Any computer geeks in here?

[twism]

Okay first of all thank you all for your responses. Second I would like to add here because I forgot earlier that I do have a desktop Dell computer that I use most of the time when I'm home. I want and need a laptop because I travel a lot and I would like to have a computer to carry with me that is smaller, lighter and faster than my 17" super heavy and 5 yrs old Dell laptop. I use my laptop mostly for browsing and watching HD videos, and I want it to be fast because I tend to open lots of windows and things at the same time. I really like the design of the Mac a lot and I like their touch pad. I have never seen the Sony in person but tomorrow I'm gonna go to best buy and see if they have it there so I can check it out.

One thing that is important for me is that I would be able to connect the laptop to my home network and be able to share stuff between the computers at home. I'm not sure if I will be able to do this with Windows and OSX, can anyone answer that?

BTW I just saw the post above mine after I posted my reply. There's a lot of good advices there, thank you!

[HarryPotter]

Mac is overpriced end of story, there's no other way around it. You can get a Pc with twice the specs if you want something that's equal in price to a mac.

To say specs do not matter is down right malarkey. Dual core vs quad, HUGE difference, a dedicated graphics card is a major plus, ram is also important, you'll want at least 4 gigs nowadays, lets not forget the HD, a SSD is a huge improvement over a standard and especially one at 5400...

If you plan on watching HD vids and browsing I'd go with a windows. But I would go with windows for anything. Mac is overpriced glamor gear for hipster college kids...

I also scoff at anyone buying alienwares, or any prebuilt gaming PC. Save yourself about 1k and build one yourself. Or still spend that extra 1k and build a MONSTER machine that can transport you through time itself.

[dirk619]

Maybe someone has any bright ideas on this problem.

Specs 1st.
Asrock x58 extreme 3
Nividia 460
Intel i7 920
OCZ 6gb tri channel memory
850w power supply
500gb 72000rpm hd

So it all started off as I bought the computer from a friend, he told me the board reads 4/6gb of the ram due to a bad ram slot. So I ended up buying a new board (MSI x58 ) and installed it and reformatted my hard drive. Tested the ram again and read 4/6 again and tested all the sticks and found out it was a bad ram stick, So I decided to return the board and I ended up putting my old board back on and turned it on. Fans go on, hard drive spins, optical drive is spinning as well, motherboard is on as well with the on board led going off, but no picture on my screen, tried resetting my cmos by pressing the button and taking the battery out and putting it back in, still no picture. Any bright ideas before I throw my comp out the window.

[Cronopoulos]

I <3 Linux...

[TurboJake]

I'mma just leave this here.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=211423&highlight=uptime

Oh, and yeah. Here's the update to that one.... Windows is very stable... 300 days and counting. The very computer I am on. Didn't realize it's been that long.. Damn.

[ethrtyiS]

Maybe someone has any bright ideas on this problem.

Specs 1st.
Asrock x58 extreme 3
Nividia 460
Intel i7 920
OCZ 6gb tri channel memory
850w power supply
500gb 72000rpm hd

So it all started off as I bought the computer from a friend, he told me the board reads 4/6gb of the ram due to a bad ram slot. So I ended up buying a new board (MSI x58 ) and installed it and reformatted my hard drive. Tested the ram again and read 4/6 again and tested all the sticks and found out it was a bad ram stick, So I decided to return the board and I ended up putting my old board back on and turned it on. Fans go on, hard drive spins, optical drive is spinning as well, motherboard is on as well with the on board led going off, but no picture on my screen, tried resetting my cmos by pressing the button and taking the battery out and putting it back in, still no picture. Any bright ideas before I throw my comp out the window.

did you reinstall windows again after swapping boards? when you install windows on a certain board, it will create certain files that were specifically compatible with that board.

[accident]

did you reinstall windows again after swapping boards? when you install windows on a certain board, it will create certain files that were specifically compatible with that board.

facepalm. The computer isn't starting at all. :P

Make sure your video card is seated properly. Take it out and put it back in. Make sure all of the power wires are connected properly, make sure your motherboard is not grounding out on the chassis of the case. If all else fails it's possible you failed to properly handle the motherboard during swaps and managed to fuck it up.

[TexasTerp]

Okay first of all thank you all for your responses. Second I would like to add here because I forgot earlier that I do have a desktop Dell computer that I use most of the time when I'm home. I want and need a laptop because I travel a lot and I would like to have a computer to carry with me that is smaller, lighter and faster than my 17" super heavy and 5 yrs old Dell laptop. I use my laptop mostly for browsing and watching HD videos, and I want it to be fast because I tend to open lots of windows and things at the same time. I really like the design of the Mac a lot and I like their touch pad. I have never seen the Sony in person but tomorrow I'm gonna go to best buy and see if they have it there so I can check it out.

One thing that is important for me is that I would be able to connect the laptop to my home network and be able to share stuff between the computers at home. I'm not sure if I will be able to do this with Windows and OSX, can anyone answer that?

BTW I just saw the post above mine after I posted my reply. There's a lot of good advices there, thank you!

Get the Sony Vaio, Mac doesn't currently support Bluray, if you like HD video then you only have one choice. The Sony will be able to handle anything you throw at it, especially since you aren't going to be running any crazy powered apps like Adobe CS5.

You can set up your desktop computer to act as a home server which will allow you to share files and stream videos across your network. This can be done with both Windows XP and 7 (and Vista but I like to forget Microsoft ever made that OS).

[ethrtyiS]

facepalm. The computer isn't starting at all. :P

Make sure your video card is seated properly. Take it out and put it back in. Make sure all of the power wires are connected properly, make sure your motherboard is not grounding out on the chassis of the case. If all else fails it's possible you failed to properly handle the motherboard during swaps and managed to fuck it up.

ah, i read it wrong, thought he was still getting into bios. that's what happens when you've drank too much and half asleep. do what greg said, re-seat the graphics card. if that doesn't work then you probably failed to ground yourself while handling the parts resulting in you having fried something.

[Julien]

I'm converted from windoze to osx when it first came out, maybe 9 years ago? Every time I go back to use a PC (mainly fix a family member's or whatever) I think to myself why do they put up with this shit? The OSx operating system is so easy and simple to use I would never go back.

About specs:
A Nissan Maxima v6 beats and e30 out in EVERY spec.

What I always tell people to do is go to a store that has both (best buy) and play with either machine and see what you like the best. A laptop is a personable thing and you should really enjoy owning it (I usually stay away from massive screens, thick/heavy/bulky laptops or anything with poor battery life)

[FunfGan]

About specs:
A Nissan Maxima v6 beats and e30 out in EVERY spec.

Glad somebody pointed this out. Was going to, became hungry and got distracted

And about speed, I have had multiple safari windows open, over 10 word documents open, a few games open, iPhoto, iTunes and a cad program open and had no problems. Most of my friends new pc's slow down after half that. but again, comes down to preference. I think windows is the shittiest piece of software ever created, other people love it.

[HarryPotter]

a few games open huh? lol at games on a mac. Browser games and solitaire don't count.

[ethrtyiS]

why pc? because service packs don't cost $200, there is a hundreds of thousands of games, no price premium for flashy design, option of customizing and building your own system with any price budget, sensible support costs.

why pay more for a fruit?

[FunfGan]

a few games open huh? lol at games on a mac. Browser games and solitaire don't count.

What about grand theft auto and Boarderlands complete with all downloadable content? Right, I suppose GOTY isn't a real game. But whatever, I'll never ever use a pc again. Even the keyboards suck. Again, its your decision, not mine. I'm providing suggestions and help, not trying to sell him something.

[ethrtyiS]

What about grand theft auto and Boarderlands complete with all downloadable content? Right, I suppose GOTY isn't a real game. But whatever, I'll never ever use a pc again. Even the keyboards suck. Again, its your decision, not mine. I'm providing suggestions and help, not trying to sell him something.

how do the keyboards suck? all keyboards are the same. the layouts are nearly just the same. the keys that are different basically perform the same operations as the windows keys but are called something different.