I need a new pcu, please help!!

[vschlaff]

Hi,
I'm new to the sight and I don't know a lot about computers. we have an hp right now,
and I'm comparing cpu's. I want to shop the day after thanksgiving and hopefully find a
good deal. But, I want to make sure I'm buying what I need.

My husband enjoys playing poker stars online with his family. we do email, pictures, and
save some information.

we currently have dial up service. we live in a rural area, and probably won't be able to
have other service for a while.

How much storage space do I need? I don't want a slow computer, because it's already
slow enouph because of the dial up service.

will this make a differnce in speed for the computer? If I buy one with more storage space?

Thank you

[glc]

Any new computer you can buy these days has a large enough hard drive for that kind of use. I wouldn't worry about it, what you need to look at is the power of the CPU (processor) and quantity of RAM (memory). As long as the hard drive is less than about 75% full and you keep it defragmented, there will not be any impact on speed.

[kilgoretrout]

I just want to reiterate the last sentence in glc's post - in spite of what some unscrupulous sales people tell naive customers, buying a new computer with a faster cpu, more ram, etc will not significantly speed up a dial up internet connection. If you can post the specs for your old computer(cpu, ram, hard drive size) and the operating system, eg Windows XP, Vista, Windows 2000, people can give you a better idea as to whether you need an upgrade and what type of performance improvements you are likely to see. You may be better off spending your money on a satellite internet service if one is available in your area.

[trulad]

Right. It's easy to add more ram or even a larger hard drive,but the dial up will still be slow. I use a Sprint wireless card for internet and it's almost as fast as the dsl I had before. Sprint plan I have is $60 / month.
trulad

[rwest]

I wouldn't worry too much about the processor. For what your wanting to do most of the processors today will suffice. There are single core processors being released with new pcs, these will work but a dual or tripple core processo is where your going to find the most power and best buy.

Currently manufacturersl tend to put in just barely ennough ram in a budget computer to run the operating system. If you find a machine with XP on it, don't look at anything with less than 1gig of ram. for Vista 2gig works but 4-6gig is better. Any more ram than that is overkill for your needs.

Hard drives are basically just storage space, any pc you buy today will have enough for your needs. I wouldn't spend too much time on this aspect.

October 22 is the release date for Windows 7, Thanksgiving may not be the best time to buy a pc this year. If you could wait till christmas you should find way beter deals and have the opportunity to have one with this latest operating system from Microsoft, probably at a better price.

[glc]

The BEST way to speed up a dialup connection is with a high quality, true hardware-based modem. Those are getting hard to find. The modems that come with off-the-shelf computers these days (if they even HAVE a modem) are cheap software-based modems. They suffice for faxing and casual use, but for any kind of bandwidth intensive online use, they fall on their face.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16825104007

[vschlaff]

Everyone,
Thank you for all the information. I will not be able to get satelite service at my new home.
My computer at home is an Hp pavilion a530n. It has 2.0 GHz athlon 64 3200 + 512 MBs or Ram,
200 GB hard drive. so if I'm understanding right, I would need at least 2G of Ram to be ok.
I can get air card service for this area, but there is a 5G cap. So, everyone talks about going over.
My husband plays poker stars and would go over. I do not get sprint in ths area for an air card. Only
verizon and at&t. I can spend around 600 on one, but do I need to?

[glc]

How full is your hard drive?

You should get quite a bit more life out of that HP - for what you use the computer for, it's plenty powerful enough. If you are running out of storage space, upgrade the hard drive or get an external hard drive.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listpar...vilion%20a530n

For less than $50, you can max out the ram with 2gb.

Do you do any software maintenance - delete temp files, fix registry errors, do antivirus and antimalware scans, chkdsk and defrag, things like that?

[vschlaff]

well, I think part of the problem is we don't know a lot about computers. We have browser problems and probably get some bugs. We just took the drive in and had work done to it. we paid 60 dollars for this to last maybe two months. I think he deleated everything of off the drive. so, it's easier for me to start over then pay for it to be fixed all the time. we need a good virus scan on the next one I buy. Ive been told by others that we need a new drive also. Ive paid 60 two other times to a friend to fix it, and then a company to fix it and I paid hp support the extra money they want when they can't help further. I guess for a tech to help me. And they said I needed a drive. so,
I'm going to buy a new pc and try to start over and do it better this time.
but, thank you for the help. I know now that I don't have to purchase one of the
larger ram or storage models.