wherein Liz asks people for computer shopping advice

[edenfalling]

Today my parents visited me. We went to two wineries/vineyards up the east shore of Cayuga, had a nice picnic lunch, did some speculative computer shopping, and ate dinner at Moosewood.

Dad had the Sicilian cod, Mom had Tortino di Verdure (which is like a casserole with pretensions and eggplant), and I had mushroom ragout ("Portabello, cremini, and white button mushrooms and more simmered with Marsala wine; accompanied by rosemary-pumpkin polenta cutlets and Romano beans; topped with parmesan [opt.]").

Then I had a fudge brownie a la mode for dessert. Mmm, chocolate...

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Anyway, back to computers.

See, my current computer is a Dell Optiplex something-or-other, bought back in 2000. It runs either Windows '98 or Windows 2000; I'm not sure which, since it's never mattered to me.

A few years ago, I had a problem most likely related to switching from a constant ethernet hookup to a non-internet-connected setup, and the computer refused to work normally. It would only operate in safe mode. I thought I'd fixed that, and for a few weeks it worked right, but then it switched back to only running in safe mode while insisting it's still running normally.

Eh. Electronics, not my thing.

Anyway, I need a new computer. The thing is, I don't really have any basis for comparison shopping. I don't care about most bells and whistles. All I need my new computer to do is:

A) word process
B) allow me to transfer data to public computers for internet access
C) play DVDs
D) play my rather outdated collection of mp3s
E) have potential for internet access (should I get another two raises in quick succession and thus be able to afford it)
F) probably have a printer that can double as a photocopier

I do not want a laptop; they bug me, their keyboards and touch pads suck like sucking things and make my wrists ache, and their screens are always at the wrong height relative to my eyes. I do not want a screen with any sort of glare; those ultra-shiny things from HP, for example, are right out. Beyond that, I have no preference whatsoever.

Does anybody out there have any advice? Brand names, model names, anything?

(On a related note, I've been told that I can insert my old hard drive into a new computer as a slave drive and thus be able to access my files without having to laboriously transfer them one by one. Is this true, and if so, is it at all complicated? I'm good with non-electronic mechanical things, but wires and plugs often flummox me.)

Comments

[chibirisuchan.livejournal.com]

If you're not going to do anything more complex than music, video-watching (as opposed to video-making), and basic Net access, you could probably get along just fine with a certified reconditioned system that's a couple years old running Windows XP. (I sure wouldn't take Vista right now if you paid me. Machines that run perfectly fine on XP turn into turtles when you add all the really unnecessary Vista graphical overhead, and Microsoft never gets it right until at least the second service pack.)

I'd say go for something like:

At least 1.5 to 2 gigahertz processor speed
At least 512 MB RAM (preferably a gig)
At least 80 to 120 gig hard drive (they don't really sell them smaller than 80 gig anymore, actually -- it wasn't that many years ago when 80 gig was the really expensive drive in our corporate server; ah, nostalgia).

Whatever kind of desktop you get will have an Ethernet port on the motherboard anymore. You can connect that to an external cable modem or DSL modem. If you want to use dialup, though, you'll probably have to buy an internal dialup modem as a separate card; they're not automatically provided anymore, since they assume most buyers will want Ethernet.

Erm. Have I just gone off the geek deep end at you? ^^;;; Poke me if I can answer anything; I should be around this evening...

[edenfalling]

I don't want to have to get another computer for at least 5 years, so I don't know about buying used. I also don't really want to try building a computer from components; I just don't trust myself to do it right. I guess I've been bitten too often by finicky electronic doohickeys.

I won't even have net access since I can't afford it; I use public computer labs instead. I've been transfering files on floppy disks, but those are going the way of the dinosaur so I guess I'll be switching to those little flash drive thingies that remind me of keychains. (Which reminds me that I should probably learn the proper name for them... *sigh*)

As for geek levels... I am about as non-computer-literate as you can get and still use a computer every day. This is probably because I have a fundamentally conservative personality; if it ain't broke, I see no reason to try something new that might be better. I figured out how to do the few things I cared about (word processessing and web-surfing, basically) and then never bothered learning anything more. (Well, except basic spreadsheets, but that was for work and I've mostly forgotten it anyway.)

Obviously this is coming back to bite me. *double sigh*