I've seen some excellent offers online for Staples and Best Buy. I've also bought in Best Buy and been happy with the results. My most important piece of advice is to figure out what you want/ need and don't want/need and work from there. (No point in paying for features you won't use. no point buying a computer that doesn't have what you plan to use. Since software's easy to get, that means making sure the hardware is up to your standards.
I prefer a desktop to anything else, but there's a few options. Some people want a laptop they can carry around and use it for light computing. (For those who need REALLY light computing, there's netbooks, mini-netbooks and tablets, but those are all too light for you.) You can also consider a choice between laptop and desktop, the All-In-One. That's a PC that's all set up behind the monitor, so you have the monitor/tower and the keyboard and mouse and peripherals. For people who want light computing but don't actually need the thing to be laptop portable, I recommend those. I don't know if it will suit your purposes, but I've seen them in use, and for those who aren't planning on heavy use, they're an excellent choice.
I suspect you want more muscle, however. For that, a desktop is better. I'm not that wedded to brand name, but I prefer a name that is unknown (I've heard they make computers) and then I look at the stats. The things I want to know, after Operating System, are the processor speed and the size of the memory. I'm more concerned about processor speed than anything else,because that affects the speed of operations and how many I can do at the same time. (Although dual-core is faster than single-core for the same speed.) If it's below, say, 2.4 GHz on the microprocessor, it won't have the "muscle" you're looking for, it will run slower. Also of consideration is how big the memory is. If it's less than 500 GB, they're trying to unload something on you. Modern PCs have that or up to 1 TB (or more, but you will NOT need more.)
Personally, I'd prefer Windows 7 or 8 to 10, but that's up to personal preference. Some people prefer other operating systems entirely. It depends on what you'll do with the thing.
I'm sure others will chime in with their suggestions.
Like WordWolf said it depends on what you want to do with it. Personally I lean towards laptops with Windows 10 operating system. I have a Toshiba Laptop and Tonto has a Sony Laptop. We also have a 2TB Western Digital Network Storage (not only good for storing pictures, video, music, documents, etc. but also we can move files between our two laptops). And just as a matter of efficiency – I’ve learned from some IT folks I really don’t have to do a backup of my operating system anymore (it would take a number of discs just for that!) – what I now do is make a copy of any photos, docs, files, etc. and have just that on my network storage and/or burned on a disc. So in a worst case scenario – I just need to re-install my operating system and then once that’s up and running put the copies of the stored files back on it. I bought our laptops and network storage at Best Buy.
I like the portability of a laptop – I do a lot of programming and technical documentation for work (photos, videos, Word docs, PDFs, spreadsheets, software programs for security systems + A/V equipment); for fun, I love messing around with photography and music – again, the portability is nice – I can move laptop from our office to living room or dining area and multitask (watch TV – rip some music CDs – check on email – look at Grease Spot – hang out with the family).
I usually go for a brand I’m familiar with; I’ll comparison shop on the Internet and pick the brains of any IT guys I work with too. I’m not an IT guy – I know enough to get by with all that I do…Some of those IT folks have some pretty beefy looking laptops – I mean the keyboard is even the size of one you’d plug into a desktop. As far as sound goes – there’s a lot of options – speaker systems that plug into the PC’s headphones jack – or if your Laptop has Bluetooth – get a wireless speaker system. One of the CEOs I do contract work for gave me a JBL Pulse Bluetooth Speaker for Christmas – you gotta hear Crossroads and Spoonful on that baby and it has a programmable light show to boot! Oh, the colors and trails are far out, man!
Whether you go desktop or laptop – Mac or PC (I’m not familiar with Macs – but I do have an iPhone and iPad) – figure out everything you want to do with it before you go shopping at Best Buy or wherever. Once you have that locked in – I’d recommend going with a reputable brand from a store near you.
Laptops have come a long way in being just as performance-powerful as desktops - :
Thanks. gents. Perhaps others will have something to add. I'm not convinced I really need a desktop now, but also not sure I don't. It would seem to offer more expansion and perhaps a cd read/write drive
I appreciate all you both have given me. It's a good thing I'm not in a big hurry for this. You guys are the best.
not to sway you one way on another but you can get a laptop that has a CD/DVD read/write drive - of course, you can get an external CD/DVD read/write drive that you can plug into a desktop or laptop
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WordWolf
I've seen some excellent offers online for Staples and Best Buy. I've also bought in Best Buy and been happy with the results. My most important piece of advice is to figure out what you want/ need and don't want/need and work from there. (No point in paying for features you won't use. no point buying a computer that doesn't have what you plan to use. Since software's easy to get, that means making sure the hardware is up to your standards.
I prefer a desktop to anything else, but there's a few options. Some people want a laptop they can carry around and use it for light computing. (For those who need REALLY light computing, there's netbooks, mini-netbooks and tablets, but those are all too light for you.) You can also consider a choice between laptop and desktop, the All-In-One. That's a PC that's all set up behind the monitor, so you have the monitor/tower and the keyboard and mouse and peripherals. For people who want light computing but don't actually need the thing to be laptop portable, I recommend those. I don't know if it will suit your purposes, but I've seen them in use, and for those who aren't planning on heavy use, they're an excellent choice.
I suspect you want more muscle, however. For that, a desktop is better. I'm not that wedded to brand name, but I prefer a name that is unknown (I've heard they make computers) and then I look at the stats. The things I want to know, after Operating System, are the processor speed and the size of the memory. I'm more concerned about processor speed than anything else,because that affects the speed of operations and how many I can do at the same time. (Although dual-core is faster than single-core for the same speed.) If it's below, say, 2.4 GHz on the microprocessor, it won't have the "muscle" you're looking for, it will run slower. Also of consideration is how big the memory is. If it's less than 500 GB, they're trying to unload something on you. Modern PCs have that or up to 1 TB (or more, but you will NOT need more.)
Personally, I'd prefer Windows 7 or 8 to 10, but that's up to personal preference. Some people prefer other operating systems entirely. It depends on what you'll do with the thing.
I'm sure others will chime in with their suggestions.
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T-Bone
Like WordWolf said it depends on what you want to do with it. Personally I lean towards laptops with Windows 10 operating system. I have a Toshiba Laptop and Tonto has a Sony Laptop. We also have a 2TB Western Digital Network Storage (not only good for storing pictures, video, music, documents, etc. but also we can move files between our two laptops). And just as a matter of efficiency – I’ve learned from some IT folks I really don’t have to do a backup of my operating system anymore (it would take a number of discs just for that!) – what I now do is make a copy of any photos, docs, files, etc. and have just that on my network storage and/or burned on a disc. So in a worst case scenario – I just need to re-install my operating system and then once that’s up and running put the copies of the stored files back on it. I bought our laptops and network storage at Best Buy.
I like the portability of a laptop – I do a lot of programming and technical documentation for work (photos, videos, Word docs, PDFs, spreadsheets, software programs for security systems + A/V equipment); for fun, I love messing around with photography and music – again, the portability is nice – I can move laptop from our office to living room or dining area and multitask (watch TV – rip some music CDs – check on email – look at Grease Spot – hang out with the family).
I usually go for a brand I’m familiar with; I’ll comparison shop on the Internet and pick the brains of any IT guys I work with too. I’m not an IT guy – I know enough to get by with all that I do…Some of those IT folks have some pretty beefy looking laptops – I mean the keyboard is even the size of one you’d plug into a desktop. As far as sound goes – there’s a lot of options – speaker systems that plug into the PC’s headphones jack – or if your Laptop has Bluetooth – get a wireless speaker system. One of the CEOs I do contract work for gave me a JBL Pulse Bluetooth Speaker for Christmas – you gotta hear Crossroads and Spoonful on that baby and it has a programmable light show to boot! Oh, the colors and trails are far out, man!
Whether you go desktop or laptop – Mac or PC (I’m not familiar with Macs – but I do have an iPhone and iPad) – figure out everything you want to do with it before you go shopping at Best Buy or wherever. Once you have that locked in – I’d recommend going with a reputable brand from a store near you.
Laptops have come a long way in being just as performance-powerful as desktops - :
gude to 2017 17" laptops
best gaming laptops
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krys
Thanks. gents. Perhaps others will have something to add. I'm not convinced I really need a desktop now, but also not sure I don't. It would seem to offer more expansion and perhaps a cd read/write drive
I appreciate all you both have given me. It's a good thing I'm not in a big hurry for this. You guys are the best.
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T-Bone
not to sway you one way on another
but you can get a laptop that has a CD/DVD read/write drive - of course, you can get an external CD/DVD read/write drive that you can plug into a desktop or laptop
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