PC Hard Drive Failure

Are you replacing the computer because it's old and you want a new one, or because the HD crashed? You could just get a new HD.

I just bought one from CompUSA.

http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=349823&CatId=4929

It has Win7 Professional and an old fashion style 9-pin serial port, which is the reason I picked this one.

Boy, good question...

Every Desktop that I have bought since the late 90s was a “custom” job from a local Computer Shop. I just checked my trusty DOS 6.22 desktop (where all the secrets of the Universe reside), and it's been running pretty much 24-7 since January 5th 1998!

The Hard Drive on my Windoz XP machine (not this Internet only POS) took a dump in late 2010, and I replaced it with a New mega gigabyte (RAM), several Terabyte (Hard Drives) machine from another local Computer Shop. The OLD machine dated back the better part of 10 years as well, so it was a pretty good machine too.

Good Luck, but IF it was me, I would stay away from the “name brands.”

Loyal

Pseudo,

The system crashed but it's definately time to buy a new one.

It's 7 (yes 7) years old and time for a new one.

I've been putting it off for a while.

I need to upgrade ( yea yea come into the 2000's)

Jim

Just read Loyals thread and I don't want to go Brand name But looking for options.

Thanks to all.

Jim

> But looking for options.

One option you won't have if you buy a PC right now: low-cost disk drives. The floods in Thailand wiped out drive production, and prices are 2 to 3 times what they were last summer. Still, they're not the most expensive item in most computers, so drive cost isn't likely to be a budget-buster.

How computer savy are you? Can or do you think you could build your own? That's what I did in 2007 and mine is still going strong. I used my old Antec case and put in a new Asus motherboard, a new (but "outdated" because they came out with a whole new line) video card with dual dvi and 512 MB ram, a AMD Athlon II X2 3.2 GHz processor, fans, 4 Gb G. Skill ram and a bigger power supply. I kept my old hard, Soundblaster sound card and optical drives. They were still good and still are. I also added a Dual Layer DVD burner and 20 in one multi card reader. You get to pick out the components that you want. Athlon processors are usually cheaper than the Intel processors and generally just as fast, but the Intel Core I7 is the shiznits right now. But you'll pay for it if you think you need it.

As far as saving money, buy something that's second or third from the top. It'll be a lot cheaper than buying the just released latest and greatest, and you'll probably not notice any difference in performance anyway.

The Lenovo deal that TPR linked looks like a decent deal. It has Win 7 Pro which is a +. It doesn't look like it has too much room for expansion, but at that price, you probably won't find very many that do.

You may want to also double check to see if the power or data cable didn't come loose on your old hard drive or motherboard. It could be an easy fix with something simple like that. It happened to me once.

I Have a Lenovo M58 that I bought new in December 2008, never turn it off, although it does go to sleep sometimes, not a bit of trouble in 36 months of "on" time, I think they make pretty good products. I have three Lenovo Thinkpad laptops too, although one is pretty much retired, as long as you stick with the business line AND not the consumer line I think you will have real good luck.

I just gave away a consumer line "IdeaPad" laptop to a friend that really needed a PC for her e-mail, etc., had a broken hinge and never was as strong of a performer as the ThinkPad line.

SHG

I agree Loyal. I bought the wife a new HP Pavilion desktop in 2006 and will not buy a specific brand desktop again. A good local computer shop is the place to go and have them build you one unless you want to try and do it yourself.

Laptops are a different ball of wax, as I don't think there is any way to go except a name brand.

Any prepackaged system that you buy from a big box store will come loaded with lots of bloat ware. Demos of this, demos of that. Last 'store bought' computer I got came with loads of crap pre-installed that I had no interest in or need for. Just wasting hard drive space. First act of business was to reformat the hard drive and load the o/s from scratch. Been building my own ever since.

I've gotten completely away from desktops and have used only laptops for six years now and I recommend it. I can work wherever and whenever I choose and can do complex calculations in the field when necessary. I can also kick back on the couch and draw a plat while listening to a Kirk Whalum CD in surround!

As to brands I don't have any preference although the Toshibas, Sony's, and Lenovos generally last longer.

I would get a custom shop that I trust to build one for me. They would know more what your needs are. Good luck. I just had one built a couple of months ago for $650.00 more or less. Of course that didn't include a monitor, keyboard or mouse.