Question Is this computer good?

[MeDiCS]

Or use TrueCrypt. Unless you're VERY paranoid, and start using faraday cages as well :lol:

 

[simonpro]

Interesting thing is, how do you people get computers in USA/Europe?
Are they commonly sold as assembled systems?
How easy it is to find a radio market to buy all the pieces on?

I'm not 100% sure as I get my computers through uni, but I'm pretty sure that they're available as assembled systems in most cases (I can't for the life of me see how the average man could understand most of the specifications given on things like this alienware website). You can buy most of the bits on their own, though. There's a shop near me that sells processors and graphics cards etc. Probably cheaper making one yourself rather than buying it pre-made. Less chance for the manufacturer to add value.

 

[Urwumpe]

Interesting thing is, how do you people get computers in USA/Europe?
Are they commonly sold as assembled systems?
How easy it is to find a radio market to buy all the pieces on?

I can tell you how it is like in "Oker Valley", which is sure not much different anymore to the rest of Germany: You have the large shops, which sell about everything, like Mediamarkt or Saturn. Online stores also sell components or completed systems. Then you have also many medium sized computer stores, which sell components as well as completes systems. Modding and home assembly are still pretty popular here and the "factory outlet" of our local bigger computer shop is rarely free of customers. Usually, you have a fair number of geeks in it, despite it being not more than a long counter for selling stuff right out of the stores. Maybe because of it.

Also, as a small reminder on the old glorious days of "Oker Valley", we still have many smaller specialized shops (for example Cable Junction, which sells nothing but cables) and really tiny computer stores everywhere, especially around the university.

Getting a computer here is easy, deciding where and how to buy it is hard.

(And why "Oker Valley"? Because Braunschweig was from the 1980s to the early 1990s the busiest spot of the German home computer industry. Commodore was once here, Intel still has a laboratory here, maybe somebody had a Miro display at home once. From that the pun on Silicon Valley was quickly created. But pushing it officially as trademark failed epically. Intel still complains about only 10% of their engineers being from Braunschweig, since most absolvents from the university are useless (sic) )

 

[n122vu]

I think (and this is just a guess) about 90% of the consumers in the US buy them pre-built, either online at Dell.com, etc, or places like Wal-Mart or, *shudder* Best Buy. Benefit of this is preinstalled OS (if you see that as a benefit), warranty support and replacement, etc.

I personally chose to buy parts and build one myself. I usually get the best deals from newegg.com, though some components are cheaper at other sites. I like to get all my stuff from one place though.

My machine, as I built it originally, was:

AMD Athlon64 X2 dual core at 2.3Ghz
DFI Infinity UltraII M2 Socket AM2 nForce 4 motherboard
160GB SATA 3.0Gbs 7200rpm hard drive
2.0GB DDR2667 RAM, MSI nVidia GeForce 8600GT 256MB GDDR3 OC Edition Video Card
Sunbeam black steel case


Built it in September of 2007 for $401.

 

[Urwumpe]

Probably cheaper making one yourself rather than buying it pre-made. Less chance for the manufacturer to add value.

Depends. If you don't care at all about which kind of hardware you have installed, a complete system may be cheaper in the long run. If you have special requests, buying the parts is better.

But if you do so, try to buy all parts from one shop if possible - On my last bigger upgrade, I got all together almost 10% rebate on the parts, and I am sure the shop also made a good profit with me, despite the parts being a really good deal for me. Needless to say, if you plan to buy parts for almost 600 Euro, no shop owner will refuse ordering a special part for you. Even more if the whole order might be way over 1000 Euro, I had experienced it myself. Ordering a good display, which is out of production, is no problem if your order passed the sonic barrier. Especially if the shop owner agrees to your taste.

 

[garyw]

Interesting thing is, how do you people get computers in USA/Europe?
Are they commonly sold as assembled systems?
How easy it is to find a radio market to buy all the pieces on?

In UK, Microsoft have a thing against "naked computers" (i.e. computers without an OS) so picking up a white box in many of the electronics shops is impossible.

However there are sites like http://www.autdirect.co.uk and www.dabs.co.uk which will do both white boxes and individual components so you can built it yourself.

 

[Urwumpe]

garyw: If that could be proven, Microsoft would have to pay another few billion for rebuilding the European economy.

 

[MJR]

The type of computer I want is a quad core, 6GB of RAM, 400 or so GB of hard drive, and a really good graphics card. That is just the basics. Nothing technical.

 

[n122vu]

MJR - not sure if you know, but you can get a 1TB hard drive these days pretty cheap, around 100 USD last time I looked. Believe it or not, I bet you could fill up 400GB pretty fast if you tried...

 

[garyw]

garyw: If that could be proven, Microsoft would have to pay another few billion for rebuilding the European economy.

If fairness the last time MS were accused of this was back in 2006.

 

[Hielor]

In UK, Microsoft have a thing against "naked computers" (i.e. computers without an OS) so picking up a white box in many of the electronics shops is impossible.

However there are sites like http://www.autdirect.co.uk and www.dabs.co.uk which will do both white boxes and individual components so you can built it yourself.

If fairness the last time MS were accused of this was back in 2006.

Imagine that, a company encouraging hardware vendors to use its software. However, absolutely nothing is preventing hardware vendors from doing whatever they want with their machines, and that 2006 article merely stated that Microsoft was encouraging vendors to sell PCs with Windows.

There are no "incentives" for selling only Windows PCs and there are no "punishments" for selling PCs without Windows. MS got burned for that back in the 90s.

Many major computer manufacturers in the US offer PCs without Windows--MS isn't doing anything to stop that, and can't. The choice of what OS (or none at all) to put on a computer rests with the computer manufacturer.

However, your complaint is about stores not selling these things in a physical store? Considering the typical user base which buys computers in a store, I'm not surprised that they're not offered without OSes. Power users won't be buying from the physical store anyway (since they know they can get it cheaper online), and regular users wouldn't know what to do with a computer without an OS.

 

[MJR]

MJR - not sure if you know, but you can get a 1TB hard drive these days pretty cheap, around 100 USD last time I looked. Believe it or not, I bet you could fill up 400GB pretty fast if you tried...

Yeah that is true. Regarding that I will probably get between 800GB and 1TB. Thanks.

 

[TSPenguin]

The usual process for getting a PC for me and my peers always has been this:

You start with the amount of money you want to spend. Then you make a list of parts you need, this is also where you decide if you need a screen, keyboard etc.
Then you look at your needs and prioritise your devices, i.e. for orbiter the graphics card has a pretty low priority.
Then you do research on technologies (aka AMD vs. Intel), check benchmarks for individual components. Look at recommended setups, like the ones TomsHardware does from time to time. (note: This does NOT mean look at prebuilt setups from stores!)

Once you did this, you will have a pretty good idea what system you want to build, you can now start fiddeling with different setups until you find one that gives you maximum performance for the money you want to spend.


A note on laptops: Laptops are only needed if you really work while on the move. And in those cases, you usaly only need a very very weak laptop. Something that will run your IDE, Office suite, email client. Even for orbiter addon developement on the move you don't need something powerfull, not even a GPU. Excessive test flights are done at home, in peace and not on the subway. Running in RGB emulation is sufficient for checking the modell and thruster positions.
My point is, use the money you safe when getting a desktop and get a cheap laptop, if you really need it.

Happy Orbiting!

 

[RangerPL]

Sorry to be bumping an "aged" topic, but I found a great computer that might suit your needs for a nice price:

http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668231.php

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor1 P8400 (2.26GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache)
Genuine Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit) with SP1
4096MB 1066MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory (2-2048MB modules)
320GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
Chassis with NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GTS Graphics with 1GB of GDDR3 Discrete Video Memory and Intel® PM45 Chipset

At Best Buy, it costs even less:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9172511&st=Gateway&type=product&id=1218043606827

I've wanted to buy one of these myself, to replace my aged desktop, but I've run into heavy resistance from my Mom, even though I can afford it.

It also comes with a second, empty, HD bay that you can put a bigger HDD in.