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jncraig  
#1 Posted : Thursday, March 1, 2007 1:57:07 PM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

I've been thinking about the "minimum" specifications for buying a new computer these days.  Here's what I've come up with, but I'm hoping that others will chime in and offer their suggestions.

  • Core Duo processor ... or equivalent
  • 1 gig Ram
  • 80 gig hard drive
  • video card with 256 megs ONBOARD (not shared)

This configuration will let you run Vista with all of it's bells and whistles.

For a notebook, you also want to see if you can get something like the Centrino designation so that you'll have 4+ (hopefully 6) hours of battery life.

I'd also want a 15.5"  wide format screen (ok, 17" is better, but that's more for desktop replacement than for portable).  For the 15.5 screen, I like 1024x768 resolution. So if you get the wider screen, you'll want more pixels in proportion to the screen size increase. 

My 19" desktop display (LCD, don't go buying a CRT!) is running 1280x1024 pixels.  Visually that's pretty much the equivalent of the 1024x768 on my notebook.  It's also the largest number of pixels the video driver will display at 32 bits of color ...


19" monitors are under $200 these days.  For a serious upgrade on a desktop computer, go for a wide format screen say 22" wide!  You'll probably have to also make sure to get a compatible video card.  I've seen ads for 22" monitors that cost less than $300.  They also have DVI inputs, which makes them useful as TV monitors, too.
Joe

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DanHess  
#2 Posted : Friday, March 2, 2007 6:05:28 AM(UTC)
DanHess

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 65

Joe

While 1GB of RAM meets the Vista requirements, I think 2GB would be a sound investment to provide improved performance.  I admit to running multiple applications at the same time and prefer a faster response. I see the extra cost of a GB of RAM to be a good investment.  

Dan Hess

madispa  
#3 Posted : Monday, March 5, 2007 6:01:11 AM(UTC)
madispa

Rank: Newbie

Posts: 1

Joe,

On monitors, I would say that you want to make sure that the graphics card can support two monitors.  With flat pnaels coming down in price having two monitors is one of the best things you can do to improve productivity.

Along those same lines, we really prefer monitors that can rotate into the portrait mode because so many things (word documents, SSG programs, web pages, pdf files, etc) are layed out in portrait mode.  What this eliminates is the need to scroll up and down on the page to see the whole page.  BIG time-saver (now I just have to find a computer pojector that can do this for teaching investment classes).

We just bought two Dell Inspiron 1501 laptops for the investment chapter at $519 each (bought just before Vista).  They support having an extended desktop on a second monitor and will support that second screen being rotated to portrait setting.  Nice little machines for $519, they only have 512Meg but then they are running XP rather than Vista

By the way, I have heard that when Microsoft demonstrates Vista they always have 4Gig in the machine for it to really shine.  That might be overkill but thought I would mention it.

Paul Madison

jncraig  
#4 Posted : Monday, March 5, 2007 6:53:31 AM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

Good ideas, Paul.

And speaking of monitors ... my birthday is later this week. So, if anyone is in a last minute buy-Joe-a-super-geek-toy for his birthday ... I could point out this site ... http://www.pixel-ignition.com
Joe
rxlady  
#5 Posted : Wednesday, March 7, 2007 11:44:11 AM(UTC)
rxlady

Rank: Member

Posts: 12

Sorry, Joe, no gift, but Happy Birthday anyhow. 


Dorothy
DannyM  
#6 Posted : Sunday, March 11, 2007 8:52:20 AM(UTC)
DannyM

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 262

Remember it's the thoughts that count!!!  Happy b-day...is that why you need the extra memory???
physlab  
#7 Posted : Sunday, March 11, 2007 11:31:42 AM(UTC)
physlab

Rank: Member

Posts: 13


While 1GB of RAM meets the Vista requirements, I think 2GB would be a sound investment to provide improved performance.  I admit to running multiple applications at the same time and prefer a faster response. I see the extra cost of a GB of RAM to be a good investment.  

Dan Hess

Dan,

My current desktop has 1 GB of RAM and the next machine will definitely have at least 2 GB.  The extra memory is particularly useful when working with photographs and associated software.  I almost always have at least three or four programs open by my iTunes for playing music.

Lowell

 



sc_host  
#8 Posted : Sunday, March 11, 2007 12:31:03 PM(UTC)
sc_host

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 71

At several recent Microsoft events that I've attended recently, the presenters have used Virtual PC -- having set up several different "virtual computers" on the same box -- to do demonstrations.

One said that it's easier to have several virtual computers set up, and to use them exclusively and NEVER even use the "real" computer. That way, if you screw up one of your virutual machines, you can simply delete it and start over. No more reinstalling an operating system or software when that happens.
DanHess  
#9 Posted : Sunday, March 11, 2007 3:55:28 PM(UTC)
DanHess

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 65

At several recent Microsoft events that I've attended recently, the presenters have used Virtual PC -- having set up several different "virtual computers" on the same box -- to do demonstrations.

What specific Virtual PC program do you suggest?  I do admit to having screwed up my operating ssytems multiple times but have found System Restore to be of great value in getting back to a solid system.

It seems Microsoft uses PC's having 4MB's of RAM for these demostrations.  I do think this is a sign of things to come and perhaps companies that would benefit by increased RAM usage would benefit.

Dan Hess

sc_host  
#10 Posted : Monday, March 12, 2007 6:45:19 AM(UTC)
sc_host

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 71

Microsoft's Virtual PC is the program to which I was referring. It's free, and there is a version that will run on XP.

I can't "recommend" it because I really haven't used it ...
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