Computer purchasing advice requested please.

[Bob C]

Don't buy a Mac. I'm on my fourth one at work and they've all been crap. I'd never allow one in my house.

I've never dealt with Dell, but other PCs I've seen come with the rescue disk that gives you the option of re-installing the OS without reformatting and losing your work. That may be an option.

Alternatively, any decent computer shop should be able to remove the hard disk, set it up as a slave in another machine and extract your data.

Good luck.

[mudd]

Get a Mac. Not only are they rated as the most reliable, but they are also rated best in technical support.

[Riverkilt]

Thanks guys,

Is this a great board or what!?

I did have virus protection on my server and on my rig. Just updated the latest CA a few days ago and ran it, was clean.

Brad, that's scary...same model...yikes! Dell's "International" bit has me scrambling with the techies, "Yes, I know you're speaking English but I'm having difficulty understanding you."

Still waiting for the techies to see what can be saved and what the prognosis is...

No fun...not at all....

And yes, I've learned the hard way about back up...or saving to discs...especially the important stuff like genealogy.

Ron

[Livingston]

Ron,

There are many options for you out there. They can all be right AND wrong at the same time. It all depends on what you are comfortable with. My experiance over the last several years in both sales and break/fix has all been with Windows systems. For the last 6 I've worked in sales for the 2 major companies that merged a few years ago. That being said, I Have some Possiblities for you.

First off, make sure the system you get is a business class machine. You might have to go to a major online reseller to do that. Do not get something like the HP Pavilion (altho I do have one and have had nothing but good luck with it) or a Compaq Presario (that's my notebook and it's been running great for 4.5 years being carried to work every day) or any other lower end system that does not come with a 3 yr warranty at no extra cost. You might give up some fancy software such as Works but it's worth it.

The main thing to do is invest in a good antivirus and firewall and KEEP THEM UPDATED along with all of MS Windows updates. Also, make sure you have a good and easy way to back up your system AND test it with a restore. The best backup system in the world is worthless if you can restore your data.

If you want my personal opinion, and yes I am biased, PM me.

Greg

[smaughazard]

Ron-

Advice from a professional designer who depends on his machine for a living: do yourself a favor and get a Mac. The new Intel-based Macs can dual-boot into Windows if you really need it.

I've worked on platforms from Apple II to DOS to Mac to Windows to Linux to Unix to old mainframes, and I wouldn't buy anything else (four Macs active on my little LAN at the moment…) For ease of use, reliability, longevity, and a virus-free online experience, the Mac wins hands-down.

Then, too, you'll have an excuse for a kilt in the MacKintosh tartan!

[pdcorlis]

Then, too, you'll have an excuse for a kilt in the MacKintosh tartan!

Ooooooooh now there's a thought :rolleyes:

I have two Macs at home and four at work all running various flavors of OS X - no crashes - no downtime -no problems.

[Southern Breeze]

An external hard drive is something you should consider also. I save a copy of my work to one daily and after losing my last computer to lightning I'm very glad I had it. Also, keeping it disconnected when your not using it. That way it's safe if something happens to your PC.

[Rob Wright]

Ron, what do you use your computer at home for? Do you also use it for work?

While I prefer Mac's, I have 2, they are not the perfect machine, there are 2 or 3 things that Windows does better ,but for your avereage user, the MAc is perfect,they come with so many goodies standard that they really take a lot of the hassle out of using a computer.

Rob

[Caradoc]

An external hard drive is something you should consider also. I save a copy of my work to one daily and after losing my last computer to lightning I'm very glad I had it. Also, keeping it disconnected when your not using it. That way it's safe if something happens to your PC.

This bears repeating. No matter what kind of computer you get, make sure you back up your stuff, whether to an external hard disk, tape drive, CD-R, DVD-R, whatever.

There are two kinds of people in the world - those who've lost data to a crash, and those who will lose data to a crash. Backing up your stuff will minimize your losses.

I'm sitting here in front of four different screens with five computers running at once - one Windows box, two Macs, and two Sun boxes. My AlphaStation is currently hors de combat thanks to a CPU failure.

If you're a general home user, I'd recommend a Mac. If you've got one or two applications that you run infrequently that require Windows, a Mac can still run them via Boot Camp, Crossover, or Virtual PC.

If you're a gamer, go for a Wintel box (I include AMD and other "Intel-style" CISC processors in that category.) If you're a real estate agent, there are too many requirements for Windows apps (like the goshdarned MLS software) that simply aren't supported on anything but Windows.

But whatever you decide, get an external HD or something, and back up your stuff religiously.

[starbkjrus]

Ron,

You have gotten some very good advice here and there is not really much I can add other than just to tell you what I would do.

1. Hope the techies can get your data off the hard disk (It's pretty likely).

2. Reinstall Windows XP (Professional I hope but it's not critical) and ALL updates from the folks in Redmond (MS that is).

3. Up-to-date virus / adware / spyware zapping software.

4. Some reliable method in place for backing up data regularly.

If this works for you then viola you're good to go.

If this does not work for you... er....well, buy a MAC.

I've worked with Microsoft software and operating systems or apps that must interface with them for 20 years - but at home we have three MAC's.

Each system has it's advantages and disadvantages but the key point is that I do it at work and at home I don't want to think about it - I just want it to work.

If a MAC does what you need a computer to do then it's really easiest machine for an end user to work with.

Just my two cents worth.