Buying a computer

[blocko05]

I have been in the I.T industry for 13 years now as a I.T technician. I repair all brands, makes and models of PC's including self built PC's. I work for a company that is the warranty and service providers for all the major brands so I get to see what happens behind the scenes. I am factory trained in DELL, HP, Acer, Asus as well as factory trained in printers.

If you want a brand name PC then look no further than a DELL. You order what you want on line and it gets delivered to your door. If you want one made up then go to a dealer that specializes in gaming PC's and get them to assemble one for you.

Buy the most up spec unit you can afford at the time and remember this unit is for you not every one else. Why get something that you wont use because someone else told you that you should have it. I see people with entry level units that have had no issues for over 5 years. I.T equipment has a shelf life of 3 - 4 years after that they are dinosaurs. they age in dog years.

Once you know what you want in a PC then the next most important aspect when choosing one is the warranty. Dont buy a extended warranty unless it is the manufactures warranty. DELL are the only ones that will come to you within 24 hours of you making a call and fix it for you in front of you weather you are at home or at work. NO OTHER manufacturer will do this. HP is not worth the hassell and their warranty is SHIT. ACER warranty is even worse.

Hope this helps you out mate.

[rusty_nail]

DELL are the only ones that will come to you within 24 hours of you making a call and fix it for you in front of you weather you are at home or at work.

i agree with that, but its only within 24 hours of getting them to accept that the fault is hardware related and not a problem at your end. getting them to agree with your diagnosis is the hard part...

[blocko05]

i agree with that, but its only within 24 hours of getting them to accept that the fault is hardware related and not a problem at your end. getting them to agree with your diagnosis is the hard part...

I agree totally mate. That's what happens when you talk to someone in India who works off a spread sheet of questions and is not qualified to listen and make a decision them self. I am sure my life is shortened every time I speak to someone from there. (this happens a lot in my job)

[Cuppa]

FYI, macs are under spec'd, the only reason they run well is because the OS is very light weight. it is also the reason they phase them out easily, because they just increase the demands and minimum requirements of the newer software and boom its superceeded, no longer supported and makes you have to go buy a new PC

I don’t really understand your point. The 2007 MBP still runs current software & has specs which still equals many of today’s entry level machines.

My current MBP (which is actually late 2013) has the following specs:

& also has a 500GB SSD drive. I wouldn’t have called that ‘under spec’d’ & I’m not sure what you mean about the OS being light weight. It certainly has it’s differences to Windows, but I would have said it was just as capable & if (?) it needs less resources to run it, then surely that can only be a good thing?

[jff45]

Macbook Pro Retina 15".. beautiful machine, my BIL has one. Let me know when you find it under-spec'd and I'll PM you my address

[rusty_nail]

I don’t really understand your point. The 2007 MBP still runs current software & has specs which still equals many of today’s entry level machines.

My current MBP (which is actually late 2013) has the following specs:

& also has a 500GB SSD drive. I wouldn’t have called that ‘under spec’d’ & I’m not sure what you mean about the OS being light weight. It certainly has it’s differences to Windows, but I would have said it was just as capable & if (?) it needs less resources to run it, then surely that can only be a good thing?

Macbook Pro Retina 15".. beautiful machine, my BIL has one. Let me know when you find it under-spec'd and I'll PM you my address

Ok sorry guys, you've got me, they arent under spec'd. What i meant to say they are underspec'd for the price you pay...

so going off the specs of what you have there cuppa, you have what would be the most expensive macbook pro? thats $3499 on the macbook website. now for $1500 less than that you can get an asus(and plenty of other comparable brands im sure i just picked asus first) with exactly the same hardware, if you really wanted to you could even install Mac OS on it.... so tell me is there really justification for the $1500 price increase?

if you dont believe me take a look here at a comparison between the last zenbook model and the last MBP(was the most recent one i found) and for price MBP here and zenbook here

for the price you pay for a macbook pro you should be getting something similar to what alienware computers offer take the 15 R2 thats $2499 and absolutely dumps all over either of the fore mentioned PC...

i hope its clear enough for you from what ive said above that Mac PCs are underspec'd due to their price... having that apple logo really just doesnt justify the huge price difference and it frustrates me that people just dont seem to get that.

you can send me your address now john, although i dont know why i want it lol

EDIT: sorry cuppa i missed your other question about the operating system. being lightweight i didnt mean it was a bad thing, i actually mean the operating system, while fully functioning, is not very resource hungry when compared to windows. its not that mac have better batteries its just that the operating system puts far less strain on the CPU, which puts far less drain on the battery.

DONT GET ME WRONG MATE, im not a mac hater, I am just a massive believer in getting what you pay for, and i just dont see it with mac.

[jff45]

Perhaps the quality of the retina display has something to do with the price?
My BIL is in dental prosthetics and tells me he hasn't found a better screen for reproducing natural teeth colouring and shades..

They also seem to be preferred by professional photographers as well.

[rusty_nail]

Perhaps the quality of the retina display has something to do with the price?
My BIL is in dental prosthetics and tells me he hasn't found a better screen for reproducing natural teeth colouring and shades..

They also seem to be preferred by professional photographers as well.

what are you basing that off? i work for/with a professional photographer who has owned his photographic business for 15 years, having bought the company off my off man who he worked for for 10 years, its not just some bloke with a camera its a small business see here if you dont believe me. he uses all windows based PCs and individually colour balances the monitors with a spyder pro II device.

so what you are saying though is a dentist told you it was better for showing teeth? thats a terrible thing to assume something is better from... basing your opinion of something from someone who is completely unqualified to give you any basis other than a personal opinion is silly! the only real reason the retina screen is sharper is because it has a higher resolution (being that it goes to 1440 rather than 1080...)

there are plenty of laptops with comparable screens, just like the asus and alienware PC that i mentioned above see a comparison here

oh and your saying that a monitor where the only difference is that the monitor is a bit sharper justifies a $1500 increase in price? LOL

[rusty_nail]

So we have 3 laptops here that are knackered and are wanting a new platform. I think desktop would be the best option as we really dont need the mobility of a laptop.

Now we only really use the computer for storage of photos and documents. Also for getting on the net, shopping, printing.

So I would like some advice on what to look at. Brands, sizing, retailers etc.etc.

Thanks in advance all info appreciated.

mate, if you want help reinstalling the OS's on the laptops you already have that will make them run better with a clean install. PM if you want help and maybe we can do a quick skype session.

[Hodge]

Ok sorry guys, you've got me, they arent under spec'd. What i meant to say they are underspec'd for the price you pay...

Rust-nailed it in one sentence!
Way overpriced for what you get. And there is no future-proof whatsoever, in terms of a desktop unit. For the price of a current range of iMacs for instance, you could build or get your self built a latest specced PC, and still have $ left over to splash out on other stuff.... OR $ left over to buy upgrades in the future. Whether that may be a CPU or a video card or larger hard drive etc...

Apple stuff is good. But in my opinion, it's one case of "You don't get what you pay for."