Hi,
I’d like to get some thoughts on where you would go, what website or company, if you wanted to shop for a new computer, Windows based, a large (2TB or larger) completely solid state drive (no HDD), lots of memory, etc.
How to shop for such a beast?!
Thanks,
Rick
Is it silly for me to buy a so-called “gaming” computer if I don’t do gaming? I do want something that will not compromise on speed and storage.
But I don’t know how to read computer specs. Like this one:
Looks good. 2GB SSD drive, 32GB RAM, etc.
But I have no idea about the graphic or processor stuff to be able to make an intelligent choice.
Shopping for something where there are so many choices is hard enough, but when you know so little about the item, it makes it crazy difficult. Maybe I should hire someone to shop for a computer for me!
Those specs look great for a gaming PC, but I’d think no one but dedicated gamers and other “power user” types need those high-end specs. What are your use cases? Also, I don’t know about the reliability of, or ease of getting support for the CyberPowerPC brand, though pretty much all Windows PC brands are several pegs below Apple computers.
Yeah, I suppose I should stick with name brands like HP? What other brands would you suggest? Dell? I don’t do gaming but I want something that will not start driving me crazy with lack of storage space, memory, or speed. So 2TB SSD or bigger, 32GB memory or more, etc.
I have quite a few tabs on my computer open at a time at all times, and have a number of apps open at the same time: Quickbooks, Quicken, MS Access, Word, Excel, and so forth. I just don’t want to skimp.
I’ve never used an Apple computer and don’t want to start. Quickbooks and Quicken don’t have Apple apps anyway. And I have no interest in learning something new. Also, my father had Apple for many years and constantly had trouble with them! A lot more trouble than I’ve ever had with PC’s. Of course that could have been him!
Also, with Windows 10 so many issues of the past have disappeared. For me, Windows 10 is great compared to all previous versions.
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Wow, this one looks great for the price! But it’s out of stock. Maybe I can find it elsewhere.
This is a great site for buying one of their custom computers that meet your specifications or designing your own computer by picking everything out and they put it together for you. Also, you control the price. Todays computers don’t need as much as the old ones. We don’t use flash drives or DVD drives for anything. If you want one you can just buy a separate one and plug it into the USB port. WIFI is built into these mobos today as is bluetooth. The one thing to pay attention to is if you use more than one monitor. You would need a special video card that supports 2 monitors yada yada. Otherwise you can get your SSD, tons of RAM etc that you want and avoid the extra things that we no longer use…doc
Top gaming PC & laptop savings. PC parts, & more! | Newegg.com
Hope this helps…doc
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Those specs are great for that price alright! And at least HP is a well-known brand. You could probably find it elsewhere, though maybe not for that good a price. HP.com has it for $2400 with only 16 GB RAM and an older processor. Perhaps the one from BestBuy was an “open box” or something. OMEN 45L Gaming Desktop, Windows 11 Home, Intel® Core™ i7, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3080
[ EDIT: I’ve decide this is a listing error. I think someone left off a leading “2” in the price, which is probably more like $2879! It’s also strange that there are no user reviews, yet it’s “sold out”. I configured the same specs at HP.com and the price ends up being $3099. See https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/ConfigureView?ctoCacheInvalidationCnt=0.4307094049360306&catalogId=10051&orderItemId=201154462&configCatentryId=&fromURL=AjaxOrderItemDisplayView&contractId=10003&langId=-1&storeId=10151&catEntryId=3074457345620713827 ]
I took the simple way out the last time I upgraded. I went to Costco and bought the biggest, fastest LG laptop they had. That ran about $1800 at the time, it is NOT a gaming machine. But they don’t have any 2TB offerings. Mine has a 1TB SSD internally, about 40% of which is used. An external 2TB Sandisk SSA is connected Just In Case.
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I can’t remember if its Costco or Sams, but one of them has a 1 terabyte Sandisk for $89 FYI. Thats a great storage device at that price…doc
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Probably both of them. Currently $85 at Costco.
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If your SSD drive where you store all your apps and data is an external drive, wouldn’t that slow things down simply due to the USB or whatever connection and cord?
I don’t use external drives for any applications, nor for active data. Archival data - I never throw anything out - yes, but not anything I use. My music library is probably going there soon. Right now it is on my retired PC, which is powered down. I don’t actually need the library, since I subscribe to Tidal where it is all available, but looking through the copies of my CD collection is simpler than going through Tidal, which is… rather more extensive. 
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The newest usb which is 3.2 has data transfer speeds of 20gbps and is backwards compatible. USB 4.0 (coming out) has data transfer rates of 40gbps! Using the SSD for the OS and having a USB connected hard drive for storing pics, documents, and movies is a pretty good option. It can also just be for backup. With the USB dongles, one could have 4 of these Sandisk hard drives for back up with that price.
edit: another thought -You could take the old hard drive from your old computer and put it on the new one which would allow you to transfer all the music files to the new hard drive. Then you could reformat that old drive and use if for backup too…doc
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Excellent point about the latest USB speeds. I’m not sure, though, if something like my Sandisk SSD’s USB connection is capable of that.
Except that the old computer is in a tower case, and the new one is a laptop. All I have to do to copy my music files is power up the old computer, which is sitting a few feet away and completely set up. The music files are (when that computer is powered up) shared on my network so that my BlueOS-controlled stereo system can play them.
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They make these hard drive docks that plug into a USB on your laptop if you want that option. The hard drive plugs into the dock usually through a slot. I bought one years ago to recover data from an old hard drive…doc
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