Need hardware advice

[jenkitty]

So, I'm accepting a Stafford loan for school, and one of the things I can do with the money is purchase a computer. I think I'd like to build my own, so I need advice on hardware. No, I will NOT get a laptop, I hate them with a passion and will only use them if I have to. The screens are too small and the keyboards and mice hurt my hands

Comments

[kyburg]

I'd approach this like buying a car. Look up some places in the yellow pages that sell machines (Best Buy, Fry's, etc.) and go test drive some. Kick tires. See what you like.

Machines change QUICK - and frankly, none of what you suggest warrants the fastest, biggest machine of the line. But go look at what makes you happy - and try some on. Try more than a few. G'head.

[technoshaman]

Honestly? These days you can buy something that will pretty much do what you want without having to build special. Your current 'puter is all but off the shelf

[mdlbear]

Any dual-core 64-bit CPU will do; get one that would have been expensive a year or so ago. I'd suggest an Intel motherboard with integrated graphics; they have good Linux support, and the last Intel CPU I bought had an exceptionally quiet fan. Go for 4GB of RAM. Fry's will usually have this combination for $200-250.

Go for a SATA hard drive; these days 1TB is under $100. Plan on getting a second one for backups fairly soon.

I'm partial to the Antec Solo cases -- they're designed to be quiet.

These days an 8GB USB stick will set you back less than $40; there's no point in getting anything smaller. Wait until school starts: the longer you wait, the cheaper it'll be.

You are probably not better off buying something preassembled unless you want Windows Vista and cheaper, noisier, less-standard hardware for more money. Putting together your own box is easy, and things like the case, power supply, and DVD drive will be re-usable when you need to upgrade.

[serrana]

We have had no problems dealing with UW systems WRT either Macs or various open source packages, over C's six-year enrollment in a distance grad school program with heavy technology requirements.

However, a lot of people seem to distribute lectures/notes in PowerPoint, so having something that can read and play that is probably a good idea.

Have you gone to take a look at the university bookstore? They may have good discounts. We've gone that route for some stuff, over the last few years.

[mdlbear]

OpenOffice usually does a pretty good job on PowerPoint presentations and Word docs.

Excel spreadsheets could be a problem if there are macros involved; I'm not sure how compatible those are.

[serrana]

...well, sorta. I've had problems with OpenOffice; I'm enthusiastic about the concept and wish them the best, but in practice my experience has been mixed.

Of the OO programs I've used, I liked the spreadsheet program the best. I did switch back to Excel when I had the choice, though, because I regularly swap spreadsheets with a colleague who only uses Excel, and after multiple translations everything was getting wonky, and her response when I suggested she switch software was that if I didn't like how she did it, I could do all the bookkeeping myself. *GRIN* Right then!

[arasirsul]

Price-wise, at the low end, you're almost always better off buying it pre-assembled; folks who sell computers for a living make their money on the options and you're unlikely to need any.

You can probably build a budget machine, just the box, down around $400 if you pinch pennies where you can. Dell will sell you an Insprion 530n with a monitor and Ubuntu already installed for $408:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?reconfigure=true&vw=icon&cart=ActiveCart&id=d74b62a0-8617-43df-b505-b0b9737862ea&ecomm=ecomm2.dell.com&c=us&l=en&cs=19&pg=review

Unless you're just looking for the fun of building your own, there's no real point in building low-end PCs these days.

[mdlbear]

I've bought low-end machines from Dell and HP; after a couple of years some nonstandard part like the motherboard or power supply craps out, and you can't just go to Fry's and replace it.

If you get it from someplace like Fry's that uses standard-sized parts, this works, but you don't get much choice; you don't end up with a case, etc. that you'll want to re-use a couple of years down the line.

Still, it's a pretty decent option unless, as you say, you're considering building your own as fun or educational.
That link's broken, BTW.

[arasirsul]

Stupid web links.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=ddcwdal&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=segtopic~linux_3x

...worked before I put it in here, we'll see if it does when I'm done. :)

Building your own works better, I think, when you've got a bit bigger goals than "baseline computer"-- it allows some budget to get into, ferinstance, cases you'll want to re-use. One of those goals may well be fun or education. :)

Also, in this case, it's probably wise to look into whether the loan covers computer parts or just computers.

[mdlbear]

That link worked once I figured out how to find the summary from there. A bit more minimal than I'd want for audio work, but as you say a slightly higher budget would get a *lot* more flexibility and upgradability.