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What type of computer to buy?

Goodfou

Well-Known Member
Second the recommendation to go i7 processor with 16GB ram and a Solid State Drive (SSD). Yes, these specs are a bit overkill for your use, but you need to future proof the desktop else you will need to upgrade again in a few years. Furthermore, don’t build your own. Get one that is upgradable so you can do a simple upgrade in the future, like add video card or more RAM.

Finally, to keep costs down, get a 256 or 512gb SSD and a 1TB HD. The operating system and any games/programs should be stored on the SSD while any pictures, movies, etc is stored on the HD. The SSD will allow your system to run incredibly quick (boot almost as fast as a MAC) while still having lots of storage (1TB HD) for all the family pictures and movies you have accumulated over the years.

Final note: SSDs do not require cloud computing. They are nothing more than the latest consumer digital storage technology that is considerably more expensive than HDDs. However, the performance is worth it! Just not necessary to pay to put everything on the SSD. Many mid tier computers these days have combo SSD/HDD set ups for this reason-max performance and storage at a decent price point.
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Concur with above. SSD absolutely mandatory, and second “data” drive will give best performance. 16GB RAM is not overkill. RAM is cheap.
 

Pags

N/A
pilot
Second the recommendation to go i7 processor with 16GB ram and a Solid State Drive (SSD). Yes, these specs are a bit overkill for your use, but you need to future proof the desktop else you will need to upgrade again in a few years. Furthermore, don’t build your own. Get one that is upgradable so you can do a simple upgrade in the future, like add video card or more RAM.

Finally, to keep costs down, get a 256 or 512gb SSD and a 1TB HD. The operating system and any games/programs should be stored on the SSD while any pictures, movies, etc is stored on the HD. The SSD will allow your system to run incredibly quick (boot almost as fast as a MAC) while still having lots of storage (1TB HD) for all the family pictures and movies you have accumulated over the years.

Final note: SSDs do not require cloud computing. They are nothing more than the latest consumer digital storage technology that is considerably more expensive than HDDs. However, the performance is worth it! Just not necessary to pay to put everything on the SSD. Many mid tier computers these days have combo SSD/HDD set ups for this reason-max performance and storage at a decent price point.
Thanks all. Although building my own PC does sound cool I think I'm going to go turnkey and save the self-build if/when the kids want their own PC.

After fiddling around on newegg I came down with these guys:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...=9SIAA0SAX28976,9SIAA0S8C18148,9SIAA0S8C18157

They're all within a few bucks of each other and have 16GB RAM (plus room for more later), 512GB SSD, and 1TB HHD. Plus they're small form factor which is a Mrs. Pags requirement.
 

Mos

Well-Known Member
None
After what Mos wrote about installing CPUs I'm a tad gun shy on going home built.
I'll just clarify that this was the part that made me nervous but like nittany said, it still isn't that hard. And that was like eight years ago when I was installing Windows 7. I think it's gotten easier to configure a bios and windows 10 pretty much does everything for you during install. If I wanted another desktop, I'd seriously consider builing it because you can get a lot of power at a fair price if you do the research. But you can also get some great deals from the store so I don't begrudge either option.
 

HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
@Pags Buy your stuff from Amazon not Newegg if you are a Prime member. If anything is wrong, you can quickly return it and get it replaced. You can take it back to a Whole Foods and get your refund within an hour or so after dropping it off. Do a return and repurchase not an exchange. The free 2 day shipping is awesome. The returns are done online without a human asking a bunch of questions.

I just built a new computer and had bad luck with the motherboard not working correctly, both the original and replacement. Returned both online without talking to a person and bought a 3rd different manufacturer. 5 days for 3 motherboards. No long holdups.

I built a computer using
AMD Ryzen 9 3900x
X570 motherboard
16 gb DDR4 @ 4400 Mhz
Navida 1660 Super graphics card
100 watt power supply
Corsair H115i CPU water cooler
ATX Case
couple of extra low noise fans

I spent about $1600 total. It's not top of the line ($400 more for top AMD Ryzen 9 3950x and up to $1000 more for better graphics card) but it's close except for hard core gamers.

On a side note, build a computer that meets Oculus Rift S or Quest Link minimum specifications. VR games are pretty cool but...VR porn is a game changer....so I've been told.....
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
resurrecting this thread as my computer is dying and wanted opinions, I don't do much gaming, occasional online game, but nothing substantial, in general I use my computer for MS programs for work and volunteer activities, maybe some shows from CBS all access, etc.....

wasn't specifically looking at HP, they just happened to be the ones that came up.

I am looking at these because they look like a good value, however I know there are people here that know more about computers than I do.

HP 2020 Newest 17.3 Inch Flagship Laptop?Computer (8th Gen?Intel Core i5-8265U 3.9GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Intel HD 620, WiFi, Bluetooth, DVD, Windows 10)
4.6 out of 5 stars 15
Personal Computers
$686.99


2020 HP 17.3" Laptop Computer/ 8th Gen Intel Quad-Core i5-8265U Up to 3.9GHz/ 8GB DDR4 RAM/ 256GB PCIe SSD/ DVD/ Bluetooth 4.2/ USB 3.1/ HDMI/ Windows 10 Home/ Black
4.6 out of 5 stars 6
Personal Computers
$627.00


HP 2019 Newest HP 17 17.3" HD+ (1600x900) Premium Laptop (Intel Core i5-7200U, 8GB 2400 MHz DDR4, 1TB HDD, HDMI, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet Gigabit RJ-45, Windows 10 - Black)
4.0 out of 5 stars 198
Personal Computers
$645.28


HP 17.3" HD+ Laptop Computer, AMD Dual-Core A9-9420 APU 3.0Ghz CPU, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB HDD, AMD Radeon R5 Graphics, USB 3.1, DVDRW, Webcam, HDMI, WIFI, Bluetooth, Windows 10
3.5 out of 5 stars 13
Personal Computers
$549.99


2019 HP 17.3" HD+ Touchscreen Laptop Computer, AMD Quad-Core Ryzen 5 2500U up to 3.6GHz (Beat i7-7500U), 12GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD, DVDRW, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, USB 3.1, HDMI, Windows 10
Personal Computers
$730.00
 

squorch2

he will die without safety brief
pilot
no one needs a 17” screen - better to get a standard 13-15” screen with a large external display.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
no one needs a 17” screen - better to get a standard 13-15” screen with a large external display.

ok, I was thinking that give the low cost of monitors now that could be the way to go. excluding the monitor size any recommendations looking at the guts of the ones I listed?
I can't read those ridiculous fonts.
I did the old cut and paste, probably could have taken a minute to adjust the font size and bold, however the wife had told me multiple times dinner was ready and had to prioritize who I wanted to get complaints from :D
 

Goodfou

Well-Known Member
Hard to determine your best option. Unless the occasional online game you are referring to is spades or words with friends, all of those laptops are probably inadequate for almost any type of modern game. Additionally, do you plan to store large amounts of pictures and movies on the computer or do you have an external HD for that? If you want to store in the computer, you probably need a 1TB HD. If you are good with a 15 inch, I suggest something like this:

HP Pavilion 15 Notebook, 15.6" FHD Display, AMD Ryzen 5 3550H Upto 3.7GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 1TB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050, HDMI, Card Reader, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Windows 10 Pro
https://www.newegg.com/product/9SIAA0SAM70533?m_ver=1

16GB of ram, a decent graphics card and a 512GB SSD will have your laptop booting in less than 30 seconds (very fast for all normal activities) and capable of storing any modern game on the SSD and playing it on decent setttings. Furthermore, the 1 TB HD should be adequate to store about all your pictures and video. By the way, Newegg is a very reputable company. I’ve been buying computer stuff from them since the early 2000’s.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Hard to determine your best option. Unless the occasional online game you are referring to is spades or words with friends, all of those laptops are probably inadequate for almost any type of modern game. Additionally, do you plan to store large amounts of pictures and movies on the computer or do you have an external HD for that? If you want to store in the computer, you probably need a 1TB HD. If you are good with a 15 inch, I suggest something like this:

HP Pavilion 15 Notebook, 15.6" FHD Display, AMD Ryzen 5 3550H Upto 3.7GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 1TB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050, HDMI, Card Reader, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Windows 10 Pro
https://www.newegg.com/product/9SIAA0SAM70533?m_ver=1

16GB of ram, a decent graphics card and a 512GB SSD will have your laptop booting in less than 30 seconds (very fast for all normal activities) and capable of storing any modern game on the SSD and playing it on decent setttings. Furthermore, the 1 TB HD should be adequate to store about all your pictures and video. By the way, Newegg is a very reputable company. I’ve been buying computer stuff from them since the early 2000’s.

The most recent game I played was world of warships, easy to go in play a quick game then get back to life, my current computer is older has 6 GB RAM, AMD A8-4500M, Radeon HD graphics 1.9 GHz, my hard drive is 6 GB with 4.5 GB free

I have yet to have an instance where I have wanted to run something but my computer couldn't, the main issues I am having is the CD drive has died, certain keys are now not always working, one of my USB ports doesn't work anymore, and the battery is lasting less and less. I did get the computer on sale as it was a prior years model so it was manufactured in 2012, it is just a matter of time before it dies and I have my money's worth out of it.
 

Pags

N/A
pilot
Because of all the homeschool and video chat that has come with COVID we recently got the kids Chromebooks. We got them Lenovo c330s on sale at Amazon and I've been impressed enough with them that I've considered getting one for myself in lieu of a tablet.
 
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