Computer Advice

[GoBucks]

I am looking for some advice on a new laptop and many of you seem pretty knowlegdable.

Currently I have a Dell Latitude D 520. Windows XP. I've heard nothing good about Vista, so I don't want that, I have hear a new (better version) of windows is supposed to come out near the end of the yearl

Currently, my computen is experienciing a lot of lag (and i regularly ruh malware, virus, etc)

I believe I need a new system. Does anyone have any recommendaitons ? I have never used a Mac so I have no knowledge in that area.

Should I wait for them to come out with the new OS or go ahead and get something now?

Any imput would be greatly appreaciated.

[Dual867PowerMac]

Buy a MacBook Pro. :cool:

[ThrowCop]

Vista is okay & the Service Packs will take care of some issues. I still recommend XP for now.

As far as recommendations, it depends on your preferences & what you are planning to do with your laptop.

And with much respect to Dual, Mac laptops are hella expensive for their capabilities.

I cannot recommend them for anyone but Mac users or beginners with a wad of cash to blow.

[BasicGreatGuy]

When is the last time you defragged the hard drive? How many processes do you have running at one time? What about the Windows registry?

[BasicGreatGuy]

Chances are you don't really need a new computer. You just need to tune up the one you have. ;) The things I spoke of in my previous post, can cause your computer to lag, if they have not be properly addressed in some time.

[Dual867PowerMac]

When is the last time you defragged the hard drive?
With Macs, you don't have to do that. Repairing permissions and verifying the hard disk with Disk Utility is a piece of cake. No bugginess, no freezes, no error messages...

See, the way Mac OS X was created just makes sense.

[ThrowCop]

I have a defrag proggie that runs once a week as well as several others that keep things in shape.

As BGG said, if it was faster before, then something is wrong. Uninstall some programs that you don't use/need, download a registry cleaner & defrag the hard drive 1st.

[sgdp]

I'd recommend the MacBook with Leopard. I had Tiger, but the whole system crashed. No idea why, but the Apple Care warranty saved me. Their tech people are *very* helpful. I mean...best I've ever worked with.

If anything goes wrong, they send you a box. You send it back with your laptop, and within a week I had it back with a new OS.

Hrm. This entire blurb has been about my crash. Maybe you shouldn't take too much to my recommendation. :lol:

[WorldWatcher]

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NOTE: Anti-virus, Spyware, Malware programs (McAfee, Norton, Web Root etc…) are resource hogs and having them run continuously can really cause lag in a computer, especially an older one. I’ve known people with some older computers that said they had excellent results by setting up two accounts on the machine. One “Clean” account used for off-line work where the Anti-virus stuff was not running. The second allowed the anti-virus to run for when they were connecting on-line.


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Work just replaced my Latitude D810 and it was about 2.5 years old, if you have a Lattitude D520 I'm assuming it is older than that. (Motherboard, Hard Drive, display, and all that worked fine. I was getting cracks in the plastic case, 2 USB ports were shot, but the nail in the coffin was the power button fractured.)


So...

Here is my advice...


Defragging and some registry repair utilities can be helpful with lag on a machine that has been running Windows for years. But they are only good to a point.


Before laying out bucks for a new machine, bite the bullet and wipe the machine and reinstall the OS. It's amazing how a clean install can resurrect an older computer.

It will cost you a good chunk of a day, but it may save you buying a new computer if your demands are not that great.


Prior to doing it though, you want to make sure you do a few things:
1. Backup ALL your data files to an external medium. (External/portable hard drive is the best, CD or DVD is OK also.)
2. If you use a local mail client (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc...) make sure you backup your E-mail database file.
3. Make sure you export and save all your Bookmarks from whatever browser(s) you use. You will be able then to re-import them later on.
4. Go through your "Programs" menu and make note of all the programs you use, then go “Control Panel | Add Remove Programs” and again review the list for programs you will want to reinstall.
5. Locate all the installation disks for the OS (this may be a "Recovery" disk provided by Dell).
6. Locate all the software install disks you will need to reinstall.
6. Make sure prior to wiping (or restoring) the computer you have all the Activation Keys you received or may need to reinstall the software.


At this point you then have two options:
Option #1 - If it is a work computer, seek support from your Tech guys having them do the reinstall/recovery.
Option #2 - If it is a home computer, you will need to do it yourself, maybe getting someone knowledgeable about computers to assist you.
Option #3 - (OK, I lied, it’s 3.) If it is a home computer and you are not comfortable getting under the hood, take your computer to a local computer store and have them do the reinstall/recovery.

Once the computer is back to Hardware + Operating System, then go through and reinstall the programs. After that restore the data files and then import the mail and bookmark files.


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If your decision is to go with a new computer…

I agree with BGG, MAC’s are nice, but they are overpriced. I have one of the new Intel MAC's at work and it's actually pretty sweet. You can now run Windows on the new machines if you don’t want to switch over to OS X, but that means in addition to buying a new computer you have to shell out for the Windows OS as a second OS.

I’m on a new Dell Latitude 6500 and basically I love it. Solid machine, good performance. Well stocked it ran about $1500. I could have gotten a cheaper computer of course, but I very impressed with the quality when compared to the sub-$1000 laptop market. As a business grade computer I’m very happy with it. On the other hand we just bought a Dell XPS M1530 laptop for my daughter as a graduation present in the same price range (after a few upgrades) which is a gaming capable laptop.

I prefer Windows XP Pro as an OS. It is proven and ROCK-SOLID as a Windows OS. I don’t want all the new “bells-n-whistles” for the OS, I want something to run the computer with and XP Pro does that very well. My son also has a Dell XPS running Vista and he has had no issues with it at all (except for one), seems like the Service Packs for Vista have fixed most of the major complaints from it’s early release. The only problem he’s had is printing to our wireless network and that is a driver issue for our printer. When he needs to print he either works on the Desktop he built or prints to PDF on his laptop and then saves it to a memory stick for later printing.



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[alexz2317]

I always use XP. And when I get new computers/laptops, I defrag the hard drive until all the files are as compact as it can be. And every night I clean the disk. I want the best performance out of my computer.

[GoBucks]

I have McAfee virus protection and when it is running a check, it slows the whole system down, but I expect that. I use frequently CCleaner and Malwarebytes to keep the system clean, the OS has been reloaded since the computer was purchased. the only programs that continually run in the background are McAfee, Carbonite and the programs for my wireless network.

I use the computer to do bookkeeping for my husbands business (quickbooks), doing the income taxes, email, light correspondence, some photo editing and mostly surfing the net.

So I doubt its a matter of having a bunch of "garbage" in there. The laptop does tend to get pretty Hot after its been running for awhile so I think maybe there is a hardware problem starting to surface.

The lag becomes greater the longer I am using the computer.