Computer guys....HELP!!!!!!

[gregintenn]

My wife is going to need a new work computer shortly. All she needs is the tower part. She prefers Windows 7 to Windows 8, as does her IT guy at work. What do you think about a refurbished unit? Wal Mart shows some at attractive prices. The one she is using now is an 8 year old Hewlett Packard, so she doesn't have to have cutting edge state of the art.

 

What other suggestions do you have? Got a line on a "real deal" somewhere?

 

Thanks in advance,

[Guest Lester Weevils]

If it doesn't have to be a cutting-edge high-performance puter, HP sells a lot of units where you can go to HP.com and order with either Win8 or Win7. And a lot of them are very reasonably priced, and I've had good luck with HP reliability. You can also customize the innards of the online-ordered HP's, in case you want something special in memory, drives, etc.

 

It is just that the affordable HP's this year, tend to be i3 or i5, or athlon-based, which should be perfectly acceptable for a business puter, but not "cutting edge" speed.

 

Last time I bought an HP four years ago, was able to get a great price on a customized puter that was "cutting edge" at that time, which still works great. It still ain't too shabby four years later, with a 3.33 GHZ quad-core i7 975, plenty of memory, etc. Maybe in the future HP will again have "cutting edge" fast cheap puters, but at the moment they don't. My four year old puter runs "about as fast" as the current HP budget home or business puters, and the only way to get performance in their current lineup is to dump big bucks into a xeon workstation. But ordinary biz puters don't usually have to be high-performance beasts.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Lester Weevils

[vontar]

I brought a refub desktop for mom and a laptop from Tiger direct and was happy with both,

Both still running, over 5 years.

[Guest Keal G Seo]

Well I would suggest just keeping the old one if it is just for work. If she has to have something "new" there is nothing wrong with refurbished items...thats my bread and butter on savings. They usually have the same store warranties as everything else if bought through somewhere like Wal-Mart.

As for a real suggestion on what to get I need to know she needs the upgrade. Hard drive space is about the only thing I can think of for a work computer...in which case you would just get a new hard drive or an external hard drive.

[gregintenn]

Well I would suggest just keeping the old one if it is just for work. If she has to have something "new" there is nothing wrong with refurbished items...thats my bread and butter on savings. They usually have the same store warranties as everything else if bought through somewhere like Wal-Mart.

As for a real suggestion on what to get I need to know she needs the upgrade. Hard drive space is about the only thing I can think of for a work computer...in which case you would just get a new hard drive or an external hard drive.

I believe the old one is about to go kaput. Anyway, it has Windows XP, and I'd really like to look around and find a replacement before I have to get one "RIGHT NOW!" We're not electronics people, and she doesn't want it jut to want something new. It will become a necessity soon. She doesn't really need more memory; just something that isn't worn out.

[Garufa]

What kind of work does she do with the computer?  Mainly online stuff or are there applications installed on the machine?  How much are you looking to spend.  Is disk storage a consideration/need?

 

I would definitely get something with Windows 7.  Windows 8 is so far beyond a failure if 9 is not out and back to where 7 is in the next few months Microsoft will loose the corporate/it sphere.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Garufa

[jcj]

I'd look into a refurb from TigerDirect. All you'd need at a nice cost savings.

[DaveTN]

Watch the Dell deals on-line and at Best Buy. Can’t beat a Dell for the money.

[gregintenn]

What kind of work does she do with the computer?  Mainly on-line stuff or are there applications installed on the machine?  How much are you looking to spend.

 

I would definitely get something with Windows 7.  Windows 8 is so far beyound a failure if 9 is not out and back to where 7 is in the next few months Microsoft will loose the corporate/it sphere.

Her work in in the medical field. I don't know enough about it to accurately explain what she does. The programming she uses is also installed on our home computer, so she can use it in a pinch. I think she just needs a basic computer. The eleven year old one still does the job right now. I figure most anything newer would be as good if not better.

 

As far as price, I'm willing to spend whatever it takes. I just don't care to waste a bunch of unnecessary money.

[Garufa]

Her work in in the medical field. I don't know enough about it to accurately explain what she does. The programming she uses is also installed on our home computer, so she can use it in a pinch. I think she just needs a basic computer. The eleven year old one still does the job right now. I figure most anything newer would be as good if not better.

 

As far as price, I'm willing to spend whatever it takes. I just don't care to waste a bunch of unnecessary money.

 

Sounds like everything she does is over the net using https and/or VPN (Virtual Private Network).  Honestly, any basic machine that will function for Internet use should be fine.

 

As it's work-related have her ask the  IT guy for a recommendation on specs.

[tnguy]

If she's not needing anything super fast, I'd suggest considering a laptop. You can get something good for not too much spendiness. I'm getting quite fond of the thinkpad line after having had Toshibas and Compaqs that experienced premature hinge failure. Also, I'm no Dell fan but their business desktops and laptops seem quite solid.

 

If a desktop is still a requirement, some partial upgrades might be an option. Hard drive (particularly if you can go SSD) and RAM (if you can go 8GB) will give you a nice boost (You won't be able to go the full 8 with 32 bit XP). 

[Guest TankerHC]

Since it is a business machine this is what I would do, and not everyone would do what I would do. 

 

First off I would buy a $200 bare bones kit with an FX-6100 processor which will give you a new motherboard, processor, power supply, case and cooling fan.

 

Then I would spend 30 bucks and buy 8 gigs of low speed ram.

 

I would throw that together, then remove the hard drive, CD (or DVD if your older machine has one), and put them in the new machine.

 

I would use the onboard graphics and audio since they are more than sufficient, if the board didnt have one or the other I would spend an extra 20 bucks and buy what was needed, even low end cards push better sound and graphics than is needed for a business machine.

 

I would stick with Win XP since as a business machine you wont find a much more stable OS. Changing the HD out from the old to the new computer would take about 3 screws and a plug and MAYBE an adaptor, which can be had for 5 bucks on Amazon. 

 

Then I would boot it up and use it. 

 

The reason I would do this is, as a business machine, if I were building a brand new machine, I would probably go with XP over anything on a PC. It is a money saver as well as close to one of the least maintenance heavy OS's.  It keeps you well under $300, and will give you plenty of room for expansion in the future. Plus for a business machine an FX-6100 is way more than enough. 

 

Just my 2 cents. 

Edited January 8, 2014 by TankerHC

[deadeye111]

Windows XP won't be supported by Microsoft with updates after April 2014 Iirc. Windows 7 is stable.

[Guest t.bird]

Keep an eye on woot, they have refurbed computers pop up every few days for great prices......actually....just keep an eye on woot for anything.  I've bought several things from them, most recently a $70 Kershaw pocket knife for $30.

 

http://tech.woot.com/

Edited January 8, 2014 by t.bird

[Guest TankerHC]

Windows XP won't be supported by Microsoft with updates after April 2014 Iirc. Windows 7 is stable.

 

It doesnt matter, unless you have 50 or 300 machines running, in which case you will move to a new OS. It is highly doubtful that single end users are paying money for MS Support on XP or have been for years, as well, XP has been stable almost since it's launch and there is tons of business software for the OS that is going to become cheap. And most 7 software is backwards compatible. Also, MS may not support XP after 2014, but plenty of open source developers will be. 

Edited January 8, 2014 by TankerHC

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I'd be most concerned about the MS auto updates for security issues going away for XP soon, even on a very limited mission biz puter.

I run an XP virtual machine on the older mac laptop, which is dedicated as the "accounting puter". Only booted to pay bills and do taxes, hardly ever connected to the internet except for rare software downloads or system updates. Maybe too paranoic, but since the XP machine can occasionally "see" the internet, even with antivirus and such, makes me a bit nervous thinking about the security updates going away.

[Guest TankerHC]

I'd be most concerned about the MS auto updates for security issues going away for XP soon, even on a very limited mission biz puter.

I run an XP virtual machine on the older mac laptop, which is dedicated as the "accounting puter". Only booted to pay bills and do taxes, hardly ever connected to the internet except for rare software downloads or system updates. Maybe too paranoic, but since the XP machine can occasionally "see" the internet, even with antivirus and such, makes me a bit nervous thinking about the security updates going away.

 

THAT is a legitimate concern. There is a Zero Day bug in the ndproxy.sys driver. As far as I know there is no fix for it. It can be exploited but the exploit can be patched through a Registry key modification. I dont think MS intends to fix it since there has been no mention of a fix on the MS Forum or comp.com. The bug opens up an EoP beyond administrator, opens an exploitable hole.

 

So yes, now that I think about it (Since you mentioned it) unless someone knows how to work on the Registry (Manually) I would probably go with a different OS. 

[deadeye111]

Windows updates was what I made reference to that is available for free. I feel more confident that the system would be more secure if upgraded to windows 7 which in my opinion makes sense at this stage for OP. He will have drivers that don't match using old hard drive and XP and may not have your expertise to get it right Computers usually perform better for awhile with new OS install has been my experience and I am no newbie to this game.

Sorry Lester beat me to the post. Typing on phone is slow for me. Edited January 8, 2014 by deadeye111

[analog_kidd]

If she's not needing anything super fast, I'd suggest considering a laptop. You can get something good for not too much spendiness. I'm getting quite fond of the thinkpad line after having had Toshibas and Compaqs that experienced premature hinge failure. Also, I'm no Dell fan but their business desktops and laptops seem quite solid.

 

 

This is what I was going to suggest too. A laptop gives you flexibility over where you can use it. Use it at home, on travel, on the couch, or where ever. You can still use a desktop monitor, mouse and keyboard. Just make sure that the laptop has a plug on the back for her monitor.

 

Although if her monitor is several years old, you may consider upgrading that too. A nice 23" LCD flat / wide screen would be great for work. Be aware that many laptops now come with an HDMI or DVI style port, and older monitors have a VGA style cable, so they won't fit. They make adapters for a few bucks. Most new monitors support the HDMI or DVI. Some of them even still have a VGA cable too.

 

If you can find a laptop that comes with a docking station, even better. You can leave the monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc. plugged into the dock. If you remove the laptop and then return later, just plug the laptop into the dock and everything else is already connected.

 

Laptops come in several styles, but mostly they boil down to somewhere between ultra portable and desktop replacement. The ultra portables are very light and usually smaller, with no DVD or extras to weigh it down. A desktop replacement is going to be heavier, bigger, has an internal DVD, and lots of ports for connecting peripherals. The Desktop Replacement is perfect for someone who mostly wants to work at one desk, but occasionally go on the road. That is what I would recommend.

 

Most of the big names, like Dell, have a refurbished section on their websites where you can buy laptops and desktops. You are pretty much limited to the machines they have on the site, in the configuration they list it. Most of these are machines folks have bought with their own specs, then decided they didn't want it, or it wasn't the PC they were expecting, and they sent it back. So, the company sells them as-is. Still you can buy extra stuff and add it on yourself, like memory, or peripherals.

 

Good luck.

[analog_kidd]

Oh, and "TRY" to go with Windows 7. It will still be supported for patches for several years now, and it will be a familiar interface for her. Good luck finding a PC with it on it now though. Windows 8 had been around over a year, so any new PCs were built with that O/S in mind. You could buy a PC with Windows 8 and on it and wipe it and install Windows 7, but you may discover that the PC does not have drivers for Windows 7. If a company makes a PC designed just for Win8, they won;t give Win7 a second thought. Plus, you'll have the added expense of having to buy a copy of Win7.

[viscero]

Wait.. it's a work computer?  She even has an IT guy at work?  Has she asked them to provide a computer for her?  If it is medical field related there are all sorts of security and risk factors involved in using a home machine for work purposes.  I've worked in the medical and educational IT realm for the last 15 years and there's no way any of my previous employers would ever let someone use a non-company issued PC that wasn't locked down and secured for a work from home gig.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Oh, and "TRY" to go with Windows 7. It will still be supported for patches for several years now, and it will be a familiar interface for her. Good luck finding a PC with it on it now though. Windows 8 had been around over a year, so any new PCs were built with that O/S in mind. You could buy a PC with Windows 8 and on it and wipe it and install Windows 7, but you may discover that the PC does not have drivers for Windows 7. If a company makes a PC designed just for Win8, they won;t give Win7 a second thought. Plus, you'll have the added expense of having to buy a copy of Win7.

Yep, that is why a web ordered HP MIGHT make sense because most of their models, as of a month ago anyway, can be ordered with either win7 or 8. Probably because they sell to a lot of small biz as well as large biz.

I have used win 7 ultimate, though win 7 pro may be good enough. Ultimate has an XP emulation mode, which surprisingly I've never needed, but could save one's bacon if using old biz packages that will never be updated.

Maybe Pro also has the XP emulation, can't recall.

Have read some folks say that the innards of win8 are technically superior and it is just unfortunate that MS in their infinite wisdom hung the bizarre new gui on-top of an improved system, but dunno if that is true. Edited January 8, 2014 by Lester Weevils

[Guest Keal G Seo]

I figured it was a home based business not a work from home issue. If she actually works for a company they should be providing a secure machine. Now if she is her own boss and contracting for something like billing and coding...yeah, just about anything you can your hands on through retailers now will be more than sufficient. As mentioned before, an SSD would be a nice upgrade, and I would recommend to anyone buying anything new, because of boot speed though not necessary.

I would not suggest a laptop though. They are nice for convenience but you have to figure about another 50-150 bucks every 1-3 years to replace the battery and/or charging cables.

I will say this though, if any of you are in the "maybe" market for a laptop just for s***s and giggles. Give it a year or two as they are working on nano batteries that are supposed be about 100x better. Faster charging and don't wear out.

[gregintenn]

I suggested a laptop, but she isn't interested. The company supplied the computer she has now, but no longer does that. It isn't a big deal, I was just looking for a bargain. I do appreciate everyone's suggestions. She does work on a "VPN". Also, her moniter is much newer than her computer.

Edited January 8, 2014 by gregintenn

[tnguy]

Windows XP won't be supported by Microsoft with updates after April 2014 Iirc. Windows 7 is stable.

 

XP also won't handle 8 gigs of RAM unless you use the 64 bit version (Which has all sorts of driver issues). Definitely 7. Or Linux :D

 

XP (and all newer versions of windows) can be very touchy about swapping the hard-drive between machines too. Been there too many times. It can be a straightforward process but you have to take some steps *before* you remove the hard-drive from the old machine (basically switch to standard drivers for the hard drive)

Edited January 8, 2014 by tnguy