Need to buy many things, suggestions please

C

Confused820

New Member
I need to buy a whole bunch of new things in the near future. I am going to law school in the fall and I think I would like to get a new laptop, desktop, printer/copier, and mp3 player. I know that is a lot at once, but all of my old ones seem like they are nearly ready to give up the ghost. I also posted this on another forum because I would like to get as many suggestions as possible.

What I have now:
laptop = IBM Thinkpad R51 - two years old, given to me as part of my undergrad tuition. Still works, but constantly gives me low diskspace warnings, despite the fact I moved all of my documents and photos to my desktop and deleted everything I don't use regularly. Also the CD/DVD drive is very finicky and the edge is kind of broken. It still closes, but it doesn't look pretty. The battery is also really pitiful - I get about 1.5 hours max. Runs Windows XP. I tend to kill laptops my moving around with them everyday and keeping them on almost all the time.
desktop = 4 year old Micron Millenia running Windows XP
mp3 player = 2nd gen, 10g Ipod. It is at least 3 years old. Again is still works, but it is scratched, has terrible battery life at this point, and my desktop often fails to recognize it. My laptop doesn't have a firewire port.

What I want:
Price Range: keep it as reasonable as possible considering my needs, if more money would make a big difference then up to $7000 total as a maximum for all items. However, cheaper is better within reason. For example, if I pick a really nice desktop, I would want to go with a more basic laptop, because I would rather spend significantly less than $7000 if I can get what I want for less.

- I want a desktop for my apartment. My old micron will stay at my parents house where I will be during the summers and holidays. I want to be able to play some games - although I am not would you would call a gamer. I make very basic websites using frontpage and I would like a lot of storage for this, for photos, and for a LOT of documents, and to backup my class stuff. Mostly I want a lot of storage. The only problem I had with my micron is that it couldn't handle one of my favorite games - an old game called Creatures 3 with docking station. Once my norn population got to a certain, admittedly overpopulated, level, the game would no longer load. I don't play it regularly anymore, but it would be kind of fun to have a desktop on which I could play it on rare occasions. Games I am looking at getting: Spellforce 2, Guild Wars, Freelancer. I also still love to play a REALLY old game called gazillionaire deluxe - I have the trial version which came with a '98 game I think.
Here are some I am looking at, but please feel free to suggest others:
Alienware Aurora 7500
Apple Power Mac G5
Velocity Micro ProMagix DCX
Dell XPS 600
Are these choices all overkill?

- In a laptop, I really need a machine I can carry to class and take notes on, as well as access the internet to do research for papers. I have been told that OneNote is a good program for note-taking in law school.
But, I currently use my old laptop to connect to the internet practically 24/7. I am kind of addicted to reading and writing, and the internet enables my addiction. I am not sure if I should keep my old laptop and use it to browse the internet and instant message and make some very basic websites. I want to make sure the computer I use for exams/notes won't be messed up by any of the "fun" things I would otherwise use a laptop for. My current laptop has crashed a few times in the past and its diskspace issues aren't very encouraging. Alternatively, I could use system restore to restart this laptop and use this one solely for class and get a new one for fun stuff.

Dell Inspiron E1705
Dell XPS M140
Thinkpad X60s
HP Pavilion dv800z or dv1000

Or would something cheaper suffice, for what I am looking for?


-MP3 player. I could keep my old one. Or I could upgrade to a 60GB Photo Ipod or switch to Creative Zen Vision M 30GB. I know it is inconvenient to change over my itunes library, but apparently it can be done? I have heard of several programs which can do it, but I haven't tried them yet. The other consideration is that I have already spent the money on the accessories for Ipod. But I am not really happy about how itunes/my ipod works with my current computer even with anapod explorer which I like better than itunes. Of course, you could also suggest a different mp3 player all together.

That said, I have always been curious about macs. Would it be insane to consider getting a Apple Mac Mini Core Duo (1.67GHz)? Not as my main desktop, but just to have............yeah I guess maybe it would be dumb.

Thankfully, I am happy with my Nintendo DS pink edition and feel no need to replace that yet smile.gif

I would love suggestions. I like using computers, but I really don't know anything about them - so please save me from buying the wrong things.

Also the school I will be attending offers discounts on apple, IBM Lenovo, and govconnection.
And my school is an authorized repair center for:
IBM, Apple (but not ipods), HP, HP Compaq, Dell Products (but it requires a transfer of ownership?).

And here is the information my school recommends when buying a new computer:

"Minimum Required Configuration if Purchasing a New Computer
Operating System: Windows XP Pro Mac OS X
Computer Processor Pentium 4/1.9 GHz G4/ 933 MHz
Memory (RAM): 512 MB 512 MB
CD-RW Drive: Yes Yes
Hard Drive: 40 GB 40 GB
We recommend that you purchase an Ethernet card made by one of the following manufacturers: 3Com, Apple, Asante, Farallon, or Xircom.
Recommended wireless ethernet cards: We recommend the Lucent ORiNOCO Silver Card, which is compatible with Windows Operating Systems and Mac OS 9.2 or below. For Mac OS X, Apple’s AirPort card is recommended.
For 56K modem connections, the Law School's modem pool supports V.92 and K56flex technology, but not x2 technology. The modem pool does not require the use of a 56K modem for connection: older modems using V.32bis (14.4K) or V.34 (28.8K, 33.6K) standards should also work, but are not recommended. Our recommended minimum modem speed is 56K."
 
k for ur laptoo feel free to order online it is sometimes cheaper and u dont want it for anything really demandign anyway im shure a ibook could handle most of ur laptop stuff but for ur desctop get it from a local retailer if dont waan build it urself they use beter parts and are cheaper they will usually cost u 400 less than what alien ware or dell would offer as for ur mp3 im shure a nano will sufice like 4 gigs of music is alot of songs
 
AMD gs player said:
k for ur laptoo feel free to order online it is sometimes cheaper and u dont want it for anything really demandign anyway im shure a ibook could handle most of ur laptop stuff but for ur desctop get it from a local retailer if dont waan build it urself they use beter parts and are cheaper they will usually cost u 400 less than what alien ware or dell would offer as for ur mp3 im shure a nano will sufice like 4 gigs of music is alot of songs
Click to expand...

What would I need to buy to build one myself? Is it a lot cheaper to do it this way? Thanks for the suggestion.
 
it is definitely cheaper to build your own PC rather than buy it prebuilt...and you get to make your own decisions about what you want to put inside the machine and customize it EXACTLY to your needs.

EDIT: sorry i thought you were talkin bout buildin a desktop...not a laptop
 
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I actually need to get a new desktop and a laptop. Thanks. I will look at that link and also try and find a local shop that might be able to customize a desktop because I don't think I am up to building one on my own.
 
The link there was only for a custom laptop. If you are going to have someone else put it together for you at least have a good list of hardwares sorted out first. Why pay for someone else's work and then find out "I should have gone with the other one.".
 
Thanks for your help PC eye,
What hardware would you recommend for what I want in a desktop:
- I want lots of storage for photos and music and to back up my documents
- I want to be able to use applications like frontpage and photoshop
- I want to be able to play games (but I am a very casual player so I would only want to pay for a system adequate to play most games - it wouldn't be worth it for me to pay a lot more for really top of the line game stuff)
I was told I would need Windows XP Professional for school and I would probably want office as well.

I would guess I would want the maximum amount of hardrive.
What else should I look for? Could you or someone make some recommendations of what they would put together? What is the advantage of more memory? Thanks

As for the laptop - it doesn't really seem worth it to customize that because it seems like almost anything already out there would work for what I need it to do. Is it worth it to get the core duo processors now available, if I mostly want a laptop to take notes in class, surf the internet, and take exams?

Thanks for your help already!
 
With the 512mb seen on most newer model laptops you would be set there for the smaller less resource dependent games. When I see only 40gb even on a portable especially for a student that's a little cramped. A good 80gb is a good average for storage as well as some games on the drive. Plus you will need that space for the tons of references and other text files you will want to save along with your exams. Remember there are downloads that you want when doing some online research for your courses were having room for some temporary files always helps.

On the average desktop custom not prebuilt you can get through generally with a pair of 512mb dimms if you want to get the most out of a dual channel board without being high ended. For some newer games out a pair of 1gb will handle most anything in that regard. For a video card a 256mb would be as much as you would need for the occasional gaming session. Yet many manage with a 128mb card. The 512mb models generally are more serious gaming interests if not going to a dual vid setup with SLI or even Crossfire. I personally shy away from the added expense there. Then there is capacity for storing whatever files like mp3s, video clips(60mb a minute average), Your docs and game saves(not as much as favorite photos, bitmaps, gifs, etc.)
The ide line is easier to run for those newbies along with busy students but I still prefer Western Digital along with drives over 200gb. SATA is the one item I still haven't had the time to toy around with yet. For increased storage you could consider a cd if not dvd burner for data backup. To backup any folder now it has to go on dvd-rs not cd-rs. But software backups along with audio cds prefer a use of the cd writer if not cd-r/rw drive. How's that for a start?
 
ya but even if u got to a local retailer make shure u have ur list of hardware and they wont be as chea pas new egg so look up the prices of all the parts and hagle a litle they might lower the price considering every part may be about 40 to 80 more than what new egg offers
 
AMD gs player said:
ya but even if u got to a local retailer make shure u have ur list of hardware and they wont be as chea pas new egg so look up the prices of all the parts and hagle a litle they might lower the price considering every part may be about 40 to 80 more than what new egg offers
Click to expand...

If you look far enough you can generally find a better price online due to not having any retail overhead like a retail outlet with numbers of workers to pay. That's what makes browsing a variety of reputable vendors online interesting when you have a large price comparison before handing over the do re me.
 
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