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I've decided I need a new computer. Not soon, but within this and the next year or so. Basically, anything I save beyond the € 2,000 for my New Year's Resolution is going to go towards a new computer. That'll give me roughly € 1,600 - € 2,600, plus whatever I can get for my old computer.
So I'm now browsing through sites and stuff, trying to gauge what the requirements would be for something like Everquest, because apparently I'm looking to become a gamer. *facepalm*
Right now, I'm looking at about € 2,200 including taxes, if I get a nice Dell, with a 15" flatscreen monitor, a (small) digicam and a combination printer/fax/scanner, actual legal software, a 2.8 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM, a surge protector (always a good thing, or so I learned after my TV got lightninged to death), actual guarantee, and a 120 GB Hard Disk, all wrapped up in one fo those nice, sleek, black Dell cases. I'm thinking that'd be a pretty good deal. And a lot of motivation to save a lot of money. :D
And I'm sure all of the above was of no interest to any of you. Sorry?
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*watches computer-talk floating way above her head*
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Make sure you have a nice decent video card for gaming. ;-) Most new computers have a shitty video card and you'd have to buy a new one to play games decently (even gaming computers have shitty cards). My video card is *old* and I can't play the latest games *sniff*. The latest non-professional- supposedly good one - costs 250 euro.
*must get job*
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My dad said the ones they often have on sale at Aldi are pretty good, so I'm thinking of getting that one, but I'm not sure if the video card would be sufficient for gaming. (He says yes, since their primary target with those computers are gamers, but.)
Advice?
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The computers for gamers usually have lousy video cards. It's only the speed and storage capacity that is good in gamers computers. My brother recommended I buy a gamer computer (speed! storage! Gb!), but he warned me that I would still need to buy a new video card, so the actual price of a new computer would be higher.
It's also difficult to find a reliable video card. Some are the newest of the newest, but they let other programs crash or their performance isn't very good. My brother (he's the video card nerd) usually checks forums to see if there are problems with new cards. He constantly complains his card isn't good (it's a bit slow sometimes, but it can play *all* the new games - which mine can't)
This saturday - with a bit of luck - I'll be buying an 'Asus Radeon 9600XT. Certified DirectX 9.0 compatibel and I suspect this baby will hold out at least another 6 years before I have to buy another one. (it's also something with input and output that I didn't quite understand, but my brother is dead-jealous so I figure it's something very neat)
Installing video cards -> tricky. My brother doesn't want to be held responsible for broken cards if he doesn't align the card properly. Scary, ain't it? I'll wring his little neck if he screws it up...
So far, I've gone through three video cards, new mother board, new sound card, two netwerk cards and none of those have gone kaput while placing them. I've placed my 'voeding' myself and I've put in a network card myself (although my brother still needs to tell me exactly where I have to place it).
I don't know if those from the Aldi are any good. Does it come with garantee for a year? Otherwise, I'd go for it. Aldi computer are usually cheaper and you can use the money you've saved into buying a new video card if it's necessary (I don't know which games you intend to play). But I'd try out the new computer before buying a new card; maybe it's totally unnessary to buy one at all. My card is totally outdated and I can still play 95% of the games I have.
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Hee! According to my IT-person coworker, the Aldi ones have Radeon video cards in them, and with the money I'd save on the computer itself I could afford a decent video card.
Apparently, the Aldi ones are really good, and their tech support and guarantee is really good as well. The tricky part will be getting one before they're sold out. I may have to recruit my parents and/or grandmother to get one.
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*nods* Aldi sells out pretty fast, especially in the cities. At my place, it's usually not so bad. I bought a CD-writer in the Aldi 5 days after the sale began. I recruited my father. :-) There were still heaps of CD-writers available. Maybe you'll have more luck going to an Aldi on the outskirts of Antwerp.
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But for now, my nerdiness is satisfied by the fact that I just ordered an Alphasmart. *does a dance*
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Who would you play in EQ?
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But yeah, I saved years for a decent car (going to the 'autosalon' next week to make up my mind 'finally') and next should be a portable computer. I'm hoping to get one for nano, presumably mostly off my vacation fee. But I may have to skip a year or even more... The car will require a loan so whatever I had to save now, will be gone after that.
Lightning killed my USB hub and portable phone base station in my bedroom. The PC's survived but then they are behind a surge protector too.
By that time I'm sure my TV will be retiring...
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It's on the bottom of http://art.skorinai.be
A friend of mine used to burn her website on CD every few months (hint: My neighbor just told me Macro is selling 99€ DVD-writers ;-)
But then, I wrote several years worth of code, and I don't think there is that many of it left.
Well, there aren't that many PC's left that are capable of running what I wrote 10 years ago either.
I'm sorry that I threw away all of my old school stuff after finishing school. There was a lot of teacher slash hidden in various text books, covers and corners of pages. I had no clue there was actually a market for that kind of stuff. But maybe I should make it a nano project some year. Those teachers were a hell of a good cast.
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I had to go on a treasure hunt through the whole house to find the Mario 2 cartridge for the Game Boy. Because I'm not a gamer, but I could go for some Mario 2.
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