New Computer?

[AnotherSpin]

For me, I always want to have an ethernet port option - my job depends on having access to the Internet, and I like the option to be hardwired.

It also forces me to be offline, lol.

You can always just grab an adapter, can't you?

[hopefullytrusting]

You can always just grab an adapter, can't you?

I have that as well, lol. I have most of the failsafes. I'm an academic, and I grew up playing videogames in the 1990s - I know the value of having more than one contingency plan, lol.

[AnotherSpin]

I have that as well, lol. I have most of the failsafes. I'm an academic, and I grew up playing videogames in the 1990s - I know the value of having more than one contingency plan, lol.

Clearly, Apple ditched the Ethernet port to keep MacBooks thin. A simple adapter does the job perfectly well. The Mac mini, I expect, still has them (my mini which has it, is rather old, and still works perfectly well).

[Kalevala]

Thank you all.

I tried suggesting a refurbished Mac to him and he was in the frame of mind of not wanting any suggestions, so I'm doing this

And to the poster asking about HPs:  I don't know why the repair person doesn't like them.  He has been fixing a variety of computers for many years (including initially repairing solely business customers' ones).

Must admit that I was surprised when he told me that the repair person said that both his hard drive and motherboard were shot and not to waste his money on repairing them.

K

[Opus131]

Drive is easy to replace, but if the motherboard is fried any "repair" job would involve replacing the board entirely which is probably not worth the trouble. The motherboard on a laptop is basically the whole thing, it's not like a desktop where it's just one component among others.

Nowadays a lot of the considerations that went into deciding on a new computer are not as much of a priority. The question of "bloat" was solved by modern systems using an SSD instead of a mechanical drive (which was the chief culprit, especially 5400 RPM drives which is what 99% of laptops used to come with). Nowadays the only way a program can slow down your computer if it is running on an SSD if it's using all your CPU and if it's doing that in the background you need to nuke that app from orbit and never look back. Low memory can still be an issue too but honestly memory isn't an expensive part anymore so skimping on it doesn't make a whole lot of sense (i'd say just get at least 16 GB of memory so you don't have to worry about it).

Also, in the age of mobile devices screen has now become something to consider as well. It used to be that laptops had average or mediocre screens unless you went for the absolute top, but in order to remain competitive it seems they are now getting fancy as well across all levels, but some of those new screens may have their own set of problems. A 4K screen sounds nice until you run into that program that doesn't scale. Also some laptops now even have OLED screens which have their own issues, such as burn in or wierd subpixel layout for text. IPS screens are generally better for a computer but they are not so good for media (due to mediocre contrast and IPS glow). Screen brightness is also something to look into if you tend to use your laptop outside in the open (as well as whether it has a matte or reflective coating). Lastly, a lot of screens also have high refresh rates. This is generally a feature that was intended for gaming but to be honest i found it to be quite pleasurable even for desktop use.

As for ports, modern systems also have modern needs. For instance, it's neat to have something like a thunderbolt port nowadays. For instance, you can attach a docking station to it which, among other things, happens to have a slot for ethernet connections.

[Kalevala]

Drive is easy to replace, but if the motherboard is fried any "repair" job would involve replacing the board entirely which is probably not worth the trouble. The motherboard on a laptop is basically the whole thing, it's not like a desktop where it's just one component among others.

Nowadays a lot of the considerations that went into deciding on a new computer are not as much of a priority. The question of "bloat" was solved by modern systems using an SSD instead of a mechanical drive (which was the chief culprit, especially 5400 RPM drives which is what 99% of laptops used to come with). Nowadays the only way a program can slow down your computer if it is running on an SSD if it's using all your CPU and if it's doing that in the background you need to nuke that app from orbit and never look back. Low memory can still be an issue too but honestly memory isn't an expensive part anymore so skimping on it doesn't make a whole lot of sense (i'd say just get at least 16 GB of memory so you don't have to worry about it).

Also, in the age of mobile devices screen has now become something to consider as well. It used to be that laptops had average or mediocre screens unless you went for the absolute top, but in order to remain competitive it seems they are now getting fancy as well across all levels, but some of those new screens may have their own set of problems. A 4K screen sounds nice until you run into that program that doesn't scale. Also some laptops now even have OLED screens which have their own issues, such as burn in or wierd subpixel layout for text. IPS screens are generally better for a computer but they are not so good for media (due to mediocre contrast and IPS glow). Screen brightness is also something to look into if you tend to use your laptop outside in the open (as well as whether it has a matte or reflective coating). Lastly, a lot of screens also have high refresh rates. This is generally a feature that was intended for gaming but to be honest i found it to be quite pleasurable even for desktop use.

As for ports, modern systems also have modern needs. For instance, it's neat to have something like a thunderbolt port nowadays. For instance, you can attach a docking station to it which, among other things, happens to have a slot for ethernet connections.

Thank you for the further information!    Years ago when I purchased my Macs (should have staggered them...I know), I ended up having some extra memory in both (not advised by Apple over a certain amount, but said to be o.k. by local authorized store).  I like that I can play CDs or DVDs in them (one now dead but I purchased a free-standing player which I hook up to it when needed).

Will find out a bit more about his new computer as he'll be coming by soon.

K

[drogulus]

    If I was going to buy a prebuilt I'd probably get a PowerSpec from MicroCenter. The prices are reasonable and they're easy to upgrade.

   


    AMD Ryzen 7 7700X (4.5GHz) Processor
    Gigabyte B650M C V3 Motherboard
    32GB DDR5-6000 RAM
    AMD Radeon Graphics
    1TB NVMe SSD
    Gigabit LAN, WiFi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 4.2
    Windows 11 Pro

    I'd have to add a GPU because integrated graphics on the 7700x are heinous. But it's a nice unit for $899.

[Kalevala]

Well, my friend bought an $800 Lenovo.  So there you go.

Again, I do appreciate the input from all of you.  I do hope that it holds up for him; again, he uses it for email, a bit of banking, and youtube [Wish that he'd let me help him in using his calendar, but that is his choice].

K

[Szykneij]

Recently, my old faithful Lenovo kept losing the video while in the process of booting up. After I tried all the recommended fixes to no avail, I headed off to Microcenter to buy a new computer. I wasn't too upset because the Lenovo was too old to be upgraded to Windows 11 and I was going to need a new one soon anyway.
 I got home and set up my new computer, which was somewhat of a pain because of the tight location, and when I turned it on, I had the same video issue. Turns out, the problem was with the monitor and not the computer. It didn't occur to me the monitor was bad because it did turn on briefly before it went dark.
  So, I am now typing this back on my Lenovo and I'll officially switch to the new machine when I have the time and motivation to transfer all my files.
   

[Kalevala]

Recently, my old faithful Lenovo kept losing the video while in the process of booting up. After I tried all the recommended fixes to no avail, I headed off to Microcenter to buy a new computer. I wasn't too upset because the Lenovo was too old to be upgraded to Windows 11 and I was going to need a new one soon anyway.
 I got home and set up my new computer, which was somewhat of a pain because of the tight location, and when I turned it on, I had the same video issue. Turns out, the problem was with the monitor and not the computer. It didn't occur to me the monitor was bad because it did turn on briefly before it went dark.
  So, I am now typing this back on my Lenovo and I'll officially switch to the new machine when I have the time and motivation to transfer all my files.
 

I'll have to ask my friend again to make sure that I'm correct, but I believe that my friend said that the one that he had purchased earlier (as told by a store employee) had a life-span for 1-3 years so things went much better for him.  And no he does not play video games.

Sorry that things are not going well for you. 

K

[drogulus]

     My monitor is an ancient Dell 1680x1050 from approx 2009. Though I'd like to replace it with a 1920x1200 to keep the 16:10 aspect ratio I should maybe just go for the best monitor I can get at my preferred 24-25" size.

     Ohh....

     It turns out there's a very good 24" 16x10 monitor from Asus, the PA248CRV. It has HDR, too, so I can watch everything I have on it. It won't need a monster GPU either at 1920x1200. It's IPS so blacks won't be ideal, however going to OLED means I'd need a bigger boat screen as they start at 27".