A bit of tech guidance...

[CabraBuitre]

Hey folks... I posted a similar article over at Peg's site, but I'm interested in a variety of opinions...

I'm in the market for a new compter.  My old one is, well, old.  It runs like it's old.  It looks old.  It's slow and wants to retire to the system that I just surf the web on and play music off of.

It's not bad, as far as old systems go, it's just out of date, and doesn't (and hasn't really ever) run SC4 tremendously well. 

My old system is a Pentium III, 997 MHz, with 256M of RAM.  Just about every time I run SC4, I get the message that my virtual memory has run out... and then it takes FOREVER to do anything on it...

Now, though my job, I get a onetime rebate of 15% of the purchase of a computer through Dell, so I was thinking about going that route, but I haven't looked at computers for about 6 months or so... I'm getting a $1600 tax return for Federal taxes, and I'd like to use maybe half of that, or so, on the new system...

What specs should I be looking for to run SC4 well?  What are, in your opinion, the advantages/disadvantages of desktops/laptops?  Seeing as Vista was just released, should I get it already installed on the new computer, or just have it Vista ready, and run XP?

So many questions... and I'm hoping you kind folks can help me out a bit!

Thanks in advance!!!

[wouanagaine]

Hi Cabrabuitre

Here is my personnal opinion, I'll go for a laptop because I already own a desktop.

Laptop will run slower when unplugged to save batteries
The keyboard on laptop are not my friends but this is just me ( as well as the touchpad, so I highly recommend an USB mouse for SC4 )

Vista ready, run XP, no need to be a tester
As far as SC4 is concerned a 2Gb RAM will be great, This will also be helpfull when you'll install Vista

The actual GPU cards are all good for SC4, so it really does not make a difference

[jeronij]

I would add a quick and reliable SATA HD 

[vester]

I have barebone, which I really pleased with. Its a Shuttle XPC. It small.
It have a Pentium 4, 3 GHz, 2 GB of ram,a SATA harddisk and a graphic card with 256 MB Ram.

[callagrafx]

Personally speaking, I'd go for an Intel Duo Core 2GHz or higher with at least 2GB RAM for great gameplay...I actually have an Apple MacBook Pro but have Windows XP SP2 installed (it runs as it would on a Dell) for 3D work and BATting work, and it blows my P4 2.8Ghz out of the water with render speeds and gameplay is actually pretty smooth.  WHichever way you go, a laptop with a big screen is certainly more versatile (many's the time I've been playing games on flights) but are much harder to expand.

[vester]

Well Cal. I have been thinking of upgrading, but I will wait till later. My computer went dead. During this time, I was looking into what I should buy instead, if I wanted to upgrade.
Yet another shuttle. This one can host Quad Core and Dual Core, and up to 8 GB of ram.

[CabraBuitre]

Thanks for the insight guys... I'm going to start looking tomorrow probably, and as I haven't gotten the refund quite yet, I'm going to have a bit of time to "shop around"...

Now that I know what I should be looking for, I'll be able to compare prices and see what I can get for my money!

[CabraBuitre]

Well, I done gone and done it...

I ordered my new computer!  We ended up going to the mall in Appleton, WI and worked with a guy who works for Dell in a kiosk in the mall.  He gave me a price that was $250 better than the best price that I got (even with my job's discount) from the Dell rep I spoke to on the phone two hours earlier. 

We walked up, he showed us exactly what I was looking for and pieced it together exactly as I wanted it.  But, we were being thrifty, so we didn't buy right away... she wanted to go look for some pants for work, so I went and ran to the Best Buy across the street.

The reception I got there was pretty pitiful, to be honest... I was expecting a lot more.  I walked up and stood around glancing at computers for 2-3 mins (I figure this is pretty typical action for a guy...  I mean, you go into best buy, you go see what's out there!)  and finally someone asked me if I needed anything.  I told him I was here to buy a computer, and I wanted to take a look and see if I could get here what I got from Dell at a better price.

They really didn't have any packages set up, and didn't much try to piece things together...  the kid I was working with looked at what I was looking for, and showed me a few things and a few monitors, and I asked him what the price was he could give me for that.  He quoted me an approximate price (even though I asked for exact) and I really stepped back and looked at what I was getting.  I really wasn't getting nearly as much for my money.

I went back to the mall, my wife had decided NOT to buy the $128 pair of pants (I'm so proud of her!) and while she was looking in another store, I went and tried to drive the price down a little bit.

He didn't budge... but it really didn't matter, like I said before, I was sold on it.

I ended up with an Intel Core Duo Processor 2 GB dual channel DDR2 SDRAM  with 250 GB Serial ATA HArd Drive.  It is running Vista (couldn't really get away from that) which is fine... I just hope that everything I want to do will be able to work on Vista still.  It should, I think, as I understand it...

It should probably be here about Friday of next week, and I just happened to have next Friday off (just decided to take the day off... glad I chose the one I did!)