General Hardware and Software
Hey Baron, good to see you.
Computers today come with bigger hard drives and more memory than they did a few years ago.
When you shop for a new system find out what the size of the hard drive is and how much memory it has. If you could write down what the specs are for your current system you can compare those with anything you look at.
I looked on the Sony website and all I saw were laptops. I also went to Office Depot, Best Buy, and Office Max sites. The only one who had Sony listed was Best Buy and those were laptops. Sony may not make desktops now.
You could build your own, but I have a feeling you don't want to tackle that.
One suggestion I have is think about a custom built system.
A custom built system not be as expensive as you think. 2 of my 3 custom builds cost about the same as a mid-price off-the-shelf system. The first one was more expensive because I went from a laptop to a desktop and needed speakers, keyboard, monitor and mouse. I also requested sound and graphic cards.
If you already have speakers, keyboard, monitor, and mouse you'll save money because you don't need those things.
Questions to ask when consulting about your custom build:
Do you have a basic custom build?
Most of them do. Find out what the basic build consists of-OS, hard drive size, how much memory, processor type.
You won't get a sound or graphics card. If you don't want to use on board sound and graphics, you'll pay extra for the cards.
If you want the capability for wireless you will have to request a wireless network card.
Same thing if you want a card reader, that would be extra. (I have dealt with the same shop for almost 10 years. For my last 2 systems from them I got my card reader for free because I am a good customer) Do you still do photo editing? If you do a card reader might come in handy.
What is your warranty? How long is it for, what does it cover?
(mine is 3 years, which covers motherboard, hard drive, fans, and maybe a few other things but I have to take it to the tech every 6 months so they can open the case and clean out the innards)
Will the warranty be voided if you open up the case for anything? They may put a sticker over it and if you open the case, the sticker will break.
Will you get the disk for the motherboard, and an OS disk?
You should get both of them. You will need the OS disk to reinstall Windows. The motherboard disk would be needed for the drivers for graphics and sound if you reinstall Windows.
Once you find out what the basic build is, you can talk about extras and how much they will cost.
If you have a computer tech shop you've dealt with and like, that's the place to start. If not, ask people you know who they use.
There are advantages to a custom build. You don't get the pre-installed junk that clutter an off-the-shelf system. It also may be easier to upgrade in the future.
Whatever you get will have Windows 7. If you are not familiar with it there is a learning curve. Ask us if you have questions about it. You know we will answer and help you.
Good luck with the computer shopping. Let me know what you end up with.
P.S.
I still have this. It's one of my most favorite pictures.
