What are the latest computer specs?

[Starfleet Engineer]

My old laptop that I bought in 2001, running Windows ME, is about ready to give up the ghost. I've been getting the blue screen about every third day for the last 2 years and I just can't upgrade to a lot of things because of my operating system. But I'd like to know from folks here in the know, what the specs of my new computer should be in order to be up on the latest. How much memory, speed, best thing to have for watching DVDs on my monitor, graphics card, etc. I would greatly appreciate your help.

 

[Myasishchev]

The desktop I just built is sort of the low end of the high end, with an Intel I7 920, 6 GB RAM, a Radeon HD 4890 GPU with an integrated HDMI out, and a Pioneer BD-RW for blu-ray goodness. This was about $1400, and I could've spent significantly less if I'd cheaped out on a few of the parts (a regular DVD-RW is about $30, compared to $200 for the BD-RW, for example, and I could've spent half as much as I did on the motherboard and GPU, and much less if I wanted a last-generation quad-core CPU).

I bought a laptop for my girlfriend with an Intel Duo 2GHz, some kind of ATI Mobility GPU, and 4 GB RAM. It's pretty nice, and although the processor isn't great, it's capable. The laptop was roughly $900. Intel doesn't make i7s for laptops yet.

I wouldn't go with less than 4 GB of RAM, nowadays. That's pretty much standard.

I didn't know anyone still ran Windows ME. Isn't that the one that sucks really badly? Makes Vista look like HAL-9000?

 

[Starfleet Engineer]

Well, ME worked fine with no problems for about five years. I never had any problems and even now, in its 8th year, as long as I run a thorough scan disk once in a while, it has been OK. I'm planning on waiting until the release of Windows 7 to get a new one. That's not many weeks away, right?

 

[Brent]

On a laptop, get an Intel Core 2 Duo (dual-core CPU) at least, and 2GB of RAM, and you'll be set. If you can get one with a discrete GPU on board, all the better, but if not, a high-end Intel GMA GPU will allow you to watch DVDs and other video just fine.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Amplyfing what Brent said about GPUs. Many of the latest games (Crysis, Entropia Universe, Blue Mars for example) are more demanding than the Intel unified memory architecture stuff can keep up with at anthing like a tolerable framerate.

 

[Brent]

The thing about laptops today is that you can get a lot, or you can get a little. You can get laptops with fast Quad-Core CPUs and desktop like GPUs, but you have to pay out the butt for it in price and size and heat and short battery life.

So first you need to determine what screen size you want on your laptop, and then you need to figure out how much money you want to spend, and then decide if you want a lot of battery life or not, then you look within those margins at what is available.

 

[Myasishchev]

Well, ME worked fine with no problems for about five years. I never had any problems and even now, in its 8th year, as long as I run a thorough scan disk once in a while, it has been OK. I'm planning on waiting until the release of Windows 7 to get a new one. That's not many weeks away, right?

Nope; I made sure when I bought the OS for the new system that it came with a free upgrade to Windows 7 in... October, I think.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

On a laptop, get an Intel Core 2 Duo (dual-core CPU) at least, and 2GB of RAM, and you'll be set. If you can get one with a discrete GPU on board, all the better, but if not, a high-end Intel GMA GPU will allow you to watch DVDs and other video just fine.

Er, you don't need that fancy of a video card to watch DVDs. My netbook does that just fine.

Games, though--definitely spring for a nice card!

 

[Brent]

On a laptop, get an Intel Core 2 Duo (dual-core CPU) at least, and 2GB of RAM, and you'll be set. If you can get one with a discrete GPU on board, all the better, but if not, a high-end Intel GMA GPU will allow you to watch DVDs and other video just fine.

Er, you don't need that fancy of a video card to watch DVDs. My netbook does that just fine.

Games, though--definitely spring for a nice card!

By other things I was referring to Blu-Ray, where a higher-end GPU of the Intel variety will help, in most newer laptops higher end Intel GMA GPUs are common anyway, plus they have feature support for DX10 at least.

 

[Jadzia]

Well, ME worked fine with no problems for about five years. I never had any problems and even now, in its 8th year, as long as I run a thorough scan disk once in a while, it has been OK. I'm planning on waiting until the release of Windows 7 to get a new one. That's not many weeks away, right?

If you're still happy with your current machine because you don't have high demands, then you might not need a top of the range replacement. This is similar to my situation -- I don't play modern graphics demanding games. The computer I have now is fairly old, but it does most of what I need it too, including playing dvds. I'd just like to start afresh. I have little need for quad cores or masses of video memory. Possibly something from the budget range would be adequate for both of us.

There is no shame in opting for the budget range if it does what you need. But at the same time, it's nice to get something that's a little bit surplus to our needs


You OS is possibly part of the problem. ME is derivative of windows 95/98. Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 are derivative of windows NT.

The former does have a tendency to slow down over time. It was common to reinstall the OS every so often to get it back upto speed. With the latter you generally didn't need to because is self optimizing, and keeps itself running smoothly.

 

[urbandk]

I got a Toshiba R600, and I'm thrilled. I used to buy bigger laptops for the higher specs, but I'd suggest getting an ultra-thin (Thinkpad X series, Toshiba R600, Dell Adamo). Nothing compares to the weight (2.2 lbs). The Intel SU9400 is a 64 bit dual core processor but low clock speed to conserve battery life. Make sure it has an LED screen. The ultrathins are more powerful than netbooks. Also, unlike netbooks, the ultrathins often have optical drives. You're not going to play games on this, but I think laptops for games are a bit ridiculous anyhow. One should just invest in a desktop for gaming, cheaper, more practical, and won't burn your lap every five minutes.

 

[Starfleet Engineer]

I would like to play some games on it. I'm not a gamer and wouldn't spend several hours a week playing, but I do play every now and then and might decide to sign up for the Trek online game at some point. I imagine you need a good graphics card for that. I'm also interested in playing DVDs in the highest quality available. Other things I would use it for are storing and playing music, writing, and, of course, regluar internet use. I'm leaning toward a desktop because I want a large monitor.

 

[urbandk]

I would like to play some games on it. I'm not a gamer and wouldn't spend several hours a week playing, but I do play every now and then and might decide to sign up for the Trek online game at some point. I imagine you need a good graphics card for that. I'm also interested in playing DVDs in the highest quality available. Other things I would use it for are storing and playing music, writing, and, of course, regluar internet use. I'm leaning toward a desktop because I want a large monitor.

If buying a desktop is an option, definitely get a desktop. You'll get more computer for your money at the expense of portability. I'm of the opinion that if you're going portable, you should go portable all the way. For a desktop just get a quad core system with 4GB ram and a decent NVidea or ATI card. I would definitely invest in a good monitor... You have no idea what a difference a good monitor makes for everything.

 

[Hneftafl]

Whether you're going to buy a complete system or build one yourself, I would recommend you look at Newegg.com first. ZipZoomFly.com and TigerDirect.com are also good.

If you go into Best Buy or someplace like that, you're going to get ripped off.