3dzapper Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Both my wife and my computers are a few year old P III 800meg machines running Windows ME. They have served us well but recently McAffee decided to add a bunch of features to it's suite. Whoops! These old machines don't have the speed and/or capacity to run the new system:( They were both crashing and locking up every few minutes. I restored them back to last December and they run OK now but they aren't protected from latest viruses. So I just ordered two Dell Dimension 3000 P IV 3gig/800FSB desktops with XP Pro and cool LCD monitors. We are moving into the 21st Century!!! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.cherry Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 i think you will like the new machines. much faster. pull up a chair and stay it's gonna be a long century... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 We are too! Actually, we're buying a laptop for our daughter for college. Dell has a sale right now. I have no idea what I'm doing so I'll probably get something middle of the road. Any laptop suggestions for a college kid? Sorry for the hijack Rick. Congrats on you new gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Sheeesh! My wife is still using a PII 266. She says, "It works fine..." Only because she doesn't know what she is missing. Rick, The biggest problem would be ME. I still use a dual 466 machine I built, and for most of my work at home I can't complain at all. We just don't have the money to by new boxes right now, no matter how cheap they are (and the really are getting low). Congrats. Marvel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted April 25, 2005 Author Share Posted April 25, 2005 Yes I think it is the ME. It was a step child to bridge Windows 98 to 2000. Microsoft recently stopped supporting it with upgrades except to IE 6.0. That is another problem. When I downloaded the latest IE6 security fixes, the ME couldn't accomodate them either. Gary, no problem with threadjacking. I can't help with your search though. You see, I'm over 25.( Any of you kids out there that can help Gary? Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerohm Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Garymd - Most college's have a program where you can purchase the computer from the school (usually Dell's). The price is as good as you will find and they come configured to work with the school network. You should probably at least look into it before buying (They probably also include some type of educational discount ... at least for the software). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 St. Francis, where she originally was going, had a laptop for each student as part of tuition. DeSales unfortunately doesn't. They do charge $50 to upgrade student's computers to be compatable with their system and internet access. Any suggestions? Please???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Gary- Look into Mac. Best, George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Macs are great, but check to make sure that what she needs to do at school will work okay. The college where I work hasn't had Macs for a few years because they didn't want to expend resources supporting two different systems. They do interoperate much better now. Our students brought both kinds with them. We have a large variety of laptops and desktops (Apple, Dell, Toshiba, HP, Compaq, Gateway, no names). There are just certain operating systems we don't support, as their internet access is through a wireless network set up just for the students. Gary, what is the schools address. I don't understand why they would charge for setting up the access. I'm curious and would like to contact them. Marvel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Rick, Don't throw out the old boxes. How much memory is in them? I took a box with a 533 in it, added some more memory and installed a distro of linux. Since dumping ME off the machine it has been stable as can be. The install was flawless, identifying all the hardware. I only had to indicate U.S. English and the time zone I am in. Installed Open Office and most everything else I want on the box. Totally free. It would run faster on your 800Mhz CPUs too. Marvel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 I have had a Dell Inspiron lap top for 2 yrs now, great company,had a few glitches with it at initial purchase but Dell made it right !!!I had one problem with the unit and they took it back and replaced it free of charge with an upgraded model ...Do make sure you buy the extra service warranty as I did ...regards Tony C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfyr Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Just a comment, as I have no interest in the classic Mac PC wars. Under the cover, Mac is full blown UNIX - or more specifically, FreeBSD UNIX. And its binary compatible with all the other UNIXes available. In fact it is the most POSIX compliant of all of them. And if you open a terminal session (maybe I need to explain what they are to the Windows folks...sorry!! couldn't resist!!;-) you are in full blown command line unix - just think DOS on uber-steroids! They will read any Windows file. You can open them, do what you need with the Mac tools and them take them back to/transfer them the PC. If you use MSOffice, you get a bunch of functionality that the PC doesn't provide. Also, if you want to run XP (or ANY other version of Windows) with Virtual PC you can...just as one can run various OSes on virtual machines under VMWare on the X86 platform. And the new G5 compatible version runs VERY well! You simply load XP on top of Virtual PC (that Microsoft owns) and run XP in another window. Forget the old outdated stereotypes of too many years ago. So you have a machine that is now mainstream and straddles the UNIX-Windows world. You can use Linux resources as well as Windows resources. And its the only platform to allow you to move seamlessly between them without losing functionality. The biggest obstacle to the Mac are the old invalid stereotypes! Price and compatibility are NOT issues! In fact, Windows sufferes from more incompatibilities then Macs. And Macs do NOT cost more then PCs anymore. In fact the most expensive and powerful Mac, with dual procesor G5's is just $2999. So if you are looking for a broadbased multifunction machine that is compatible with all the platforms while having one of the most robust and powerful and easiest to use OS available, check out the Mac. But most of all, forget your old objections to them, as they are NOT valid! And if you choose a PC, just be aware of the evolving HW platform 'standards' issues, as many have not fully converted to the new formats. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just be aware so that you do not get caught unawares... Lots of wonderful choices are out there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Build your own. If not check out alienware.com they have some incredible machines. Dells' are cool, but do yourself a favor and at least look at alienware.com also if you like little is better. Check out shuttle.com they make some extremely cool pc's to. I was gonna go mac but there is so much more software for the pc. I ended up buying mine from scratch from the ground up, and had my computer guy put it together. I think I saved alot of money that way. It's not for everyone though. While I was doing intensive almost to the point of insanity research. I liked those above brands mentioned for prepackaged. Especially alienware. Don't buy a monitor and get that at newegg.com save some mula. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 I am looking at the Dell Inspirations. I understand that a Mac may be a good choice, maybe even the best, but it isn't going over well with the wife or daughter so it's not an option. I appreciate the info however. I'd like to spend under $1500 and I'd like it to be nice and lightweight but have a decent size screen. DVD and Office a must. I appreciate any guidance as I am totally clueless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 I recently bought a Dell akin to Rick's description above and the preloaded McAfee was a pain in my butt for the few weeks it lasted before I deleted the program, per recs from Dell support after 3 hours of troubleshooting. Loaded up the Norton and no further problems. YMMV. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Thanks Keith. That's good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfyr Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 For PC laptops, I would suggest checking out the IBM Thinkpad T series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 To bad Bell Labs (UNIX) doesn't design a new OS. They would have patterned it after the human DNA code. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Garymd check this out. http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Bot/bot_features.aspx?SysCode=PC-BOT&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT I think windows xp professional sp2 is rock solid. I never had a problem or glitch in two years. I am going to check out the new windows media 2005 soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 If it's laptops and i had 1500 to spend. This would be it in a heartbeat. http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Sentia/sentia_features.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-SENTIA&SubCode=SKU-PERFORMANCE screen size may not be big enough for you, but the design and features are great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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