I need help buying a new PC for my nephew.

 

He takes a bazillion and one pictures and has catalogue picture for our family.

 

I can't remember if he has a G4 now, but I want to buy him a PC that:   

[*]Has as much processing power as possible

[*]Large Hard drive

[*]Connections for his iphone, camera, scanner and other accessories

[*]DVD copying and burning

I have no idea what to get, I'm thinking he should have a laptop, but he's made hints about getting a new desktop.  He needs to have this thing for atleast the next four/five years.  I need to order it now in time for his birthday. 

 

Also, can someone suggest a good external storage device?

 

Suggestions

Since I built my system 3 years ago there have been a lot of changes, so I'll leave that to the tech people who are more up-to-date than I am.

 

For external storage I like the Western Digital Mybook USB drives. They come in different sizes up to 1 terabyte, and they're reasonably priced. In my opinion they're better than the Maxtor external drives - more durable and reliable. I lost a bunch of stuff to a failed Maxtor one-touch that wasn't very old, and I've read of other people experiencing the same thing.

 

Staples has the Mybook, and their prices are probably as good as anyone's.

 

I bought the 500GB version so that I can use it with my laptop when I travel, to offload pics from my camera's compact flash cards. Then, when I get home I can just plug it into my desktop and go to work.

Get him a good IBM - those things are built well and last a long time.

I don't know why I said "PC" I meant now computer in general.  I could be a mac or pc.

 

I just figured I would ask you kids since many of you are in high school/ college and use your PC/Laptop (or mac) for multiple uses.

 

So any suggestions?  Hook a brotha up!

Get him a Macbook, foo.

Get him a Macbook, foo.

 

Is there a specific model you suggest?  Also, can he hook that up to the current monitor he has?

Get him a Macbook, foo.

 

Is there a specific model you suggest? Also, can he hook that up to the current monitor he has?

 

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTE3MjA

 

Yeah, he can hook it up to any monitor. If it's a VGA connector, he'll need the mini DVI adapter (good to have anyway). I think they're about $20.

 

That $1k macbook is more than enough. I've got the black one.

I've had good experiences with my dell computers (this coming from the person whose computer is in the computer hospital right now, but it's a windows problem, not hardware....)  At any rate, Dell has excellent service.  If a hard drive or CD drive or something easily replaceable by the user breaks, they'll overnight you a new one.  If it's a motherboard or a fan or something a little more difficult to replace, they'll send a technician to you at whatever time and place are best for you.  It's quite convenient :-D

If he has a mac now chances are he'll want to stick with mac. Don't get the MacBook Air. Any of the MacBook Pro's should be fine, only depending on how much you want to spend.

If he has a mac now chances are he'll want to stick with mac. Don't get the MacBook Air. Any of the MacBook Pro's should be fine, only depending on how much you want to spend.

 

That's what I was thinking.  I don't want to spend more $1,500.  he'll be turning 16 soon, so this PC has to last for four/five years. 

Laptops rarely last any more than a few years. Something always goes wrong with them. It's usually something minor that costs a lot, like malfunctioning keyboard keys, connection to the power outlet, bent USB, pixels going out, etc. I don't think many warranties last more than a few years. In that sense, it's probably better for him to have a desktop. If he's going to college maybe you should hold off and wait until then because that's when he'll need a good laptop.

The extended warranty + insurance helps.  I know Dell warranties go up to 3 or 4 years.  It's sucks shelling out $120 after purchase, but worth $30/year to get your comp through at least 4 years of good to perfect operation.  And if it gets dropped or stolen, it can be entirely replaced at little or no cost.

 

Really, by the time the warranty runs out, you a ready for the next best thing.

Those are good points. Notebooks are one of the few consumer products that I think are worthy of an extended warranty.

Get him a Macbook, foo.

 

 

and the new ones have the aluminum case. should hold up longer then the G4s and PC notebooks

Is there a specific model you suggest? Also, can he hook that up to the current monitor he has?

 

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTE3MjA

 

Yeah, he can hook it up to any monitor. If it's a VGA connector, he'll need the mini DVI adapter (good to have anyway). I think they're about $20.

 

That $1k macbook is more than enough. I've got the black one.

RIP Windows 3.1                                             

By Scott Loganbill                        November 7, 2008                       

                     

 

With little fanfare, Microsoft officially stopped serving licenses to the Windows 3.X series on November 1, 18 years after its release.

 

It means people have been using Windows 3.1 long after obsolescence — even after Microsoft dropped support for it in 2001 — in the old ATMs and random advertising displays across the world. Windows 3 led a long life, ushering a generation into the computing world.

 

Oh Windows 3, you made graphical user interfaces cool. We salute you (enter the sound of “Taps” playing on a trumpet somewhere).

http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/RIP_Windows_3DOT1

I have a DOS to windows 3.1 upgrade for some reason.  It's odd to see 5 inch floppies!

We have a COO from Microsoft presenting to us at our annual fiscal year global sales kickoff meeting. The MS Teams Live Event crashed right in the middle of her presentation and has now been down for more than 20 minutes. LOL

I know Teams has its critics, but for meetings it's a godsend compared to Zoom and better than WebEx.

 

As a shared drive repository, however, it feels like a clunky SharePoint, which is already kind of clunky.

14 minutes ago, TBideon said:

I know Teams has its critics, but for meetings it's a godsend compared to Zoom and better than WebEx.

 

As a shared drive repository, however, it feels like a clunky SharePoint, which is already kind of clunky.

Agree on all. I prefer it over Zoom for most meeting needs. Clearly the critics are using it for something different than what I use it for, because my experience is generally good. But the crash today was too funny to not share. 

So now we have more sophisticated ways to draw out what could have been an e-mail...

On 10/4/2023 at 12:46 PM, TBideon said:

I know Teams has its critics, but for meetings it's a godsend compared to Zoom and better than WebEx.

 

As a shared drive repository, however, it feels like a clunky SharePoint, which is already kind of clunky.

What I've objected to with remote conferencing software is the lack of an ability to have a private word with another participant.  Does Teams include this?