Specs on new Desktop
Thread poster: Sandra Alboum
Sandra Alboum
Sandra Alboum  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 20:21
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Dec 25, 2005

Hi all, and Merry Whatever-Holiday-You-Might-Be-Celebrating-in-December!

I'm looking to upgrade my desktop computer. It's been 3 years since I bought the one I have (HP) and I've been pretty pleased with it, but I fear that time has passed me by and now when I look at the specs on the computers out there, I don't know what's good, bad, or just indifferent.

One thing I know I need is more RAM. Right now I've got 1.00GB, but when my computer is checking email, for examp
... See more
Hi all, and Merry Whatever-Holiday-You-Might-Be-Celebrating-in-December!

I'm looking to upgrade my desktop computer. It's been 3 years since I bought the one I have (HP) and I've been pretty pleased with it, but I fear that time has passed me by and now when I look at the specs on the computers out there, I don't know what's good, bad, or just indifferent.

One thing I know I need is more RAM. Right now I've got 1.00GB, but when my computer is checking email, for example, everything comes to a screetching halt until it's done. Sometimes when I'm using Trados on graphics heavy files, it runs very slow. I'm thinking I need more RAM.

But what about chips? I don't know a Pentium from a hole in the wall.

In short, I'm ready to buy a great box (no screens or other stuff needed), but I don't know where to start.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks.
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Sven Petersson
Sven Petersson  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 01:21
English to Swedish
+ ...
You don’t need a new computer! Dec 25, 2005

You need to clean out all the rubbish Bill’s auto-castration features have put on your computer!

See http://www.proz.com/topic/40474

Happy New Year!

Sven.

[Edited at 2005-12-25 19:50]


 
Lars Jelking
Lars Jelking  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 03:21
English to Swedish
+ ...
Leave well alone! Dec 26, 2005

Sven is right. Buying new only because it's new doesn't do any good. And I agree with his advice that you should do some house-keeping on the harddrive. You'll be amazed how much junc you unknowinly have collected during those three years.

Start with running Windows' disc cleanup (you find it in 'System tools'. Get rid of all the cookies (Tools - Internet Options - the General tab - Delete cookies). Update your anti-virus and run a complete virus scan. Consider purchasing a good pro
... See more
Sven is right. Buying new only because it's new doesn't do any good. And I agree with his advice that you should do some house-keeping on the harddrive. You'll be amazed how much junc you unknowinly have collected during those three years.

Start with running Windows' disc cleanup (you find it in 'System tools'. Get rid of all the cookies (Tools - Internet Options - the General tab - Delete cookies). Update your anti-virus and run a complete virus scan. Consider purchasing a good protection program against spyware (i.e. Lavasoft's AdWare.) Run Windows Dis Defragmeter.

My PC is also equipted with 1GB memory but I see no slowdown when I handle 250 MB images or huge (60 MB) MSWord-files. On the other hand, memory is rather cheap, and if you feel you need more, get it!

Bottom line: Keep your computer "clean" and don't fall in the gadget-trap.

Season Greetings.
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Fuad Yahya
Fuad Yahya  Identity Verified
Arabic
+ ...
What kind of computer do you have now? Dec 26, 2005

Other than 1GB of RAM, what are the specs on this HP? And what kind of RAM does it have?

 
Sven Petersson
Sven Petersson  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 01:21
English to Swedish
+ ...
Lars’ advice is good, but ... Dec 26, 2005

...in addition you should run Housecall (http://housecall.trendmicro.com, can ONLY be run from IE) and apply the advice offered on http://www.proz.com/topic/40474

Happy New Year!

Sven.

[Edited at 2005-12-26 13:41]


 
PAS
PAS  Identity Verified
Local time: 01:21
Polish to English
+ ...
Clean system reinstall Dec 27, 2005

Once in a while (once a year, once every 2 years) it is a good idea to reinstall the whole system from the ground up.

It's tedious. It takes the better part of a day. It takes time to get back to all your favourite settings.
But it gets rid of all the accumulated gunk on your computer which no Disk cleanup will get rid of.

That tends to get your computer going again.
If your machine is three years old, it will definitely have a reasonable processor and graph
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Once in a while (once a year, once every 2 years) it is a good idea to reinstall the whole system from the ground up.

It's tedious. It takes the better part of a day. It takes time to get back to all your favourite settings.
But it gets rid of all the accumulated gunk on your computer which no Disk cleanup will get rid of.

That tends to get your computer going again.
If your machine is three years old, it will definitely have a reasonable processor and graphics adapter, and 1 GB of RAM is more than plenty.

Get a computer-wise friend to help you if you are not up to this yourself.

Cheers,
Pawel Skalinski
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Klas Törnquist
Klas Törnquist
Local time: 01:21
English to Swedish
+ ...
About time to get a new one Jan 2, 2006

Sandra Alboum wrote:

I'm looking to upgrade my desktop computer. It's been 3 years since I bought the one I have (HP) and I've been pretty pleased with it, but I fear that time has passed me by and now when I look at the specs on the computers out there, I don't know what's good, bad, or just indifferent.

One thing I know I need is more RAM. Right now I've got 1.00GB, but when my computer is checking email, for example, everything comes to a screetching halt until it's done. Sometimes when I'm using Trados on graphics heavy files, it runs very slow. I'm thinking I need more RAM.

But what about chips? I don't know a Pentium from a hole in the wall.

In short, I'm ready to buy a great box (no screens or other stuff needed), but I don't know where to start.


I replaced my 3 year old computer about a month ago.
The new one has 2 GB RAM, a 200 GB hard drive, and a 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor. This combination gives rather good bang for the bucks.

I think i'ts the right time for you to get a new one, since hard drives etc have a limited life. It may be time to get a new screen as well.

Klas


 
Nicolas Racine
Nicolas Racine  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:21
English to French
I agree with the majority Jan 9, 2006

Sandra Alboum wrote:

Hi all, and Merry Whatever-Holiday-You-Might-Be-Celebrating-in-December!

I'm looking to upgrade my desktop computer. It's been 3 years since I bought the one I have (HP) and I've been pretty pleased with it, but I fear that time has passed me by and now when I look at the specs on the computers out there, I don't know what's good, bad, or just indifferent.

One thing I know I need is more RAM. Right now I've got 1.00GB, but when my computer is checking email, for example, everything comes to a screetching halt until it's done. Sometimes when I'm using Trados on graphics heavy files, it runs very slow. I'm thinking I need more RAM.


Well, 1 Go of RAM should be more than enough for most translation work.

This past three years, the experts have been debating wether the latest computers were overkill for the king of work "regular" people normally do. I tend to agree that the last three year span has not seen as much a breakthrough as the three years before that. Machines have gotten faster, memory, cheaper and Hard Disks, bigger and faster. But do we need al that extra power to work? I don't think so.

If we're talking about a family computer for teens wanting to keep up with the latest games, I would say yes, absolutely. But the Office work has not evolve much these past three years, so what was good three years ago is still as good now.

I will join the other into advising to rather to tidying-up the hard disk. If you have the technical expertise, backup all your essential files, reformat and reinstall everything; you won't believe how much more responsive your system is.

If you don't have people around you who can do this kind of work, a very thourough cleaning of the existing installation will also do good.

You say you email is very slow; many things could cause this:

1- too many email in your inbox. If you use Outlook, try to archive your emails up to the last six months into another pst file (automated archive feature).

2- antivirus acting up. Don't forget that your antivirus should check every incoming email. If it's virus definition file has become corrupted somehow, that could cause problem. Make sure you set your antivirus for daily automatic updates.

3- badly fragmented hard drive. If your inbox contains too many files, and that your hard disk is very fragmented, your computer can stop working altogether for as much as five minutes before starting up again. The first thing to do in any case is to defragment your hard drive, and make a habit of doing it monthly. The first time will probably take a long time; start the process before going to bed. But the subsequent defragments will go much faster afterwards.

In any case, a good hard disk cleanup is recommended at least every two months to keep your computer in shape.


In short, I'm ready to buy a great box (no screens or other stuff needed), but I don't know where to start.


If, like me, you need some expenses for your tax income, that's another story alltogether, of course.

Sorry for the long post, I hope it helps you take your decision.

Regards,

Nicolas Racine


 


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