Need some computer help.

[Captain Caveman]

Move this tread if it not ok here.


My wife and I are going to buy a new computer. The problem is
I'm not sure what to get. I want to play Magic Online, do some
simple gaming and she wants to downloud music and do stuff
with pictures. I looked at the Dell 4600c, Emachines and PC's at
local computer stores. I guess we need:

Pentium 4 (2.8GHz)
512 MB RAM
40 GB Hard Drive
CDRW(what type?)

Does 800 MHz front Bus size matter? What about 533?

Can you guy's help?

What kind of PC would you suggest?

We live in a small comunity and do not have access to DSL yet.
Its true no DSL. I could use Direct-way but its expensive. I
guess I'll keep my old phone line connection.

 

[Istanbul]

I have 512 MB of RAM.
You need more RAM. A LOT more. It's a severe memory hog.

 

[Reverend Love]

If you’re not computer savvy then the best suggestion I could give you is to buy something with a Warranty you're comfortable with. Don't read too far into computer specs because a lot of that is marketing BS. Since your mostly interested in performing rather mundane user tasks, price and hardware quality should be your main concerns..not performance. Because whether your on a screaming Pent 12, 6 Billion or a Pent 3 700, your not going to see that big of a performance gap when tinkering on Microsoft Word or downloading songs....hell MTGO will play fine on a pent 600 with 128meg of RAM.

For my money I'd go E-machines. They've really gone a long way in cleaning up their act. Last I checked they were throwing in quality motherboards and hard drives in their pooters.

 

[orgg]

Alright. The tasks are as follows:

1. MP3/Music playing. I've got a 1Gig hard drive that acts as two from some kind of compression algarithym as my main HD and 32MB Ram. I've never had a problem unless I'm trying to open something that's longer than nine minutes in MSSound Recorder... as long as you're using Media Player or somesuch, no problem there.

2. Photo Stuff. If this is scanning, those take up a good chunk of memory. If it's MSPaint she's using, no biggie. Anything else, and that's a memory hog. I don't know, here.

3. MOL: This folder takes up 1.2 Gigs. It's INSAINE how big it is. It works with my memory and 14.4 modem, but it's SLOW. It's bulky, and trade requests and that little foil flash make the computer jitter like crazy. I had to turn off all sounds and avatar movement to get it to work right, and it still freezes with that ****ing flash.

I'd say get at least a 56K internal Modem and 1 Gig of Ram if possible-- RAM is cheap, nowdays... if y'can find the kind you need. A 60Gig HD should be sufficient for just about anything you want to do, and a DVD/CD burner would be a good idea, too, if you can afford it.

 

[Notepad]

Here's the only computer you'll be needing for MTGO:

Build your own MTGO computer!

1) You'll want to get the big potatoes from the supermarket. None of the bargain crappy ones.

2) Firmly wrap the potato in duct tape, but be sure to leave a port open.

3) Stab a phone wire into the open port.

4) You are now just as able to play on the wonderfully stable MTGO servers as those dopes who spent multithousand dollars on their stupid computers.

 

[Reverend Love]

The pulse of the underground is that a dozen clustered cabbages covered in A1 sauce can out perform the tried and true giant potatos...me I'm still saving judement until I've seen benchmarks comparing the two...

 

[train]

I have an e-mahine and just upgraded the RAM to now total 192MB - not much - but it runs 2 MOL windows at the same time perfectly fine... as well as the Browser... I'm on dial-up...

their new systems are great to get - and the price usually goes down if you get an ISP contract with it... our total cost for the system was 250.00(3 years ago - 3 yr. ISP contract - we needed ISP anyway)... but it runs better than some of the school machines with better processors, more RAM, and more HD space...

As for photos and scanning - we can do it all, including downloading music if needed... I also just installed a CDRW drive -Office max special...

amazing thing - the HD is only 15GB...

 

[rkoelsch]

Also don't get hung up on Pentium processors AMD has been doing much better and they are usually less expensive. Actually if you do get into gaming the AMD are better. But I originally had reservations about emachines the the latest crop has been very dependable.

 

[train]

If you had to - you could look at the dell specials... (I can get a 10% discount - but it may not be worth the effort)...

they come with the OS and most of the software you specify which can really be worth it in savings...

 

[Captain Caveman]

The local computer shops(2)keep telling me to stay away from
Emachines because of the AMD chip. They say it will fry to easily
if the CPU fan goes out. Buying a new computer is becoming
difficult. The Dell computer and the two local computers are all
about the same money with Intel chips, which is alot more that
the Emachines from Circuit City.


Our current PC is:
Pentium II
64 MB RAM

So I guess its not real bad. My major problem is the download
speed. I went to Download Magic Online last week and it was
going to take several hours. Like a day or something, can't
remember. maybe I can update this one to increase my DL's?
Whats going on with this PC any thoughts?

I also get "this program has preformed an illegal operation and
will shut down", a lot. Just out of the blue while online.

Can anyone help?

 

[Spiderman]

Only thing that can increase your download speed is to get cable or DSL if you already have a 56K modem. If you can't afford cable or DSL, then you're stuck at 56K.

Depending on how many things (tasks) you have your computer doing while Net browsing, you probably need more memory. The best thing to do is to find your motherboard type and see what the max it will support is.

 

[train]

Only thing that can increase your download speed is to get cable or DSL if you already have a 56K modem. If you can't afford cable or DSL, then you're stuck at 56K.

You can change port settings, and it can increase the average amount of data transferred...

What OS are you running?...

Note - I've had my emachine for 3 years(january), and it has never gone out on me... The only issues I had were due to the OS - ME at the time - now XP...

The blue illegal operation screen of death can easily be researched, and usually resolved by searching google groups for the error code...

 

[Notepad]

How can cabbages outdo potatoes as a MTGO computer???

Cabbages rot over time, while a lone potato slowly turns into your own LAN.

 

[Captain Caveman]

I'm running 98SE. I've been trying to play catch-up on the updates
but I keep getting bumped off in server before it complete's the
DL's. I have a bunch to update."17"

What a mess.

Don't know how to change the ports.

 

[Reverend Love]

Well according to the article the A1 sauce's tangy blend of herbs and spices act as a minor embalming agent for a few days. Which stabilizes performance. Then after a week or 35 hours straight MTGO play whichever comes first the cabbage is beyond saving and then the A1 Sauce actually accelerates decomposition. Again referencing the article at this time the HUGE performance spike is recorded. A slight side effect is that the gases released from the cabbage and A1 preservatives combine to form a highly potent hallucinogenic.

One guy suffering hallucinations reported that his Peek was advising him to don a tin foil hat because the Hunted Wumpus of his opponent was reading his mind.

 

[Notepad]

What a dope that guy was. Anybody with a brain knows that foil on the head doesn't stop mind control waves.

Duct tape applied to all hairy regions of the body does.

 

[Istanbul]

Mother of Roy G. Biv...

Get AWAY from Windows 98. The fact that the OS is 6 years old might very well be part of the problem, and Windows 98 is notorious for giving you a BSOD for no good reason. Go to 2000 at least, or preferably XP.

 

[orgg]

BSODs, Non-Pro Tools Free with unDefragged Hard Drive related, equals two or three. In over five years, now. Not too bad, I'd say.

It's also the last OS Pro Tools Free will run on, and I can't let that little remainder of my college education be blown away from me... if I can't get a job in the industry, at least I can have a watered-down 8-track shell of the Industry Standard DAW.

 

[train]

I have to agree on getting away form 98 - any version... MS will stop supporting it in less than 2 years...

If you can purchase a machine that has XP on it - I'd advise doing so...

Though XP is a beefed up 2000, it's the latest individual pc software, and will be best for you in the long run...

Dell is a good way to go, and if your credit is good - the payments can be nice and relatively small...

They have the current special of free memory upgrade, and free CDR/W upgrade... I'd take it while you can...

 

[Svenmonkey]

They have those free upgrade things up all the time. Dell is a good way to go, though. They somehow manage to make decent, customizable machines with a lot of free software for cheap and without screwing anything up (in my experience.)

Heck, my Dell has more than half of its parts swapped out and upgraded but it still runs normally, which you probably couldn't say for eMachines or those other vendors who put proprietary hardware in there.