How often should we trade in the computer for a newer model to insure speed? Thread poster: yolanda Speece
|
|---|
I have a computer I have owned since 2001. It is a COMPAQ PRESARIO 5003. It has an Intel Pentium III processor (933MHz) 128 MB of Memory,60 GB Hard Drive.
Is this computer outdated? I like the computer but sometimes it begins to act up! The all in one no longer functions and when I tried to install a new printer, well, I couldn't!
I mostly use it for e-mail, pictures, video footage and working on translations. When I invest in the new computer, I plan on installin... See more I have a computer I have owned since 2001. It is a COMPAQ PRESARIO 5003. It has an Intel Pentium III processor (933MHz) 128 MB of Memory,60 GB Hard Drive.
Is this computer outdated? I like the computer but sometimes it begins to act up! The all in one no longer functions and when I tried to install a new printer, well, I couldn't!
I mostly use it for e-mail, pictures, video footage and working on translations. When I invest in the new computer, I plan on installing software such as Dragon Naturally speaking 8.0, Adobe Pagemaker Illustrator and the latest version of TRADOS.
I would love any input that would be helpful.
Thanks! ▲ Collapse
| | | | 00000000 (X)
English to French
+ ...
| Rest assured | Jan 29, 2005 |
Your computer is very slow and very limited in RAM, but if it doesn't drive you nuts to look at it taking forever to boot, run programs or process files, I really don't see why you should change it.
I do recommend you make proper backups of your data, however, because the way computers die is usually by not booting one day. You really don't want to have to pay a specialized service to recover data from the deceased computer's hard drive.
Best,
Esther
| | | | Pablo Roufogalis (X)
Colombia
Local time: 16:03
English to Spanish
| When's there's something to be gained | Jan 29, 2005 |
Hello.
I'd say that the computers should be upgraded whenever the advantages are larger than the upgrade cost, never on a whim. That includes hardware and software.
In my experience, the best way is to buy no-name clones, but with a good motherboard, not the cheapo ones that are usually in them. Their componentes can be upgraded easily and cheaply and you can swap components among your computers.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch 
Finland
Local time: 00:03
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| More Ram would help | Jan 29, 2005 |
Your Harddrive is rather big compared to the rest of the machine, but the ram will make problems. I have 256 Mb, but would need maybe four times as much.
It usually pays to buy a new computer every second year, that's when you still get some money back by selling the old one. A 4 year old machine goes only for charity or as a server in a local network maybe.
Regards
Heinrich
| | |
|
|
|
Irene N
United States
Local time: 16:03
English to Russian
+ ...
| I agree with Heinrich | Jan 29, 2005 |
You definitely need more RAM. As far as the printer is concerned, the problem could be the operating system. Do you have the right driver? If you are running any old Windows version, your machine might have problems recognizing it and you need to install the driver from the CD or the net.
Should you go for a new computer, my sincere advice would be to forget about Compaq, it is notorious for rejecting or causing troubles with everything that is not "Compaq-related". It could be wort... See more You definitely need more RAM. As far as the printer is concerned, the problem could be the operating system. Do you have the right driver? If you are running any old Windows version, your machine might have problems recognizing it and you need to install the driver from the CD or the net.
Should you go for a new computer, my sincere advice would be to forget about Compaq, it is notorious for rejecting or causing troubles with everything that is not "Compaq-related". It could be worth checking which printers Compaq will accept, especially if the OS was pre-installed in your then new PC.
Laptops are pretty expensive and by all means you are the only one who can weight profits against losses, it's hard to give "4-digit advices" but if you are working from home and looking for a desktop, maybe it's time to change it, there are many great 3-digit deals around.
Personally, I'm a Dell fan and buy new computers (and cars) only, call me paranoid:-). Any "machinery" is a one-owner pet:-). So far it paid-off - my oldest Dell PC was 1995. I gave away 2 to the people I know and still have 2 - 2001 desktop (mostly server by now) and currently my main tool, 2002 laptop - all 4 still work without a single hardware failure, and the prices were very reasonable.
I know the feeling - I must tighten my belt and buy a lightweight. I'm a heavy traveler, and 2.8 lbs sound much better than 10.
Good luck to both of us!
Sincerely,
Irina ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Trados recommends | Jan 29, 2005 |
yolanda Speece wrote:
I have a computer I have owned since 2001. It is a COMPAQ PRESARIO 5003. It has an Intel Pentium III processor (933MHz) 128 MB of Memory,60 GB Hard Drive.
Is this computer outdated?
From the Trados 6.5 documentation:
"The minimum specification for using TRADOS 6.5 Freelance is a PC with a 512 MHz
Pentium III or higher compatible processor and at least 128 MB RAM.TRADOS recommends 256 MB or higher."
I would go for 1 GB RAM, since TagEditor can't open really large files with my system, using 512 MB RAM. An overall fast system with makes working easier.
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Local time: 23:03
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
| Completly renewing the hardware every two-three years | Jan 29, 2005 |
As far what you need is only ONE PC, I see no problem in replacing it every two or three years.
The bigger problem is the software - if you will run both old and new PC, you will need two licenses for operating system and the software you will run on both. The same - for OS at least - is when you give the old one to someone else with the OS...
Regarding the hardware, so Dell is pretty good, but I wouldn´t buy it. I wouldn´t buy any brand, either - I build my PC on my own. T... See more As far what you need is only ONE PC, I see no problem in replacing it every two or three years.
The bigger problem is the software - if you will run both old and new PC, you will need two licenses for operating system and the software you will run on both. The same - for OS at least - is when you give the old one to someone else with the OS...
Regarding the hardware, so Dell is pretty good, but I wouldn´t buy it. I wouldn´t buy any brand, either - I build my PC on my own. The very important part of your PC is the motherboard. The best one (and surely not the cheapest) is only good enough. Better take a processor with less speed, not the top model, but something two or three steps behind and invest the difference in the best motherboard you can get with as much - good - memory you can afford. 512 MB would be IMO the smallest amout you could talk about nowadays.
Take a big HDD - but you won´t need the biggest one, take the fastest. I would go for SATA, buy two smaller disks (120 GB or even less, 80 GB, each) and build a RAID0 matrix (stripped matrix) of them. In this way you could increase the performance of your PC a lot, compared with PCs using only one HDD with even much faster CPU.
AFAIK you can get PCs with RAID by Dell - if you prefer a brand, then go for that.
What I certailny wouldn´t do, is to invest any cent in that old machine...
Regards
Jerzy ▲ Collapse
| | | | Marc P (X)
Local time: 23:03
German to English
+ ...
| Completly renewing the hardware every two-three years | Jan 29, 2005 |
Jerzy,
Would you advise people not to buy Windows pre-installed on a new PC? That's what your message implies: "if you will run both old and new PC, you will need two licenses for operating system and the software you will run on both". If I were buying a new PC for Windows, I'd buy Windows pre-installed, since OEM versions are cheaper and the supplier will do the work of configuring, installing drivers, etc.
If you don't buy a new licence, you can still use the obsolet... See more Jerzy,
Would you advise people not to buy Windows pre-installed on a new PC? That's what your message implies: "if you will run both old and new PC, you will need two licenses for operating system and the software you will run on both". If I were buying a new PC for Windows, I'd buy Windows pre-installed, since OEM versions are cheaper and the supplier will do the work of configuring, installing drivers, etc.
If you don't buy a new licence, you can still use the obsolete machine legally: delete Windows and install Linux instead. Whether you install Linux or leave Windows on it, though, you can find perfectly acceptable applications for free, such as OpenOffice.org (office suite), Firefox (web browser), OmegaT (translation memory), etc.
I agree that a new PC every three years is a good idea, but still think that it would be worth adding a further 128 MB of RAM to this old machine. With 256 MB, it should offer quite acceptable performance, at least with Linux.
Marc ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Local time: 23:03
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
| Linux and old machines | Jan 29, 2005 |
You could still run Windows 3.1 - it would require a 386 or 486 to run sufficient, but I don't think this is the point here.
I do not use Linux, so cannot tell much about it, but I tried Open Office, without beeing confused it is worth to throw MS Office away and replace it with OO. But this is only my personal opinion.
Regarding the Windows licensing - if you buy a PC, then it will probably be shipped with preinstalled OS, so then you can use the old one with existing license... See more You could still run Windows 3.1 - it would require a 386 or 486 to run sufficient, but I don't think this is the point here.
I do not use Linux, so cannot tell much about it, but I tried Open Office, without beeing confused it is worth to throw MS Office away and replace it with OO. But this is only my personal opinion.
Regarding the Windows licensing - if you buy a PC, then it will probably be shipped with preinstalled OS, so then you can use the old one with existing license. However, I build my PC on my own, so then I have to buy a new license for each new PC, as far I will use the old one for any reason with the original OS.
And the price difference between a Linux license and Windows Home license is only approx. 45 Euro (89,95 for SuSE Linux Pro compared to 132,50 for Windows XP Pro) or there is even no difference, if you chose WinXP Home - both 89,95 Euro...
So please give me a reason to chose Linux, when I can have a fool-proved system for the same price?
Regards
Jerzy ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jeff Allen
France
Local time: 23:03
Multiplelanguages
+ ...
| upgrading PC equipment | Jan 29, 2005 |
Jerzy Czopik wrote:
As far what you need is only ONE PC, I see no problem in replacing it every two or three years.
The bigger problem is the software - if you will run both old and new PC, you will need two licenses for operating system and the software you will run on both. The same - for OS at least - is when you give the old one to someone else with the OS...
MarcPrior wrote:
Would you advise people not to buy Windows pre-installed on a new PC? That's what your message implies.... If I were buying a new PC for Windows, I'd buy Windows pre-installed, since OEM versions are cheaper and the supplier will do the work of configuring, installing drivers, etc.
My experience with fully prepackaged Windows with an OEM was that they provide an OEM restore/recovery CD with Windows on it. So when there are problems, you erase and start over again. Not fun when you have problems and just want to repair.
Better to have windows just preinstalled and have a mirrored install Windows CD to use to fix and reinstall.
And definitely yes on the comment further above in the thread about doing regular backups. I do it all the time. It has saved many headaches over time. Never trust a single backup copy. CDs and DVDs can scratch and do. and that means lost data.
I agree with the comment by someone in this thread that you should only upgrade when you feel you need to. I'm still running Win98 First edition on this computer (Pent II, 350Mhz, 64 RAM) with Office 97. I can run nearly all Machine Translation systems on it and even have my IBM ViaVoice speech recognition system on it. Even can run the new webcam on it.
This set up works fine for the types of use needed for this computer. I do however have other more recent computers with different configurations. I have been considering lately however of converting it to Linux when getting a new one to replace it.
Jeff
| | | | Marc P (X)
Local time: 23:03
German to English
+ ...
| Linux and old machines | Jan 29, 2005 |
Hi Jerzy,
I was simply responding to your comment:
"The bigger problem is the software - if you will run both old and new PC, you will need two licenses for operating system and the software you will run on both. "
If the cost of buying two full sets of software is high, as your comment suggests, my proposal was to consider running alternatives, possibly but not necessarily including Linux, on the second machine.
You needn't pay 89.95 euro fo... See more Hi Jerzy,
I was simply responding to your comment:
"The bigger problem is the software - if you will run both old and new PC, you will need two licenses for operating system and the software you will run on both. "
If the cost of buying two full sets of software is high, as your comment suggests, my proposal was to consider running alternatives, possibly but not necessarily including Linux, on the second machine.
You needn't pay 89.95 euro for SuSE Linux: you could install Knoppix, for instance, which would cost nothing. Running Linux on a machine that would otherwise be decommissioned is quite a good idea if you are interested in trying Linux. If not, stick with Windows on the second machine as well.
Marc
P.S. I have just ordered a new desktop PC and will be installing SuSE 9.2 on it: the other three I have here are already running it. 59.95 euro (upgrade price), times one, not times four.
[Edited at 2005-01-29 18:52] ▲ Collapse
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » How often should we trade in the computer for a newer model to insure speed? | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
| | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
