Computer Problems and\or Advice 2008 to 2011

[ranunculus]

David - save your pennies & buy a Mac. I think I've said this before!

I can only echo Gerry, David (and you will hear it from others)!

[mark smyth]

According to an online speed test my download is just under 8 mbps and upload is just under 1 mbps

Sky have been very good with me. Their router was acting up so the sent a new one next day. More recently I spent almost an hour on the phone - free - because my desk top couldnt recognise the router. Sorted

[JohnLonsdale]

Not from me

Windows and MacOS have their die-hard followers and neither is right or wrong or better.  I love my Windows 7.

David, your ADSL comes down your copper telephone wire and the maximum speed is determined by the distance from the central office.  Unless you have access to fiber or cable then that is what you are stuck with.  5MPS is respectable for download but not if you are getting a tenth of that.  They either marketed rather enthusiastically or you have a problem.  Here I have 30MPS down and up over fiber optic and that is the minimum speed I get constantly.  Didn't they dig up the streets of Britain a few years ago and lay fiber everywhere - before repaving with gold?  On your existing computer your CPU won't be limiting but your 440KB isn't RAM - that comes in multiples of 256MB.  Adding lots more RAM to an older machine is by far the most cost effective way of dramatically increasing performance, if you have the capacity.  I have 12GB - and I don't live in Texas.  I would expect your ISP to give you a free wireless router - make sure it has the 802.11n standard - it is faster and has better range than predecessors and is backwards compatible with g/b/a.  A new laptop should be wireless-ready with a built-in 802.11n chip.  You'll always get less bang for your buck with a laptop because every component has to be smaller and lighter - so be sure you really need the portability.  

John

[JohnLonsdale]

According to an online speed test my download is just under 8 mbps and upload is just under 1 mbps

Sky have been very good with me. Their router was acting up so the sent a new one next day. More recently I spent almost an hour on the phone - free - because my desk top couldnt recognise the router. Sorted

Why is that very good?  Their router broke so they gave you a new one.  Isn't that what you pay for?

[alpines]

Windows or Mac?......this argument will go on forever.
I used Windows since the days of 3.1 up to the Millenium edition. Having had 3 major crashes and umpteen minor crashes, I decided 7 years ago to go with Mac. Would I ever buy another Windows PC? Absolutely not.
Are Macs virus free? Absolutely not......but they are a lot less likely to be infected than a PC.
Is there far more software available for Windows than Mac? Unquestionably.........but why does anyone need that much software. All the 'required' software is usually available for both platforms anyway.
They are a lot like cars. Do you want bells and whistles or reliability? From my experience, Mac's operating system is far more reliable than Windows.
You pay your money, you take your choice.

[Pascal B]

I agree with John, adding more memory to the computer is far better in this case than getting a new one. Older types of memory are dead cheap and increase the performance tremendously. Unless David really wants to be more flexible in where he can go on the internet and really wants a laptop.

Wireless however in densely populated areas also has its disadvantages if many neighbors use the same router model or the cheaper stuff provided by ISP's as most pick the same default channel to work on. This give interference and restricts the range in which the router works so try to be "different"  to your neighbours or ask the technician to manually configure the router to use a less used channel. Tools like Network Stumbler can scan the neighbourhood to see what channels are most used by the neighbors.

As for ADSL speed, the speeds ISP advertise with are theoretical speeds, they are not assured speeds and are rarely if ever met. Cable gets closer to the promised speeds, also because it does not have to cope with the distance problem John talks about. But lets face it, the limiting factor on the internet generally is not the download speed at the end-users side but the upload speed of the website you are visiting.

@David, the OS of Apple is basically based on Linux. It is the most user friendly distribution I know but Windows 7 is just as stable, I work with both but do not think one is better than the other. All other Linux distributions in my view are still more aimed at the tweaker, not the day2day user. Trying to get good drivers is often a problem as well as manually configuring things.

[Pascal B]

Windows or Mac?......this argument will go on forever.
I used Windows since the days of 3.1 up to the Millenium edition. Having had 3 major crashes and umpteen minor crashes, I decided 7 years ago to go with Mac. Would I ever buy another Windows PC? Absolutely not.
Are Macs virus free? Absolutely not......but they are a lot less likely to be infected than a PC.
Is there far more software available for Windows than Mac? Unquestionably.........but why does anyone need that much software. All the 'required' software is usually available for both platforms anyway.
They are a lot like cars. Do you want bells and whistles or reliability? From my experience, Mac's operating system is far more reliable than Windows.
You pay your money, you take your choice.

Alan, you are comparing an old Windows version with Mac OS-X. Only if you would compare using Windows 7 with using Mac OS-X you would make a correct comparison. But I doubt the conclusion would be the same. Apple and Microsoft both react fast to new viruses and exploits so have learned their lessons and in my experience they are equally stable. Main argument against Max OS-X is the fact it is a single supplier which adds to the cost, often Apple costs too much for what it is offering.

Interesting link for this comparison: http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/snow-leopard-vs-windows-7.aspx

[Gerry Webster]

David, your ADSL comes down your copper telephone wire and the maximum speed is determined by the distance from the central office.

This is not "distance" in the normal sense of the word as BT told me when I complained about the speed I was getting. I live less than 1 mile from the exchange. The speed my next door neighbour gets is an order of magnitude greater than mine.

[David Pilling]

Not from me
On your existing computer your CPU won't be limiting but your 440KB isn't RAM

I have 12GB

I thought the 440K might have been CPU cache memory. Windows comes in two versions 32 and 64 bits - that is another decision to take. 32 bit only lets you address 4GB of memory. I'm not up to date on if 32bit Win can make effective use of more than 4GB - it seems applications at least will be limited.

[JohnLonsdale]

Unless David is considering a second career in x-ray crystallography, 4GB of RAM will be tons for pretty much anything he wants to do.  32 bit Windows nominally has a capacity for 4GB RAM but can actually only address 3.5GB.  That said, I don't know why anyone in this day and age would choose to get a new machine with a 32bit OS.

I guess there are 3 types of speed then - the normal one, the one that makes you stay awake and is illegal, and the BT one.

[David Pilling]

That said, I don't know why anyone in this day and age would choose to get a new machine with a 32bit OS.

Maybe because they have hardware which only has 32 bit drivers available.

32 bit applications will run on 64 bit Windows - but limited to addressing 32 bits worth of memory i.e. 4GB worth, although a lot of 32 bit software is limited to 2GB.

[Maggi Young]

I hope none of you guys are swearing, cos I haven't the faintest idea what language you are using.....

[David Pilling]

The swearing comes later, after David gets his new machine.

[Maggi Young]

The swearing comes later, after David gets his new machine.

That I can well believe.

[David Nicholson]

I'll try to respond later, I need to read all your posts again (and again) there's lots I don't understand.