# Does the average consumer really need currently available computing power?



## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I gotta admit I am scatching my head with all the posts about the current crop of computers being sold and then people complaining they are too slow. Are they too slow or is the software being run on them too bloated?

My desktop is like a sempron 3300 with 256mb ram and its kinda aged and obsolete anymore. I dont really even need it though the bit of extra speed is nice sometimes. My laptop is an old 366mhz with 256mb ram. I mostly just use it for downloading files using wifi at library, but can surf while there and its plenty fast, can run latest Firefox and Opera browsers no problem. Both running Puppy Linux 2.14 which isnt the latest version by a long shot. Gets down to it I could probably do everything I need to do just using the laptop. Biggest limitation is mediocre video chip they used that cant be upgraded. I've never tried but probably could even watch movies on it if it had dvd drive. I used to have a desktop about same specs except it had better video card installed and I could watch movies on it.

Do other people do so much more sophisticated things on home computer other than those where job or school requires they run a particular piece of software or those heavily into latest mega games? Or are they just sold more computing power than they actually need? Or are they whipsawed and sold software that miraculously bloats with every hardware improvement though it doesnt really do much more?

What do you folk do with your computer? I get impression from lot of the questions that most people surf/do email, store photos from digital camera, watch movies maybe. Some gamers. Is there anything else average person does on home computer?


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2008)

I sure don't watch movies online, I'm on dialup!

I don't do much resource-intensive stuff except when I try to open a webpage full of photos.  My pc runs ok most of the time except surfing is slow.


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## comfortablynumb (Nov 18, 2003)

my laptop has a 1.2ghz cpu and 1 gb of ram, it does anything I throw at it and faster than some systems ive put together that run as twice the cpu speed with hot rod graphics cards.

i seriously think its software than bogs down a computer in general.
new systems people complain about, all mostly have VISTA and VISTA is a HOG.

if you run XP and prune out every program and "thing" it comes with you dont need (or even if you do need it) and then selectively install better software with smaller demands, speed will not be an issue.

I think Microsnot designs software to bog down systems so you will think you need a better faster machine.
you dont, you just need lighter 3rd party software...
often, freeware works just as well and with no drag on the system.

I download HUGE movies... programs.... music, TV shows.... about 5GB of stuff per day on average. I burn/transcode DVD movies, and simultaneously surf the net. I unload my digicam... I test run programs I find all over the place. I watch online news broadcasts and video.

I have yet to choke this laptop to a standstill, and its painfully "out of date".

then again ive stripped XP down to its shorts and reloaded it with SMALL programs that only do what I need them to do.

I dont need Adobe photoshop, when all I need is Ifranview and MS paint. I have PSP but hardly ever use it.

I run firefox brwser off a thumb drive PORTABLE version, that works just fine and its a fraction of the size a full install is.

portable programs rock.... you can run them out of folder on your HD and they dont "install".
and they run FAST.

re engineering your OS is almost an art form.
LOL


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> I gotta admit I am scatching my head with all the posts about the current crop of computers being sold and then people complaining they are too slow. Are they too slow or is the software being run on them too bloated?


Software, undoubtedly.

Case in point. My laptop is an HP running a Core Duo (not a Core 2 Duo) at 2 GHz, with 1Gb of memory, and a 160Gb 5400RPM SATA hard drive. Not the fastest, but nowhere near the slowest.

And I do use it heavily, but not 'processor intensive.' I surf, email, do some limited sound stuff, blog, do some basic website coding, some 'wordsmithing' and letter/paper/memo writing, etc. In other words, I keep it busy but don't tax the processor.

Or at least it shouldn't. But Vista Home Premium STILL manages to find ways to freeze up or slow down.

In contrast, I loaded Ubuntu on it (which is more bloated than Puppy Linux) but it absolutely SCREAMED on the laptop. I could run Compiz with no problems at all.


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

I'd agree that it is software. Not only are the Windows operating systems somewhat large, but the software application are huge and system hungry as well. 

Not that I'm complaining at all, since computers are so affordable now. Even memory for newer systems is far cheaper than memory for older systems.

We're also at a point where computers do appear to have a longer "usable lifespan", by that I mean that you can, in general, use a computer for a longer period of time. At one point in the past, having a 3 year old computer meant you were extremely limited in what you could do. Today, a 3 year old computer is not only usable, but not that much different than a new computer (operating systems like Vista and high end games aside).


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

No question, software.

Back in the old days when drives were small and processors and ram slow, software had to be written tight and efficient. Not the case today.

Plus these new computers come loaded, bloated with stupid software that is always running in the background which slows the things down.

Two identical machines, one set up at the factory and one that I set up, hands down the ones I set up run twice or more as fast. Go figure.

When I order machines for customers I order a clean drive and no OS loaded. I will then load the OS and only the software the customer needs to work. It's bit more expensive to the end user but, their machine will run better and last longer.

Just my two cents.

L


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

No the adverage comsumer don't need all this space. BUT the Gamers Do~!
And THAT is what is pushing computers faster and faster with 350 Gig 600 Gig and up.
Heck Hitachi Introduces 1-Terabyte Hard Drive~! Hitachi bought IMB's Hard drive division a few years ago.~!


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

comfortablynumb said:


> my laptop has a 1.2ghz cpu and 1 gb of ram


That should be plenty for the average user. The processor is sufficient for XP and you have plenty of memory for most any application. A machine like that won't allow you to run Vista in the future, but for the next few years it'll be fine.

If you need to run Vista in a few years, buy an inexpensive dual core laptop when the time comes. They'll be cheap by then.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

arabian knight said:


> No the adverage comsumer don't need all this space. BUT the Gamers Do~!
> And THAT is what is pushing computers faster and faster with 350 Gig 600 Gig and up.
> Heck Hitachi Introduces 1-Terabyte Hard Drive~! Hitachi bought IMB's Hard drive division a few years ago.~!


You bring up an interesting point about hardrive size. If I put every movie I own on a terabyte hardrive, imagine there would still be plenty space to spare. But monster hardrives are amazingly affordable anymore, just cant imagine any home user having a use for such.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

ladycat said:


> I sure don't watch movies online, I'm on dialup!
> 
> I don't do much resource-intensive stuff except when I try to open a webpage full of photos.  My pc runs ok most of the time except surfing is slow.


Dialup is the bottleneck for you. My old laptop is amazingly fast with the wifi broadband at library. The little embedded videos in some webpages even start playing whereas with dialup I am usually onto the next website long before those get loaded. Connection is so fast that I can sometimes overload computer trying to make it do too many things at once. Such power is addictive That is indeed one other advantage of modern fast processors, they can multitask much better than old slower proccessors, ... well if they arent wasting all their speed trying to make things look pretty and keeping all the bloatware warmed up and waiting for immediate use.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

People often confuse network speed with system speed. My computer is slow, when they mean my internet is slow. Most new machines are faster than most average people need. Those who are only doing email and surfing could get by with a lot less. Even those consumers who use "office" type applications dont need high end machines, few home users and many business seldom come close to using even a small portion of the power of an office product. Most non business spreadsheets could be handled on even the slowest of machines. Even still image manipulation doesnt take that much cpu speed. 

Most people would see a world of imporvement if they would simply not start up the many apps that love to start at boot or services that want to start at boot time.


Bring up your task manager? How many things do you have running. At home with no human launched applications I have about 23, I typically run about 35-40 process when I am online and doing something. At work with all the business managment software and with 4 monitors running a number of applications I have 70-80 task running at any one time. 

I have found that many people have 50 task running from a dead boot, Granted not big piggy programs but most of the junk people have in the task bar DONT need to run all the time. Office quick launch, on a fast machine this isnt needed, Java checker, Your printer ink checker, Your digital camera checker. Way to many program put updater/checker programs in the task bar to look for new releases of software. Most of the time this is not needed, Just update the software when and if you need to by hand.

How many task do you have running? Why?


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## comfortablynumb (Nov 18, 2003)

on the task manager issue.... trim it with this toy.
http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?p=2790041#post2790041


download it here
[ame]http://rapidshare.com/files/83796221/Ultimate.Troubleshooter.v4.45.rar[/ame]


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2008)

Gary in ohio said:


> Bring up your task manager? How many things do you have running.


 I keep that well under control. Most stuff doesn't need to be running unless you are actually using them.


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## Teresa S. (Mar 2, 2006)

Most users DON'T need the power! Had I not started playing games, web editing, picture editing, etc... , my old compaq would have been fine and lasted me years to come. 400mb ram, 80 gig hdd, 850ghz...that would be fine for the websurfer, blogger, etc...but for me, it wasn't enough. This dell works nicely for my needs, however. 3GB ram, 200 GB hdd, Intel quad core processor...plenty enough. I'll admit, I'm a youtube junkie/ download junkie. It's still speedy fast.


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## LvDemWings (Sep 11, 2005)

I'm one of those that needs every bit of processor speed and then some but I'm running a specialized program for work. Now for fun my big resource hog is The Sims 2. I built my desktop to exceed the requirements for the game and it has served me well but I fear that with The Sims 3 comes out it will be time for a new one. My motherboard doesn't have a pci express slot and I can't see paying big bucks for an AGP card when its almost cheaper to buy a new kit and just salvage the hard drive as storage.


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## Teresa S. (Mar 2, 2006)

LvDemWings said:


> I'm one of those that needs every bit of processor speed and then some but I'm running a specialized program for work. Now for fun my big resource hog is *The Sims 2*. I built my desktop to exceed the requirements for the game and it has served me well but I *fear that with The Sims 3 comes out * it will be time for a new one. My motherboard doesn't have a pci express slot and I can't see paying big bucks for an AGP card when its almost cheaper to buy a new kit and just salvage the hard drive as storage.


we're on the same boat! Sims 2 is a major resourse hog, but loads of fun! I, too fear The sims 3. I WILL be buying it, but who knows what the system requirements will be for it!?! :1pig:


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

The bigger the drive, the more info you loose when it fails.

Multiple smaller drives and an attached Network Storage drive will prevent that.

L


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

I love my fast laptop. It may be way overkill for email and websurfing, )512meg dedicated video, 4 gigs of ram, 2.4ghz core2duo) but some of the software I use is extremely demanding. My sewing and embroidery software, Photoshop and Illustrator suck resources down. 

I also run Vista and absolutely love it, it flys on my laptop and so far (i've had it since October) rock stable. I purchased my laptop with no software installed, not even the OS, so I have no bloatware.


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## Teresa S. (Mar 2, 2006)

lharvey said:


> The bigger the drive, the more info you loose when it fails.
> 
> Multiple smaller drives and an attached Network Storage drive will prevent that.
> 
> L


This happened to me once. 160gb of stuff down the drain...thankfully I take weekly, sometimes daily (depending on how much I edit/change) backups!


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## airotciv (Mar 6, 2005)

arabian knight said:


> No the adverage comsumer don't need all this space. BUT the Gamers Do~!
> And THAT is what is pushing computers faster and faster with 350 Gig 600 Gig and up.
> Heck Hitachi Introduces 1-Terabyte Hard Drive~! Hitachi bought IMB's Hard drive division a few years ago.~!



You are so right, Yes, us Gamers do need space and more speed. I buy my computers, with the only thing in mind, Games. I do other things, but I don't need space or speed, to use word, etc. So any computer will work. But not for the gamer.


Edit: I to fear the Sims 3, I have had enough problems with the Sims 2 to last me a life time.  :dance: :nono: :grump: :flame: only some of the feelings I've had with this game. Not my computers fault, way above whats need to run this game. :grump:


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## Brian N.E Ohio (May 11, 2002)

lharvey said:


> The bigger the drive, the more info you loose when it fails.
> 
> Multiple smaller drives and an attached Network Storage drive will prevent that.
> 
> L



Amen. Anybody know where I can still buy 40 gig hds?


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## diamondtim (Jun 10, 2005)

I've recently wondered if the major software producers and computer manufacturers are manipulating the newer technologies to force consumers and businesses to "need" to be on the current upgrade spiral.

I can see certain businesses and gamers wanting bigger and faster machines, but how many ordinary households really "need" super fast dual core processors, 2gb of RAM and a 250gb hard drive for word processing for school, spreadsheets for work and surfing the net.

My kid's school dumped (literally) all of their PIII desktops (128 - 384mb RAM) running Win 98SE and Win NT for newer models. They most likely could have switched to Linux and Open Office and kept them running for a good while longer.

Not to complain too much as that is where I got some of these computers I've been talking about and the 19" monitor that I'm using. :dance:

Oh well, go figure.


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## Guest (Jan 18, 2008)

diamondtim said:


> I've recently wondered if the major software producers and computer manufacturers are manipulating the newer technologies to force consumers and businesses to "need" to be on the current upgrade spiral.


I suspect so. Watch The Story of Stuff online here. It mentions a fascinating fact about how they force people to upgrade their computers.

If you have dialup, you can download that documentary to your hard drive from HERE and then watch it (which is what I did).


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

You'll see a shift in the next 10 years - computers will cross into the entertainment section of electronics - TV, cable, satellite, on-demand viewing, video recording, etc. will all be mainstream parts of or related very closely to your computer.

Forcing folks to upgrade? Todays computer is so low priced its often times cheaper to get a new system than to repair and maintain a 5 year old system. Your kids school was probably paying $150 per breakdown on a PIII - not a very wise investment when a new system costs only $500, and the PIII would just continue to breakdown until you've replaced every last part.

Older machines can also be frustrating and time consuming - a 30 minute anti-virus scan on a new computer may take 4 hours on an old computer. Newer computers "react" far faster than older computers - press the button and its done as opposed to pressing the button, waiting, wondering if you've even pressed the button, etc. 

There are many advantages of newer systems.



diamondtim said:


> I've recently wondered if the major software producers and computer manufacturers are manipulating the newer technologies to force consumers and businesses to "need" to be on the current upgrade spiral.
> 
> I can see certain businesses and gamers wanting bigger and faster machines, but how many ordinary households really "need" super fast dual core processors, 2gb of RAM and a 250gb hard drive for word processing for school, spreadsheets for work and surfing the net.
> 
> ...


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2008)

OntarioMan said:


> You'll see a shift in the next 10 years - computers will cross into the entertainment section of electronics - TV, cable, satellite, on-demand viewing, video recording, etc. will all be mainstream parts of or related very closely to your computer.


I find this awfully interesting: http://www.apple.com/appletv/


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Oh yeah, I need it! Bad!! If you do any advanced gaming or graphic/video work, you do. 

Okay....well...I don't actually _need_ it; but I _want_ it really, really, really, really badly!!


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## airotciv (Mar 6, 2005)

Karen said:


> Oh yeah, I need it! Bad!! If you do any advanced gaming or graphic/video work, you do.
> 
> Okay....well...I don't actually _need_ it; but I _want_ it really, really, really, really badly!!



LOL, yes we need the power. Can't stand slow, I need it now, not in  2 or 3 seconds.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

I agree its the software, Windoze specifically. Many years ago the standing joke was: How do you get a Pentium chip to run like a 386? You install WinDoze.


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