Advice Needed on Buying A New Computer

Reggie74 on 25/06/2015 - 09:38
Last edited 25/06/2015 - 10:29

I'm in the market to buy a new computer as I've had the same tower for about 7 years & along the way it's had a few running repairs by mates. It's running fine at the moment but a dodgy repair by a mate means I can't plug my external hard drive into it to transfer stored photos. I'm the first to admit I only know the basics about computing. I use the computer for internet browsing, emails, casual gaming…..pretty much your average computer user.

What I'd like to know is with the way technology changes is it worth buying a new computer or should I take the tower to a computer shop & have it reconditioned/upgraded? I just don't want it to die on me & I lose what I have on it. If I have to buy a new & decent computer I don't mind spending some money.

I have considered buying a laptop but am concerned they get out-dated quickly but I may be wrong in that thinking.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Computing

Comments

  • Cheeper on 25/06/2015 - 09:54

    It's all about specifications. What are the specs of your desktop now?
    Processor/memory/graphics card/hdd/windows what?..
    You are wrong with your thinking about laptops.
    Also take a look at http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/…
    Do some reading in there before posing a question in there.

    • ProjectZero on 25/06/2015 - 10:40

      Your link didn't seem to work for me… regardless OzB has a post on budget builds if the OP is looking to build their own. (Whirlpool has a wiki similar to this as well)

      I'd recommend checking there, good read to at least get you started on knowing what parts may suit you.

      • Reggie74 on 25/06/2015 - 10:58

        No worries, I'll check that out. Thanks.

  • Reggie74 on 25/06/2015 - 10:11
    +5

    Firstly, I didn't post on OzBargain for a grammar lesson. There have been various posts on OzBargain with incorrect grammar but I've never felt the need to tell them to 'get your grammar right'. Would you call swearing appropriate grammar?

    Secondly, thanks for the other information.

  • biozet on 25/06/2015 - 12:57

    go desktop ..last far longer. basic system…stay away from white goods chains with generally lower quality parts. get a mate to build it and rec components

    • Reggie74 on 25/06/2015 - 14:54

      Ok, thanks for the info.

      • biozet on 25/06/2015 - 15:08

        get him to teach you…its an enjoyable pastime and will save you big money…its like assembling lego. also components from your old computer like dvd drive and possibly hard drives will be able to be put in the new rig. you could even keep your case and just fit in a new motherboard cpu ssd and psu combination

        • ProjectZero on 25/06/2015 - 15:59
          +1

          Lol don't really need anyone to teach really… it's all PnP, if it doesn't look like it fits, it won't fit so don't bother. If you know how to do jig saws you know how to build a PC provided you have all the parts.

  • orbitalpaul on 26/06/2015 - 08:13

    Where are you based Reggie? I can help you get some appropriately priced parts and give you a crash course on building if you are interested. PM me

  • Damonator84 on 26/06/2015 - 08:26
    +1

    I7 Intel nuc. Get ram and a ssd, bam!

  • Brendoo on 26/06/2015 - 08:27

    If you're happy with a desktop and dont have the need for portability, I'd suggest a desktop.

    For a PC the age of yours, I would suggest buying a new desktop. To try and upgrade what you have you would not be able to do yourself justice due to how architecture changes every few years to a reasonable degree, making things such as CPU upgrades incompatible triggering a motherboard upgrade, maybe a case upgrade, maybe hard drive etc etc. Better to buy new in your case I would say.

  • bradsmrbetty on 26/06/2015 - 08:40

    I would also a say a desktop, youtube has some really good step by step guides to put a computer together.
    Otherwise a laptop with an SSD upgrade would be fine if your only doing casual gaming.
    NUCs are also really good option.

  • steveau on 26/06/2015 - 08:50

    Also in the market for a new computer. Am I able to jump in and ask if anyone knows if this is a good price for a home desktop PC. With eBay's 20% off it works out to $719 delivered:

    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-ASUS-Desktop-PC-3-40Ghz-Quad-…

    Thanks in advance!

    • scrimshaw on 26/06/2015 - 14:53
      +1

      It is unneccesarily expensive for a home computer and if you only intend to use it for home theatre duties, or as an office computer, then much of your extra money should be spent on peripherals, faster / better networking adapters, displays, software and such; I would look at a much lower end option and generally would stick with Intel for better power efficiency.

      It also doesn't really qualify as a gaming PC because it's all using integrated graphics, and the RAM is also pretty slow too (1333mhz, the norm should be 1600mhz).

      So basically, this PC is not built for any specific purpose, the 16GB of RAM and the high end AMD APU is really there for marketing purposes.

      Start by working out the following

      your max budget
      the programs you use on a daily basis
      the most demanding application you'd use the PC for
      whether or not your PC needs upgrading in the future

      • steveau on 26/06/2015 - 20:17

        Thanks heaps for all that, helps me to learn about it all! I think I fell for the marketing ploy.

  • Noblejoker on 26/06/2015 - 10:52

    No one has addressed what should be your primary concern - losing your data!
    Do you have any working usb ports - if so get that external drive connected and back up
    Copy the files over and then also grab an Imaging Program (Macrium Reflect Free is good or even Windows 7 image) and copy your whole system to the drive
    Then do the same regularly!
    Also consider using a cloud service - Google Drive, Onedrive, Dropbox - for a 2nd copy of your day to day files in the cloud
    Photos to Google Photos or Flickr - basically all you can eat for free
    This means you can copy your data to the new pc if this one fails

  • kyttiekat on 26/06/2015 - 15:40

    If it's 7yrs old now, I expect you're better off with a new PC. My opinion is that, if portability isn't a concern, a desktop tower is always easier to maintain than a laptop (generally parts are cheaper / easier for you to open it up yourself etc).

    You can keep your current monitor if you're happy with it, and just get a new PC. As others have said, the type of gaming you do will influence the PC you need. If it's just light games like Solitaire etc, or you're not too fussed about the graphics quality on Call of Duty, then most current PCs will be fine. Otherwise you'll need to carefully consider the graphics card.

    Try and get a fast processor, a decent amount of RAM (4-8GB), a decent/good graphics card, and think about your storage needs. eg do you need 500GB of storage, or 1TB, or even 3TB? If you have lots of games / TV shows / movies, you may want to get more storage.

    There's the build-your-own-PC route, the buy-from-a-department-store-route, and the pay-someone-to-build-your-own-PC route. I think building your own PC is fine if you're happy to do all the research required, deal with the inevitable issues, and hopefully have a few friends to help you out as you're new to it. Cost definitely wins out compared to buying outright. However, for others (like me!), the convenience is more important, and the other two routes are more attractive. I personally chose a company that lets you select all your components (so I could customise my storage / RAM / case etc), and then they assemble it for you. It's also covered by warranty, and I could pick up my PC and take it to their store at any time for a fix. I think this was my best balance between convenience/support, and cost/customisability.

    Also in terms of backing up - oh my gosh. Please. Download something like Crashplan right now - it'll automatically back up everything to the cloud (for a yearly fee), and you can back up to another computer on the network for free as well. It sounds like your data is the most important thing right now! It also means you don't have to worry about 'remembering' to do backups regularly. Bad things happen all the time, and I can't tell you the stories I've heard about losing treasured memories or data due to no backups. :(

    I agree with someone else who also said to use Google Photos or Flickr etc for a second copy of your files in the cloud.

    Hope this helps!

  • Reggie74 on 27/06/2015 - 19:01

    Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge & giving assistance.

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