Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => General Discussion => Topic started by: Jehanne on March 10, 2011, 12:00:11 PM
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We're all using them, so let's talk about them. I have an Intel Quad (Q9550) which I bought 2 years ago when I was employed. Still, it's fun to look. These babies rock,
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=6&sel=Detail;112_479_44850_44850,Detail;112_458_4445_19292
and are reasonably priced (if you have a job), but they are water cooled. I am not sure about that -- electricity and water do not mix.
Fast but cheap...your thoughts? (And, don't hesitate to be geeky.)
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When I upgrade my PC, I'm going to make sure it's to Mac-friendly hardware, so I can build a Hackintosh.
I'm currently using Linux on my main PC. I also boot into Windows XP on occasion -- but almost everything I do is in Linux now. I'm thinking Windows XP will be my last Microsoft OS -- so no rush getting rid of it!
I've pretty much detoxed myself from Microsoft ;)
My wife might have to upgrade some day to Windows 7 (or a successor), but I don't have much of a need for Windows.
Matthew
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Win XP, the greatest OS that the World has ever known (next to Linux.) You use Ubuntu, I presume?
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I have an Intel motherboard (965OT), 6600 2.4 GHz Core2Duo processor, 4 GB RAM, nVidia 9500GT graphics card with 1 GB, Sound Blaster X-FI sound card, dual-layer DVD burner, 24" widescreen LCD monitor (a very cheap one though), and a solid, heavy, basic PS/2 keyboard I bought in 1999. My hard drives are pretty tiny by today's standards -- 80 GB and 160 GB -- but I archive unused stuff to DVD. Anything more than 80 GB and you really end up with a cluttered hard drive if you actually use it.
I also have a very nice power supply -- a bit expensive, but it gives reliable power AND it saves a bit of electricity! The "payoff period" (when I save enough electricity to pay for the power supply) might be 5 years though...Then again, it will probably last 5 years. I'll probably upgrade the rest of my hardware several times between now and then.
For those who might be aghast at my apparent un-frugality when it comes to my PC -- it's my work machine. I work at home as a web developer. I can't use a crappy PC to do programming and audio editing. Besides, a PC like mine could be had for $650 or so.
We are going cheap on our Internet though -- $45 a month for 512 Kbps up and down speed. To compare, DSL is usually AT LEAST 1.5 Mbps (3 times faster) and cable is often 3, 6, 9 or even 12 Mbps.
We live in a rural area, so we can't get cable or DSL.
We could pay $10/month more for TWICE the speed -- but we don't, to be frugal.
Matthew
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I have a nVidia, also, a 9800 GTX+. Good performance, although, I would be wary about upgrading the drivers. My last two attempts resulted in games no longer working and off-centered video. I ended-up removing the drivers and reinstalling (to 258.96).
It's good to see that you are almost Microsoft-free. Like Big Pharma, they rack in billions selling people regurgitated versions of Win NT every few years. I tried to rationalize buying a Vista machine -- the NTFS "auto-heal" (which appears, from the sys logs, never to work), to the Ready Boost cache (which regularly disappears), and the Pretech (which performs, at its best, comparable to my wife's Win 98 machine in the basement.) I hope to be Linux-only someday.
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For whatever it's worth (Im definitely not a comp. nerd), I have a Toshiba SatelliteA665 with Windows 7.
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It's okay to be a nerd. You're among friends. :jumping2:
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I had a little acer aspire netbook that was great until I dropped it and broke the screen. It still works and I can plug it into my monitor. Someday the price of screens will drop I think.
Right now I use a little computer I built myself for $225. It's an Athlon dual core and it does what I need it to do.
Occasionally skype will crash it, but other than that it's everything I want and need.
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It's weird. I was a IBM mainframe programmer for 20 years for a very large company (Fortune 25) and a few smaller ones, and never once, in my entire career, did any of the company's dozen or mainframes ever crash. I get BSoDs about once a month, down from once or so a day, after getting my Vista machine. Vista SP2 improved things but it's still a rip-off. I am definitively not upgrading to Windows 7, even if Microsoft gave me a free copy!
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It's weird. I was a IBM mainframe programmer for 20 years for a very large company (Fortune 25) and a few smaller ones, and never once, in my entire career, did any of the company's dozen or mainframes ever crash. I get BSoDs about once a month, down from once or so a day, after getting my Vista machine. Vista SP2 improved things but it's still a rip-off. I am definitively not upgrading to Windows 7, even if Microsoft gave me a free copy!
In fact I'm using XP right now. But yes, I can't stand microsoft, I used linux for over a year but I can't get it to work with certain applications, so I finally was able to get XP installed.
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It's weird. I was a IBM mainframe programmer for 20 years for a very large company (Fortune 25) and a few smaller ones, and never once, in my entire career, did any of the company's dozen or mainframes ever crash. I get BSoDs about once a month, down from once or so a day, after getting my Vista machine. Vista SP2 improved things but it's still a rip-off. I am definitively not upgrading to Windows 7, even if Microsoft gave me a free copy!
In fact I'm using XP right now. But yes, I can't stand microsoft, I used linux for over a year but I can't get it to work with certain applications, so I finally was able to get XP installed.
If you're looking for great Linux software, try Open Office:
http://download.openoffice.org/other.html
And, Firefox,
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FirefoxNewVersion
As for Linux distributions, Ubuntu is the leader of the pack:
http://www.ubuntu.com/
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If you've moved on to Vista, might as well upgrade to Windows 7. In my opinion, it's better than Vista.
It's better to stick with Windows XP for now, or install Linux if you're technically inclined.
In summary, here is the list, from best to worst:
Linux
Windows XP
Windows 7
Mac OS
Windows 2000
DOS
Windows 98
Windows Vista
Windows ME
Those last 4 are a bit more arbitrary -- but you get the idea :)
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Windows ME was the worst OS I ever used.
I'd like to use Linux as my main OS, but not being able to run certain programs (even under WINE) prohibits this.
I do have a rescue thumb drive loaded with various Linux distros.
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I was always thankful I skipped ME myself. Troubleshooting it for others was enough trouble.
I tend to think despite the initial investment still being higher than a desktop, it may be best to get laptops nowadays for energy efficiency purposes.
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AMD 8150 procesor, ASROCK Extreme3 990FX Motherboard, 16GB DDR3, 2 AMD 6970 XFX video cards (in Crossfire mode), 3 HDD (1TB, 500gb, 500gb), 850Watt P/S, NZXT H2 Black Case, 24" Dell monitor, last but not least: pair of Bose Companion 20 speakers.
Running Windows 7 Pro.
It's a 3 year old system, but has been my workhorse. Hasn't let me down yet.
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A few years back, I took the plunge and went Mac.
I don't see myself going back any time soon.
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A few years back, I took the plunge and went Mac.
I don't see myself going back any time soon.
I switched over to Mac in the early '90s and never looked back. For a while it was sort of like being left-handed in a right handed world (lots of applications and even some peripherals were Windows only), but that doesn't seem to be so much of a problem any more. Just recently I picked up a used laptop on eBay that runs Mountain Lion for just over $400 because my pre-Intel G4 running Tiger had begun to stop working on a lot of websites, and all its software was getting pretty ancient. It came loaded with CS6 deluxe, M. Office '11, a glossy screen and NVIDIA card, 250GB of hard drive and is super fast. It's in great shape, too. Incredible deal, even if it was (for me) a lot of money. I just had to bite the bullet.
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Long time Mac user. 25 years plus.....
iMac 27 inch 2.9 Ghz intel7 Quad 1 TB internal 16 GB RAM.....Can run anything out there with ease.
OS X Mountain Lion
Also Macbook ca. 2008 Dual Intel at 2.0 Ghz 4 GB RAM
Also a few big external HD and CD DVD writer.
Having poodle and oodles of Mac software, made sense to stay in Mac world.
Macs are pricey to begin with but last and perform longer. Also good trade in value for upgrade.
AS long as your machine does what you want it to do, then that is what counts.
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I used to have a Macbook, but it broke. Now I am poor and I want a new computer. I cannot afford another Mac. Right now I use an old windows Desktop that belongs to my father.
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iMac 27" that I bought in March 2011. Not sure about the details, but I think it was top at the time and then something better came out about a month later. I never was particularly fond of Windows lack of reliability and Vista sent me over the edge to the Mac world. I was so fed up that I didn't even buy Office for Mac.
I love my iMac, but in hindsight I wish I had bought a Mac laptop.
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:tinfoil:
Huh? I don't speak this language at all! But I can type 45 words per minute on my grandmother's manual black cast-iron typewriter! And I remember card readers and carting around batch cards in bundles in shoe-boxes to the campus "computing center." It seemed such an exercise in futility that I dropped out of the computer geek world. Only reentered a very little last winter because my job required an on-line course.
:dancing-banana:
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Macbooks perhaps more convenient than an iMac, but more $$$.
Power Macs (drool drool) are for those who need serious horsepower.
I still prefer to write drafts for articles et al on pen and paper.
I remember my older brother and those stacks of computer cards. And slide rules.
First computer he bought was am IMSAI 8080. Or something like that. Only kid in grade school to have a computer in the house, waaaay back when. :geezer:
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Apple should have had the market share that Microsoft enjoys.
I like to tinker, so I prefer Microsoft and Linux.
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:tinfoil:
Huh? I don't speak this language at all! But I can type 45 words per minute on my grandmother's manual black cast-iron typewriter!
Now I miss having a typewriter.
You think differently when you can't correct the typing so easily.
That said, it's good when the keys are easy to press.
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For laptops, I'm quite fond of Toshibas. They've got some clunkers, but I'd usually pit their best laptop against anything not-NSA-issued.
We've got 2 Toshibas (one I just purchased this year; one from 2009) that are going strong. We've got a daughter who likes "pretty" (silk-screened?) laptops though, and has had a "pretty" Gateway and a Dell for nearly the same cost as the Macbook Air, and neither contraption lasted a year. I strip dead laptops clean for parts, and got the absolute LEAST from those. The insides are so junked up (you half-expect to see DUCT TAPE holding stuff together) it's a wonder they don't self-implode. (I said absolutely NOT on another "pretty" laptop, and she's getting the clunkier Macbook Air... she can put stickers on it afaic).
Desktops, though, I just put a Gateway SX model through its paces, and the bang for the buck was incredible. We can run AutoCAD, Photoshop, and Steam (games) without much of a hitch, and I don't even have a dedicated graphics card [yet]; just out-of-the-box (and de-junkwared). Only bad is Win8, but my husband's gotten used to the "tiles" :facepalm: and it runs Skyrim, so he's good.
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