New Computer

getcarter

Hi there

My computer died on me the other day (think I had a bit of a dud) and so I need a new one, only for home use.

Could any one help me sort through the mine field of technical terms and may be give me the minimum specs I should go for.

Please.....

BillScarab

"Home use" covers a lot of things, what exactly do you want to do with it? Just for the internet, office use, playing the latest games or editing video?

ghost01

getcarter wrote:

Hi there

My computer died on me the other day (think I had a bit of a dud) and so I need a new one, only for home use.

Could any one help me sort through the mine field of technical terms and may be give me the minimum specs I should go for.

Please.....

Try my solution;)

-Ram: 1Gb (2G is recommendation)
-OS: Windows Vista
-CPU: Dual Core 2.6 64bit
-DVD (recommend DVD rewrite)
-HDD: 120Gb
-Monitor: LCD 17"
-Modem
-Diplay card: 256Mb (recommend 512Mb)

HP or Dell are good companies, You should use some google's free services for save money:D

getcarter

mainly internet usage, but also need to download photos and music

rygon

if you arent going to use it for games then an onboard graphics card will do (if theres no high intensity programs running)
2 yrs ago i went for
amd xp 3200+ processor
1gb ram
windows XP
dvd rewriter
19" monitor

if you are going to use a camera with it it will be worth investing in a 9in1 card reader (choose one which works with your card)
maybe a soundcard if you play music a lot. (i went for a m-audio (about £70)card which i plugged to my amp).

still finding the specs great and wouldnt change a thing.
used this place to get what i wanted http://pcspecialist.co.uk

Mark.G_6

My pc & laptop is from Dell, very happy with it.

nintendosensei

Try a Pentium D with at least 1GB of RAM and not integrated graphics, if you're unsure of a part, look it up online and if you don't understand type it in froogle. At least knowing the price will give you a slight indication of the quality of the product.

BillScarab

If you're buying a PC now it's worth considering whether it will be compatible with Windows Vista which is being released next year. For details look here

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx

If you ever want it to be Windows Vista premium ready it needs to meet the following minimum spec

* 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1.
* 1 GB of system memory.
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)2, Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel.
* 40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
* DVD-ROM Drive3.
* Audio output capability.
* Internet access capability.

That should be a decent basis for a new PC but I would recommend a much faster processor than 1 Ghz