New computer - to buy or NOT to buy? and what?

[mousegunner]

I have been running Windows XP for the past five years, and I know all the ins and outs, and have plenty of software that I like and use daily. But my computer is wearing out. My built in card reader quit. My upfront usb ports won't function. My dvd burner won't read or burn dvds. I've been patching up with usb plugins of external devices, but I'm afraid my hard drive may bite the dust soon (I'm all backed up!).

Shall I get a new Windows 7 computer? Or find a NIB XP model? Or just get my golden oldie repaired? Are there any good reasons to move on to Windows 7? I'm not interested in Apple stuff.

[trblmkr13]

The best reason to adopt windows 7 will be that new software and updates for XP will eventually stop being released but viruses and malware will not

[mikegideon]

Our company is still on XP, and we have thousands of machines. AFAIK, they haven't shipped a new XP machine for consumers since Vista came out. They simply stopped writing drivers for the newer hardware. When I replaced my laptop earlier this year, I went with a Windows 7 machine. I like the OS. I totally skipped Vista 'cause it sucks.

You may have some existing software that won't play on Win 7. Same deal with some external hardware. I'm on a Win 7 machine now, but all my others are still running XP pro. There's a small learning curve with Win 7. They moved and renamed some stuff.

[LagerHead]

I don't run Windows 7, but one of my coworkers does. He and I are both hardcore Mac guys, and he says it's not too bad. By the way, you can run Windows in virtual machine on a Mac.

[trblmkr13]

I don't run Windows 7, but one of my coworkers does. He and I are both hardcore Mac guys, and he says it's not too bad. By the way, you can run Windows in virtual machine on a Mac.

That is what I do for work allot of the tools I use only work on windows

[Farman]

The wife gives Win7 a +10 compared to XP and +100 compared to Vista.. I'm not a geek by any means, but my opinion is go new. It sounds like to repair you would have a lot of components to replace and they are probably old tech. New computers come with more memory, bigger hard drives and better power supplies. But like Mike said, some of your old software may not work with Win7.

[Guest grays]

I moved to windows 7 from xp a couple of months ago and have no complaints it really just seemed like a polished windows xp

[Mechanic_X]

Check to see if there are drivers available for your peripherals. My printer and scanner were hard to get to work. Had to network the printer and gave up on the scanner.

[enfield]

I just bought a lease turn-in Compac from TigerDirect for $160. 12 month P&L warranty, XP pro, keyboard & mouse, no monitor. You might want to check them out.

I expect mine in a couple of days. Plan to put a 2nd HD in it and dual-boot XP and Linux, just like I do on this box.

[monkeylizard]

Win 7 has some better security features that are kind of invisible. Mostly, it just looks like a better XP. I looooove the "snap" feature. when I go to work and have to use XP, I keep trying to "snap" my windows to the sides.

It sounds like you're the kind of guy who keeps his PC around for a long time. Do you really want to spend money on a new PC and have it running a 9 year old OS? Make the move to Win7.

Some older peripherals can be a problem, especially advanced features. My HP all-in-one would print fine with 7 and the card reader worked, but there was no driver for the scanner. I was able to find one for a different HP model that works fine. Then I bought a new all-in-one because I got tired of the old one breaking down on me every few days. My old Kodak software doesn't work right either, but the Libraries feature in Win7 makes me not need the Kodak software.

[Guest tnxdshooter]

I have been running Windows XP for the past five years, and I know all the ins and outs, and have plenty of software that I like and use daily. But my computer is wearing out. My built in card reader quit. My upfront usb ports won't function. My dvd burner won't read or burn dvds. I've been patching up with usb plugins of external devices, but I'm afraid my hard drive may bite the dust soon (I'm all backed up!).

Shall I get a new Windows 7 computer? Or find a NIB XP model? Or just get my golden oldie repaired? Are there any good reasons to move on to Windows 7? I'm not interested in Apple stuff.

Honestly, im my opinion and years of experience with computers it is always cheaper to buy the parts and build it yourself if you have the know how instead of buying one from the store. If you dont have the no how for a nominal fee you can usually have it all put together by a computer tech. If you want to look for parts the two cheapest places I have found are as follows.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

ZipZoomFly

I hate intel and on every benchmark test I have seen AMD out performed them. If it were me I would go with a quad core AMD, asus sli motherboard, two nvidia 9800 video cards to run in sli mode, a 500 gig hard drive, and windows 7. I would also put in as much memory as the motherboard can handle. My computer has 4 gig of memory on it. One word of advice if you get even one 9800 video card or you get the sli motherboard and you run two video cards you need at least a 650 watt power supply. I usually dont go any smaller than that in pc's I have built.

Edited November 4, 2010 by tnxdshooter

[Guest tnxdshooter]

Our company is still on XP, and we have thousands of machines. AFAIK, they haven't shipped a new XP machine for consumers since Vista came out. They simply stopped writing drivers for the newer hardware. When I replaced my laptop earlier this year, I went with a Windows 7 machine. I like the OS. I totally skipped Vista 'cause it sucks.

You may have some existing software that won't play on Win 7. Same deal with some external hardware. I'm on a Win 7 machine now, but all my others are still running XP pro. There's a small learning curve with Win 7. They moved and renamed some stuff.

You skipped vista cause it sucks? Windows 7 is built on the same platform LOL. XP drivers should work on windows 7 most of the time. There are rare occasions where that is not the case.

[mikegideon]

I don't run Windows 7, but one of my coworkers does. He and I are both hardcore Mac guys, and he says it's not too bad. By the way, you can run Windows in virtual machine on a Mac.

Yep. A couple of my guys carry Mac laptops, because it was easier to get them to run XP than having to get a special image for our standard HP laptops.

[mousegunner]

Sounds like the consensus is: buy a new Windows 7 machine and bite the bullet on getting used to new hardware and software. yuk!

I'm one of those guys who took forever to drop Windows For Workgroups 3.11.

[enfield]

One of the curious things about Windows is that XP doesn't have drivers for my ancient, Win95-era, HP scanner. Neither does HP.

But the scanner works fine on Linux!

Linux supports older hardware, and it's noticeably faster than Windows in many categories. It doesn't require the latest and greatest hardware for good performance. And, I'm running 4 different desktops simultaneously. I can run a browser in one, a CD player in another, a word-processing document in another and a system monitor & console in the 4th desktop. I don't have to minimize applications to run another - just switch desktops. Try that with Windows.

However, back to the discussion, you don't have to spend a lot of money to get a good, functional computer. If you want to play video games, it's another story.

You don't have to follow the consensus - it's your choice.

[mikegideon]

You skipped vista cause it sucks? Windows 7 is built on the same platform LOL. XP drivers should work on windows 7 most of the time. There are rare occasions where that is not the case.

My entire company, with hunderds full time IT guys skipped Vista because it sucks. Yes, Windows 7 is Vista that doesn't suck. Why do you think M$oft abandoned the name? We have started to roll out Win7 with a lot of caution. Vista never made it that far before they chunked it.

[enfield]

Windows has had quite a few versions that "sucked", hasn't it? Wonder if Bill gave any of the customers their money back?

[mikegideon]

One of the curious things about Windows is that XP doesn't have drivers for my ancient, Win95-era, HP scanner. Neither does HP.

But the scanner works fine on Linux!

Linux supports older hardware, and it's noticeably faster than Windows in many categories. It doesn't require the latest and greatest hardware for good performance. And, I'm running 4 different desktops simultaneously. I can run a browser in one, a CD player in another, a word-processing document in another and a system monitor & console in the 4th desktop. I don't have to minimize applications to run another - just switch desktops. Try that with Windows.

However, back to the discussion, you don't have to spend a lot of money to get a good, functional computer. If you want to play video games, it's another story.

You don't have to follow the consensus - it's your choice.

I've been up to my neck in a Linux based project for the last 3 years. We put 400+ embedded PC's into the field. Linux is stable, but it's also Greek to most mainstream IT guys. Works fine in my application because the users don't interface with it at all. We tried to replace Novell with it on some of our big file servers for audio playout, and it failed miserably. Wound up moving to a Microsoft Server OS.

For an individual, it's a great option if you wanna learn a new OS.

[mikegideon]

Windows has had quite a few versions that "sucked", hasn't it? Wonder if Bill gave any of the customers their money back?

I threatened to fire a guy for putting Windows Mil on some machines. That one was a real POS. They got their act together with NT/2k/XP. That's why we're still on it.

[mikegideon]

Sounds like the consensus is: buy a new Windows 7 machine and bite the bullet on getting used to new hardware and software. yuk!

I'm one of those guys who took forever to drop Windows For Workgroups 3.11.

Back when I was doing IT, I rolled out Win 95 as soon as it was released on all the business side machines. Stopped all the "I can't print" calls. Hated Windows for Workgroups.

[Guest Tygarys]

If you are looking at a new PC with Windows 7, make sure to check for drivers for your stuff. Many newer PCs will likely come with the 64bit version which can make finding drivers for older stuff much harder.

[mikegideon]

If you are looking at a new PC with Windows 7, make sure to check for drivers for your stuff. Many newer PCs will likely come with the 64bit version which can make finding drivers for older stuff much harder.

Good advice. I had to roll mine back to 32 bit, and took a RAM hit because of it. I think it was because of some of my company's internal software.