Dublinthefox Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 So apparently my laptop which I do all of my programming work for college hasn't been doing so well in terms of performance. And yes I said I'm a Mac guy, but its always good to have different things just in case......Anyway, its always recovering from unexpected shutdowns, I keep getting goddamn security threats even though I have Norton up and running, and when I try to boot it up the mother f***er it recommends that I use a guest account. So I decided that I'm going to replace it with a much nicer and more powerful PC. It needs: *pretty good graphics capability (since I'm going into graphic design) *High speed processor *Built in mic and web cam Thats all I can think of at this point, but some more might come to mind. Any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asper Sarnoff Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Quick tip, it'd be a lot easier to come with suggestions if you put up a price point. Roughly how much you'd want to spend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dublinthefox Posted October 26, 2011 Author Share Posted October 26, 2011 Quick tip, it'd be a lot easier to come with suggestions if you put up a price point. Roughly how much you'd want to spend. About anything around $500 or $600. If there isn't one like that around that price then some of the things on the list will not be needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DZComposer Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Like Asper said, budget is important. Don't fall for names like Alienware. You can got comparably spec'd systems for less elsewhere. 'd $600 That's a tall order for having high-end CPU and GPU. Let me do some research. What about screen size? If that isn't important you can save some there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexus Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Dell Precision M90 is a good way to go for Graphic Design, in my opinion. Just my $0.02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DZComposer Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 The Precision series is Dell's mobile workstation line. They are all >$1000 Though they will be better-spec'd for what you want than anything in the midrange laptops ($600) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexus Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 The Precision series is Dell's mobile workstation line. They are all >$1000 Though they will be better-spec'd for what you want than anything in the midrange laptops ($600) I agree. you can check E-bay and what not for possibly/probably lower than $1000 prices. Link: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Dell+Precision+M90&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=5522722315208763539&sa=X&ei=B56oTteJOdDOgAeN04AL&ved=0CF8Q8gIwAQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DZComposer Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 WARNING: Buying computers on Ebay is risky. I do not advise. Does it have to be a laptop? You can easily put together a desktop machine that could handle photoshop and illustrator in that price rage. It won't be workstation-level performance, but it will be significantly above midrange laptop performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dublinthefox Posted October 27, 2011 Author Share Posted October 27, 2011 WARNING: Buying computers on Ebay is risky. I do not advise. Does it have to be a laptop? You can easily put together a desktop machine that could handle photoshop and illustrator in that price rage. But theres the thing, I already have a Mac OSX desktop. I need something for when I'm at the campus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DZComposer Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 It may be worth seeing if Dell or whomever has a credit special right now. I got my laptop with a 12 months no interest. I was able to upgrade a bit because of that. Don't do it unless you can get no interest, though. Paying interest on a computer is dumb, especially since the rates on these credit lines are usually 20%+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psygonis Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 By graphics, if you mean video encoding, 3D rendering and that kind of stuff, I'm afraid it'll be hard to find anything suitable in that price range... Maybe you could find some Asus deals somewhere though... Lenovo and Dell make good CAD laptops, but it's pricey! If by graphics, you just mean standard Photoshop/Illustrator/Blender/3DSMax operation, any modern computer can run that even without having high-end specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesseboyd7 Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Dublinfox. What kind of laptop do you have? What kind of OS is running in it? Please give us the specifics of the old laptop you have now (brand, CPU, RAM, and OS) and I could help you suggest from there. Is your computer not letting you do anything? If so try booting your computer in 'safe mode with networking' to download malwarebytes. It's a good program that removes a lot of stuff. http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_pro Now have you or anyone else heard of combofix? It's the last place to go when trying to remove stubborn viruses or malware thats causing your computer to not execute properly. All directions are there and it is the right file to download combofix. Theres also a video tutorial I found on youtube how to run it. http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PRWXVD_8-8 For shopping wise for a new laptop. I'm pretty much the same with DZ and others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluxy Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I got my laptop at walmart... It works like, really really good. I got it for about, $400. Runs all my games nicely, and the only thing I pretty much can't do is emulate PS2 or gamecube games on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dublinthefox Posted October 27, 2011 Author Share Posted October 27, 2011 Dublinfox. What kind of laptop do you have? What kind of OS is running in it? Please give us the specifics of the old laptop you have now (brand, CPU, RAM, and OS) and I could help you suggest from there. Is your computer not letting you do anything? My laptop is a Dell Inspiron N6110 and the OS is Windows Vista. One of the problems it has is that it cannot recognize HTML files. Even when I open it in Internet Explorer and go to file, it will only let it be edited in Microsoft Word. Also like I said before, it always has to recover from unexpected shutdowns, and when I boot it up it recommends that I log into a guest account, which for some reason everything is zoomed in. If by graphics, you just mean standard Photoshop/Illustrator/Blender/3DSMax operation, any modern computer can run that even without having high-end specs. Pretty much. Just something where the pixels come out pretty clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psygonis Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Lol. You can open and edit HTML files in Notepad if you like! ^^ (Notepad++ is way better and free though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dublinthefox Posted October 27, 2011 Author Share Posted October 27, 2011 Lol. You can open and edit HTML files in Notepad if you like! ^^ (Notepad++ is way better and free though) I tried that and the files still won't be recognized. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psygonis Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Then it's not HTML files... It's just impossible that basic OS-independent file operation like this can be compromised by any kind of repeatable error on a computer. (Using Vista doesn't even count! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesseboyd7 Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Right now the best place I have for you Dublinfox is to visit this website computer hope! This is probably the best place to get the best help at. The first part is probably a file issue. The second one, thats over my head and I'm still studying my A+ exam (good grief). http://www.computerhope.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluxy Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Pretty much. Just something where the pixels come out pretty clear. Two step Process: 1st] Go to Walmart and look at the laptop specs 2nd] Buy awesome cheap laptop that does all that you want with ease. If you feel the need to do it, there is also a third step. 3rd] Have many rejoicings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinigami Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Better yet, get Windows 7 or put XP on it. Vista was a broken OS anyway. in all seriousness though if you're going to buy one, go with Dell; they usually have some of the best. hell we have a laptop with an i3, and through out the last couple of years the only issue with it was a bluescreen just once. as far as our old desktop machine which we recently gave away to my uncle...that was working for us for a freaking 15 years! we even upgraded it to XP and still didn't have any issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dublinthefox Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Better yet, get Windows 7 or put XP on it. Vista was a broken OS anyway. in all seriousness though if you're going to buy one, go with Dell; they usually have some of the best. I'm considering on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dublinthefox Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 Well after going to the nearest Best Buy and telling them what kind of things I needed in a new laptop, the said the one that was right for me was a Dell Inspiron Switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoxMcCloud Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Well after going to the nearest Best Buy and telling them what kind of things I needed in a new laptop, the said the one that was right for me was a Dell Inspiron Switch. Personally I hate best buy. They will say anything and everything to get you to buy what the are trying to sell you. I highly recommend to take a look at online offers and shop using your college's educational discounts that can usually save you some green My laptop is a Dell Inspiron N6110 and the OS is Windows Vista. One of the problems it has is that it cannot recognize HTML files. Even when I open it in Internet Explorer and go to file, it will only let it be edited in Microsoft Word. Also like I said before, it always has to recover from unexpected shutdowns, and when I boot it up it recommends that I log into a guest account, which for some reason everything is zoomed in. This highly sounds like a file system and registry issue and running a few tools in the command prompt may resolve the issue. It also seems that the .html file registry link seems to be corrupt. I recommend to run a CCleaner scan which you can download from here.http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner That can probably fix it, if not run a "CHKDSK /v /f /r" in command prompt and after that runs for a bit run a "SFC /scannow" to fix any operating system issues. I also suggest talking to your academic department and checking to see if you have access to the MSDNAA. If you do, then you can get Windows 7 Professional FO' Free! It's a good program that removes a lot of stuff. http://www.malwareby...alwarebytes_pro Now have you or anyone else heard of combofix? I LOVE COMBOFIX. IT FIXES ALL THE PROBLEMS. But there are tools such as a CHKDSK /v /f /r in the command prompt and also running an SFC /Scannow that can help repair os corruption and some disk errors. I have seen numerous errors outside of the world of viruses, trojans, malware, spyware you name it that was caused by just a simple error in the filesystem and other things. Also Combofix was the only thing that could remove the small program that ran on my computer. I noticed a lot of traffic 50Mbs + traffic outwards because I run a monitoring program on my second monitor. It turns out my entire computer decided to take down an entire data center in Germany. I used combofix to remove it, and then have been using Blink AV which is an Enterprise and security industry AV. Never have had a problem for an entire year. Also if you want any tips on the A+ let me know. I have been a+ certified for 2 years now. I also have 4 years of repair experience and 2 in networking. I would be more then happy to provide you some tips and other assistance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arashikage Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Dell is good sometimes, personally, I liked Compaq, but they don't exist anymore, it's sad really. HP bought them out, but I wouldn't advise an HP Compaq, the one I had didn't have a GPU, like straight up, it was a graphics adapter, I don't count those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DZComposer Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Never buy a computer retail if you have specific needs for it. Custom order. You'll get exactly what you want, not the Best Buy salesman's closest match. If you're just checking your email and using the internet, a retail model is fine. But if you want to use special software, custom order so you can spec exactly what you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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