Need planning help for daughter's college computer

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Ken K <psnwREMOVE@theREMOVEkrones.com> said:

> I would like to set up a new computer for her
> over the summer which would be powerful enough to <snip> do Photoshop
> without waiting interminably (I assume that memory and decent CPU
> speed should help). I will build it from the ground up. My
> positive experiences for my own computer equipment have been with
> Antec (case and power supply), ASUS, Intel cpu's, Western Digital,
> Plextor, Lite-On, Creative, Crucial.

Sounds good to me. Photoshop is going to be all about the CPU, so choose
your other components and then buy the fastest P4 you can afford. I have a
system similiar to yours and Photoshop snaps and pops. I would still buy a
separate video card, maybe a Radeon 9600.
--
Mac Cool

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

don't waste your time. Get her a laptop from a major retailer with a 3 year
warrenty. You can get one for under $800 after rebates and with integrated
wifi she'll get 10 times the use out of it on campus than she would with the
one you're planning to build.

Al

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

In article <LtednS3uoulXLUDdRVn-jw@comcast.com>,
-Alby Hewlet <bogus@nowhere.net> wrote:
>don't waste your time. Get her a laptop from a major retailer with a 3 year
>warrenty. You can get one for under $800 after rebates and with integrated
>wifi she'll get 10 times the use out of it on campus than she would with the
>one you're planning to build.
>
>Al
>
>


Get the warranty with the manufacturer. Check with the school to see if
they have any special deals, and what kind of support the can provide.
--
Al Dykes
-----------
adykes at p a n i x . c o m

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

-Alby Hewlet wrote:

>don't waste your time. Get her a laptop from a major retailer with a 3 year
>warrenty. You can get one for under $800 after rebates and with integrated
>wifi she'll get 10 times the use out of it on campus than she would with the
>one you're planning to build.
>
>Al
>
Not a bad suggestion. I have not looked at the manufacturers lately.
Any recos?

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Ken K wrote:
> -Alby Hewlet wrote:
>
>> don't waste your time. Get her a laptop from a major retailer with a
>> 3 year
>> warrenty. You can get one for under $800 after rebates and with
>> integrated
>> wifi she'll get 10 times the use out of it on campus than she would
>> with the
>> one you're planning to build.
>>
>> Al
>>
> Not a bad suggestion. I have not looked at the manufacturers lately.
> Any recos?
>
The school where I teach has 2% discounts on Gateway and 10% on Dell.
You should go to her school's web site and see if there are any deals
from the school. I bought my daughter a Toshiba and it was fine until
it was stolen (on a trip to London -- don't ask). Then I got her a
Gateway from the GW store here so that I could send it to her quickly.
Dells seem popular with my students.

dick

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"-Alby Hewlet" <bogus@nowhere.net> wrote in message
news:LtednS3uoulXLUDdRVn-jw@comcast.com...
> don't waste your time. Get her a laptop from a major retailer with a 3
year
> warrenty. You can get one for under $800 after rebates and with
integrated
> wifi she'll get 10 times the use out of it on campus than she would with
the
> one you're planning to build.
>
> Al
>
>
Agreed, laptop's are far more suited to a college / uni environment.

hamman

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"Ken K" <psnwREMOVE@theREMOVEkrones.com> wrote in message
news:10dredfngv5huf8@corp.supernews.com...
> -Alby Hewlet wrote:
>
> >don't waste your time. Get her a laptop from a major retailer with a 3
year
> >warrenty. You can get one for under $800 after rebates and with
integrated
> >wifi she'll get 10 times the use out of it on campus than she would with
the
> >one you're planning to build.
> >
> >Al
> >
> Not a bad suggestion. I have not looked at the manufacturers lately.
> Any recos?
>
Check with University. Quite often you can buy through them at a substantial
discount. Also some Universities require a Laptop. My grand daughter's did.

PWY

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Ken K <psnwREMOVE@theREMOVEkrones.com> said:

>>Sounds good to me. Photoshop is going to be all about the CPU, so
>>choose your other components and then buy the fastest P4 you can
>>afford. I have a system similiar to yours and Photoshop snaps and
>>pops. I would still buy a separate video card, maybe a Radeon 9600.
>>
>
> What are your system components, Mac?

P4 2.53Ghz, 512MB RAM (soon to be doubled), Ti4200, XP

--
Mac Cool

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"Ken K" <psnwREMOVE@theREMOVEkrones.com> wrote in message
news:10dr8onbphimk3a@corp.supernews.com...
> My daughter will be heading off to college this next year. Her present
> computer is a 900mHz PIII, ASUS CUS2 mb with 256MB RAM running Win98.
> She is not a gamer and runs basic types of programs that don't require
> high end computer power: Word, Excel, Thumbs Plus for photo
> manipulation. She is not a gamer.
>
> I have lost touch with advances in memory and cpu's since building my
> own system a year+ ago (ASUS P4PE, 2.5mHz cpu, 1GB PC3200 CAS2 RAM, 2
> SATA hdd's, Win2K) I would like to set up a new computer for her over
> the summer which would be powerful enough to run WinXP without being
> over the top in capability, as she is not a gamer. Where I do see her
> interest going is into photography so it should have enough capability
> to do Photoshop without waiting interminably (I assume that memory and
> decent CPU speed should help). I will build it from the ground up.
> My positive experiences for my own computer equipment have been with
> Antec (case and power supply), ASUS, Intel cpu's, Western Digital,
> Plextor, Lite-On, Creative, Crucial. I would be interested in looking
> at a Shuttle system if someone could help me navigate through the myriad
> of choices.
>
> Again, my interest is in building a system that will run WinXP with
> relative ease, as well as whatever would run Photoshop. No games (not
> her interest)
>
> Thanks,
> Ken K
>

Why does she need a newer, faster computer than her current PIII?

No reason she cannot continue her present computer. It is certainly powerful
enough to run XP!

If I were you, I would increase present installed RAM to 528mb by adding
another stick of 256mb memory.

I would then load XP over the existing Win98 OS.

Then I would convert to the NTFS (NT Filing System), and enjoy the much
greater stability, while avoiding the need to reinstall all software (which
you would have to do if a clean install had been used).

Don't worry about the possibility that she will not find enough other stuff
at college to spend your money on.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

I agree with everything except, I would do a clean install of whatever
OS you choose. If you were going to spend money on a new
computer,instead buy a full version of an OS and 512 ram and keep the
old machine. Maybe a PSU swap.

My buck anda quarters worth. actually it would be yours. ;^)

"Panos Papadopolous" <Panos@athens.net> wrote in message
news:cbpjhh0ppk@enews3.newsguy.com...
>
> "Ken K" <psnwREMOVE@theREMOVEkrones.com> wrote in message
> news:10dr8onbphimk3a@corp.supernews.com...
> > My daughter will be heading off to college this next year. Her
present
> > computer is a 900mHz PIII, ASUS CUS2 mb with 256MB RAM running
Win98.
> > She is not a gamer and runs basic types of programs that don't
require
> > high end computer power: Word, Excel, Thumbs Plus for photo
> > manipulation. She is not a gamer.
> >
> > I have lost touch with advances in memory and cpu's since building
my
> > own system a year+ ago (ASUS P4PE, 2.5mHz cpu, 1GB PC3200 CAS2
RAM, 2
> > SATA hdd's, Win2K) I would like to set up a new computer for her
over
> > the summer which would be powerful enough to run WinXP without
being
> > over the top in capability, as she is not a gamer. Where I do see
her
> > interest going is into photography so it should have enough
capability
> > to do Photoshop without waiting interminably (I assume that memory
and
> > decent CPU speed should help). I will build it from the ground
up.
> > My positive experiences for my own computer equipment have been
with
> > Antec (case and power supply), ASUS, Intel cpu's, Western Digital,
> > Plextor, Lite-On, Creative, Crucial. I would be interested in
looking
> > at a Shuttle system if someone could help me navigate through the
myriad
> > of choices.
> >
> > Again, my interest is in building a system that will run WinXP
with
> > relative ease, as well as whatever would run Photoshop. No games
(not
> > her interest)
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Ken K
> >
>
> Why does she need a newer, faster computer than her current PIII?
>
> No reason she cannot continue her present computer. It is certainly
powerful
> enough to run XP!
>
> If I were you, I would increase present installed RAM to 528mb by
adding
> another stick of 256mb memory.
>
> I would then load XP over the existing Win98 OS.
>
> Then I would convert to the NTFS (NT Filing System), and enjoy the
much
> greater stability, while avoiding the need to reinstall all software
(which
> you would have to do if a clean install had been used).
>
> Don't worry about the possibility that she will not find enough
other stuff
> at college to spend your money on.
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Thanks, all. I think that more memory and a full version XP sounds good
to me. I did not anticipate that the present cpu would be OK.

Thanks
Ken K

Ken K wrote:
> My daughter will be heading off to college this next year. Her present
> computer is a 900mHz PIII, ASUS CUS2 mb with 256MB RAM running Win98.
> She is not a gamer and runs basic types of programs that don't require
> high end computer power: Word, Excel, Thumbs Plus for photo
> manipulation. She is not a gamer.
>
> I have lost touch with advances in memory and cpu's since building my
> own system a year+ ago (ASUS P4PE, 2.5mHz cpu, 1GB PC3200 CAS2 RAM, 2
> SATA hdd's, Win2K) I would like to set up a new computer for her over
> the summer which would be powerful enough to run WinXP without being
> over the top in capability, as she is not a gamer. Where I do see her
> interest going is into photography so it should have enough capability
> to do Photoshop without waiting interminably (I assume that memory and
> decent CPU speed should help). I will build it from the ground up.
> My positive experiences for my own computer equipment have been with
> Antec (case and power supply), ASUS, Intel cpu's, Western Digital,
> Plextor, Lite-On, Creative, Crucial. I would be interested in looking
> at a Shuttle system if someone could help me navigate through the myriad
> of choices.
>
> Again, my interest is in building a system that will run WinXP with
> relative ease, as well as whatever would run Photoshop. No games (not
> her interest)
>
> Thanks,
> Ken K
>
>