Any computer gurus out there ?

[Ralph Kramden]

If you plan on just burning Blu-rays I'm pretty sure you don't need either of those.  If you want to output Blu-ray to a monitor or television you will need a graphics card with HDMI output and HDCP.  You monitor must also be HDCP compatible.

Thanks murdoc, but I'm confused by your answer. I don't want to watch Blu-rays on the computer. I want to be able to burn Blu-rays down the road(if the blanks ever get cheap enough). Do I need a tower with HDMI for the Blu-ray burner? Because the one I'm looking at only has VGA and USB.

[kevbeck122]

You only need HDMI or DVI with HDCP if you want to watch blu rays on your computer at full resolution (otherwise most of them are downconverted to 480p).  If you're just going to burn them, VGA is fine.

[jkane]

Do they still make them? I have not heard that name in years.

I don't know I guess!  I am old, and so are my computers.  Well, actually, my Ubuntu box is a Dell, and has some AMD processor in it.  So are a couple older ones.  The laptops are all Intel I think, and so is the old slow file server and my wife's dell desktop.

It has been a couple years since I bought a new computer.  Must be about time, right?  Nah, dual processor on Linux is doing me fine.  And my work laptop is whatever they give me.  Has always been Intel.

[jkane]

On the Vista vs Win 7 front, I am still satisfied with XP, but understand that it is not going to be supported for security patches soon.  I have Vista with my Dell, but re-partitioned the drive and put Ubuntu on it.  1,000 times faster!  I have Vista in a VMware session, but almost never use it.  It is a slow pig.

We skipped Vista at work, and are jumping to Win 7.  However, I have not been involved in the decision other than recommendation on the security side.  Win 7 has some good features, but they are business based not home.  I don't know if the home features are better or worse.

Other than Vista being slow, I know quite a few people who like it.  But, none who have given a comparison with Win 7.  Bottom line, I would likely go Win 7 simply so I don't have to upgrade in a couple years when Vista stops being supported.  Plus, nothing can be worse than Vista.  :eek:  Then again ... I really would stick with Ubuntu Linux.  But, no, I won't be your tech support, so go for Windblows if you are not tech savvy.  :cool:

[kevbeck122]

I don't know I guess!  I am old, and so are my computers.  Well, actually, my Ubuntu box is a Dell, and has some AMD processor in it.  So are a couple older ones.  The laptops are all Intel I think, and so is the old slow file server and my wife's dell desktop.

It has been a couple years since I bought a new computer.  Must be about time, right?  Nah, dual processor on Linux is doing me fine.  And my work laptop is whatever they give me.  Has always been Intel.

The Athlon is still around.  The latest is the Athlon II, probably comparable to the Intel Core 2 series.  Their performance processor is the Phenom line, which can probably compare to the Intel Core i5 or Core i7.

[oz]

Look on the deal sites - there are regular deals from all the vendors on laptops and desktops.

http://slickdeals.net

http://www.firingsquad.com/deals/

[Ralph Kramden]

Thanks everyone. We got a great deal on a HP on sale at Staples. The Intel Duo Core processor, 6 GB memory, 640 GB hard drive, Windows 7, and a 21.5" LCD 1080p monitor for $599. It's so fast now it's hard to believe. Our old one was so slow and outdated.

[AndrewP]

Thanks everyone. We got a great deal on a HP on sale at Staples. The Intel Duo Core processor, 6 GB memory, 640 GB hard drive, Windows 7, and a 21.5" LCD 1080p monitor for $599. It's so fast now it's hard to believe. Our old one was so slow and outdated.

It will not be long enough and that PC will be slow, that' how it works:guitar:

[Bebop]

That's why I have an 8-core. I should be safe for another 6 months.

[steve053]

Thanks everyone. We got a great deal on a HP on sale at Staples. The Intel Duo Core processor, 6 GB memory, 640 GB hard drive, Windows 7, and a 21.5" LCD 1080p monitor for $599. It's so fast now it's hard to believe. Our old one was so slow and outdated.

Since it has 6 GB of memory it's running the 64 bit version (x64) of Windows 7 (vs the 32 bit version).  When purchasing software or installing peripherals, you'll have to make sure that you select the 64 bit software/drivers.  While there is increasing support for 64 bit, it definitely is not 'mainstream' and some products still choke even though they claim to support x64.

Enjoy your new computer!

[Gregg Lengling]

On the Vista vs Win 7 front, I am still satisfied with XP, but understand that it is not going to be supported for security patches soon.  I have Vista with my Dell, but re-partitioned the drive and put Ubuntu on it.  1,000 times faster!  I have Vista in a VMware session, but almost never use it.  It is a slow pig.

We skipped Vista at work, and are jumping to Win 7.  However, I have not been involved in the decision other than recommendation on the security side.  Win 7 has some good features, but they are business based not home.  I don't know if the home features are better or worse.

Other than Vista being slow, I know quite a few people who like it.  But, none who have given a comparison with Win 7.  Bottom line, I would likely go Win 7 simply so I don't have to upgrade in a couple years when Vista stops being supported.  Plus, nothing can be worse than Vista.  :eek:  Then again ... I really would stick with Ubuntu Linux.  But, no, I won't be your tech support, so go for Windblows if you are not tech savvy.  :cool:

We're doing the same thing at work, we never adopted Vista, everything is still XP-Pro but the new desktops coming in March will all be Windows7 machines.

[duncantuna]

I've been a Windows user since 3.1 .. I really skipped Vista entirely.  Never used it for more than a few minutes here and there when I had to.  I avoided it because of the multitude of commentary that it sucked.

I recently got a Win7 laptop .. like it OK.  It's difficult to re-learn where some things are .. and some of the file structure and permissions are hard to understand.

This weekend, though, I needed to fix my mother in law's Vista laptop, so I spent 4-5 hours on Vista.  

Holy crap, is Vista terrible.  So many things just plain didn't work, usually without explanation.  I finally decided to turn UAC off, and that solved many issues.  I was operating under the assumption UAC would be bothersome, asking me permission .. but it often just denies your request without explanation.

Didn't take long for me to realize why Vista was a total bomb.