As mentioned in a thread a few weeks ago I am buying a new computer. I’m thinking of a Dell: 1GHz Athlon, 20GB HD, CD-RW, etc. My mother has promised to put in half up to $800. Should be around $1,300.
My Opinion:
I’m not a gamer or graphics person. Why do I need this speed? I HATE WAITING. Fine, knock me for being impatient but as soon as I click something, I want that damn thing running! I COULD use the computer we have now but it is a 300 MHz PII and is cram packed so full of stuff it takes forever to do anything with it. I figure that even though I don’t need a 1GHz processor it is going to become obsolete in a few years anyway, and if I were to get anything lower all that would do is guarantee it would become obsolete faster. At which point I would have to buy another anyway.
Fathers Opinion:
I don’t need an expensive computer I could just use that one we have because that would meet my needs, albeit very slowly. My older brother took it to college and he did all right with it so I could too. I don’'t need all of the extra stuff. I should just save the extra money for other things.
I hate to say it but your dad might be right. kinda. You should probably format the hard disk and start again. You will be very surprised at how much faster it will be. if your current hard drive is anyhing less than say 10gb, you should save you’re money by just buying a new hd. hope this helps. sorry about typing. cut my finger.
Regarding the obsolence factor of the 1GHz, my understanding of computer technology is that you should typically buy the second best thing on the market. You can get an 800MHz computer for a lot cheaper than the 1GHz models and they’re both going to be equally obsolete on the day the 1.5GHz processors come out. Plus, it might make your dad a little happier to see less money being spent while you still get a fast new computer to play with.
Of course, I spent years on a P-120 before getting my “new” K6-2 500MHz computer a few months ago. Hardly top of the line, but there’s really not much out there that it can’t run at the moment (and none of the things it can’t run is anything I’m planning on buying anyway) so it was a hell of a deal at a mere $329.00.
I’m assuming you mean that half up to $800 means that you will be getting $400 plus what you put in. Only assuming as $1600 will get you a pretty kick ass computer.
My advice is to spend low on most of the components so you can get a computer for $800. But I’d also say you should make sure that all the basic components can be easily upgraded. Say you spent your money on a motherboard that can support something up to a PIII 1Ghz, but only bought a 450Mhz processor for the time being, plus 128Mb worth of memory. The pieces won’t cost you much, but when those become a little more obsolete you will still be able to pretty cheaply buy the next stage up.
If you really want to save money, learn how all the components actually work together, instead of relying on buying a whole new package every time. It’s easier to find $200 to spare for a new component, a little bit at a time than having to drop over a $1000 every time your rig becomes obsolete.
It’s a suckers bet buying the cheapest machine you can find, as it will be obsolete within the year. Just as it’s a suckers bet buying top of the line equipment that will be available for a quarter of the price within six months.
But don’t take my word for it. Your best bet is to make a friend who has extensive experience putting computers together. They’ll help you throught all the real time procedures of actually putting a computer together better than some net advice ever could. Take a look, they’re really not too hard to find.
A 1 Ghz chip will still be a decent processor in a couple of years, and even then you’ll still be able to push it another year or two before you’ll have to really begin thinking about upgrading it.
Just tell your father that he has to take in the “big picture”… it’s an extra hundred dollars you’ll be spending now in exchange for an extra two hundred dollars you’ll be spending in a year to buy a whole new processor/motherboard (not to mention the hassle of having to replace it all).
You are aware that 1.5 GHz processors have been out for about 2 months now, right? Intel makes the 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5 GHz Pentium 4. However, the 1.33GHz Athlon which just came out is as fast or faster in most things.
I update alot. Here is my policy 1. A computer won’t look any faster unless the new processor is 3 times as fast as the old one. 2. In 6 months The price of a processor is going to be half as much, & speed twice as fast.
BTW Right now im using 233hz & I don’t know about your computer, but everything happens right away for me on this thing.
My daughter is still using a P200 with Windows 95 and is quite happy with it, except that it won’t support USB. We’ve promised her a new computer when she starts college.
Which thing do you hate waiting for, precisely? Remember, a faster chip won’t do anything for your Internet connection. And since you say you aren’t a gamer or a graphic, you may not see much difference.
I’ve always said that a computer is just as useful and fast as the day you brought it home. Only the perception of the speed changes – either because you’re using a faster computer at work; updated versions of software with hungrier memory, speed and video requirements; or because the OS install is getting a big fragged and clogged, and needs a cood cleanin’ out.
One of my computers is a 200 MHz AMD K6 with about 80 megs of memory. Runs Windows 2000, BeOS and Linux quite well, at 1280x1024 resolution. You probably can’t play Black and White with it, and it crawls on Sim City 3000. It takes a couple of days to complete a SETI unit. However, it’s still fast for Web surfing and application – IE 5.0 and Netscape 4 open up in a couple of seconds, as well as any MS Office 97 app. Newer bloatware, on the other hand … it takes its time.
Jman, nope can’t say I did know that, but it reinforces my point. Spending a ton of cash on a top of the line machine doesn’t make much sense when you can usually step down a notch and pay a great deal less for something that’s still as good. If I wander into the local CompUSA, how many programs will I find that can run on a 1GHz (or 1.5GHz) computer but not on a 800MHz? For that matter, how many programs will I find that can’t run on a 600MHz? Not too many, really. Software evolves at a much slower rate than hardware, so buying the biggest and best doesn’t really put you into the lead on what you can run. Not for a few years yet, anyway.
I will admit that there are, of course, graphics software, video editing software and perhaps some games that could take advantage of a 1GHz or higher processor and be ‘crippled’ by a slower (say again a 800MHz) system. However, the OP made it clear that this won’t be an issue as that’s not what he’s planning on using.