Brand Name PC's

[stewyg]

Everyone that reads this can use and may know a bit about computers...right :?: so whats ur opinion on brand name PC's? i just pulled apart a HP Pavillion to get some parts from it and alot of the parts are not compatable :!: :!: usually parts are standard across the board for a PC. I STUFFED UP THE CREATION OF THE POLL! SO PRETEND "Watever" MEANS BUY BRAND NAME!!!

 

[Ty]

*cough* apple *cough*

 

[S.]

Um, you forgot the pro-brand name option in the poll...

 

[stewyg]

i put it in, but it obviously didnt let me have 4 options

 

[stewyg]

*cough* apple *cough*

I know nothing about apple, but i dont really think there worth mentioning in this poll about PC's, there new Power Mac G5 is a sweet computer but there even less compatable with the rest of the "E"-world than HP

 

[Ty]

i think you'll be suprised, you can just run a windows os inside a window on OSX, which pretty much means you can run anything windows related except anything that requires hardcore processing and most film/cad/sound applications that do require alot of processing are released for Macs anyway

 

[wombat]

Well in my (limited) understanding, Apple's computers are far superior to most PC's in terms of power and effeciency. Look at professionals who run programs like ProTools and Illustrator, chances are they have an Apple dedicated to the program.

 

[stewyg]

yeah, you can run windows inside OSX. but only get a smooth performance with there top of the line G5 if ur tryin to run XP.
But thats a entirly different matter, the point im making here is that the Pro brand name PC's (not MAC) make there hardware non-compatalble (especialy HP)

 

[Glock]

As far as i'm concerned, name brand pc's tend to suck. Sure, they might be ok for a granny who wants to send and receive emails with relatives, but other than that, they're pretty gay. As has been mentioned before, the parts in them are often incompatible with "standard" bits that you would normally be able to pick up from the local "acme" computer store. I am a bit of a computer enthusiast, so building my new computer from scratch was a piece of cake. In fact, anyone with basic mechanical skills (the difficulty rating being the ability to use a screw driver) and common sense can assemble and configure a computer in about 3 hours I reckon. With most parts being plug'n'play (or as i have found out in the past, "plug'n'pray"), there's no justification for having to pay the extra hundred or so bucks for "labour" costs.
Apples have their place, especially where high-end graphics are concerned, but aren't really practical for your average bear. There's my two cents.

 

[Glock]

For any DIY computer enthusiasts in 'woomba, go to The Disc Shop, which has just opened in the Homemaker Centre (Prescott St, in the shop where Frank's A1 Cycles used to be). I got a tops burner from there yesterday for $74, so that's a bit of orright compared to Hardly Normal's asking price of $99.

 

[BlueFuzz]

I really don't like computers much. I spend most of my days on them (being a technical support officer) and have a home computer that is a mish mash of God knows what. As long as they go, I don't really care what they are made of

 

[wombat]

Hmmm, remind me to post here when I'm looking at putting something together, hardware is beyond me most of the time.

To prove my ignorance, I"ll ask a dopey question, how much should I budget to put together a decent PC?

 

[MrPlow]

StewyG.
You should edit your poll to include name brands and get rid of the who cares one me thinks.
I am for the custom built option. I got a sweet laptop built to my spec's for $4200.00. It has to be pretty powerful for CAD programs. And the equivelent Toshiba-HP etc was around $6000.00
As for Mac's. The last place I worked was MAC crazy. They had an apple server etc. but the CAD (mine) station was PC. We tried running emulation, but even on the newest most powerful MAC, emulation is a waste of time! And you cannot get a lot of CAD programs to run on grapples. I think they suck 4 that reason. Word is though that the new microsoft OS is cross-platform :wink:

 

[Glock]

hmmm, many would debate this, but for $1k i reckon you can get a seriously meaty box. this price excludes an operating system, but you can always "borrow a back-up copy from a mate for extensive evaluation purposes."

 

[wombat]

Hehe, evaluation....Hmmm 1k you say?
I spose I'm after something to do some CAD stuff, other graphics (probably not much vid though) and maybe even play games on. look at putting the money into a good graphics card?

Also, AMD or Intel? Athlon or Pentium?

 

[MrPlow]

CAD=PENTIUM!!
stay away from all else.
MY NOTEBOOK IS P4 2.4, 512 RAM, 32Mb ATI RAGE CARD. RUNS CAD PROGRAMS SWEET AS, I HAVE HAD A FAIR FEW CAD AND GRAPHICS PROGRAMS ON IT AND THEY RUN FINE! NO GAMES AT ALL THOUGH, HAVEN'T EVEN INSTALLED ONE. MY WIFE PLAYS SOLITAIR, DOES THAT COUNT?

 

[wombat]

What is it that makes the Pentium better for that sort of stuff?

 

[josh]

intel vs amd is the equivalent of holden vs ford.

I myself have bought two amd cpu's, and have had no probs with them whatsoever. Then there will be other people on here that will swear by intel.

glock is about right, ~1k will buy you a good computer. If your going to be on the computer alot, you might need to increase your budget to account for a good monitor. A good monitor is a MUST for long nights on the PC.

 

[MrPlow]

What is it that makes the Pentium better for that sort of stuff?

celerons cannot think about too many things at once. AMD is Ok, but I think they conflict with some (CAD) programs. Used too anyway, might be different now.

 

[wombat]

Yeah, I wasn't planning on a celeron (or whatever it is that AMD call their cheaper processor) I was just interested in the differences between an Athlon and a Pentium.

Hmmm, sorry Stewy, I've hijacked your thread. I'll leave now and make my own....