New computer

[enrico]

Bring back the spectrum I say!

 

[alanf]

Why would I want to learn yet another OS?

If you're happy with Win7 and already have a copy, there are few reasons to change. Whatever Linux and Mac have going for them, and there is a lot that is attractive, MS and Windows remain the default. As you found with a mobile dongle, manufacturers (whoever Vodafone bought it in from - Huawei?) will release with Windows drivers and work on the others when it suits them. Any software or gadget you see promoted will be for Windows only if it doesn't explicitly say it's for something else. We might not like it but the home and business desktop/laptop market is dominated by Windows.

The nearest I've seen in the UK to a comprehensive consumer satisfaction survey of actual users is the annual PCPro one. The desktop Windows PC category last survey was topped by the specialist manufacturers, Chillblast, Cyberpower and PCSpecialist aimed mostly at gamers. Apple is also up there, strong on build quality and you can run Windows on Mac hardware but it's not a cheap option.

If you want to buy remotely, the PCs assembled by the parts warehouses like Scan, Medion and CCL are mid table All the major 'name' manufacturers are below them; top of the big internationals is Acer. Dell and HP prop up the bottom, poor service and reliability and slammed for using customised parts that are expensive to replace once they're out of warranty. HP in particular is known for loading PCs with a load of 'crapware' trials and promos that just slow the thing down and adding no value.

To an extent, this survey probably reflects the frustrations that professional users have with the big manufacturers. There is an idea that if they are that big, they should get it right more often than they do. However it is a frequent observation that the bigger they are, the more they put their time into the higher margin areas like servers and shifting boxes by the thousand to big business where they can 'support' at one remove. They are not yet building 'consumer devices'.

If you have loaded the OS yourself, you're ahead of 95% of the computing population. You know what you want and if you don't want to assemble something I would be looking for a one off local PC shop where you can talk to the PC builder. You might have to ask around to find someone reliable but if you do they will be more than capable of putting together a basic box that fits what you want. You can use any existing monitor or keyboard etc without being pressurised to take the whole bundle. It will be made of standard components that can be replaced or upgraded for several years. More to the point, if it's a critical part of your business, they can provide a replacement or fix it on the spot faster than anybody you are going to be dealing with at a distance.

 

[Onge]

Bring back the spectrum I say!

I have one in the loft.

 

[alanf]

I have one in the loft.

You mean there are people who don't have Speccy in the loft?

 

[VEG]

I have one with a modem for it as well.

 

[RoofTops]

Donning my best rab hat - Rooftops - You're back from your 'read only' sabbatical, I see.

It was largely a beekeeping forum and any other beekeeping site free sabbatical which started after the sale of my company. I found there were just so times I could read the same questions about myhivehasswarmedwhatdoIdomyhoneyhascrystalisedwhatsortofhives/suit/beeshouldIgetmyqueenhasstoppedlayingorIcannotfindher....
Which is not to belittle these questions because we have all probably had these problems but I found I was spending too much time trying to contribute so after a bit of cold turkey - which lasted only a few days, I suddenly found I had time on my hands to actually do some beekeeping plus some cycling - had a great week in Brittany and off to Provence next month.

 

[SixFooter]

my knowledge of what is a decent processor is very out of date.

Any thoughts as to what to look for in a middle of the road non gaming machine?

PH

I've got a 286 you can have for £400.00

 

[Hombre]

Nice to see you back Rooftops. We missed you.

 

[Hombre]

Personally, I'd prefer an AMD processor (every bit as good, but cheaper), bags of RAM, and would probably "build my own"

AMD 'clocks' FX processor at 8.429-GHz
September 14, 2011

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has announced it has achieved the Guinness World Record for the "Highest frequency of a computer processor," by running an 8-core FX processor at 8.429-GHz.

A bit of overkill for your requirements Poly', but obviously AMD still have something up their sleeve.

It seems a shame that you couldn't live with Linux, but the likes of Fermilab and Cern are happy, along with other scientific organisations to put together Scientific Linux 6.1 based on RHEL.

Seems a shame that your dongle didn't work. I have often found that in situations like that, six months is a good time to look again at a more current distribution release as it takes time. it's not the fault of Linux that the dongle doesn't work, given that it was designed with Windows in mind with collaboration between the various organisations, but Linux developers get to see the gear only when it hits the market. Wifi used to be a problem, but Linux has caught up. Broadcom eventually OpenSourced it's drivers because they realised that they could sell more hardware because Linux users were on the rise, albeit a very small one.

I wouldn't mind betting that of the 40 websites you have a presence on, that more than 50% have a significant Linux/GNU Open Source content or OS.

You could do worse than have a look at what Aria,co,uk are flogging. Prices are quite keen. buy a simple business machine of the appropriate spec and then load it up with as much disk as you like and your own OS of choice I notice that the price of SSD's is coming down nicely. One of those would make an awful lot of difference to the performance of your system Windows 7 should be good and Linux should go like the proverbial off the shovel. Virtualisation is also good to go these days and allow you to run a guest OS. Apparently Windows 7 runs faster virtualised on a Linux box than it does natively. Now explain that if you can . . .
Plextor M2S Series 64GB 2.5" SATA-III 6GB/s Solid State Hard Drive is now on super special at £59.99 including VAT.
Virtualisation might be of interest to you, but SSds should be a definite must have for system speed, with most of your regular user files on regular rotating memory devices.
In a year or two, when you are hankering after more SSD, then the sizes will have gone up and the prices down.

AMD may not always have the fastest processors, but bangs for bucks it is a very good bet.

 

[Jamieb]

Apparently Windows 7 runs faster virtualised on a Linux box than it does natively

Do you have any more info on that because that’s pretty much the opposite of my experience!!

 

[Hombre]

Fraid not JamieB. The report was anecdotal from M0LIT Clive during one of our many radio conversations. he is regularly rebuilding systems and heavily into virtualisation, although not always with 100% success.

It was supposedly a bit of a surprise to himself, but from what he said, the difference was discernable. Not sure if he was using VirtualBox or Xen, likely to be Xen though.
.

 

[Jamieb]

Fair enough, most of my experience is with VMWare but I might have a look into Xen, not really a viable corporate solution but interesting non the less.

By the way M0LIT..?

 

[Hombre]

M0LIT is an amateur radio callsign, held by Clive. That's a zero not an "O". He's with a computer service company largely working with MS Windows stuff, but is also a Linux fan and isn't frightened to use some of the tools to rescue client's disasters, when needed.

He likes to keep himself current and dabbles with so many boxes that he must have more than enough cash to play with to keep bees instead. Instead of installing new OS and bits of software, he can just do a Baily comb change or a shook swarm now and then, eh?

Victor is G4WIL and I'm G0PAI. It seems that bees attract a fair number of radio amateurs as well as doctors etc. The whole smorgasboard of the population in fact.

 

[Poly Hive]

Arriving tomorrow...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....50251333&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:GB:1123#vi-desc

PH

 

[Hombre]

Sounds to be just the bees knees. Which Win 7 OS option did you elect for?

You are obviously going to too busy to answer questions tomorrow . .. enjoy.

I'm still using an AMD Sempron 2200+ circa 2004, so am several horse power behind your new baby. Biding my time. I can see that a noisy fan will get the blame and be the justification at some point in time.

 

[Black Comb]

That looks good value

 

[Poly Hive]

Arriving blank I will install 64bit win7 tomorrow, the "Home Premium" version.

I am expecting registration issues though as I did a reformat on this one a fortnight ago. However I have net access via the lappie so hopefully all will be well.

I have backed this up on an external HD, and have remembered this time, (see above re-format) to back up the favourite list for Firefox...*oops!*

PH

 

[drstitson]

new computer

will be waiting with baited breath to see if the "pub's open" post appears any quicker tomorrow evening!!!!!

 

[Poly Hive]

LOL
Still waiting...

PH

 

[Brosville]

Smashing computer! - that'd be real flyer running Mint, shame you're going to pay a small fortune to attach a Windoze drag anchor to it...........