PowerPC system (basically...it's MicroCenter's House Brand) Good machine for the money, comes with all the required CD's to allow you to fully restore the system should it bomb and it also comes with your basic phone support.

Like I noted earlier, I already have one and if I get the extra $$$, the next one I buy will also be a PowerPC...great machine for the money.

As for the differences, basically, if all three systems are made equal with hard drive, memory, CD/DVD bur... [ More ]

Reply #14

Rick G — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:21:22 GMT

Count me in with the emachines crowd.

Reply #13

amsoly41 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:20:12 GMT

Most of the news systems do not come with recovery disks or the OS disk (vista or XP

Reply #12

amsoly41 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:58:32 GMT

Make sure what ever system you buy that it has a way to make a OEM install or recovery disks.

Some of the new computers will not allow you to burn a OS or Recovery disks.

They will only allow you to backup on the internal hard drive. that is fine as long as your hard drive

does not crash.

You may won't to do some research on this before you buy.

Reply #11

LOTTOMIKE — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 12:06:15 GMT

thanks everyone....

trying to decide between an hp that was listed here or the e-machine.what is the difference between the two

Reply #10

justxploring — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 06:13:17 GMT

I guess that's what I was trying to say, but you put it more succinctly. When I bought a pc almost 10 years ago, everyone told me a Celeron processor was a piece of junk. I never had any problems with it. It still works...just obsolete.

Reply #9

guesser — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 05:32:45 GMT

It depends on what you want to do with it.

If you just want to do Office stuff and search the web, anything will do.

If you want to play video-intensive games, then you need a great video card and lots of ram....

Reply #8

pumpi76 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 04:23:55 GMT

if i was to get one it will be Emachines....

Reply #7

kif1 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 04:06:14 GMT

Check out Dell, they have a new one with vista.

Reply #6

SirMetro — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 03:51:11 GMT

And to throw my $0.02 cents worth in. I personally have a PowerSpec system, 3.3 Ghz with 500 meg Ram, sizable hard drive and cd/dvd burner and windows XP Home that I bought for $350 just a couple of months ago. Just today, I noticed the same machine current on sale at http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0252581 for $299 with Vista Home preloaded.

Amazing part is that VISTA Home is $199 and for $100 more, you get a computer that is 3.3 Ghtz...how cool is that now... [ More ]

Reply #5

emilyg — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 02:59:22 GMT

same here - excellent.

Reply #4

GASMETERGUY — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 00:49:34 GMT

I will be purchasing a new computer also. I am looking at E-machines. They have a model priced at $400. The processor speed is 3.3 GHz. Speed is what I need most.

http://www.emachines.com/products/catalog.html?type=desktops

Check out these models. I believe one of them is what you require.

I have been using E-Machines for several years now and I am pleased with their tech support and the reliability of their computers.

Reply #3

justxploring — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 00:13:32 GMT

Both members have good suggestions. I once asked a similar question on a Tech Board and got many different responses. I'm not very technical, so it was interesting, but I did my homework and had to decide what was good for me by using Google and reading reviews. I mean, let's say you are in the market for a car and you ask the same question. People who care about the horsepower/torque ratio will give you a different answer than people who just want basic transportation. A family person might... [ More ]

Reply #2

konane — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 21:02:30 GMT

Make sure you get one that has at least 1024mb of RAM-type memory, or have memory sticks added to that amount because that's supposed to be the minimum for running Vista. Believe I read that in one of Kim Komando's newsletters.

Reply #1

scrooge — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 20:56:37 GMT

I just went to Office Depot with a friend. He bought an HP Pavillion Desktop Model A1510 Y. Listed in Sunday's Office Depot flyer. Comes with Vista, a CD/DVD writer, and a combination printer/scanner. Total price is $499, after $230 in HP rebates. It must be ordered in store. Shipping is an additional $49---10 to 14 days. Plus Sales Tax if any, in your state.

He added a memory card reader to the tower for an additional $10. Other options can be added.

HP or Dell's website can not come anyw... [ More ]

advice on a new computer

LOTTOMIKE — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 15:19:16 GMT

i need to buy a new computer.want to keep the cost between 400-700 dollars if possible.would like one with cd/dvd burner.do the new ones come with windows vista? does anyone have any suggestions