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[naomikritzer]

I have HAD IT with my computer.

I am soliciting suggestions for what I should replace it with. I run mostly Word and Firefox, plus occasionally Outlook and PaintShop Pro . That's pretty much it. I don't use my computer to play games, nor do I use it watch movies aside from the occasional YouTube video. I keep the sound muted by default and turn it on when there's something I want to listen to. I want it to do a bunch of very simple tasks quickly and efficiently and as invisibly as possible.

I have heard a number of horror stories about consumer-level Dell customer support, though I suspect things are just as miserably awful at Gateway, etc.

Are there any features I wouldn't necessarily find on a cheap computer that I should pay extra for? Is there something that's currently a luxurious extra but will be required for basic functionality in 18 months? (My current computer, for example, has USB ports but they're vintage USB ports rather than USB2. My lack of USB2 was a serious pain in the ass within a short period of buying this computer.)

The fancy luxury I'm tempted by are those widescreen monitors that you can flip 90 degrees to become tallscreen monitors, but I'm concerned about establishing poor ergonomic habits. (Admittedly, I am slouching right now, so maybe I should say, I'm concerned about establishing EVEN WORSE ergonomic habits.)

I am leaning towards not getting a laptop. I have only rarely taken my computer out of its docking station, because I can't stand typing on a laptop keyboard or using the eraser-head pointer thingie, so I have to take along enough accessories to work elsewhere that it's just not worth the hassle. Although, there have been just enough times that I've really needed one that I'm hesitant to ditch the option of portability. (I did some of my final editing on Freedom's Apprentice while sitting outside a campground laundry, on vacation. I wasn't thrilled about having to work while on vacation, but I had an imminent deadline.)

Suggestions? Advice?

Comments

[gelsey.livejournal.com]

I happen to be very happy with my Dell, actually, though I know not everyone is.

I really like HP, though. My brother's laptop is wonderful. I would lean towards not getting a laptop, though, unless you're going to lug it around. Desktops are much steadier.

[joxn.livejournal.com]

I agree on not getting a laptop. I have had enough experience with laptops to have the opinion that laptops are meant for if you want to take the computer with you, and therefore should be as light and small as possible.

You know what I suggest, and I'm not fooling? Get a Mac Mini. And put Windows XP Pro on it -- don't even screw around with MacOS. You'd have to buy a copy of XP Pro and Office (maybe even just Word if you don't use Excel or Powerpoint), but it so happens that I can get both those pieces of software very cheap from the company store ($35 for XP Pro, $75 for Office Pro, maybe $25 for just Word 2003 but I'd have to check).

A colleague of mine says that Macs are now his favorite hardware for running Windows, although he also bought a super-tricked-out Mac Pro. But then, he wanted to run Photoshop on Vista...

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

I suggest going to General Nanosystems and talking to them about putting together a computer for you. I've gone to them twice to have computer problems solved -- and both times, they did something simple and didn't charge me.
3015 University Avenue SE, MPLS; http://www.generalnanosystems.com.

Also try their competitors -- including one just down the street.

[swords-and-pens.livejournal.com]

When my computer dies (either the desktop or lap top), I am moving to a portable Mac. I'm just plain sick of Windows and Microsoft, and I have become hooked on working either at home or away as the mood strikes me.

That aside, my dirt-cheap basic portable cow-box has held up well so far. My home system was a Dell originally, but when it got old enough to need updating, I went and bought a new eMachine box for the same price as putting in new hardware in the old system. Is it top of the line? No. But the one nice thing about my current system is that I have been able to replace components without having to replace everything. Which, ironically, is the advantage of running a PC. :)

I have a flippable wide screen monitor, btw. Don't flip it tons, but it is a niiiiice option when I want to see the entire page at once (like when I'm revising).

USB?

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

You can add high speed USB to a laptop if you have a free opening. http://www.computercablestore.com/detail.aspx?ID=2194. Of course, if you already have a wireless card, that's not much help.

I've two regular 3X4 monitors that flip both at home and at work and flip them very rarely. I find having two monitors of much more use than the ability to flip one.

If you buy a Mac or a PC laptop, buy the warranty. They all seem to make poor hardware choices. Desktops are easier to swap out parts if you are so inclined.

There are always things in the hardware pipeline that will totally revolutionize life as we know it. http://www.tomshardware.com/ The quad-core chips are coming -- make that taking over the world, but I don't think you'll notice the difference in a word processor.

If a laptop, I'd probably buy a known brand (HP, Sony, or Apple) at Best Buy or the Apple Store with a warranty.

If a desktop, something quiet that's easy to upgrade and that can drive two monitors. I'd want lots and lots of USB ports. I'd want some free expansion ports for the next greatest thing to come down the pike. I'd not want it to cost an arm and a leg because in three years, the glow will have faded and the gilt will have been knocked off the lily. The operating system, XP or Apple's current or the new one waiting in the wings. Vista is not yet much loved.

[pants-of-doom.livejournal.com]

I have been extremely happy with my Mac, and watched my roommate have a great deal of frustration with Windows Vista. If you want to stick to PC, though, I second the General Nanosystems suggestion.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Chiming in on the laptop versus desktop issue. When I was working off my laptop at home, I always kept it in the docking station and used a full size keyboard, mouse and monitor. So two years ago when my laptop died on the day before a revised manuscript was due at Bantam, I wound up replacing it with an HP desktop simply because that was what made sense given I had one hour to shop.

But since then there have been occasions where I've regretted not having a laptop--it's not often, but a few times a year I'll need the ability to write while traveling, whether that's at a con, on a vacation, or when I've been invited to a writer's retreat. So when this HP dies, I'll get a laptop to replace it.

As far as brands-- manufacturers are constantly tweaking their laptop models, for example using memory chip from company A for three months, then switching it to memory chip B, or video card version 1 gets replaced by video card version 1.1. Every time things change, there's the possibility that the new component configuration will prove less (or more) reliable than the previous one. So recommendations from friends etc, aren't much good as far as specific models unless they've made a recent purchase. It's better to ask their impressions on customer service, value for the buck, or ease of setup, which are the things that tend to change more slowly.

Good luck! And let us know what you decide.

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

I have had a Dell desktop machine since 2001. It's kind of old and slow now, but I'm still pleased with it. I also have a laptop my brother gave me, also a Dell, that I've used for travelling. I don't like laptops that well either, and I've changed to a Palm TX (and plan to get a keyboard) for checking email on the go, or the sort of jotting down notes I actually need. If you have a laptop now, and it's still working, you could always transfer whatever you're working on to it and take it with you if you need to.

Any Windows based machine is liable to be noticably cheaper than a Mac. Just saying. I'd do a little shopping around, both online and in person. One advantage of a someplace like general nanosystem would be you could probably choose your operating system within reason, and avoid Vista. I've heard bad things about it; I would think XP is available, on friends' backup disks if nowhere else.

[naomikritzer]

Current machine runs agonizingly slowly. It can take a full menu for the Start menu to pop up when I click on it, and then another twenty seconds when I select the Program menu, and so on. I tried to defrag some time ago and it failed. In addition, the CD/R has not written in years and reads only sporadically, and it refuses to speak properly to the print drivers that run the new printer we got last year. (The ancient HP LJ4+ has constant paper jams now.)

I decided a long time not to build my own computers. I over-research large purchases; if I did that with each individual component, I would never finish. Also, my inner geek is extremely rusty and out of practice. I don't get much satisfaction out of general geekery these days; I just want a tool that does what I need it to do instead of pissing me off every five minutes as it stops cold in order to think, or twiddle its thumbs, or make itself coffee, or whatever the hell it's doing when it suddenly locks up for minutes at a time.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_contingent_/]

If the same hardware used to run the same software well enough, you might well just need to defrag, or maybe reinstall everything. Windows rots over time, for a variety of stupid reasons.

[naomikritzer]

I originally rescued that HP from the trash at a former workplace. I don't know why they were throwing it out, as there were plenty of printers of similar vintage that were still being used, and it worked perfectly. It's slow by modern standards but (until it started jamming) was incredibly reliable. These things are amazing workhorses.

I was semi-quoting your recent post because it sums up pretty much exactly what I want in a computer. Although I can deal with XP. I don't think I ever had Windows 2000, though -- my computer before this one had Windows 95 or 98, and XP was a pretty big improvement in terms of stability.

Mirrored hard drives would be great. Sudden hard drive death is one of those things that happens to everyone sooner or later, and it would seriously inconvenience me.

[joxn.livejournal.com]

Also if your budget is really tight now there's the option of I send you a list of all the $350-and-under gently used Microsoft PCs I can get from our PC Recycle program, you pick one out, and I have it shipped to you.

My housemate got a 2.8ghz P4, 2gb RAM, 160gb hd Dell Optiplex for $257 including sales tax and shipping. Again, you (or I) supply the OS.

Naturally you're taking something of a warranty risk, there, but on the other hand, two hundred fifty dollars.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

We've been happy with our Dell desktop so far. We've needed customer support only once, though, and I honestly don't remember (because it was at the same time we were going through our ISP non-service nightmare) how said support was.

At the office I have the super-fantastic widescreen flat-panel monitor (this one has a flat-panel, but just regular 19" kind-of-square; we wanted it because the desk is small and the old monitor took up so much space that we had to keep the scanner on the floor). I've never flipped it, but I adore it for editing, because it allows me to see the whole page of my document at a readable size without actually changing the font size and still have lots of room for my Google Desktop sidebar at the right and one of the Word toolbars just to the left of that (so only one toolbar is across the top -- I hate toolbars in layers, for some reason). I know you don't edit all day every day the way I do, but I reckon every writer is pretty frequently an editor as well, so your experience may be similar.

Our Dell has front-loading USB ports, so I no longer have to crawl around to the back of the CPU to plug in my flash drive. No doubt this is standard now, but the old computer that this one replaced was really old, so by me it's a huge leap forward :D.

Now, I do often wish we had a laptop, because there are times when it would be extremely useful to be able to go write (or edit) somewhere else. But the eraser-button thingy ... can't stand that.

[notthatedburke.livejournal.com]

I'd consider getting a new desktop and see if you can purchase a used laptop from a local company that would rather sell its old laptops for cheap than pay to recycle them. Then you've got a laptop you can bring with you, and you've got a spare computer. In part I think it depends on how nice you want the computer to be. You can get reasonably decent laptops fairly cheap, but when you start trying to make them nice, the price can go up a fair amount. (If you get a used laptop, it obviously won't be that nice. The desktop will be the nice computer. But as you remove your laptop from your desk once every 18 months, I think you could live with that).

As for monitors, I'd probably go with a widescreen before I'd get dual monitors. But then, while I think dual monitors are cool, I also find them a bit of a pain. (I like to be able to zoom my mouse over to the right-hand side of the screen and not have it float off on to the next monitor). But then, I tend to always use maximized windows. Others are more fond of dual monitors.

If you want to be able to flip your monitor, you'll need a new desk, and you'll lose all that storage space above your monitor.

[lrcutter.livejournal.com]

I only use laptops -- then again, I don't have a permanent desk. When I do the day job, I have a portable desk that I set up. The rest of the time, that desk lives in the closet. I use this laptop all the time. It's a Dell, and I've had very good luck with Dells. I've had Toshiba's for work -- I generally described the Toshiba as "the Toshiba piece of crap". I had several different Toshibas over the years for work, and I was lucky to get 12 months out of one.

I refuse to allow Vista into my home. Therefore, when this laptop dies a few years from now I will get a Mac. I love the idea of getting the Mac hardware and not bothering with their OS.

And I agree with someone else's statement here -- if you are going with a laptop, get an ultra-portable. It's the main reason why I don't have a Mac for the home laptop right now: their laptop wasn't small and light enough. I'm still hoping they'll come out with one before this machine dies. . .

[jimlawrence.livejournal.com]

I know there has been a lot of bad-mouthing of Dell in recent years, but my family has had no problems with Dell. We have lots of computers in this house (me, my wife, two twenty-something college student kids) and they are all either IBM (either company-owned that I use for work or purchesed via employee discount) or they are Dell (except for my daughter's very powerful for computer game playing desktop system that her boyfriend custom-built for her). I am typing this on my personal desktop that is a low-end IBM machine that is almost five years old and is slow and underpowered but does just fine for web-surfing and web page writing and e-mail, etc. All of the other machines are much more powerful. I do most of my work on an IBM Thinkpad but unless I am traveling I always use it in a docking station with a full keyboard, optical mouse, and large flatpanel screen. My wife, however, loves her Dell laptop with wireless connection and she works all over the house with it. The newest machine in the house is a Dell desktop we got for our son for Christmas. (For what it's worth, I also have a grown-up older son and he & his wife swear by their Apple laptop and would not consider any non-Apple machine.)

I would strongly suggest that you do not consider any low-end bargain $400 computer no matter what brand. There is no point in buying a machine that was obsolete before they even put it on the store shelf. You really should be looking at a machine in the $800 - $1000 range. Buy the most memory you can; it is much more important than processor speed. If you are going to stay in the Windows world, you should go for Windows XP Professional and avoid all flavors of Vista. Since you are not interested in video gaming, etc., you could look for "business" configured desktop machines. Many vendors -- Dell included -- are still selling WinXP systems to businesses because business users (quite wisely) are avoiding Vista. (And since you are a professional writer who is going to be using this machine for writing, it should be a business expense -- check with your accountant.)

Flat panel displays cost more than CRTs but they take up less real estate on your desk, only consume about a third of the power that a CRT does, and (most important of all) are much easier on your eyes. (Note that WinXP has a ClearType setting under Properties that can help you tweak the apperance of text fonts on a flat panel -- Google ClearType for details & instructions.)

So if you get a new computer can we expect more frequent Kritzer novels?

[allochthon.livejournal.com]

If you decide to go the desktop route, I'd recommend reformatting your laptop and putting Ubuntu on it. Ubuntu is doing a really good job of being the linux for non-linux geeks, and I use it every day at work. It comes with OpenOffice. If you keep to the simple document types (.rtf, .doc '97, etc) it interoperates well with Microsoft Office. Ubuntu also comes with firefox.

Then, you'd have a functional laptop for the few times when you need a laptop, but wouldn't have to worry about Windows rot or slowness.

And I agree w/everyone else. Don't get Vista. I installed Vista at work for awhile, and rolled back to XP. (This is on my old laptop, my new desktop has Ubuntu).

[allochthon.livejournal.com]

Also, University Computer Services sells old equipment that is still in good shape: htp://www.umn.edu/ucs