OT: Technology and Geek Stuff Thread

[Coop]

Slf - avoid vista if you can. Although technically you can't buy xp anymore some vendors will sell vista with a downgrade to xp which then gives you the choice of upgrading to vista at your convenience instead of it being forced. One thing to be aware of with vista..it is a CPU and memory hog. You will also need a good graphics card as well.

[LightninBoy]

I agree with KC. With those usage requirements, its hard to go wrong with any of today's hardware. Stick to the major brands and you should be alright.

If you want a little more customization options, I've had good luck with these guys:

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

Regarding Vista, the computer I'm writing this on now cost me $375. I got it off the clearance rack at Best Buy and its specs are relatively meager - 2.0 GB memory, 2.0 GHz dual core CPU. It runs Vista like a champ. And that's with an integrated video card (in other words - nothing fancy). IMO, for most consumers there's no compelling reason to upgrade to Vista. But there's no compelling reason to avoid it either.

I'm biased and you know why. But, honestly, I get nothing from this. If I didn't feel this way I wouldn't post it.

[Larsky]

If you just want a great computer that does word processing and web surfing—and maybe you're interested in music and photos or other stuff, like gaming 10% of the time—look at an Apple iMac. Try one out in the store.

I'm not endorsing Apple, but for what you're describing, I think you might be really happy with one. I've been using one for FOUR YEARS, with no upgrades, and there aren't a lot of Windows users who can say the same thing.

[King Cole]

If you just want a great computer that does word processing and web surfing?and maybe you're interested in music and photos or other stuff, like gaming 10% of the time?look at an Apple iMac. Try one out in the store.

I'm not endorsing Apple, but for what you're describing, I think you might be really happy with one. I've been using one for FOUR YEARS, with no upgrades, and there aren't a lot of Windows users who can say the same thing.

I'm still using the same 3 from 2001 (w/o upgrades). One Fry's house brand for the wife. One self built from scratch for myself. One self built with some new parts and some used cannibalized parts from older ones that the kids use. The kids I did have to replace the CD burner once but it was quite a few years old when I put it in.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Thanks for the advice y'all.

[Coop]

I built a dual boot hackintosh.....so far so good I have a "Mac Pro" running Leopard 10.5.4....

[Malto Marko]

If you just want a great computer that does word processing and web surfing?and maybe you're interested in music and photos or other stuff, like gaming 10% of the time?look at an Apple iMac. Try one out in the store.

I'm not endorsing Apple, but for what you're describing, I think you might be really happy with one. I've been using one for FOUR YEARS, with no upgrades, and there aren't a lot of Windows users who can say the same thing.

I am writing this from "Dads" computer. Purchased in 1998 and running Win 98 SE. No upgrades, no downtime. But then again, Dad does not have the needs for fancy graphic cards for gaming, either.

PS.
The boys' computer was purchased in 2002, runs XP and has not been upgraded either. It was purchased for them to game and had a premium (at the time) graphic card. They can not play their games on Dads computer (which is probably why I am still able to use it with little problems) but, have had no issues with theirs.

I have heard that Apple users really love the simplicity of the OS. I had a buddy that used to run Apple and he swore by it. Unfortunately, he passed away and I have had no input to the latest Apple versions.

[froot loops]

I'm getting close to ten years on my Windows computer.

[unknown lions fan]

Yeah, there was a period when software demands were outpacing hardware capacity back in the 1990s, but that kind of slowed down in the late 90s.

Back when you were running CAD and you had a 33Mhz processor, a 66Mhz processor was a big jump in performance.

[Drew]

Most Apple users have no problem telling you how superior their machine is to yours.

I like that I have the option of buying a very capable computer for $200. Hey, if it gets jacked up by malware, virus, adware, etc. I can scrap it, buy another, and still pay less overall.

It's Apple's adherance to the superior price that made Bill Gates a wealthy man. I would have been happy to buy an Apple in the '90s if it were affordable to me, a man of modest earnings.

[King Cole]

Yeah, there was a period when software demands were outpacing hardware capacity back in the 1990s, but that kind of slowed down in the late 90s.

Back when you were running CAD and you had a 33Mhz processor, a 66Mhz processor was a big jump in performance.

monochrome to vga ;)

[Drew]

More like VGA to SVGA.

[King Cole]

More like VGA to SVGA.

That wasn't has big a deal to me. Green only to full color was the bomb!

[romster]

I need help. I recently updated Real Player to the latest version. I was only half paying attention to what I was doing after which I suddenly started getting random web pages opening with ads for just a few seconds and then closing.

I uninstalled Real Player, did a virus scan, and ran my adware. I'm still getting the annoying popups. And when I'm using the internet, it's like it tries to take over because my box becomes unhighlighted and I have to click on the page to scroll again. But nothing pops up. It's when IE is not open that it suddenly opens an ad and closes it after a few seconds.

Anyone know what's going on and how I can fix it?

I must say it really pisses me off.

[The Ken]

Start > run > msconfig click ok then start up tab (if you are running xp or vista)

disable everything (button for that) reboot hit the internet if it doesn't start you know it is an service or start up app, then go one by one to figure out which app is doing it.

most likely it will be an app from the realplayer folder

if not try

www.trendmicro.com/housecall