New Computer Help

[j]

If we're getting to this point, I'll recommend what I normally recommend, which is to find a good local shop that makes sytems and buy there. Hard to know which is good, but talking to their service guys and seeing if they seem human and speak English is a good start. If you know someone local in IT they may have a recommendation for you. The place I usually go to is Hard Drives Northwest because the service guys are smart and know what they're doing. It costs about $50 more than the price of the parts for them to put it together for you and warranty it for 1 year parts / 3 years labor, and it's definitely worth it.

If you can find something local like that, I'd go that route in a heartbeat.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by j

If we're getting to this point, I'll recommend what I normally recommend, which is to find a good local shop that makes sytems and buy there. Hard to know which is good, but talking to their service guys and seeing if they seem human and speak English is a good start. If you know someone local in IT they may have a recommendation for you. The place I usually go to is Hard Drives Northwest because the service guys are smart and know what they're doing. It costs about $50 more than the price of the parts for them to put it together for you and warranty it for 1 year parts / 3 years labor, and it's definitely worth it.

If you can find something local like that, I'd go that route in a heartbeat.

+++++++1

Seriously. Anyone who has ever gotten into a computer arguement with me knows that I think this is the best option besides building it yourself.

 

[yerfdog]

^^ definitely agree with the above advice. You probably don't want to go with a big company, even if you aren't assembling it yourself, which is obviously the best way to ensure accountability and reliability. The problem is finding someone trustworthy/reliable to do it. I guess a similar problem to finding a good car mechanic (although maybe easier to solve).

 

[BubblyMasquerade]

Originally Posted by Manton

OK, a strong vote for RAID. Problem is, Dell does not offer it on the XPS 410, you have to bump up to the XPS 710. Frustrating thing: the XPS 410 and 710, nearly identically configured, cost about $650 apart. But if the website is right, I have to get the 710 to get the RAID drive and a sound card. Is this a motherboard issue? Anyway, that's what the website says; I will have to call and ask.

Good to hear about the 24" monitor. That's what I have my eye on. Going bigger than that costs a lot more, and I have read that 24" makes a huge difference. I probably don't need 27", and I don't print graphics.

OK, definitely will get the 2.13 processor and the extra one gig of RAM.

OMg... what are you doing, you do not need raid for regular computing..., just by a backup harddrive.. and backup your crap every couple of weeks...

I built my own computer.. no raid, never crashed, I don't lose data, and if I do, my backup harddrive has my back..

 

[BubblyMasquerade]

Also, Dell is ******* fine for what you are using the computer for, I mean, from your post I don't see you doing any heavy computing things i.e., gaming, 3d modeling.. blah blah. I would just recommend going with Dell, **** the Raid 1, you do not need it, if you are that worried about Data loss by a big (500GB) backup drive. Also, don't upgrade to Vista, because honestly you don't need it, XP is fine for right now and for a while until Vista becomes the norm. Vista is mainly built for gamers btw, and I dunno but are you going to do any gaming that requires DX10? Because with your current Dell config, the X1300 is not gonna get you anywehre with Vista.. and its not even DX10 supported..

 

[BubblyMasquerade]

Originally Posted by Dormouse

Does Dell still utilize a BTX board?

uh no...BTX, is pretty much down the *******.

 

[j]

Good luck recreating anything you did (not to mention just trying to remember everything you did) since you last backed it up, when a hard drive crashes on you.

I don't find that fun, but whatever floats your boat.

 

[BubblyMasquerade]

Um modern backup systems allow you to a) schedule your backups b) one touch button backup... so it really shouldn't be a problem to back it up every couple of days.. just leave it on before you go to work.. and when you come home all done.. But honestly.. harddrives are built to last at least 5 years.. HDD companies don't give out 5 year warranties if they don't think their drive can preform that long.. HDDs weren't as good back when Manston bought his computer..

 

[j]

You sound like someone who's never had a hard drive crash on you. That's fine, and congratulations, you're lucky. But it happens more often than you obviously think. The 5 year warranty just means they will give you another drive when it crashes. Unfortunately, the one they give you is blank and doesn't have all the stuff you did since the last backup on it.

On systems that I have owned, worked on or dealt with in some way, I've seen at least 10 hard drives crash, including some brand new ones. Luckily, those were in RAID arrays so we didn't have to spend a ridiculous amount of time getting back up and running. I don't know if you ghost your whole drive to another drive as a backup, but if you don't, setting up an operating system and reinstalling all your programs the way you like them will take you a good amount of time that you could be spending more enjoyably.

 

[Huntsman]

RAID is realtime. End of story.

 

[Manton]

Originally Posted by j

And BTW, I highly recommend the huge Dell monitors. I have the 2405FPW (24" widescreen) and it's very nice

I got the 2407WFP (basically the same thing, I think), and I am loving it. It will be impossible to go back to a smaller monitor now.