I need a new computer

[pedalinbob]

My current computer is a 7 year old Dell Dimension with XP, 1Gb RAM and a 40Gb drive. RAM is at max. It has a Pentium 4 CPU, 1.7Ghz chip.
I have a Seagate 250Gb external drive for backup, and use Acronis.
I use NOD 32, Zone Alarm Pro, Sandboxie and a few other security apps.
Overall, my system is lightly loaded, but it isn't the fastest, and the lack of storage is a bummer. It is, however, very stable.

We aren't gamers, but we surf and do online banking. With a new baby, we take a fair amount of digital pics.

We are on a budget, and would like a bit more speed, storage and simplicity.
So far, we are using 27Gb of our hard drive.

I am considering a Dell Insperion 530s. Oddly, I don't find it on their site.
It has:
Pentium dual-core E5200
Vista home basic
2Gb RAM
320Gb hard drive
plays and creates CD and DVD
Intel 7.1 hi-def sound card
6 USB ports
Dell speakers
Monitor not included (I already have one)

Price is $349 + taxes and shipping. I also get 6% off for AAA discount, so that nullifies the tax part. This seems like a good deal.
I like that Vista apparently has a very good firewall, so I can dump Zonealarm (I also use a hardware firewall)...but, I know little about Vista.

Any opinions out there from the computer gurus???

Bob

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I would see if you can pay a little more for a 500 or 640G hard drive but not too much as with taking pics more space would be nice and drive space is dirt cheap.

 

[Splat_NJ]

Insperions aren't what they used to be. You'd be much better off with the Vostro line. Better components and the price is good for what you're getting.

 

[schiesz]

If you do go for an Inspiron, look at some of the coupon/deal sites to make sure there isn't a better deal going on at the time. I think you can get a Core 2 Duo CPU, or a decent monitor for an Inspiron in that price range.

For your needs, mostly anything modern should work fine. Probably, if you just backed up your data, and did a re-install of the OS on your current machine, you'd be happy with the speed.

 

[glockboy]

If you can, wait until "Black friday sale."

 

[csshih]

the pentium dual cores aren't the best.
try aiming for core 2 dual cores.

try newegg.

 

[Dr Jekell]

For your uses what you have is fine.

I agree with schiesz that a backup of your data & an OS reinstall will help with the speed issue (just do a custom install & uncheck all of the unnecessary options & once the OS is reinstalled try to cut down the amount of software starting up on boot)

Also adding a 500Gb HDD is a good idea to expand your storage.

I also find that XP is superior to Vista for most users as I am the IT tech at my work 3 stores (35 computers + laptops) most are running XP but several are running Vista & I have more problems with the vista computers.

 

[Sinjz]

He's using 27 GB of space, why are people suggesting he add 500+ GB of storage? He's only doing pictures. The drive will crash long before he comes close to filling it.

I'm sure you can find a 200 GB for less than $40 bucks. You can probably find a great deal on a modest sized hard drive during black friday. You don't need the biggest hard drives available.

If he starts doing lots of video editting, THEN I'd suggest he get a lot more storage and a more powerful computer. Since all he does it web surfing, his system is fine. Just add a secondary hard drive.

 

[Dr Jekell]

It is better to future proof now instead of going to a smaller drive then six months down the line finding you are filling the drive faster than you expected.

I have a 9GB drive in my laptop & I ballooned from using 1.5GB for data & OS to over 4.5GB in just one month.

I then brought a 20GB USB HDD (it was on sale cheep) & now all I have on the laptop HDD is the OS files.

Also he can use the second drive for data only allowing the main drive to run the OS full time. Which will have the added effect of making the computer open files faster as it doesn't have to swap between OS & data retrieval. Another benefit is that when he upgrades to a new computer he can just remove the drive & put it in the new machine & he will have access to all his data.

 

[pedalinbob]

Fantastic ideas, keep them coming!

I admit that I am a bit...fearful of doing a full reinstall, but I know it would probably make a big difference.
I noticed Newegg had some hard drives (WD of various capacities) for good prices. Perhaps backing up my data and installing a larger HD would do it.

I considered partitioning the Seagate: about half for the hard drive image backup, and the other half for picture files (or something along those lines).

I have a concern thought: I heard that Dell versions of XP are proprietary (that seems odd), and therefore I may not be able to use the boot disk that came with the computer.
Hmm. I just realized that I would also need a TON of downloading of Windows updates (SP2, etc) after the clean install.

Sounds like a lot of work!

 

[2000xlt]

I just got mine about a few month ago, so far im happy it started as a base inspirion 518, upgraded to a pentium core 2 duo 2.4 ghz, which is alot better than the dual core that was stock, other upgrade include 4 GB ddr2 sdram,800mhz-4x1gb,dim,m,,radeon HD 2400 pro graphics media card"this was important for and upgrade because the stock 518 had a basic card integrated into the mother board, if you had a problem with the card, you cant replace it" 250 GB sata II HD 7200rpm,,trend micro antivirus, 15 month service, Vista SP1 home preimum, it was only $30 something to upgrade, and it has areo. Thats the basics there is a bunch of other programs included, but what i listed was the basics, i opted out of a monitor and speakers as i got a new LCD last year, and i kept my harman/kardon speaker i had from the previous comp, the still sound good, i also got a $100 coupon for future purhases, the total was approx $760

 

[Dr Jekell]

There should be a CD/DVD that came with your system (It may be called a system restore disk or similar) that once you have placed into the CD drive & rebooted it should automatically run and bring up several options & one should be to reinstall the OS. YMMV check your computers documentation as to the specifics.

If you do a reinstall you need to do the following:

Got to:

C:\Windows\System32\oobe\

And copy "oobeinfo.ini" onto a floppy disk

Then go to:

C:\Windows\System32\

And copy "wpa.dbl" onto a floppy disk

Once you have reinstalled XP you will need to start the computer in Safe mode with an Administrator account.

When you have done that copy the two files back over to the computer into the same folders and restart normally and you shouldn't have to reregister your OS.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

I considered partitioning the Seagate: about half for the hard drive image backup, and the other half for picture files (or something along those lines).

If you back up everything to the same physical drive you run from, when the drive crashes you lose all your backups. It would be better to do backups to external media such as DVD or an external hard drive.

You could partition the drive so that your OS and programs are on a 50GB partition and then put your pictures and documents on a partition using the balance of the drive, so it makes backing up your data so much easier (just back up the entire D: drive or whatever letter you gave it.)

 

[pedalinbob]

Oh, the Seagate is external, and it is completely isolated from the computer and power source between backups.

I had considered partitioning because my system backup is an image. The "picture" partion would allow my wife to store pictures (in their native file format), and retrieve them when necessary for printing, etc.

I have looked up more info: turns out that for my system to recognize greater than 137gb HD (or something like that), I must have Win XP SP1 or greater installed, AND my BIOS must be Dell 4400_A03 or greater. I currently have A_05, but I am not sure which iteration my boot disk has.
I will be sure to have a copy of the most recent updates (XP SP3 and Dell 4400 A_06) on hand.

Good GOD there is a lot to learn about this stuff! I think a new (freshly formatted) HD will be faster, and the added storage will be nice. Apparently my current HD is a bit of a dog.

 

[Timothybil]

How handy are you doing computer hardware stuff? I just bought a Bare Bones upgrade kit from Tiger Direct for $199. I got a nice full-size tower case with 450w power supply and slots for four external drives (CD/DVD/Tape) and five internal drives; an ASUS micro-ATX motherboard with AMD2 socket; an AMD A64 X2 3800+ 2.0Ghz cpu; 2Gb OCZ memory; and a WD 160Gb SATA hard drive. I moved my ATI TV tuner card, my CD-R/W, my DVD R/W, my existing WD EIDE hard drive, and of course my mouse and keyboard over to the new system, and hey Presto! my new twin monitor monster machine. ( I went to my local computer fixit store and bought a used 17" crt from them for $25. Can't beat that with a stick!) Oh, I had to buy a case fan and a CPU fan for a total of $35 as well.

You have to be reasonably comfortable with computer innards because there are static and cooling issues that would be very easy to mess up, but if you are, its a great way to get a new system at a great price.

 

[pedalinbob]

Interesting possibility...but, my knowledge is limited...
I probably know enough to get myself into trouble!

 

[carbine15]

If you can, wait until "Black friday sale."

+1

 

[Radiophile]

I think a new (freshly formatted) HD will be faster, and the added storage will be nice. Apparently my current HD is a bit of a dog.

I doubt it would make that great of a performance difference. You aren't changing to SCSI after all, just another IDE.

The biggest problem with running an older version of windows (I run Win2K at home) is that the more you update, the slower your system becomes. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself. Back up all your data to your external drive and do a complete system restore. Your system will seem blazingly fast compared to what it is now - until you do all of the updates.

I have several older machines that I still use for various applications. Because I don't use them on the internet and only use them on my lan or stand alone, I have nothing but a basic install on them. They're surprisingly fast with older software designed to run on their respective operating systems.

If you don't mind wasting a little time you could try a back up and restore to see if it improves things. But in the end I think you'll want a new PC if only to handle surfing the internet with the latest browser(s) and associated software.

 

[pedalinbob]

Excellent responses. I am in no hurry, so I will have time to think it over.

With my current computer, I have been very diligent in weeding out unnecessary programs/files and only allowing select programs to run at startup. Of course, updates are all there as are the security necessities.
Radiophile's comment hits home. I believe that if I weren't diligent, my computer would be slooooooowwwwwwwww.

Upon further thought, increased speed isn't the prime motivator, but would be a nice plus. The storage is probably the most important.
Overall, I'm trying to balance difficulty, cost and performance. A tricky balance, to be sure.

I like the Timothybil's idea of constructing my own...kind of a "pride" thing, I guess...and might be a good learning experience.

 

[tiktok 22]

Hi Bob,

I agree with the Dr. What you have is more than fine to do what you do. However, if your heart is set on a new one, here is my .02 on new ones.

1. I can build a high end model cheaper than what I can buy a new one.

2. I CANNOT build a new computer to compete with the lower end models. It's just not cost efficient.

3. If storage is your main concern, a new HDD is an easy upgrade that I or most others here could help you do it yourself.

4. reinstalling the OS is VERY easy but time consuming. It would be my first attempt in seeing if a new install would give you what you need before you buy anything.