mac computer question

[Amazo Version 2.2]

but i'm not sure what to look for. i'm not the most tech savvy person, so i'm kind of clueless on what i should base my purchase on. it will be used for minimum gaming, listening to cd's/music, creating/keeping documents, and storing pictures. i will probably be getting wifi, i need internet access.

i'm looking for a reasonable price and decent memory. but i really don't know what's what. if you guys have any suggestions on what i should be looking for, that would be great. thanks.

p.s.= i havent decided if i am going to get a laptop or regular pc yet. again, thanks.

[JeyNyce]

If you get a laptop or a desktop you should looking for 3 things:

Memory - 2GBs (gigabytes) RAM
Hard Drive - The bigger the better, get the most you can within your price range
CPU - Since you will not be so much work on it just about any new chip should handle what you want to do.

Also - Since you not tech savvy, get a warranty on your machine, just in case.  Get a Dell or a HP because they have pretty good customer service.

[Cyber Burn]

If you get a laptop or a desktop you should looking for 3 things:

Memory - 2GBs (gigabytes) RAM
Hard Drive - The bigger the better, get the most you can within your price range
CPU - Since you will not be so much work on it just about any new chip should handle what you want to do.

Also - Since you not tech savvy, get a warranty on your machine, just in case.  Get a Dell or a HP because they have pretty good customer service.

Kind of off subject, but after my last pc crash, the guy who worked on my hard drive said I had too much memory and that that would cause a major drag on my system. He replaced it one half it's size. How badly did I get ripped off?

[thalaw2]

If you get a laptop or a desktop you should looking for 3 things:

Memory - 2GBs (gigabytes) RAM
Hard Drive - The bigger the better, get the most you can within your price range
CPU - Since you will not be so much work on it just about any new chip should handle what you want to do.

Also - Since you not tech savvy, get a warranty on your machine, just in case.  Get a Dell or a HP because they have pretty good customer service.

Kind of off subject, but after my last pc crash, the guy who worked on my hard drive said I had too much memory and that that would cause a major drag on my system. He replaced it one half it's size. How badly did I get ripped off?

Too much memory....seems you got ripped off pretty bad if you had to pay for someone to take memory out.  It depends on the operating system you were running.  Most likely you were running a 32bit operating system (ie win xp, win 7 32bit) which can cache about 3.25GB RAM and max out at 4GBRAM (if you run a RAMDISK)...at any rate you really don't have too much RAM in your system.  '

As for buying a new system start with your budget and work your way from there.  Don't just think of what your current needs are but future needs as well.  Always buy the most powerful system you can afford. 

[JeyNyce]

If you get a laptop or a desktop you should looking for 3 things:

Memory - 2GBs (gigabytes) RAM
Hard Drive - The bigger the better, get the most you can within your price range
CPU - Since you will not be so much work on it just about any new chip should handle what you want to do.

Also - Since you not tech savvy, get a warranty on your machine, just in case.  Get a Dell or a HP because they have pretty good customer service.

I had to edit myself.....NO LESS than 2GBs of Ram.
Cyber Burn - There's no such thing as too much memory.  If you're running a 32bit system and can afford it, I would say max out the memory (4GBs)  If you're running a 64bit system, then get as much as you can afford.

[Cyber Burn]

Crap...

AV2...Good luck buying your new pc, at least now I can tell you who not to go to if you ever have pc problems.

[GhostMachine]

My advice is to look at Dell before anything else. The two computers I have right now are both Dells, and I believe the one I had before these two was also. Dell occasionally has sales that include things like free upgrades (the newer comp I've got came with a monitor upgrade and the older one came with a free HD upgrade if I remember right). HP is also good. In fact, except for a piece of crap Compaq I had for a couple of years as a backup computer and eventually gave away, all my computers have been HPs and Dells.

If you're getting a desktop, I'd suggest getting a duo quad processor or better.
For video cards, I prefer ATI Radeons over nVidia cards, but both are good.

And definitely get the biggest hard drive you can afford. Depending on how much storage you need and whether or not you store media and play games on it, I'd suggest a 500 GB HD minimum.

[Epimethee]

From the FWIW dept.: Actually, there is such a thing as too much memory. For example, Windows XP 32, IIRC some benchmarks, performs best with 1.5GB or less. Mind you, the slowdown is not major and occurs only if your OS and apps  don't need the extra memory. And more modern OSes are optimized for 4+ GBs.

[Amazo Version 2.2]

Thanks for all the advice guys, this really helps. I'm going out today just to look at what's out there.

[Amazo Version 2.2]

is it possible to get a larger size monitor that can plug-in to an imac laptop? havent decided to buy it yet, but my mom's eyes aren't what they used to be so the laptop screen is just a little bit on the small size for her. thanks agaon for any advice you guys can send my way.

[thalaw2]

try www.newegg.com

My mom has eye problems too.  I changed the icon sizes for her and that helps, but a bigger monitor really did the trick.  However, for the price you pay for a good sized monitor you could spend a little more and have a new computer.

[Epimethee]

is it possible to get a larger size monitor that can plug-in to an imac laptop?

I assume you mean a MacBook (or an older iBook), since iMacs are desktop computers? Yes, you should be able to. You'll probably need a special adaptor depending on the model, as Apple connector tech has changed a bit through the years IIRC. I suggest checking the ports on her computer and doing a web search for the specifics.

However, for the price you pay for a good sized monitor you could spend a little more and have a new computer.

Not sure I agree. Unless you need a professional monitor (say, colour-calibrated), you won't get much of a computer (especially a laptop) near the average monitor price range. Nowadays, you get a pretty decent 22"-23" monitor for $150–$250. And unless the computer is truly ancient, someone with eyes problems is probably going to benefit much more from a monitor change than from a processor/memory/etc. change.

[thalaw2]

I put together my Aunt's computer last Summer for $250 including the monitor....granted it's just a system put together for internet browsing.

[Amazo Version 2.2]

try www.newegg.com

My mom has eye problems too.  I changed the icon sizes for her and that helps, but a bigger monitor really did the trick.  However, for the price you pay for a good sized monitor you could spend a little more and have a new computer.

i will check this out. thaqnks. again, thans for all the great advice everyone.

[Epimethee]

I put together my Aunt's computer last Summer for $250 including the monitor....granted it's just a system put together for internet browsing.

If it's using new parts only, that's quite impressive; I hadn't realized that PC prices had dropped this much. They really have become commodity items.