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      CommentAuthorarwen54
    • CommentTimeJan 12th 2007 edited by arwen54 on the 12th January 2007 at 23:51:54 EST
     
    Well, on Thursday evening I took the big plunge and bought myself a new computer system. It's a wicked HP package which came with a nice HP LCD monitor..wow everything looks different, now...

    anyway this is what I got:
    * AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 4200+ and 2.2GHz Processor Speed
    * 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
    * 1024MB Speed Type memory for multitasking power, expandable up to 4GB.
    * 16X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer With LightScribe
    * Integrated NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE graphics with 256MB video memory.
    * 2 Firewire ports and 7 high-speed USB 2.0 ports, both front and rear accessible, for fast digital data transfer and easy peripheral connectivity
    * Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating system preinstalled; software package includes Microsoft Works 8, HP Photosmart Premier, Quicken 2006 (US Edition), Adobe Reader 7.0, and Sonic DigitalMedia Plus.

    I've spent last night and into the the wee hours of the morning moving files from my old computer to this one and installing and downloading a lot of programs. Fun times!

    anyway, the best part is now I can multi-task to my heart's content and programs don't crash on me like they used to on my old machine clap
    • CommentAuthorsummitr
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    i always love getting a new comp. even better when you get a comp you know you can upgrade
    • CommentAuthorrefueled
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Congrats! If you ever need PC support, just ask. :)
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      CommentAuthorJosh
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Nice. AMD X2's are good CPUs :) (don't listen to Jay... wink)
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      CommentAuthorNickyD
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Good luck with it Karen.
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      CommentAuthorgnome
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007 edited by gnome on the 13th January 2007 at 07:54:50 EST
     
    The Good: high speed, dual core, and 64 bit. Lots of hard drive space. The best integrated graphics solution ever. The DVD burner is probably very good.

    Questionable: does it have audio? If it sounds clear and tight, it is probably good.

    The Bad: In order to save money, HP included cheap RAM, which wont perform very well. I only say this because after the capacity it says: "Speed, Type" where it should probably say: 533MHz, DDR2. (I'm just being honest, most system builders do it, because good ram is much more expensive)

    Overall: 9/10 for a system which will perform solidly for years, by having more than enough performance to do what it needs.
    • CommentAuthorJ.D.Couper
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Congrat! Although you might know, some extra software - and really for free - to fix up your computer with: OpenOffice (in stead of MS Office), Foxit Reader (in stead of Acrobat Reader), CCLeaner (to clean up your new harddisk now and than), EMCO Malware Destroyer and No File Recovery. All can be found at www.filehippo.com or download.com.

    bigsmile

    Duncan
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      CommentAuthorLobsterMan
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Congrats!
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      CommentAuthorarwen54
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    thanks everyone...

    @Gnome..oh yes..the audio is beautiful...crystal clear!
    not sure about the ram and how good it is but I can worry about that later...I may end up getting another gig of ram...just because wink

    @JD Couper, I already downloaded Open Office..I used it before on my old machine and it rocks! I'll look into the other software you mentioned, thanks.
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      CommentAuthorNeuen
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Congrats; you should post a picture of it. :) I am a Mac man myself so I have no idea what this HP looks like.
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      CommentAuthorarwen54
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    thanks, Ethan...
    here's the link to an image...
    here
    and here's the link to all the product specs
    here
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      CommentAuthorSean
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Nice arwen54! Best Buy is pretty good with deals on computers and other spiffy electronics.
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      CommentAuthorarwen54
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007 edited by arwen54 on the 13th January 2007 at 10:09:42 EST
     
    thanks, Sean..yeah, I saw that deal and jumped on it...no where else around this area was offering anything even remotely close to that deal. It came with an
    HP VS17x 17" LCD monitor capable of resolutions up to 1280x1084 but I have it set to 1024x768 and it's perfect for me and I just increase the text when I need to...well, these tired eyes of mine need that sometimes...lol
    • CommentAuthorJ.D.Couper
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Hey Karen, I'm living in Alberta and I'm thinking of picking up the same computer myself. You have a good nose for deals! boogie
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      CommentAuthorJay
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007 edited by Jay on the 13th January 2007 at 13:06:40 EST
     
    Yeah Josh, they're good CPU's. There's just better options available for the same price :-)
    • CommentAuthorkystorms
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007 edited by kystorms on the 13th January 2007 at 13:55:56 EST
     
    Hi
    You mentioned Open Office -
    Is there also a web developing software that is open source and is good / easy to use? Something like Frontpage, hopefully?smile
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      CommentAuthorDENiAL
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Posted By: kystormsHi
    You mentioned Open Office -
    Is there also a web developing software that is open source and is good / easy to use? Something like Frontpage, hopefully?" alt="smile" src="http:///forum/extensions/Vanillacons/smilies/standard/smile.gif">

    Check these two post, the should help you out.
    Free Resources
    What tools does everyone use

    Hope that helps...
    bakie
    • CommentAuthorkystorms
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    yes :-) thank you very much!
    bigsmile
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      CommentAuthorJosh
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Posted By: JayYeah Josh, they're good CPU's. There's just better options available for the same price :-)


    I agree they're better overall, but you will have to pay more. The motherboards and other system companents are a little more expensive than the C2Ds than they are for the X2s. Not to mention the X2s themselves are a bit cheaper as well.

    bakie
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      CommentAuthorJay
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Well I dunno about the US, but thats not true over here. The Cheapest C2D CPU (E6300 - £100) outperforms even the AMD x2 5000+ (£200) in various different fields. And if you were to spend £100 on an AMD (to match the price of the cheapest C2D) you'd get only an x2 3800+ which the E6300 obliterates.

    And if you go even further up the scale, the £200 C2D E6600 is as good as (and often better than) the AMD Flasghip processor (FX62) which costs £550. I'd be shocked to hear it was drastically different over the pond.

    I don't see how you can say the other components are more expensive as with the AM2 socket AMDs they use the same (ddr2) ram, the same gpus, and the same everything else except motherboard.
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      CommentAuthorgnome
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007 edited by gnome on the 13th January 2007 at 16:57:54 EST
     
    With AMD though, any AM2 socket processor will work on any AM2 motherboard, unlike illogical intel, where they just keep building features on to the same old socket, making it as incompatible as .doc files from M$ word.
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      CommentAuthorJosh
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007 edited by Josh on the 13th January 2007 at 19:08:26 EST
     
    Well, I give in. I think I'll probably build my own C2D system instead of getting a X2 from Dell. It'll cost be about $300 more though. I would have just get the X2 but (1) I've never built a computer before and would like too, and (2) the E6600 looks like it has great OC'ing capabilities.. and if I got a Dell system I wouldn't be able to OC it without replacing the motherboard, power supply, and most likely the RAM too.

    I have some saving to do. :P

    I am, however, going to wait until at least Q2 of this year as from what I've heard the prices on the Core2Duo systems are going down. The E6600 is going from $317 to $220-something. Much better. Also, more Direct X 10 cards should be coming out, so that should make the Direct X 9 cards come down in price a bit. (unless they come out with a really awesome DX10 card for ~$150... tongue) And hopefully DDR2 ram will have recovered from the lack-of-supply with all the OEMs switching over... as the price on RAM has been absolutely insane lately. As it stands now, I'd be spending $900 on just the computer (and thats with 1GB of RAM, I'd really like 2GB or even more). If the prices do drop, it'll be around $800.

    I don't have to worry about buying Vista though, as I got in on the powertogether offer and am getting a free copy of Vista Business. Woot.
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      CommentAuthorarwen54
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    Posted By: J.D.CouperHey Karen, I'm living in Alberta and I'm thinking of picking up the same computer myself. You have a good nose for deals!


    go for it..I think you'll be quite pleased

    smile
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      CommentAuthorarwen54
    • CommentTimeJan 13th 2007
     
    about AMD cpu's: my old computer had an AMD Duron and it was quite stable...no problems whatsover...I think AMD's are quite good...it's been my experience so far..touch woodtongue
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      CommentAuthorgnome
    • CommentTimeJan 14th 2007
     
    Josh: about dells: just firmware the bios, and the hardware itself is good enough to OC. I have a dell, and it OC's like a charm, at least as far as northwood chips go. Building your own system isn't hard, or very expensive, as long as you can rob hardware from your old machine.
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      CommentAuthorJosh
    • CommentTimeJan 14th 2007
     
    Well, I would have liked to rob the hardware, but since it's going to be a family computer once I get mine built the only thing I'm getting from it is my mouse, keyboard, monitor and external HD. All the internal stuff stay how they are.

    So you can just flash the bios? I was under the impression that they were locked. Interesting.
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      CommentAuthorgnome
    • CommentTimeJan 14th 2007
     
    you'll need the right application, and the bios you put on better be right, or the machine could be in serious trouble. It's definitely risky. There could be hardware limits in place.

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