comp upkeep - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Washington · 06-21-2003, 12:21 PM

I got a DELL Inspiron 8200 that I bought about a year ago. Its specs are:

Intel Pentium 4 Mobile CPU 1.6GHz
384 MB of RAM
Microsoft XP Home (I know, should have gotten PRO)
Toshiba 40gig HardDrive
NIVIDIA GeForce4 440 GO video card
Samsung CDRW/DVD drive
Internal 56k Modem
2 USB 2.0 Ports
1394 FireWire Port
Network Cable hole thingy
Infared Port
The best Sound Card I could get on it at the time (dont know how to look for its name)

I want your advice on two things:

1} I am spending about 2400 dollars on a nice Digital SLR Nikon Camera. I want to be able to use a powerfull editing software. What do I need to change/upgrade to be able to do this better?

2} I havnt done any matainence on this since I bought it. It seems to be running slower than it did when I first got it. My friends who are computer people talk about defragmenting/disk cleanup/uninstalling some programs that I never use.... What can I do to make it run like it used to?

3} I orginally bought this laptop because I was planning on majoring in Computer Science. I have since switched to physics (and will be done in about a year. Yay!). I dont need a laptop anymore, would it be smarter to sell this and get a tower instead? How much you think its worth? My father is an IT professional and would be able to help me build a Tower...

Thanks!

HeyAgain · 06-21-2003, 11:19 PM

1. (a) Get an apple computer to work on your powerful editing software.
1. (b) If you can't do that, upgrade your RAM, and hard drive.

2. (a) Best thing to do is burn the important stuff (want to keep) and reformat your hard drive and reinstall what you really need. A fresh start so to speak. I recently did it, and the computer runs way faster than before.
2. (b) If you don't want to do that, just follow what your buddies have stated, delete the files you don't need or use, uninstall programs that you no longer use, and run the "Disk Defragmenter" from your Accessories folder. The Disk Degramenter will run quite a while, a couple of hours.

3. Couldn't you get your dad to buy an Apple (make it a family computer) to do all your graphics projects at home while you can be using the Laptop at places outside of the home. Or vice versa, keep the Laptop as the family computer and get a new machine for yourself, whether it is an Apple or PC computer.

By the way, that is a SWEET computer that you have there.

Washington · 06-22-2003, 08:35 AM

I have never used an apple computer. In addition to the reasearch that I will be doing, are there any things I should be aware of or watch out for when choosing an Apple? I know the chip arch is different...

Thanks for the compliments...sad thing is that I only use it for word and netscape :{...dont have the time to play the games that I thought I would when I bought it....

06-21-2003, 12:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
Washington Insane Location: somewhere cool	comp upkeep I got a DELL Inspiron 8200 that I bought about a year ago. Its specs are: Intel Pentium 4 Mobile CPU 1.6GHz 384 MB of RAM Microsoft XP Home (I know, should have gotten PRO) Toshiba 40gig HardDrive NIVIDIA GeForce4 440 GO video card Samsung CDRW/DVD drive Internal 56k Modem 2 USB 2.0 Ports 1394 FireWire Port Network Cable hole thingy Infared Port The best Sound Card I could get on it at the time (dont know how to look for its name) I want your advice on two things: 1} I am spending about 2400 dollars on a nice Digital SLR Nikon Camera. I want to be able to use a powerfull editing software. What do I need to change/upgrade to be able to do this better? 2} I havnt done any matainence on this since I bought it. It seems to be running slower than it did when I first got it. My friends who are computer people talk about defragmenting/disk cleanup/uninstalling some programs that I never use.... What can I do to make it run like it used to? 3} I orginally bought this laptop because I was planning on majoring in Computer Science. I have since switched to physics (and will be done in about a year. Yay!). I dont need a laptop anymore, would it be smarter to sell this and get a tower instead? How much you think its worth? My father is an IT professional and would be able to help me build a Tower... Thanks! __________________ there is no absolute, only the moment.

06-22-2003, 08:35 AM	#3 (permalink)
Washington Insane Location: somewhere cool	I have never used an apple computer. In addition to the reasearch that I will be doing, are there any things I should be aware of or watch out for when choosing an Apple? I know the chip arch is different... Thanks for the compliments...sad thing is that I only use it for word and netscape :{...dont have the time to play the games that I thought I would when I bought it.... __________________ there is no absolute, only the moment.

06-21-2003, 11:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
HeyAgain Psycho	1. (a) Get an apple computer to work on your powerful editing software. 1. (b) If you can't do that, upgrade your RAM, and hard drive. 2. (a) Best thing to do is burn the important stuff (want to keep) and reformat your hard drive and reinstall what you really need. A fresh start so to speak. I recently did it, and the computer runs way faster than before. 2. (b) If you don't want to do that, just follow what your buddies have stated, delete the files you don't need or use, uninstall programs that you no longer use, and run the "Disk Defragmenter" from your Accessories folder. The Disk Degramenter will run quite a while, a couple of hours. 3. Couldn't you get your dad to buy an Apple (make it a family computer) to do all your graphics projects at home while you can be using the Laptop at places outside of the home. Or vice versa, keep the Laptop as the family computer and get a new machine for yourself, whether it is an Apple or PC computer. By the way, that is a SWEET computer that you have there.