Re: [ProgSoc] buying hardware

[Gabriela Marcionetti <gabriela@nospam.progsoc.uts.edu.au>]

On Wed, 27 Nov 2002, jedd wrote:

> On Tuesday 26 November 2002 20:06, Gabriela Marcionetti wrote:
>  ] I think I'm aiming not to go above $2000.  But I will get a new one, in
>  ] case it has to last 7 years as well :)
> 
>  {blink}  I thought you said you wanted a cheap one!

What is cheap though?  I would have thought that < $2000 wasn't too
bad.  I don't want bottom of the range for everything, because it will get
out of date faster :)

>  Second, do not expect to buy a computer that will 'last' more
>  than a couple of years.  Set aside a component of your budget
>  for periodic upgrades (CPU & mobo are the likely candidates).

Past experience tells me that this just isn't going to happen :)

>  Don't max out your RAM now, as it's inevitably going to
>  get cheaper over time.  But *do* cater for future expansion
>  by getting higher-density sticks (get a single 256Mb stick
>  now rather than two x 128Mb sticks).  If you're buying from
>  a catalogue (eg Dell) insist that they give you high-density
>  RAM, because they're all notorious for maxing out your
>  sockets, and thereby saving themselves a couple of dollars
>  (at your expense).

I ran into this when I was looking a couple of years ago - all the
mid-range computers had their ram slots full of low density ones :)  I
notice now on the dell website that they actually say what sort it is.

>  On a related subject, 19" Hitachi flatscreen (CM721F) are
>  a damned fine piece of kit.  I don't know how people use
>  anything smaller than 19" these days.

Quite happy with 17" :) and its probably the easiest thing to upgrade
later on.  

-- 
Gabriela Marcionetti
Vice President

"If you have any trouble sounding condescending, find a Unix user to show
you how it's done."  -- Scott Adams



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