[dave]

whatup homes

heres the deal, i'm gonna tell you a spec and price for a computer and you're gonna tell me if its a good deal or not. Question?

Box only: 2600ghz chip, 512 ram, 160gb HD, dvd-rw.

I got quoted 265 bananas. sounds alreet but i'm not exactly in the loop when it comes to this typa ting. Hit me. :?:

[JR]

what type of RAM - DDR or DDRII? guessing DDR
Dual layer or single DVD writer? guessing single

Seems good to me though for the notes

[dobbin]

I think that sounds cheap. Is it headless (i.e. no monitor)?

JR re the dual layer dvd burner, a mate of mine bought a lappy with one in the other day for £750! !!!!! Youth of today, dont know they're born etc. In my day I had to etch dvd's by hand using a blunt piece of iron.... blather blather....

[dave]

ram is ddr(400?). the dvd raita is supposed to be a Pioneer 110D dvd-rw (dunno if this is single layer or what, you tell me). also 64mb shared video. chip is SEMPRON 2600+. no monitor i already got one.

word?

[JR]

JR re the dual layer dvd burner, a mate of mine bought a lappy with one in the other day for £750! !!!!! Youth of today, dont know they're born etc. In my day I had to etch dvd's by hand using a blunt piece of iron.... blather blather....

I purchased this a couple of months ago, its the dogs... dual layer, DDRII, rapid as fuck, cheap and comes with lots of funny toys i dont use very often.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=85205

It is dual layer in +_R
http://shop.cd-writer.com/acatalog/ALL_PRODUCTS_PIONEER_110D_16X_DVD_WRITER_1151.html

And DDR400 is good.

Not bad that i'd say dave
ive never been a fan of AMD processors, the ones ive dealt with have been in computers that have gone tits up, much more often than pentiums but plenty of people have good experiences of them and loads of people rate them better than intel...

Oh and im guessing its the AMD sempron 2600?  Which is actually 1.83Ghz!  but will be equivalent to about a 2.5Ghz pentium IV in pace.  I think thats right off the top of my head!

[dave]

yeah it will be a sempron2600. I have no problems having an AMD chip in general, our craptop has an athlon and not had any problems specifically with it.

[cofe]

who quoted you david? i'll be getting one soon. this time i mean it.

[JR]

i'll be getting one soon. this time i mean it.

yeah, yeah, we've all heard that before....

love your work john ;-)

[dave]

who quoted you david? i'll be getting one soon. this time i mean it.

i know the feeling.

was crown IT solutions on london road. that quote was sans XP though. But my motto with software is "the internet is your friend".

[cofe]

whats difference between amd and intel then? does one make you g*y?

[squeek]

The price seems ok for that system, it's better it comes without windows as it saves you money, I only have windows as I play games, I wouldn't pay for it if I had to.

I've got a laptop now, similar to the one JR posted, it does everything I want it to do, and am pretty impressed with it.

I've had 3 AMD chips now and had no problems with any of them, although I haven't tried tweaking any of them much.  If they're running hot then getting a good heatsink and fan can sort that out.  Performance wise there's not much in it, and the CPU might not be much of a bottle neck anyway.

[dave]

think the main difference is that when they say the word "intel" on a TV advert they seem legally obliged to play that annoying intel jingle, which seems to be reason enough to buy AMD.

amd are just a bit cheaper as theyre less well established, but probably generally as good if not better in some cases. in many ways like HB gear versus wildcountry.  Don't think AMD makes you gay. Pink jumpers maybe, AMD unlikely.

[squeek]

think the main difference is that when they say the word "intel" on a TV advert they seem legally obliged to play that annoying intel jingle, which seems to be reason enough to buy AMD.

Not legally obliged, but finacially wise.  If another company plays the Intel jingle and shows the logo/animation Intel pay them a fee, that's why so many adverts for PCs that have the processors show the jingle.  also why any background music/noise stops whilst they play it.

AMDs top range of server processors are said to be much better than Intels and looking at the product lineup and problems Intel seem to be having at the moment I think it's going to stop like that for a while.

PCs should start shipping with a few gigs of flash memory that holds the dynamic memory and the OS, that would speed it up.  Hmm, maybe it's my multi-million pound idea...  although I'd probably not get much climbing done if I had to work hard so I don't think I'll bother  .

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Box only: 2600ghz chip, 512 ram, 160gb HD, dvd-rw.

I got quoted 265 bananas. sounds alreet but i'm not exactly in the loop when it comes to this typa ting. Hit me. :?:

Sounds pretty good Dave, this is pretty similar http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=13140910542&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=95738 with a faster chip (slightly) but less RAM and a smaller HD. But adding more ram is easy and having more than one HD is no bad ting.

Alternatively build one up, pretty hard to beat these prices but you get the advantage of picking and choosing your bits. Did this recently for someone and we ended up with toys like, built in multi-card reader/floppy drive, sweet logitech keyboard&mouse combo, pretty 'Creative' black speakers etc etc.

[dave]

cheers for the beta obe. i have heard mixing things re ebuyers customer service, so may prefer to get computer from a shop where you can waltz right in and get someone to look at it. I know ebuyer are also sheff based but heard they can be a bit not-rad.

forgot to say, if we were to get a new machine we'd want both that and the existing laptop onto us tinternet cable modem ting at the same time, and preferably be able to access drives from each machine between each other, so setting up some kinda local network. So what i'm asking is what would i physically need to achieve this (bar a shit load of cable), and how tricky is it to set up software wise? aso how does it work vis a vis firewalls etc?
word.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

cheers for the beta obe. i have heard mixing things re ebuyers customer service, so may prefer to get computer from a shop where you can waltz right in and get someone to look at it. I know ebuyer are also sheff based but heard they can be a bit not-rad.

Yeah I have heard a few tings non-rad about ebuyer, only 3rd hand though and my first hand experience has been pretty good. Had to send a camera back for a faulty charger and they refunded the lot with no quibbles even after using it for 3 months and denting it! Their website is spot on and orders etc are easy to track. Prices for components fluctuate daily though as they try and price match each other/and/or the prices of RAM etc goes up and down faster than oil! All that said, I also like giving some of the locals some buisness and got my last harddrive from some of the london road  boys, they were within £2 of ebuyer and got it that day.

forgot to say, if we were to get a new machine we'd want both that and the existing laptop onto us tinternet cable modem ting at the same time, and preferably be able to access drives from each machine between each other, so setting up some kinda local network. So what i'm asking is what would i physically need to achieve this (bar a shit load of cable), and how tricky is it to set up software wise? aso how does it work vis a vis firewalls etc?
word.

How are you connected to broadband currently?...the best setup is a home wireless network with independent router. Is the laptop wireless? Not a problem if not, you just need a PCIMININININYY card (technical term there) as well.  An all in one router/ADSL modem/firewall/wireless access point with a card 'free' will set you back £65. Bargain.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=82066

3com box connects to phoneline, CAT5 (normal network cable) from PC to 3com box. You can connect all comp's wirelessly if you want to avoid trailing cables around the house, however it is easier to setup if at least one machine is wired to the box.

BIG advantages over USB broadband modems etc:
1) Mrs Obi can sit on sofa shopping on the interweb wirelessly whilst you use the PC.
2) Router is connected to interweb directly, eg. Laptop connection is not effected if your PC is off/rebooted/locking up etc.
3)Hardware firewall is a good idea, although I have software one running also.
4)Although 802.whatever is sposed to be 'compatible', whatever you use, surprise surprise it's not. 3com cards LIKE 3com boxes.

3Com Box is easily configured from a web interface from the PC. Wireless encryption/security is easy to turn on. Both PC's are the same 'side' so the hardware firewall isn't a problem. If you have a software firewall eg. Zonealarm, you just have to grant access to the laptop and it will let it connect to the PC

Once all this is set up, WinXP makes a home network a doddle (sometimes!) so you can share files/drives/printers etc. But I'll leave that lesson for another day/beer....

[dave]

How are you connected to broadband currently?...the best setup is a home wireless network with independent router. Is the laptop wireless? Not a problem if not, you just need a PCIMININININYY card (technical term there) as well.  An all in one router/ADSL modem/firewall/wireless access point with a card 'free' will set you back £65. Bargain.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=82066

3com box connects to phoneline, CAT5 (normal network cable) from PC to 3com box. You can connect all comp's wirelessly if you want to avoid trailing cables around the house, however it is easier to setup if at least one machine is wired to the box.

BIG advantages over USB broadband modems etc:
1) Mrs Obi can sit on sofa shopping on the interweb wirelessly whilst you use the PC.
2) Router is connected to interweb directly, eg. Laptop connection is not effected if your PC is off/rebooted/locking up etc.
3)Hardware firewall is a good idea, although I have software one running also.
4)Although 802.whatever is sposed to be 'compatible', whatever you use, surprise surprise it's not. 3com cards LIKE 3com boxes.

3Com Box is easily configured from a web interface from the PC. Wireless encryption/security is easy to turn on. Both PC's are the same 'side' so the hardware firewall isn't a problem. If you have a software firewall eg. Zonealarm, you just have to grant access to the laptop and it will let it connect to the PC

Once all this is set up, WinXP makes a home network a doddle (sometimes!) so you can share files/drives/printers etc. But I'll leave that lesson for another day/beer....

I was with you all the way up to "How are you connected to broadband currently?".

currently telewest cable comes into house and into one of them motorola telewest-supplied cable modems. out of this comes network cable. To be honest i don't want to entertain the fucking about/expense of a wireless setup as its totally wasted as one computer will be stationary on a desk upstairs, and we only ever use the laptop within 8ft of the cable modem anyway. i'm quite willing to trail network cable through the house instead if it going to save wedge and fucking about.

[clm]

is there anything you dont know??

[dobbin]

He's wireless evangelising. Its a terrible side effect of installing an access point in your house. Other symptoms include accomplishing pointless IT tasks from the toilet and trying to hack into your neighbours networks.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

He's wireless evangelising. Its a terrible side effect of installing an access point in your house. Other symptoms include accomplishing pointless IT tasks from the toilet .

Wireless is the way forward. Ask Cofe.
 :shock:  Having a laptop on a wired network is like...


Unfortunately much of my earlier essay is redundant cos your on cable. Sorry. If your sure you don't want wireless currently all you need is this: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=97813
or similar. I think you need a router rather than a switch, cos cable will probably only like a single IP address. With a router the router has an IP address, so the cable still 'thinks' it is connected to one computer. Meanwhile your home network happily shares the connection.

If you think you might want wireless at some point, if you get one of these http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=64620
you can change your mind later.

[Bubba]

Wireless is handy for a laptop in the living room, or whatever but for static computers, it's cheaper to use cables, and you'll probably get better transfer speeds too.


Also, console gaming over wireless is shit. I noticed a big difference in latency between a wireless gaming adapter and a wired connection to my router. Not sure if it's as noticable for PC games, but worth bearing in mind if you're a gamer. Also, less security hassle using wires. Setting up WEP or WPA on wireless is essential, and not that hard, but worth considering if you're a bit of a technophobe.

Best compromise imho is a combined wired/wireless router then you can mix and match depending on your needs.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

is there anything you dont know??

I don't know the best way to get me and you to Font over New Year. But that probably doesn't belong in this thread...

[cofe]

do remember being round at your crib a few years ago and the wireless internet 'blew my mind'. although that isn't difficult.

obi: that ebuyer deal looks good - if i wanna upgrade to 1gb ram does that mean the comp is badass. and is it easy done. what about 2gb? basically if i'm buiying a comp i don't want to buy another for a LONG TIME.

[squeek]

Wireless is only useful if you're going to use the laptop/PC away from the router, wired networks are much faster and more reliable.

Regarding RAM - you can buy 1 gig now then see how you get on and buy another gig later if you need it, it just plugs into a slot.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

obi: that ebuyer deal looks good - if i wanna upgrade to 1gb ram does that mean the comp is badass. and is it easy done. what about 2gb? basically if i'm buiying a comp i don't want to buy another for a LONG TIME.

For £235 you can't pretend it's a top-spec machine, but everything is relative. If you were building one from scratch I'd recommend, at least 512mb of RAM, and a bigger harddrive. Doesn't look like it has onboard Firewire, but a card only costs £5. All these can be added later when you have more cash. You wont waste the harddrive (I like having separate data and system drives), although you may have to take out the existing memory if there isn't spare slots for more. The only thing that is hard to upgrade is the processor and motherboard. The Sempron chip is a fast processor from their budget range. Personally I don't think many people would notice much difference between the ranges.

Bottom line, if you only have a budget of around £250 now but think you might want to spend more later, this is an ideal box to start with and add more too when you can afford it. If your budget is more like £350-400 then get one built with more RAM, bigger harddrive, better processor.

If you want a 17" TFT monitor as well that bundle for £380 is amazing. I got one of these for my dad-in-law, REALLY nice screen, stupid price AND 3 year guarantee.

[Control freak]

do remember being round at your crib a few years ago and the wireless internet 'blew my mind'. although that isn't difficult.

obi: that ebuyer deal looks good - if i wanna upgrade to 1gb ram does that mean the comp is badass. and is it easy done. what about 2gb? basically if i'm buiying a comp i don't want to buy another for a LONG TIME.

Word - a long time in computer speak is about a week. My philosophy is always set yourself a budget and then go and find the best deal you can for the price. Always go for more memory instead of forking out extra dollar on a top spec processor. A 2.6G celleron with 1Gb of RAM will fly. Unless your heavily into gaming you wont notice the difference - even running photoshop or doing video editing.

Enjoy  :D

[cofe]

i'll be getting one soon. this time i mean it.

yeah, yeah, we've all heard that before....

word. finally got a new machine last night. bring it on.

not really got time to install software n shit though cos gotta paint some skirting boards first...