relentlessly entertaining computer stuff
All right, I am in the market for a new computer, and I just sent out an email to some friends to get their feedback. I'm going to post it here to get some more opinions. Bear in mind a couple of things:
- Because of law school, I need to get a Windows-based laptop.
- I am going with Alienware for the manufacturer because I hear they're awesome and the more well-known manufacturers (Dell, HP, Gateway) all suck. Feel free to comment if this isn't true.
- The only TV I own is a small, seven-year-old TV/VCR with a broken antenna that, frankly, I oppose more than John Roberts opposes Roe v. Wade. NYU provides free cable to its dorms (at least this one) so I want a TV tuner setup that will a) let me watch and record cable TV, hopefully to resemble a DVR, and b) let me play my Gamecube on it.
So here's the computer I like from Alienware. Here's the link, but I don't think that goes to my customized model. If anyone who knows me personally wants to look at the customized specs, let me know, but for now here are the major specs:
Intel(r) Pentium(r) M 755 2.0GHz 2MB L2 Cache 400MHZ FSB
Intel(r) PRO/Wireless 2200 b/g Wireless Card
1GB DDR PC-2700 at 333MHz - 2x512MB SO-DIMMs
60GB 5400 RPM ATA100
8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
So there we are. Alienware is currently listing that at $1782. I'd want to get other stuff though, namely:
- This external USB tuner for $129. I can route in a coax for the cable, which I think I have, and I'd have to get a $10 svideo cable to get a decent picture off the Gamecube.
- An iPod shuffle, which is 512MB at $100. I was only interested in a thumbnail drive at first, but this would also be an mp3 player, which I could theoretically use on the subway, and isn't horrifically more expensive.
- An external HD, one of the ones from here. I don't know which brand to buy but I'd like 160GB. They seem to be around $150.
- USB keyboard, mouse and gamepad, since this Alienware machine doesn't seem to have the old connectors for my current stuff. Plus, you need a gamepad with a working "right" button if you want to use Jay Buhner's cannonlike arm in Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball for the SNES, so it's time to upgrade that anyway. Yes, I will have time to do this in law school. I find it cathartic.
- A USB hub, since this Alienware machine has three ports and I'd need USB for the shuffle, the USB tuner, the external HD, the keyboard, the mouse and the controller, and maybe stuff I'm forgetting. Apparently a normal hub would expand my capacity to six USB ports, which I think is fine.
That runs me over budget, but it'd be one hell of a machine. I'd like feedback on those moral decisions I've made above, plus I have some more exciting questions:
- I heard from a fairly reliable source that you can get internal HDs and put them into external adapters. Is this risky? It would be less expensive and more space.
- If I did get an external HD, who should I get it from? Does it matter?
- Am I getting too much memory? Is there such a thing? And which is better again, 1x1024 or 2x512?
- I don't need a better wireless card, right? I'm assuming it would be pointless.
- I'm getting a DVD burner as set up. It's $100 less to just get a 24x10x24 CD-RW / 8X DVD Combo; how likely is it that I would use a DVD burner?
Thanks in advance. This may or may not be the post that gets me linked from DailyKos and careers my blog out of obscurity, but, as stated, all opinions are welcome.
(The photo is not a reference to Anne Murray's hit single "Time, Don't Run Out On Me," but rather a photo of the new clock in the cabana. Look at the phone book for comparison; that's a big clock.)
Comments
Don't worry, time won't run out on you as long as your keep using "career" correctly. Bra-vo!
Posted by: Lance | July 20, 2005 7:48 AM
That is a huge clock.
Spend as much as you want on the computer, you'll regret it if you don't.
Posted by: Laura | July 20, 2005 10:12 AM
Here's some of my expert computer buying advice:
- The ipod shuffle is a good idea. If you feel like splurging get the
iPod mini. Its not much more and will function in much the same way.
- Skip the external HD. 60GB may not be lots of space if you plan on
running a serious MythTV installation, but the performance of an
external drive will always leave something to be desired. Think of it
mainly just for backups. But hey, you can burn lots of things to DVD
if you want backups.
- Skip the USB hub. Get a keyboard that has extra USB ports. Then you
can just plug everything else into that. (Mouse, gamepad, etc). Then
you only have 1 thing to unplug when you want to take your machine off
to Washington Sq.
- You want as much memory as humanly possible. 1x1024 would be better
because then you can always add another one to upgrade. That's
probably more expensive than 2x512. 1G of memory should last you for
some time.
- You might use the DVD burner to archive shows and send them to your
sister!
Posted by: Peter Kovacs | July 20, 2005 10:17 AM
If you're going to be doing gaming on your laptop, Alienware is probably the best assembled option; you could always do it yourself for cheaper, but that's a lot easier to accomplish with a desktop than a laptop.
My only gripes about Alienware laptops are that they run hot and they're as heavy as lead bricks. The running hot part you can help by using some kind of portable or fixed riser to keep the laptop off your desk to aid in heat dissipation. Any away you cut it, combined with an armload full of law school reading, that's going to be one heavy backpack!
For the specific questions, here's my two cents:
1. I heard from a fairly reliable source that you can get internal HDs and put them into external adapters. Is this risky? It would be less expensive and more space.
These are called hard drive enclosures; in my experience, it's no more risky than using an external USB drive. I've got two enclosures for backup purposes and they both work great.
2. If I did get an external HD, who should I get it from? Does it matter?
I'm partial to Western Digital but in my experience there's not a tremendous amount of difference. The only drives I've had fail on me were one Seagate and two Hitachi drives. If you go with an enclosure, get a HD to fit in it that has an 8MB or larger buffer; that will help in faster data transfer.
3. Am I getting too much memory? Is there such a thing? And which is better again, 1x1024 or 2x512?
Forget processor speed, it's all about the RAM, baby! I'd second Peter's suggestion about going with 1x1024 to start. It'll be a little more expensive, but you'll then be able to boost your RAM to 2 gigs whereas your RAM slots will both be used with 1 gig with 2x512.
4. I don't need a better wireless card, right? I'm assuming it would be pointless.
As long as its b/g you'll be fine. That covers the majority of wireless APs and routers in service today.
5. I'm getting a DVD burner as set up. It's $100 less to just get a 24x10x24 CD-RW / 8X DVD Combo; how likely is it that I would use a DVD burner?
If you're already dropping $1700+ on the laptop, I'd just stick with the DVD burner. They're great for backing up your machine to disc and you never know when you might need to "backup" your friend's Season 1 of Entourage!
I'd add one more thing: Back your HD up. Back it up religiously. I would get a USB HD or an enclosure for that purpose. I maintain two servers, two desktops and one laptop as part of work and on my own (the laptop is mine, the rest are the State's) and I back all of them up at least once a week; the production servers are backed up once a day.
I see more and more people coming into my office who have "lost" part or all of their thesis or dissertation or NSF grant application because they never could be bothered with backing up their files. They could never be bothered about it until the moment they realized they lost their stuff, which is a moment too late.
Posted by: Patrick | July 22, 2005 2:31 PM
Hey Terry. Been a while. You're still as intellectual and verbose as ever, which will serve you well in your terms in the white house (or supreme court, i'm not sure which). If those landscape pictures are all yours, you've developed an eye for photography. But I digress.
Am I to assume from some of these thin references that you are attending law school at NYU? That'd be pretty kickin'. I have a friend at the General Seminary school and a friend living in Brooklyn who just graduated from Catholic U. with masters degree in some kind of history, European I believe. His name is Gio (short for Giovanni) and is an absolutely perfect representation of what your children would look like, if you were ever to manage to reproduce with a Mr. Brant Truax.
Peace out for now.
P.S. this is what the alphabet would look like if they took out Q and R (courtesy of Mitch Hedberg, HILARIOUS comedian). But seriously, your next book report should be on Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Almost Everything" but then again, I'm a big science dork.
Posted by: Sean B | July 25, 2005 4:20 PM