Computer help thread

Jim, I'm using Mac too. I could help.

As for the burning disc, the most popular one is Nero. Since I haven't try bruning a DVD , so I don't know how good is Nero in terms of speed and stability.

Mariani, I'm using Mac OSX, iBook G4. I love it. What you need, they have. And I never have any virus attack on my notebook, yet. The cons of owning a Mac, at least in Malaysia, is their service kinda sucks. Since the market is small, they service centres are few and between. That, is really sucks. But I heard Apple Singapore is much better.

I agree with you that MAC is virus free but not all programs can run on MAC. I have a colleague who is using MAC and we have problems installing the printer driver. As I have been using Windows for so many years, I am nuts in using MAC. I am not use to the interface... You must be a MAC expert, ct

Mariani, I personally own a Dell laptop and find them to be reasonably reliable, but lately they did have a battery recall (due to some batteries causing problems) which might be off putting, but buying from the Dell Factory Outlet (there's a link to it on their website) will be a good way to get pretty much a brand new laptop for cheap (mine was about half price because the cover had gotten a tiny scratch (I only saw it after a few days use).

Sony Vaio laptops are often of decent quality too, better than Dell probably, but they do go up a little in price too.

Acer laptops have also been recommended to me in the past, though I've never used them, so can't say myself.

Macs are pretty decent machines as they are reliable, but you have to be prepared to accept that it may not be compliant with many Windows programs if you like using standard bearing systems.

Personally, for specs, currently most basic laptops can be bought for about £500 (738 euros) with specs like this...

* Processor: 1.4GHz
* RAM: 256MB
* Hard Drive: 40GB
* Optical Drive: CDRW/DVD
* Screen Size: 15" TFT
* Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home

I recommend spending a little more and getting specs that are a little higher would be a smarter choice, as it will take longer for the system to become obsolete (out of date). So I'd say look for specs of at least...

* Processor: 2GHz
* RAM: 512MB
* Hard Drive: 40GB
* Optical Drive: CDRW/DVD
* Screen Size: 15" TFT
* Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home

Note, that is the bare minimum I'd be looking for, I think if you look around, you can get some pretty good laptops for good prices.

A good website to start at I think is http://www.kelkoo.com because there you can search for different laptops and its a great way to compare different prices in different shops on the net.

Hope this helps

I used to hate macs, but i've got used to them and can quite easily switch between the two. You're right ct about macs having most things built in, like having 'Toast' to burn cds & dvds instead of having to use a program like nero. Saves having to download everything.

Macs are great, but they are a bit over the top and 'gimmicky' sometimes, that must be why such a high percentage of designers use them !

Yes ACMILAN83, one of my colleague's DELL laptop is in the list of battery recall. Some of my colleagues who own DELL laptop were getting paranoid over it...They even afraid to use it for a few days fearing that it may explode at any time...LOL...

Oh, thank you so much ACMILAN83..I would love to you...he,he,he,he..

lol, thanks a lot, the hug is welcomed and glad I could help. I recommend that your collegues take the battery out of the laptop and then use it plugged into an AC socket

Hi Mariani,
Before buying a laptop, I would recommend visiting forums like:
www.notebookforums.com and www.notebookreview.com
because bying the right laptop for you without largely overpaying can be a very tricky thing to do.

There one can find TONS of info and advice on what type of laptop does one need - in terms of specs that is - because people in general tend to overpay for machines they will never really use/need to begin with. Also, once you have figured out what class of laptop you need, you can find lots of reviews on particular laptops within that class depending on screen-type (glossy or not), heat issues (lots of laptops may have these), battery life (usually it is good battery life - Intel Cnetrino/Sonoma package), keybord flex and lack of firmness, noisy fans, etc, etc.

about 1.5 years I was buying a lptop for myself and those sites were a great help in that proces. In general, AMD spus are best for desktop mashines but for latops it is the Intel Centrino/Sonoma package that beats the AMDs as even the low-voltage AMD cpus can't measure up to the battery life you get from an Intel-based machine, while perfomance is virtually the same since Intel based their Pentium M cpu family on AMDs philosophy of "work/cpu cycle" > "GHz"

In those forums, you can find pre-made guide for what laptop meets your needs and what are the best products in that class. I started out with Dell in mymind but after some research realised that there are better machines, for my needs, out there and many of them were brands that are not very familiar to the average consumer like Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba are.
I also learned that the Dells, HPs, etc we buy at BestBuy and other concumer electronics stores are only reworked/rebranded barebones from mainly Taiwan manufacturers like Asus, Acer, Clevo, Mitac, Compal - companies that aren't very well known in the west.
I for instance ended up buying an Asus M6BNe (current and more contemporary model is Asus z70va) and have been absolutely happy with it, free of issues 2nd year running and an aboslute delite to look at and work with.

Also, one realizes that the dif in performance between 1.7/1.8 GHz and 2.0/2.1 GHz is not really worth the dif of 3-400 dollars you will have to pay up, and that it's better to invest that money in more RAM and faster HD and still have left extra cash.
Also buying a 1 stick of 1GB RAM is probably best, so that when in the future you need to add more RAM, you won't have to throw away the older chips.
So, my advice is go visit those forums and chances are you won't regret it.

Here is a direct link to a laptop-buying guide created by forum members at www.notebookforums.com - not sure but you might have to register in order to see it:
http://www.notebookforums.com/thread114968.html

there is a similar guide on www.notebookreview.com as well.

P.S. I am using the same nick on notebookforums and if you see a post by me, take a look at my avatar

i have a Dell Inspiron... works fine with the battery... infact it hasn't been givin' me any problems... other than those i create myself... lolz...

Originally Posted by zZ[-_-]Zz

i have a Dell Inspiron... works fine with the battery... infact it hasn't been givin' me any problems... other than those i create myself... lolz...

depends on what type of model you have, but to be on the safe side, visit this site...

https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx

and double check. Thankfully, mine wasn't affected, but some batteries do risk literally over heating (in some cases causing fires)

Originally Posted by zlatanov

Hi Mariani,
Before buying a laptop, I would recommend visiting forums like:
www.notebookforums.com and www.notebookreview.com
because bying the right laptop for you without largely overpaying can be a very tricky thing to do.

There one can find TONS of info and advice on what type of laptop does one need - in terms of specs that is - because people in general tend to overpay for machines they will never really use/need to begin with. Also, once you have figured out what class of laptop you need, you can find lots of reviews on particular laptops within that class depending on screen-type (glossy or not), heat issues (lots of laptops may have these), battery life (usually it is good battery life - Intel Cnetrino/Sonoma package), keybord flex and lack of firmness, noisy fans, etc, etc.

about 1.5 years I was buying a lptop for myself and those sites were a great help in that proces. In general, AMD spus are best for desktop mashines but for latops it is the Intel Centrino/Sonoma package that beats the AMDs as even the low-voltage AMD cpus can't measure up to the battery life you get from an Intel-based machine, while perfomance is virtually the same since Intel based their Pentium M cpu family on AMDs philosophy of "work/cpu cycle" > "GHz"

In those forums, you can find pre-made guide for what laptop meets your needs and what are the best products in that class. I started out with Dell in mymind but after some research realised that there are better machines, for my needs, out there and many of them were brands that are not very familiar to the average consumer like Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba are.
I also learned that the Dells, HPs, etc we buy at BestBuy and other concumer electronics stores are only reworked/rebranded barebones from mainly Taiwan manufacturers like Asus, Acer, Clevo, Mitac, Compal - companies that aren't very well known in the west.
I for instance ended up buying an Asus M6BNe (current and more contemporary model is Asus z70va) and have been absolutely happy with it, free of issues 2nd year running and an aboslute delite to look at and work with.

Also, one realizes that the dif in performance between 1.7/1.8 GHz and 2.0/2.1 GHz is not really worth the dif of 3-400 dollars you will have to pay up, and that it's better to invest that money in more RAM and faster HD and still have left extra cash.
Also buying a 1 stick of 1GB RAM is probably best, so that when in the future you need to add more RAM, you won't have to throw away the older chips.
So, my advice is go visit those forums and chances are you won't regret it.

Here is a direct link to a laptop-buying guide created by forum members at www.notebookforums.com - not sure but you might have to register in order to see it:
http://www.notebookforums.com/thread114968.html

there is a similar guide on www.notebookreview.com as well.

P.S. I am using the same nick on notebookforums and if you see a post by me, take a look at my avatar

hey, thanks for this useful info, zlatanov...you & acmilan83 are sure the right person to look for any computer advises, wow...

Apple now too is recalling their Li-Ion batteries but not as huge as Dell last week. Sony cells are giving problems.

OK, I have yet another computer related question, about torrents this time. I have a torrent file that I need to upload but I can't figure out how to do it, what with the trackers and all. So can anyone either explain to me how to do this in non complicated English, or can I send the torrent file to someone and they can do all the hard work. Your reward is you get to see what's in the torrent Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Vadim

OK, I have yet another computer related question, about torrents this time. I have a torrent file that I need to upload but I can't figure out how to do it, what with the trackers and all. So can anyone either explain to me how to do this in non complicated English, or can I send the torrent file to someone and they can do all the hard work. Your reward is you get to see what's in the torrent Thanks in advance.

I believe this link might be of use for what you're looking for. Hope it works

http://dessent.net/btfaq/#maketorrent

hey guys can u help me , here is my problemo with my computer , when i open files with .exe my computer restarts does anybody knows where is the problem ???

Originally Posted by rossoneri

hey guys can u help me , here is my problemo with my computer , when i open files with .exe my computer restarts does anybody knows where is the problem ???

hmm, I've never encountered that problem before, so am not sure why that might happen. However, I recommend doing a spyware and virus check to see if that helps (it could well be a bug has gotten onto your system).

Maybe someone else has encountered a similar problem?