# What would you buy?



## ceresone (Oct 7, 2005)

We hadnt had rain for months-my computer had 2 surge protectors on it- But lightening got it.
I;m thinking of spending 500-800 on a computer, I want room for lots of pictures and music--and I tend to visit forums!! I dont play a lot of games, except Quadruple klondike!
I need a second one for hubby-He dosent go online, but plays games.
So--what do I need? Brand names--and how much of what?
The 5--800 is on one.
Advice, Please?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

You could get a used laptop for not a whole lot. I got one at eBay for $95 recently that would do the job for you (2.4 GHz processor, 1 gig memory, XP Pro). It has WinXP, but that should hold you another 4 years or so and still meet your needs.

Honestly, you can buy a pretty nice contemporary computer system for under $500. For your needs I certainly wouldn't spend any more.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

Agreed. Whether a laptop or desktop, unless you're doing music/graphics work, any $500 computer and under will do you just fine. I personally tend towards Toshibas, Sonys, and Asus (I think) if you want reliability; but there's nothing wrong with Dells if you want availability of parts.


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## crispin (Jun 30, 2010)

+1 for Dell and Asus


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

I'm a Dell guy however I agree with others here. Most new laptops at around the $500.00 range are more them adequate for what you are looking for. Just ensure you don't go too cheap as the laptops that are $400.00 or less, start heading into the very cheap parts category and will not last.


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

The first thing on your purchase list should be a decent UPS, aka "battery backup" or "Uninterruptable Power Supply". About the only thing those "surge protectors" do is provide you with a bunch of outlets -- the "protection" they offer is basically useless.


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

OntarioMan said:


> The first thing on your purchase list should be a decent UPS, aka "battery backup" or "Uninterruptable Power Supply". About the only thing those "surge protectors" do is provide you with a bunch of outlets -- the "protection" they offer is basically useless.


Just so it is clear to the OP, having a battery backup or Uninterruptable Power Supply does not imply "Surge Protection" which is what afflicted the OP's original pc.

Most consumer grade battery backups / UPS _if they have_ surge protection offer little more surge protection then the cheap power bars that are available for $5.00.

There are many standalone protectors that plug into between your pc>>battery backup>>wall outlet that work quite good...however you need to spend the money on a reputable brand/model. There are websites out there that do technical reviews on these. In other words do your homework before opening the wallet.

If the OP wants to spend the money on a good surge protector, he/she should look at having a whole house surge protector installed. These protect the entire home and with the electronics in todays homes such as computers, TV's, DVD players, stereos etc, replacing these after they get fried from a power surge can cost many more times more then the cost of the whole house protector and the one time cost of an electrician to install it. Many home insurance companies will offer a discount if you have a whole house protector installed.


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## ceresone (Oct 7, 2005)

Thru our electrical company, at 4.95 a month, we have whole house protection--plus, also from the electric co. I had 2 actual surge protectors-also from the elec co.-but when the Elec. line transformer took a direct lightening strike--all bets were off!
I've owned 3 Battery back-ups too, soon as the battery warrenty is up--2 or 3 years, theyre a useless door stop.
Bad thing now is, the Company that backed the surge protectors are the ones who now decide if my computer was harmed by the strike!!
Oh, Well, you've all told me anyhow that I needed a new one--and thanks for all the suggestions. When I narrow it down, I'll ask again.


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

"Most consumer grade battery backups / UPS if they have surge protection offer little more surge protection then the cheap power bars that are available for $5.00."

All the cheap APC consumer grade UPSs I've ever purchased have surge protection. I'll trust my $45 APC battery backup, which isolates my system, long before I trusted a $5 power bar.


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## greif (May 31, 2009)

get a accer or asus netbook...... love them $200-$250 for you 
for gaming might want something more depending on what he plays


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

I really think you missed my point. If you are serious about surge protection, neither a $5.00 power bar or a $45.00 consumer grade UPS/Battery Backup is up to the task.

I do consulting work for a major hardware and software company who have around 6,000 separate small businesses (including home based) clients. Every year and usually during storm season (May-Oct in the midwest and Southern USA), they get calls on a weekly basis becuase these clients relied on cheap subpar surge protection. 

Most times, once their pc is taken out by a surge, we can only have the clients ship their pc's in and we then attempt to recover the hard drive and files. The success rate is only about 85%. 

The next step is send the drives into a more advanced data recovery centre where the costs can quickly escalate and the old car racing mantra "Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go" also can be correlated for data recovery costs...

Due to skimping on surge protection, some people have lost their cients, accounts receivable, payroll, human resource files, wives/husbands and family...the list goes on and on. 

That said, data recovery would not be an issue if everyone did proper off-site backups....but that is a separate and disparate thread on it's own.

Lastly for the average homeowner, lets look at the typical costs for some modern appliances and gadgets that can be easily fried by power surges. Also keep in mind many homes have more then 1 TV, pc etc. 

Typical TV: $500.00 to $1000.00 
Typical Stereo system $100 to $2000.00
Typical Desktop pc (and monitor) $500.00 to $1500.00
Typical Game consoles $300.00 to $500.00
Typical cellphone/ home wireless phones $200.00 to $600.00

Ad these up and it is pretty clear that I would not count on a $5.00 or $45.00 consumer grade surge protection. This is why I always advocate that homeowners look at higher grade surge protection systems ....and preferably invest in whole house surge protection which is a much better solution.

Even if your insurance covered it (read that "Act of God" fine-print carefully) the deductible and probable subsequent yearly insurance premiums will make the initial cost of whole house surge protection seem like chump change...


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

I'd agree w/Kari, mostly. You may not want or need whole house surge protection, but I WILL say that if you get struck by a true power surge (lightning or something) it'll take a GOOD (as in, not Wal-Mart brand) surge suppressor to be worth a darn, one that will cost >$100. If I remember correctly, all many 'surge protectors/suppressor' power strips have are a capacitor or something similar; and the 'arcover voltage' of a power surge is usually one HECK of a lot more than what that little capacitor will handle. Meaning, it'll be worthless. 

Additionally, you can't just surge protect your power. I once went to a man's house, and helped him fill out claim forms for literally THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of dollars of electronics lost. Why? Because he had surge protection out the wazoo....*BUT* forgot to route his phone cord through it. So the surge traveled from the phone cord, through his DSL modem to his computer - and from there to his printers, scanner, sound system (which was hooked to his TV, which was hooked to his Dish Network DVR), ..... you get the idea.


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

Kung said:


> Additionally, you can't just surge protect your power. I once went to a man's house, and helped him fill out claim forms for literally THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of dollars of electronics lost. Why? Because he had surge protection out the wazoo....*BUT* forgot to route his phone cord through it. So the surge traveled from the phone cord, through his DSL modem to his computer - and from there to his printers, scanner, sound system (which was hooked to his TV, which was hooked to his Dish Network DVR), ..... you get the idea.


Thanks for the info on the phone lines. There is only about 48 VDC in a residential phone line when not in use and who would of thought that it could create so much havoc. This would not be applicable to me as all we have are cellphones at home...Dropped the land-line telephone almost 10 years ago.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

I just unplug things when storms do come.
And yes I have had many electronics taken out by lightening strikes don't get me wrong.
And every time I get a new one through insurance coverage.
The last one help get me a 32 inch TV which after 2 years I sold and put the money towards a 40 inch LCD one.
Even though I have plenty of surge protection devices i still unplug things, even the phone line if the storm is bad enough. So do my friends even unplug the the modem not only from the plug but also the phone line, because we are on DSL service~
Although if the modem goes I am renting that from my phone company so I will get a new one from them if something happens to it.
And I have 100% replacement coverage in case something happens.
But unplugging is the best bet.


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

"Additionally, you can't just surge protect your power. I once went to a man's house, and helped him fill out claim forms for literally THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of dollars of electronics lost. Why? Because he had surge protection..."

This is one way you can usually tell that someone was really hit by a large "surge", i.e. there is typically damage to other components in the building. Yes, I too have seen surges through phone lines damage equipment on more than a few instance. I've been at this since 88, and I've probably seen more surge damage through phone lines than through power lines... judging by what was damaged. 

When you say "surge protection", you have to define "surge". Yes, you will most likely need more than an UPS or a good surge protector to eliminate the damage caused by a direct large surge, but the chances of that happening are somewhat rare.

In my experience, a decent UPS is more than enough protection for 99% of the surges. If a more expensive "whole house protection system" is what allows you to sleep at night, or you have critical data or many thousands worth of gear which you must protect, then sure. 

Surge protection doesn't help with brownouts, so the original poster would be well advised to get a decent UPS regardless... whether she goes to a "whole house protection system" in the future, or not. How well will the UPS protect her against surges? You decide...


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

Kari said:


> Thanks for the info on the phone lines. There is only about 48 VDC in a residential phone line when not in use and who would of thought that it could create so much havoc. This would not be applicable to me as all we have are cellphones at home...Dropped the land-line telephone almost 10 years ago.


Well, I live in the middle of nowhere - despite being an IT guy, I also likes me solitude. 

It wasn't so much about how much voltage it carried as the fact that it was a conductor during a big fat Arkansas lightning strike. That's ALL that mattered to the lightning bolt...and it was the path of least resistance, unfortunately for that guy.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

OntarioMan said:


> This is one way you can usually tell that someone was really hit by a large "surge", i.e. there is typically damage to other components in the building. Yes, I too have seen surges through phone lines damage equipment on more than a few instance. I've been at this since 88, and I've probably seen more surge damage through phone lines than through power lines... judging by what was damaged.
> 
> When you say "surge protection", you have to define "surge". Yes, you will most likely need more than an UPS or a good surge protector to eliminate the damage caused by a direct large surge, but the chances of that happening are somewhat rare.
> 
> ...


I'd actually have to agree with most of this. I've seen 'surges' (defined by me as small surges in voltage, probably caused by something down the line by the power company) and then I've seen SURGES (lightning strikes and the like). And I'd have to agree that a decent UPS will do a person; but 'decent' can mean different things to different people. To most, 'decent' means a decent PRICE - which usually REALLY means the cheapest price they can get it for.  To ME, decent means made by a reputable company, and NOT the cheapest one you can buy.


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

Kung said:


> And I'd have to agree that a decent UPS will do a person; but 'decent' can mean different things to different people. To most, 'decent' means a decent PRICE - which usually REALLY means the cheapest price they can get it for.  To ME, decent means made by a reputable company, and NOT the cheapest one you can buy.


Kung, you pretty much explained it all :kung:...No further input from me will be forthcoming on this one.


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## ceresone (Oct 7, 2005)

I DO have whole house protection, its wired into the electric meter--its what costs 4.95 a month-from the electrical company itself. However, they tell you it only protects things like ref., stoves, etc. It blew also!
I had surge protection on everything, ones I bought from the elec co, on everything. Tv's etc were OK. The first in line on the computer has a phone line connection-I've gone thru soo many of these--Elec co actually told me to run a copper wite from phone lines to elec pole ground.
BUT-- I usually unplug--but like I said, no rain in months--and I was only gone a hour--and only around here did it rain!! Yup--my fault--but--What were the chances-(I shoulda ran in and bought a lottery ticket!)


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## Seeker (Sep 29, 2004)

Computers are pretty generic these days. Given what you say are your needs, get two inexpensive laptops. Desktops are going the way of the dinosaur.

If you want a bigger monitor, just use the laptop as if it was a desktop - that's what I do - I have my laptop connected to a 24" monitor and use an external keyboard and mouse.


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## Txrider (Jun 25, 2010)

I have gone to using a 10" netbook. I use the asus one with a 14 hour battery life.

I keep a decent sized monitor, and wireless keyboard and mouse on my desk, so I just plug it into the monitor when I want a larger screen and KB to work with (my eyes ain't getting no younger).

They can be used for hours through wireless outside on the patio, basically all day.. And at their very small weight and size can be taken with me anywhere I go as well. A woman could put it in a large purse even.. I find it really nice to carry on motorcycle trips.

If your not doing anything that requires super processing or graphics, they work just fine and are under $500...


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## georger (Sep 15, 2003)

ceresone said:


> We hadnt had rain for months-my computer had 2 surge protectors on it- But lightening got it.
> I;m thinking of spending 500-800 on a computer, I want room for lots of pictures and music--and I tend to visit forums!! I dont play a lot of games, except Quadruple klondike!
> I need a second one for hubby-He dosent go online, but plays games.
> So--what do I need? Brand names--and how much of what?
> ...


Why not just get yourself a netbook? New ones run around $300 to $400.

Put your internet on a wireless router, secure the WiFi connection and then at least your computing appliance will be capable of running without a wired connection.


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