art338 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I use a Sony all in one, windows 7, it causes me grief by not recognising the printer, the last PC was a Sony and that had a fault with the recognition of CD's.. Is it better to have a setup with a seperate tower and monitor, I can see the reason for this as seperetae items can be changed easily. Is there a make thats perfect in all ways. Are there some makers that never do produce good equipment and are faultless. art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 art338 - 2011-10-14 9:55 AM I use a Sony all in one, windows 7, it causes me grief by not recognising the printer, the last PC was a Sony and that had a fault with the recognition of CD's.. Is it better to have a setup with a seperate tower and monitor, I can see the reason for this as seperetae items can be changed easily. Is there a make thats perfect in all ways. Are there some makers that never do produce good equipment and are faultless. art No there is not a make ( of anything) that is perfect in all ways. Don't understand your last question ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I think whatever computer make or model you quote, some will say it is brilliant, others will cringe at the thought! :-D We had one Sony laptop, which I hated with a passion, and decided Sony computers were made primarily as playthings, and to promote other Sony services and devices, not as work machines. Neither was I hugely impressed that its quality and reliability were what I had come to expect of Sony in other areas. We still have a 9 year old Fujitsu Lifebook running Windows Millennium that still functions (slowly :-)) - though its battery is long dead. All our other, more recent, computers - laptops and desktops - have been Dell, bought direct from them. All I can say of the build quality, is I have had no real complaints about reliability with any. What I would say is read the warranty terms very carefully before you decide which warranty option to go for, and consider buying a business, rather than a home, computer. Support, within warranty, has been generally good - though problems with software can be more difficult to resolve if only the basic warranty package is accepted. Most of the home systems have a basic collect and return warranty, while the business systems tend to have "next business day" technicians on call. I have found their business computers (basically the same general specs as the equivalent home computers) are freer of clutter and therefore a bit easier to specify. If you use a wireless network you will need to add a wireless card etc to a business desktop, most home desktops seem to come with these pre-installed. You will need to play for quite a while on their website to get what you want, they are built to order around a basic specification, with numerous bundled "offer" packages. For price, it is often better value to start with one of the offers, and then change the spec for that to what you want, than to start with the cheapest model on offer and then crank up the spec. This applies especially to things like monitors/laptop screens, where improving on the basic can cost more than the superior spec under an offer. If specifying your own leaves you cold, buy from a shop where you can just take it back, point to it, and say fix it! :-) Personally, for all their faults, I'd say PC World is probably best and, although under the same company umbrella, Dixons not so good. The likes of Currys/Dixons will sell you the computer, but tend not to have technicians in-store, so need to send things away, so have a tendency to try to push you back to the manufacturer's warranty rather than taking ownership themselves, as they should. PC World, on the other hand, tend to have technicians on hand in-store who can sort out minor problems for you. If you know exactly what you want in terms of make/model, Amazon are very good with returns/warranty matters (I even rejected a copy of Microsoft Autoroute a few years back, without quibble, because it did not live up to Microsoft's claims for it, and they sent pre-paid return labels and gave an immediate refund) but for anything more complex you will have to fall back on the manufacturer's warranty. Nevertheless, for a computer rather than software, buying a Dell business computer with next business day on site technician, to me, represents a more acceptable risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 My sister was throwing out her 5 year old Dell laptop because it got very slow and kept crashing. She took it into a shop which, of course, told her she needed a new one. I formatted the hard drive, re installed XP and it works like new. I am still using a PC I bought from Aldi 10 years ago. It gradually slows down as it gets more and more clogged up with crap which you can only get rid of completely by formatting the hard drive. So every couple of years I format the hard drive, re-install windows and it works like new again. I have found through experience its better to turn off Windows Updates altogether. They seem to add so much crap to slow the computer down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art338 Posted October 14, 2011 Author Share Posted October 14, 2011 My last question was mixed. I meant like M/homes and cars etc, is there a particular make that most people tend to avoid. I'm well aware that identical components can be fitted to different make machines. Brian's comment about a business setup as opposed to a home setup is something I had not seriously considered. art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 PS - if its a desktop its a good idea to buy as new hard drive so you have got all your stuff on it as back up. Install the new one, connect the old one up as a slave and transfer all your stuff through to it. Then when your new one gets clogged up, you can format the old one and reinstall windows, and transfer all your files back from the new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 You can also partition a new hard drive anyway, and put your software/programmes etc on one partition, with all your files etc on the other, you then don't have to buy another hard drive or delve into the gubbins of a PC (not advised if it is under warranty!). A back-up can then be made on an external hard drive to ensure your stuff is safe in case the hard drive crashes (you DO back up your stuff regularly ... don't you??? 8-) If you do put in a second hard-drive you can back-up to that instead then if your original one crashes you've got the (hopefully) recent back-up copies to use instead. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art338 Posted October 14, 2011 Author Share Posted October 14, 2011 No I don't back up anything. I do keep all the important details (pictures) on plug in memory. I actually store very little, I find that once I complete an article (for a motoring newsletter) its no longer needed as I can read it on the page, the original pictures then go onto a flash drive memory. The problems I get are that the PC does'nt recognise the printer, then it does, then again no it does not, its the second Sony and the first one was a problem damaging CD's. No decisions yet on what to do, I have a computer visitor next week so we'll go from there. art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Some years ago I heard external hard drives running through a USB can be slow, but I've never tried one myself. One of the advantages of keeping 2 hard drives, is that if you get a problem with one, you can just put the other hard drive in and effectively you gave got a new computer. My copy of XP home was preinstalled on the PC when I bought it, but I have reinstalled it both on the original hard drive, and spare hard drives without any problems. I don't bother putting the side cover on the PC, so I can change hard drives in seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 As the problem with the printer is intermittent, I wonder if an auto-update for your software is creating a problem which is then resolved by a further auto-update? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Peter James - 2011-10-14 8:13 PM Some years ago I heard external hard drives running through a USB can be slow, but I've never tried one myself. Whilst they can never be as fast as the original installed hard-drive, they are not much slower nowadays. One of the advantages of keeping 2 hard drives, is that if you get a problem with one, you can just put the other hard drive in and effectively you gave got a new computer. My copy of XP home was preinstalled on the PC when I bought it, but I have reinstalled it both on the original hard drive, and spare hard drives without any problems. Totally agree with that. :-D I don't bother putting the side cover on the PC, so I can change hard drives in seconds. Totally disagree with that ... don't try this at home children!!! 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Dwight Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 I have an old Packard Bell PC which is slow but keeps going. I bought a New Dell laptop 4 years ago its just about to go in the rubbish bin. It went to the local IT shop who checked it out, got rid of the crap which impoved it, I bought a new battery which I put into the machine it worked fine until the battery power was low, the laptop charger will not charge. When it was checked out it is not the correct charger for the Laptop, it came with it, also the original battery was under powered. Now all these items were out of the original box sold by Dell. Dell never again I ought to have known because we had all Dell PCs at work and they were not a lot of good either. New Fujitsu coming on Monday. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Brian's comment about buying a business computer is good, but check the price as it is usually shown excluding VAT, while home models include the VAT. You need to add another 20%. I too tend to stick with Dell models and am now on the 3rd, but they are not always perfect either and do have a fault in that upgrades may be impossible as Dell sometimes use motherboards that will not take upgrade chips etc and th graphics cards are integral so cannot be upgraded. This problem arises with other makers as well as Dell. . Like others, they would much rather sell you a new machine. My first Dell was a laptop Smart PC250 bought about 10 years ago and still working. It was Dell's idea to put a desktop chip into a laptop and worked fine except for the heat produced and the weight. The laptop hits a good 5 kg so you know you are carrying it, but I take it with me on holiday as it does the job and if nicked, I don't really care. The other issue I have with Dell is that they do not supply the software as discs anymore, unless you buy them, and you need to make your own back ups as soon as you get the machine. If you want a high specification at a good price then Acer do some excellent machines but again not always perfect. One thing I have noticed aboutt he newer laptops is that the case is often flimsy and you can easily damage it even by just pressing on it. You may also find your brand new machine cluttered with software you do not want and it is a pain getting rid of some of it, as it slows the machine down. Of course if you ever re format the machine, you get it all back again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 In relationship to upgrades, I used to, but now don't. Computers, by and large, are cheap, unless you want a top of the range gaming machine. So, make sure it has plenty of memory and an adequate hard drive (not usually a problem), buy the thing, stick whatever software you want onto it, including a reasonable anti-virus program (I have a subscription for Norton 360, because it has an automated back-up, defrag, registry de-cluttering, and internet files de-cluttering facilities - and the subscription allows me to download the latest version as soon as released. I know some don't like it, but it works fine for me.), if possible of the same generation as the computer operating system, update all elements via the Microsoft/Norton etc updating software (except Internet Explorer 9, which I disliked so uninstalled it and re-installed 8.) and then just keep running it until it dies. By then, with any luck, there will be a new operation system shipping with all the new computers, and you just start all over again. The only post-purchase upgrade I would consider is adding memory, but I prefer to get that added at the time of purchase if the standard allocation looks a bit lean. But then, I'm no computer technician, don't really understand the things, and just want it to work. The back-up is to a 400Gb Netgear networked storage device, to which our other computers also back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 One thing you may wish to consider if you buy a new computer is what you do with the old one. If it is still working fine then you may wish to donate it to a member of your family, or even to a 3rd party source. What ever you do it is a good idea to remove all your personal information from the old amchine, especially if it is going away from home. You will have already transferred all your data to the new machine but do not just delete your files. They will still be recoverable by someone less scrupulous. You may feel they are harmless but they are bound to contain information useful to somebody. The best way to delete everything is to re-format your machine using your Windows software. Always choose a new installation and everything on the hard drive will be wiped. All 3rd party software will disappear as well so if you wish to re-nstall any of it you need the discs. Of course the machine will,now be pristine clean and someone will have to install all the numerous updates supplied by Microsoft, but a small price for peace of mind. It is also a good idea to have more than 1 antivirus programme and Malware software as even the best of them will miss some of the nasties out there. Also if you have a wireless connection, check whether it has built in firewall as this may conflict with the Windows firewall most people use. I am not a computer geek, but have learned from mistakes along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art338 Posted October 16, 2011 Author Share Posted October 16, 2011 I'm still here reading what's been mentioned and making notes of all the info. No decisions on what to do next, my computer guru is visiting tomorrow and I assume he will adjust the present problems. art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Laptops I am no expert on hardware but have found, like others that a good spec Dell wins over most others. We did buy a high spec Acer about three years ago. It is o|k but that is about it. My 9 year old Dell, with the silver paint worn off the front by my palms is still working, still without fault. I have little faith in the Acer it having let me down on a number of occaisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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