I'm Back!!!

[ving (David)]

we went down 2 seperate roads with our puter...
the old one was stuffing up and was generally slow any how. on ebay (gotta love ebay sometimes) we got a tower with motherboard, chip (2.4 ghz), and ram for about $300 then just added our old harware to it (eg: more ram, floppy drive, dvd burner, etc).

we also bought a lap top on ebay recently. its not super fast or anything but it;ll do. its a IBM thinkpad with 1 ghz chip, dvd rom, video card, floppy, etc... I had to go to the ibm site and download a few drivers and install my own OS but it was cheaper than getting them to install it. all up it cost just over $600. works fine.
the problem with getting a secondhand laptop is there is no guarentee the battery is any good, but we got a good one.


btw welcome back ken
kept your seat warm!

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Wow! Thanks everyone but I don't understand the lingo.

2.4 ghz I understand. It is the speed the computer works. But the other stuff? Ram, more Ram, OS, and all the other terms you are all using.

I have never learnt all that stuff. I just turn the pooter on and use it. Sounds like I just need to get a newer model tower and use my current keyboard, mouse & monitor.

Thanks for keeping my seat warm David. Thanks to all of you that sent PM's welcoming me back. Anyone would think I had been gone for 6 months! Nice to recieve them.

[Striker (Tony)]

No we just wished it was 6 months Ken......i'm kidding....

I'm happy to help you with your computer if you need advice...you dont have to spend big dollars now a days to get something decent.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Whatever you do Ken, do not listen to Striker!! Nah only kidding. I agree with him on the sheep (ah sorry RAM, i.e., physical memory), but disagree with needing a 3GHz CPU as a minimum. The CPU speed should be the least of your concerns (slower and/or older CPUs are heaps fast enough; all most modern CPUs do is sit there and do nothing because the rest of the system can't keep up). Also, ... even though laptops can do what desktops can, a laptop will cost 2-4 times more than a desktop of equal computing power.

Without needing a monitor & other peripherals you should be able to get a very slick and fast new system for under $500 and a very capable system for under $350 --- provided you already have the software you need or can get it for free. But you will need to find someone to set it up for you if you want the box to just work out of the box. (Geez that sounds aweful familiar or am i just repaetin moyself..??)

[MiG]

Yeah, there's no way you need a 3 GHz CPU unless you play games or do cpu intensive stuff (e-mail, www browsing and typing documents do not fall into that category).

I reckon around the 1 GHz mark or lower (eg PIII 800) is fine. I bought a computer for my mum's business like that (IBM Netvista, P3 800, 256 MB RAM and Win2000 license) so I'm not saying one thing and doing another.
A large quantity of RAM is nice though.

I have an Athlon64 3000+ but it is at 100% cpu for 100% of the time. When it's not being stressed by flightsims, games or CAD it's doing distributed computing work.

[Striker (Tony)]

Correct Steve.....but unless he is going to go for a second hand system...the P4 3 gig is about the average processor at the moment....you could go for a Celeron at lower speed and cheaper....but I wouldn't waste my money.....if your only going to be running 1 application at a time...I wouldn't worry about your processor ken......but if your planning on multiple application....and graphical work...I still wouldn't go for anything less then 3gig with a decent graphics card and plenty of ram......least then you will have a computer without limits....go for a celeron system without a graphics card then your better off keeping the system you have.....

AMD processors are another option Athlon 64 3000 is where I would start....

Ken just look at what you have planned for your computer and make a decision based on that....different systems for different applications....

Just like how I love my games meaning I want I high quality graphics card.....My Graphics card alone cost's $800...this is the system for me...but not for you if your going to use it for word processing and office applications.

[frogman (Anthony Lord)]

If she's old and freezing :

Unplug the power.
Pull the case off.
If you have access to an aircompressor use it and blow the dust out of it.
if not buy a little paintbrush and do it by hand. DO IT OUTSIDE 95% of problems i had with old machines were fixed that way

Hope it helps

ANthohny

Originally posted by ballaratdragons
Hi Anthony, he said it needs a major overhaul with a new motherboard and some other parts I dont know the name of. I am very computer dumb but I know a con-job when it comes along.

My pooter works fine except for freezing regularly (if you can call that 'working fine').

He reckons if I take it home it won't work. Well Mr. Rip-off, I am using my computer and it works (so far).

Nothing interesting in here! Really? Bet there was and your not tellin' me! LOL.

[acropolite (Phil)]

Frogman, I'd completely forgotten that one, but you're right about dust, especially paper and cement dust as both attract moisture. I did some work on a site where building alterations were being done and we had to blow out the P.C.'s twice a day or they crashed. I've also had the same happen on a phone system in a jewelry shop; the dust from the jewellers polishing stopped the system completely. While you're at it, check all fans for lubrication as most fans have bronze bushings which tend to dry out.

[Thiink]

Welcome back Ken!

It's a shame you live so far away from one of the Ice In Space resident computer experts, I'm sure one of them could have helped (I'd be willing if I lived near you).

I don't know how far you want to go to see if you can fix the problems with the current machine. If you want to start ruling out some of the problems others have mentioned before throwing it away, running something like Memtest86(+) can rule out a variety of common Hardware related problems (depending on results), without pulling the thing apart. It's not hard to get working if you want to try it.

Also; if you are running Windows 98 (especially one pre-second edition), that could also be half your problems.

Message me if you want some things, or want to get Memtest a go.

[acropolite (Phil)]

Win ME was absolute crap caused lockup problems with my P3-800 and Gigabyte motherboard. Once XP was installed all was OK.

[Crash Nebula]

Welcome Back!
Major news for me was that i got my binos, and im really happy with them. Good to have you back and good luck with the computer.
Cheers,
Crash.