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-UE
What computer to get?
Our family needs at least one new computer. Well not necessarily "needs", but would like.
Walls of text below (with some bolded highlights) describe the problem.
Currently, my dad uses a computer that's about four years old, still runs Vista (yeah, I know, I just haven't gotten around to pirating either WinXP or Win7 and installing it). It runs pretty slow, for some reason--not sure if it's because Vista or because something else, and I've tried looking through the processes list of task manager a few times and haven't been able to diagnose the problem. It's also not the greatest computer in the world in terms of stats--has just 2 GB of RAM, 160 GB of hard drive space (which is mostly full, I think of camcorder vids), and some sort of Intel Pentium processor (remember the days when Pentium was the best thing in the world?). A bit of the case has broken off and been taped back together, but that's a very minor issue (it even looks mostly fine). It is also quite bulky, but with that comes a decent 16-inch (or so) screen.
I'm using a computer that's about a year and a half old. Its got better stats, with Win7, 4 GB of RAM, 320 GB hard drive space, and some other (probably somewhat newer?) Intel Pentium processor (how many cores, I don't remember/know). I don't know about my dad's computer, but mine has Intel integrated graphics (i.e., as I understand it, no real graphics card).
I'm heading back to school in the fall. My parents recommend I get a new laptop. My dad's computer is slow, and he would really like a new one. And here's where the disputes start.
First, I'm interested in getting an external hard drive. My parents are less interested.
I have a lot of stuff on this computer. (It's got about 27 gigs of free space left, out of 320.) I haven't backed up my stuff in a while, and I'd like to, but the external hard drive (I'll abbreviate this as xHD) we have is only 160 GB in size, and I've used most of it for miscellaneous things. I could probably back up just a few important things, but...well, for starters, my dad's 160 GB drive is already mostly full, and that needs backing up too. Not to mention that I won't be living with my parents when I'm in school, so it would be nice for each of us to have our own backup drive. In short, I've decided that we should get an external hard drive, regardless of whether we get a new computer, for the purpose of backup and extra storage space (and I'd prefer not to simply use an older computer's HD as backup storage), but my parents aren't sold on the idea. So I've been wanting to get a decently-sized backup drive. Now I've been kicking myself the entire afternoon for not buying a $70 1 TB external hard drive a week or two ago at Best Buy when it was right there sitting on the shelf. But right now it seems the cheapest thing with at least 1 TB is a $90 1 TB portable xHD (by "portable" I mean "doesn't need external power supply, and is kinda small in size"), and it might even have USB 3.0. The best deal is probably a 3 TB desktop xHD (by "desktop" I mean "needs external power supply and is somewhat bulkier") for $150. I can order a refurbished 1.5 TB from Best Buy for $90, as well.
(One of the weirdest ideas comes from my mom. She suggested that I buy a bunch of several-gig flash drives, and store different categories of data on them. For example, one flash drive for my master's degree schoolwork, one flash drive for my music, etc.. However, my music folder is nearing 30 gigabytes in size, and I'd like to keep it all in one piece. There's also the fact that certain sets of data would be...quite inconvenient if in chunks of smaller than about 5 or 8 GB apiece, though unfortunately for me I can't exactly mention those to my parents. Furthermore, flash drives are far more expensive per unit storage space than xHDs are--on the order of 1GB/$, while you can easily get 10GB/$ by buying a 1 TB xHD for $100.
In contrast, my parents think that getting a new computer will be quite adequate for new storage needs, and for them, the more important thing is to get a new computer--both because the newer components can be expected to last longer (worth of use), and because they can more easily keep up with updates in technology. My parents are concerned about the inconvenience (yes, yes, I know, first world problems) of if my computer were to suddenly stop working when I'm at school, so they'd rather me not bring my current computer with me. (This is despite the fact that I'll be going to school in a place with booming population and far more big-box stores than I'd ever like to see in one place. Yes, I've grown to like small-town charm here.) And they're really interested in getting something that'll last a few years, in terms of not "becoming slow" as web developers and program designers put in all sorts more useless but processor-intensive/RAM-hogging dingalings into their stuff. (Even if the Geocities age was ugly, it was at least simpler.)
Heck, my mom even sees the "buy a Win7 PC and get Win8 when it comes out for $14.99" as a good thing (while I see it as a bad thing since it'll be massively inconvenient for me to upgrade and then recustomize to my liking, and it'll also be a huge waste of time that I could spend doing other things while almost all applications are going to continue to be compatible with Win7 and people won't yet have developed apps that help change the interface back to a Win7/WinXP/Win98 style interface, which is what I'm used to, and it'll have a lot of new RAM-hogging features that I don't ever care to use).
But more importantly, she feels it's important to get me a computer that's more expensive. As I understand it (tell me if I'm wrong), there are basically four tiers of Intel processors on the market right now--Pentium, which is the oldest and costs about $300-$350 on a laptop; i3, which costs about $375-$500; i5, which costs $450-$700; and i7, which costs about $650 and up; furthermore, there are multiple "generations" to i3, i5, and i7 processors, with 2nd and 3rd gen currently on the market (3rd gen being the newest and costing a bit more). I don't know anything about AMD (the people I asked at Best Buy say that it runs more intensely and hotter and thus offers more performance for cheaper, but I'd rather something that runs cooler) so I don't know about their costs; feel free to acquaint me with them if you see fit. Anyway, my mom's interested in getting me at leaest an i5--and a third-generation i5, preferably. So my parents, especially my mom, are looking at laptops costing about $600 to $900.
While I'm over in the next aisle, looking at laptops costing $300 to $500, and while I'm not particularly happy with the performance of $300 and $350 laptops, I'm also hesitant even at a price tag of $480. (That's the cheapest laptop with an i5 processor at Best Buy, a second gen.) In short, my parents feel that I should get a more expensive, more powerful laptop, while I think that I can make do with a low-end laptop.
Remember my dad wanting a new computer too? Well, my mom's idea is that I'll just give my dad the computer I'm using right now, and get a new one for myself. On the other hand, my original idea was to simply get my dad a reasonably inexpensive laptop (as all he does is e-mail, web surfing such as news reading, and online video sites; this is not his business computer--though he does, occasionally, do business stuff on it, which once involved using a DVD), and then I'll continue using this computer I have now, for school. Sure, it's a half-sucky Pentium, but it runs everything I have good reason to run on it.
Also, I won't have to move all my stuff to a new computer, which will take a while. And customize it from scratch. (I really don't like some of the default settings. I'll need to set up things like the Quick Launch toolbar in Windows and various file associations and freeware program installations.)
(And if my dad gets the newest laptop in the family, that'll help me dodge the expectation/pressure that "you've got the best stuff and now you should do the best academically/professionally". You know, that sort of thing that might randomly come from your parents' mouths when they're scolding you.)
Note that the only completely-firm requirement is that both our computers have DVD drives. My current one does, and most laptops at the store that aren't netbooks do too, so that's easy. As for screen size, my parents (especially my mom) think bigger is better (and my mom has even suggested I get two laptops, one 17-inch one for home use and one netbook to take with me to school), but I think that a 15-inch screen is a healthy compromise between comfort and portability.
I'm well aware that my computing consists largely of relatively basic functions, such as web browsing and office productivity. I rarely do image editing (and when I do, I'm not even that great at it), I flat out don't even know how to do major video editing work, and I don't expect my major field of study to involve much heavy computational activities. The only activity that I do that would "require" (for certain definitions of "require") a more powerful computer would be gaming--I even have a couple Steam games I can't even run on my current machine, though I'm in no hurry to play them, and having an inadequately powerful computer for top-of-the-line games does help in preventing me from wasting more time and money than I already do on gaming. (It also indirectly also helps me maintain my retro cred, if that's really a thing. It might be, because I feel oddly satisfied sometimes from showing off my lack of knowledge of triple-A titles. Whatever.) Not to mention that gaming isn't exactly something I can mention to my parents openly, if you know what I mean.
On the other hand, if I really were to look at somewhat-higher-end laptops, my main interests would be features other than processing power. Having a non-glossy display would be nice for working outdoors, for example. Having a nice big hard drive would of course be nice, as would USB 3.0 (especially if I get an xHD with that). I might even be interested in solid-state drives, but those are just too damn expensive.
Now, then, here are the ideas we're looking at:
1. buy a laptop for dad, and an external hard drive for me. the cheapest option. also likely to have the least lasting power as I might need to get a new computer a year or two down the road, by the time this one starts breaking down on me for whatever random reason. also lets me be lazy in not having to "colonize" a new computer. my parents really don't like this idea.
2. buy a laptop for me and an external hard drive for me. right now, I'm kinda leaning toward this, as I might be able to pick up the $480 2nd-gen i5 ASUS machine and a $150 xHD and note that the cost is still less than getting a $700 machine that just has more RAM and miscellaneous features such as a backlit keyboard. though the cost argument is less viable when my parents are already well aware of the costs but still think that it's worth it for me to get a pricier computer.
3. buy only a laptop for me. this is more likely to happen if my parents decide to get a higher-end laptop, like in the $600 to $800 price range.
So, IJBM, what do?
...and when you come up with what do...can you suggest any good laptop deals for i3 or i5 machines? Or 1 TB and up external hard drives?
The irony is not lost on me that I'm the one arguing for a cheaper/dingier/thriftier solution while my parents are trying to convince me to let them spend more money on me. Yes, I know it sounds counterintuitive.
Fun fact: I used to call hard drive space "memory". I stopped when I got fed up trying to deal with the ramifications of people confusing it with RAM. (No pun intended there.) But I still find it easier to say "memory" than "hard drive space". No, I will not say that something has "320 gigabytes of hard drive", because that's grammatically incorrect. It would be "a 320-gigabyte hard drive" or "320 gigabytes of hard drive space".
Comments
Honestly, the first option seems best to me, but what's stopping you from buying your own external hard drive? That said, having multiple flash drives for different things is just asking for trouble.
A couple things what laptop do you have right now and what do you want to do with the laptop. This is important.
what do I have right now:
It currently runs fine, apart from two minor issues, one mostly cosmetic to the case (one of the rubber pads supporting the closed lid came off and I have it taped back on, and this is partly my fault for cleaning it badly), and the other occasional though rectifiable (the touchpad pad sometimes stops working due to what I believe is a bug in its driver with how it handles pad edge scrolling; the way to get out of this is to scroll until it works again, or to use the keyboard or to use an external mouse).
what do i want to do with it:
Note this could change. I could be assigned video editing duties to create a video presentation on something. That and image editing are probably the most likely of the various possibilities--I'm not a moviemaker, but since I'm getting into the field of policy and politics, where a lot of professionals aren't particularly computer-savvy, people might be looking to me to computer stuff.
This happened to one of my friends. He works at a congressman's office, and they needed some basic photo editing work (crop a guy out of a photo), and he, despite being the most computer-savvy guy in the office, didn't know how to do that. I introduced him to GIMP, and cropped the guy out...and I don't even know how to replace it with appropriate background, or something, so I just sent the photo with a large white space (I guess I could have left it alpha instead...) back to him. He said that was more than enough; I have no idea what he was doing.
The fact that it's not an insignificant drive to get to a store (I'd rather save on gas money if at all possible), and the fact that my parents aren't particularly friendly to the idea. (It's not just a several-dollar purchase like picking up a used GBA game at Gamestop or something.)
I was hoping more for a model number or a cpu model, so you don't get a downgrade in terms of cpu speed.
Either way almost any modern cpu would be able to do image editing and video editing. For gaming you really want an A series Amd cpu, a third gen i7 or i5 with HD 4000 graphics, or almost any cpu model paired with a nvidia 630m and above or and amd 6550m and above.
A few laptops to look at.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215417
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/lenovo-thinkpad-edge-e520-1143-afu-notebook-pc-intel-core-i5-2430m/1106807933
FWIW, I have never seen Best Buy not charge significantly more for a product than Amazon does. That would also solve the problem of driving to the store.
I checked Amazon and found that 1 TB drives have prices that are approximately on par with Best Buy's, actually. Roughly $90 and up. Maybe one that's $85, but for $5 more I can get a USB 3.0 portable xHD.
These are Amazon's own prices, not other sellers' prices, which are often comparable or more unless used.
@delta534: If I'm getting a better computer only for gaming, then I'd rather get a cheaper computer.
I think a key question in this dispute is do I need a better computer for purposes other than gaming.
Not really. At this point in time, the i7 and the higher end models of the i5 are overkill for most people. Word, Firefox, Excel, Paint, Winamp, Whatever, have all really hit the point of diminishing returns for cpu power.
Hmm.
So should I be set, even for video and image editing, with a second-gen i5 machine?
The one I'm looking at that's the $480 i5 one is one of these:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+15.6"+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+IMR+Matte+Dark+Brown+Suit/5218417.p?id=1218627598975&skuId=5218417
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+15.6"+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+IMR+Matte+Dark+Brown+Suit/5218296.p?id=1218627598834&skuId=5218296
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+15.6"+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+IMR+Matte+Dark+Brown+Suit/5218223.p?id=1218626372515&skuId=5218223
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+15.6"+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Matte+Dark+Brown+Suit/5036973.p?id=1218608970710&skuId=5036973
Most likely the last one, since that one specifically says "2nd gen", though...how would I tell?
And how does that computer look?
You should be fine.
You can tell by that the part after i5- is 4 digits and starts with a 2.
All four of them have an i5 processor whose four-digit (model?) number starts with a 2, and is the same number, even. I wonder if it's just a multiple listing of the same item.
Going through Best Buy's offerings online (I have yet to check Newegg or other sites), it seems the cheapest thing with an i5 is going for $450...but that's a Gateway.
In other news...should I consider refurbished computers, and if I do, how should I go about doing that?
Also, @delta534: Dell Inspiron N5030, Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4500 @ 2.30GHz, Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family, Realtek High Definition Audio
Also, I oopsied earlier. I only have 3 GB of RAM.
As far as I an tell they are different models of the same line. Either way it would be a major upgrade. Newegg does not have anything cheaper and I would not consider refurbished computers.
It says "UMA graphics" there...is that a brand of graphics card? Or justYahoo Answers says "unified memory architecture", or basically an integrated graphic processor.
According to the Intel page for the CPU it has a HD 3000 which is integrated but should be able to play most indie games, barring driver issues.