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Mine has crashed 4 times in the last year and I am giving up on it. It keeps getting a virus and we can't get rid of it short of formatting the HD. So tell me what's good and in laymans terms. I am not a puter geek. My wife does photo editing and video editing and I just fawk around with you guys, so a good ethernet card and a box of condoms is all I need.
Any suggestions on where to get one? And if you say MDG, your dead!

go mac. the wife will thank you.

^^-- I hate to say this, but Anthony has a point. that would be your simplest answer, and for the occasional user such as yourself, you probably can't go wrong either.

If you have a lot of friends that share stuff with you, and they don't use macs, you may want to stick with a windows machine tho.

And for photography, and occasional use, you don't need THAT much of a computer anyways... I'm all about building my own, and i'll price and build you a machine if you're interested, or you can get a Dell. Like I said, I wouldn't recommend anything too crazy for you guys.

For $500, I built a 3GHZ intel machine with 1GB of ram, has firewire, USB2, optical digital outs, card reader, dual layer DVD burner, 150GB hdd, and winXP. All in a small form factor PC.

and you'd be able to get away with about the same... if you're looking for something that the wife can use for photography, save up your money for a really nice monitor. I think it's HP that just released an LED backlit LCD display, and the color accuracy and gamut smokes nearly any current LCD on the market. a 21" monitor costs about $6 grand tho.

Well my friend just got him self a new dell and he's a super gaming nerd, but he got his super gameing computer pretty cheap and it runs great and no crashs/virus yet.

so mmm i'd Suggest Dell or for ur wife's case a power mac

also do NOT GET A COMPAQ!!! DO NOT! i speek from experience... they will kill u in the end.

Just go to NCIX. Buy off their sale or pricematch to prices on Pricenetwork.ca (best price comparison place ever for comp stuff).

Get one of these. Pat will be able to run Photoshop with ease.

I can't imagine you guys use your puter for morte than email, porn and image retouching....
One of these would be ideal for you. And cheap too.

Mac Mini

meford4u,Nov 1 2005, 03:17 PM Wrote:Mine has crashed 4 times in the last year and I am giving up on it.  It keeps getting a virus and we can't get rid of it short of formatting the HD.  So tell me what's good and in laymans terms.  I am not a puter geek.  My wife does photo editing and video editing and I just fawk around with you guys, so a good ethernet card and a box of condoms is all I need.
Any suggestions on where to get one?  And if you say MDG, your dead!
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Okay now the answer depends on how simple do you want setup/operation to be?

If you're looking for "Turn it on and it runs with minimal user intervention" might I suggest a decent Windows laptop? The reasoning is as follows:

A laptop can be taken anywhere in the house, most new laptops come with wireless access right out of the box.

No need (or temptation) to muck about the machines internals.

Now laptops do have their disadvantages:

Easier to damage

Easier to steal

Can't be upgraded as easily.

Now if you do need a desktop, with maximum amount of hand holding. I would suggest a name brand machine (HP, Dell) because they will be there if something goes wrong (Think of it as the difference of buying a car from a Ford dealer vs. a used car lot/curbsider)

If you're okay with less hanholding I can recommend several smaller shops that I deal with. No problems with anything I've purchased from them, but there is always that risk.

If you have a specific budget/questions fire away.

NefCanuck

meford4u,Nov 1 2005, 07:17 PM Wrote:Mine has crashed 4 times in the last year and I am giving up on it.  It keeps getting a virus and we can't get rid of it short of formatting the HD.

ha ha .. is it you or your son who lives on xxx sites....

ha ha ha ha :lol: :P

Does Photoshop exist for Mac ? I know it used to, but didn't they stop making/porting it to it? isn't that why Apple came up with Aperture?

Anyway, buy a decent PC, cuz soon you'll be able to buy Mac OS X for it anyway. They'll be using Intel processors soon. No need to spend exorbitant amounts of money on an Apple cuz soon they'll be switching architecture anyway.

NCIX.com is great for price matching, as well as returning. I admittedly bought the wrong RAM from them, totally my mistake, told them that, returned it, received a full refund. Most places ask for a restocking fee.

That's my 2 cents, your value may vary.

Aka,Nov 1 2005, 05:26 PM Wrote:Does Photoshop exist for Mac ? I know it used to, but didn't they stop making/porting it to it? isn't that why Apple came up with Aperture?

Yup Adobe still has Photoshop for Mac OS X, MeFord don't worry about files not being compatible with Windows Apps the most popular file formats are easily converted between Macs and Windows.

MeFord if your kid is going to a post secondary school you can pick up an Apple computer for a bit of a discount at a Apple Store or at the online Apple Store and remember to show them proof that he's going to said school, I bought a eMac to the tune of a 250.00 discount and my sister got a 300.00 discount on her iBook.

Laterz :)

I'll second NCIX.com... you can get serious hardware that works the way you want it to, get the entire system pre-built and loaded with Windows XP Home or Pro (I recommend Pro, as do most IT guys), and then have it shipped to you.

Use the PC Builder function at the top of the page.

NOS2Go4Me,Nov 1 2005, 08:40 PM Wrote:I'll second NCIX.com... you can get serious hardware that works the way you want it to, get the entire system pre-built and loaded with Windows XP Home or Pro (I recommend Pro, as do most IT guys), and then have it shipped to you.

Use the PC Builder function at the top of the page.
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I agree

Thanks for the help. Son has a laptop. That's what I am using now. Will try the site provided and see what I come up with. Again, thanks to all for not making it soooooooooo complicated.

Yeah meford, have one custom built. That's one of my hobbies, building custom computers, tweaking them, modding them, repairing them. Too bad that industry doesn't pay much, and isn't in demand... otherwise I wouldn't be in school right now... argh. I could help ya with parts and even finding some if ever needed.

DP said i'll price and build you a machine if you're interested

that's all I need to hear. Your hired.

BTW I went to NCIX and got confused. I need help. DP help. Send me the bill.

I want alot of ram, a decent processor. a decent video card for video editing, no gaming, 2 HD that mirror eacj other about 80 gig each, sound isn't important. a cd burner, ethernet card for my cable interent.. thinking wireless, what else????

Let's PM and discuss when and where over beers. This week is bad for me but the next 2 weeks are a possiblity. How is your schedule?

PM me if Puppet doesn't have time. I can email you a completed quote for a NCIX custom PC.

Fawkin puter nerd idiots! I told them that it was the HD the last 3 times I brought it in. They call me today and told me the HD is corrupt. DOH!! Now I Told them u better take care of it or I'm busting heads!

Go MAC....

The wife will thank you.

ANTHONYD,Nov 4 2005, 08:39 PM Wrote:Go MAC....

The wife will thank you.
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My friend has a sound recording studio in his house and swears MAC is the best. He mentions that it's the best for pics and videos too.

But still, won't all that porn corrupt even the best of puters :P

Hey Meford...

If you want a good deal. Pick up this sucker...

Kickass Setup. the only problem with this setup is the Socket 754 is being phased out.

But the deal cant be beat.

Tiger Direct A64 3700+


Makes me wish i didnt spend all that money on the P4 D506 yesterday...

If youre not in a rush you could wait till AMD launches socket M2... for future upgradability