Looking for new tower computer (Page 2): Replacing old tower...

junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

Replacing old tower

dpfoto Loc: Cape Coral, FL

I used to build computers, both for my own use, and for sale. It finally got to the point where I could buy a good Dell for little more than the cost of parts to build them. I now have 7 Dell laptops, 1 Microsoft Surface, and 1 Samsung tablet. I use the Dells for my photo booths, photo gigs, and business use. I recently had a problem with a Dell touch screen. Dell sent a tech to my home, and she replaced the screen. I have no problem recommending Dell. (I do buy the extended warranty for ANY new computer)

RRS Loc: Not sure

junglejim1949 wrote:

I am looking for a desktop tower. I am looking at Dell, Lenovo, & GO.
I would like i7 - 12 gb ram - 1 TB hard drive.
My concern is who has good customer support... conflicting reviews... no surprise.

Appreciate you opinions

What do you plan on doing most with it? Just for an eye opener look up "Puget Computers". I don't think you will find better customer support anywhere else. You can pick a model say for PS and build it to your spec's. Good info on all aspects!

Joe 88

https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-us/DisplayMessage?ws_popup=true&ws_suite=true
I been dealing with TigerDirect for over 15 year. Over 50 PC some laptops I am into laptops.
I do a lot of up grad. Have not had a bad one yet.

junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

This is an interesting option. I will look into it. Hadn't thought of having one built.
Thanks,
Jim

Joe 88

If you have the money get a game PC. 16 or 32 ram and 2TB.

jimjjc Loc: Wisconsin

I have a Dell XPS since January...no problems to date. The integral online support/upgrading works flawlessly. If cost is an issue, why buy Microsoft Office? I downloaded LibreOffice...FREE. Comes with its version of all Office programs, i.e. Word, Excel, Etc....compatible with MS file formats. So far, it does anything I need to do for documents, spreadsheets, etc. FREE.

junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

Hard to beat free

jimjjc Loc: Wisconsin

junglejim1949 wrote:

Hard to beat free

I need a Word/Wxcel program, but didn't want to spend $$ for MS Office. I went on line and searched for alternatives to MS Office. Several options come up...Libre Office had great reviews and is Free...Give it a try1

shelty Loc: Medford, OR

Lens Creep wrote:

if you have a little skill, i recommend purchasing all the components and building your own custom system. I did that this last time around and could not be happier. I got a monster system for the same price i would've paid for a minimally capable brand name rig. Just a thought!

Same with me. I wouldn't have it any other way. With the right case you can put in six hard drives. You also can choose the mother board and processor. Build it anyway you choose. Try Tiger or Newegge.

htbrown Loc: San Francisco Bay Area

junglejim1949 wrote:

Thanks, I was hoping to stay under a grand, as I would be adding MS Office.
<snip>

Instead of adding M$ Office, you could consider downloading Libre Office. The price is right ($0), and it is capable of reading and writing M$ formats. Libre Office was started by refugees from Open Office after that was bought by some corporation whose polices made a hash of it. I've been using Open/Libre Office for more than ten years, and am pleased with it. There are a few features M$ has that Libre does not, but for my money the difference in price renders them inconsequential.

DavidPhares Loc: Chandler, Arizona

What ever you get, think REDUNANCY! Have two separate, external hard drives for backing up your images. Whether the drive in your computer is SSD or mechanical, IT WILL FAIL eventually. ALWAYS backup to at least two external drives. Or, buy a box of Kleanex, you’ll want it handy to dry your tears. 😃

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

Given the low cost of HDs today, do consider a RAID I array. As you probably know this writes data to two hard drives, if one fails the data on the other is safe, and by putting in a replacement drive the array will rebuild itself. But, if as happened to me, BOTH drives fail while you're on vacation, and had forgotten to shut down the 'puter....

Then cloud storage/backup is your friend!

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

DavidPhares wrote:

What ever you get, think REDUNANCY! Have two separate, external hard drives for backing up your images. Whether the drive in your computer is SSD or mechanical, IT WILL FAIL eventually. ALWAYS backup to at least two external drives. Or, buy a box of Kleanex, you’ll want it handy to dry your tears. 😃

Look into hot-swap drives in drawers. Makes backing up much easier. Cloud backup is also a good idea. If possible, store a backup drive offsite, perhaps in a safe deposit box.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

GeorgeH wrote:

Given the low cost of HDs today, do consider a RAID I array. As you probably know this writes data to two hard drives, if one fails the data on the other is safe, and by putting in a replacement drive the array will rebuild itself. But, if as happened to me, BOTH drives fail while you're on vacation, and had forgotten to shut down the 'puter....

Then cloud storage/backup is your friend!

Good advice. While double drive failures are unusual, they do occur, often from power or cooling issues, lightning strikes or corruption that infects both drives, and this is where that 3rd off-site DR copy is invaluable.