Desktop, all-in-one or laptop – what made you pick your PC?

Processors do not slow down as they age; however disks fill up with rubbish and programs which load (without your permission) as you boot up. Also the memory you felt happy with 6 years ago is probably too small now. If your disk light spends lots of time illuminated after you have booted up, it probably needs to be ‘cleaned’ out – try CC Cleaner (there are other free programs which do this).
Also your work on design and graphics needs lots of memory; if you don’t have enough the program writes temporary information to your disk instead – much slower!
If you know someone who has successfully completed a laptop upgrade before, he or she could be your best friend. An upgrade is much cheaper than a new machine; you could get another 4 or 5 years from your laptop if you upgrade it now.

Software costs? Almost everything I use can be downloaded free… Repairs? Only ever needed one in all my years of computer ownership. Upgrades? Again, usually free stuff…
The only thing I spend money on is a new mouse now and then…
I’ll admit to a bit of time spent sorting out problems but I enjoy the challenge and with regular backups to fall back on there isn’t much I won’t try to tackle, despite being a complete amateur.

“By the way, why does the questionnaire at the start of this conversation exclude laptops with screens between 15 and 17 inches?”
I hadn’t noticed this. Mine is 15.4″. Incidentally, all this is likely to fall foul of the imperial vs. metric police (see earlier conversation, currently gone quiet). The label on my laptop is only in inches (no metric equivalent), and Which?’s intro only mentions inches. Why is this and does it matter (not to me!).

I agree with the horses for courses view. Also very relevant is the operating system. We have got Windows Vista And Windows 7 desktop computers in daily use at home with Windows XP and 98 base units ‘mothballed’ in case required. I have just bought a large laptop for use out of the home but for me its biggest problem is the Windows 8.1 operating system which I find extremely user unfriendly after 20 years experience as a windows user. (Maybe a new inexperienced user would have fewer problems from preconceived ideas of how to use a computer.). Businesses are apparently still buying machines with Windows 7 but I did not see any for domestic use when I looked at the market for cheaper laptops.

Although I have not tried it for myself, I understand that it is still possible to buy an official copy of W7, with licence, to replace W8.1. Having heard a lot of bad reviews concerning W8.1 I managed to find a suitable W7 laptop from Morgan Computers when I was looking to update from XP.

Windows 7 (in all it’s varieties) is still available from the smaller suppliers. Just Google it – but beware there are lot of fakes and illegal copies about on e bay. I’ve used a firm called PC Specialist who have Win 7 still available on CD. Naturally the likes of PC World will tell you it is no longer available. Don’t be taken in !

jon

I had a look at Linux. It seems pretty versatile but the open source nature can mean that some applications will not work on all flavours. This is particularly so if the application was originally intended for Windows or DOS.

Perhaps I would change my mind if I had more time to play with the system, but life is too short to try everything and for me computers are tools rather than things to play with!

I moved my main PCs over to Linux last year, after I fell foul of some malware posing as a “fake” Abobe Flash Player upgrade request pop-up on my Windows 7 laptop. I had also tried Linux at home a few years before and I do also use it at work for technical computing.

Otherwise, my favourite version of Windows is XP – to me all of the more recent Windows versions seem very bloated and slow in comparison to XP. As Microsoft are ending their support for XP this year, now is a good time to consider “upgrading” old XP boxes to run Linux. This can be done either by replacing Windows altogether or by setting the machine to offer the choice of either at start up.

In general, Linux does not run Windows sofware – but provides a vast range of alternative software, much of which is free. There are ways to run some Windows software under Linux, for example I can run my copy of Office 2000 using a Linux program called Wine to act as a bridge.

My recent experience is that most common forms of Linux will readiliy install and run on new-ish PCs. Very many different versions are available, so it can be worth trying a few different versions to see if you can find one that easily does what you want.

Completely disagree about the “need” for a desktop. I have a laptop for use around the house or when out-and-about. But when I do high-resolution graphics or detailed Excel charting work, I simply connect to an external (24-inch) monitor and USB keyboard/mouse setup. Laptops match the power of desktops with the big advantage of portability!

Nice one Megandog. I hope you carry a penknife and a couple of hanks of bale string as well?

Hi.
Thanks for your reply. Would have sent this earlier but I had to go out to buy cellotape. Must move with the times and string is now “old tec”.

Never be without bale string. The modern stuff is polyprop, very hi-tech. It holds up everything here, even my trousis.

You may have fallen on hard times but you have convinced me. Tomorrow, I’ll buy a ball of string (large) and a book on 21st century knots to ensure I can use it properly. Does the string holding up your trousers ever constitute a health hazard?.

I’m a farmer, I’m used to hard times, eh wot old chap?
Do you think this conversation is holding its own technically? I may be hiding my light under a bushel or whatever the expression is, but ask me anything about, say, Linux, I know about that, it’s what was on the kitchen floor when I was a child. And windows….

PS; No, unless it’s still going through the baler with the hay.

We seem to have covered all the basics and have done so, if I may say, in a thorough and constructive manner. Your technical knowledge will have impressed many IT professionals.

Our conversation probably peaked when you mentioned Linux and a baler. Reading between the lines, your personal baler has lots of lights above the cab and packs string into tidy oblong bundles or round circles ready for people like myself to use.

Thank you for all your helpful advice on string and good luck with your farming. Michael H..

A very refreshing non-nerdy conversation in a nerdy jungle. I do like a good bit of anarchy! Especially silly stuff.
All the best, Nick H.

I have often bought computing equipment, including my current W7 laptop, from Morgan Computers. Good range of stuff at reasonable prices

Apple.

In using Apple desktops and laptops since 1992 I have only had a single breakdown, when a hard drive required replacement. I had a hinge break on a laptop, some time after I dropped it. I still use it for displays at events, where I would not want my newer machine stolen or damaged. Apple desktops and laptops do well in Which? tests.

I hate the company but like their hardware.

wavechange, I’ve never got to grips with Apple. I’m used to MS Office, MS Money, AllyCAD, where I am familiar with some useful details of the software and don’t really want to change. How does the Apple OS handle such things?

Malcolm – I have never attempted to run Windows on a Mac, but here’s what I learned a few years ago. One of the alternatives is to partition the hard drive and run Apple Boot Camp, so that you have a dual-boot machine running OSX (Mac operating system and Windows). To avoid having to re-boot there are third-party applications including Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. I presume they are emulators.

I am certainly not going to pretend that the Apple platform offers anything like the same choice of software as is available for the PC.

MS Office has long been available for the Mac. A major difference is that there has never been a version of the database Access for Mac. Microsoft released Excel for the Mac before it became available on the PC.

When I mentioned that I had few problems with Macs, that refers to desktop and laptop machines at both home and at work. Not everyone has been so lucky.

wavechange, thanks. It would be useful if we had some guidance on reliable makes of PC.

From memory, the information about computer brand reliability is fairly basic on the Which? website.

If you are planning to move from a laptop to a desktop, replacing faulty parts is easier and therefore cheaper. I expect that compact all-in-one machines lie in between laptops and traditional desktops in this respect.

With a laptop, even a failing battery gives protection against brief interruptions in the mains supply. With a desktop machine, a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) can both protect the hardware and help avoid file corruption.

Linux does not readily support all makes and models of printers and/or scanners – so that is one area where Windows is arguably superior. Luckily for me, my old Canon MP750 is supported quite well for printing from Linux. I can also use its scanner under Linux, but the Canon supplied Windows software does a much better job of making scanned copies of documents.

I still have an old Windows desktop that I use for printing and scanning – and for playing Windows games on (if I can find the time).

I would recommend Medion – they scored well on a Which reliability evaluation and I have found their kit very reliable and support very helpful – both for PC’s and a Medion satnav I own. I did a recent exercise on their site to price up a desktop replacement and for the spec I found an All-in-one came out cheaper. I think that when I replace my desktop PC’s I would opt for an All-in-one – in my experience, although desktops do allow easier upgrade, people rarely actually do change the hardware spec that much. In 9 years of owning 2 Medion PC’s I have only added more RAM – this can also be done on All-in-one’s.

I have been very satisfied with my HP desktop set-up with a Brother printer which I have had for over five years now I think. I don’t exactly stretch the machine and much of the time it is in use as a word-processor really. Since I don’t have any other equipment on which I can access the internet I have depended on this PC and it has never let me down. One advantage of a desktop is that you cannot drag it around with you and use it in inappropriae places or at inappropriate times, although some people might see that as a drawback I suppose.

I am happy with my washing machine, cooker, microwave, hi-fi, etc which are all over 25 years old and still doing a good job. I would not be happy without a modern computer, though I do dig out ones older than yours when I need to run obsolete software to access old files or because I don’t have equivalent modern software.

If you are happy with your old computers then keep using them, but keep backups in case you have a problem.

Planner

It sounds as though you have a fair level of expertise in which case you could consider using UBUNTU open source operating system. It is almost as user friendly as Microsoft Windows and good technical support is available through Forums etc.

These is also open source software available for most common tasks including an office suite (LibreOffice).

The only time that you may experience difficulty using this free of charge operating system is if you have any special purpose software or an obscure peripheral for which drivers may not be available. You will probably find that it runs OK on your computer because it generally requires less resources than Microsoft Windows.

Why not try backing up one of your Windows PCs and give UBUNTU a try. If you have taken a complete backup of you existing system, you can always go back to Windows if you do not like.

Planner, Saturday’s Daily Telegraph (Rick Maybury) covered the XP topic. Essentially he said keep using it and don’t worry. Microsoft Security Essentials will no longer update virus definitions, but there are plenty of free alternatives, it says, with examples.

Thanks to Mike and Malcolm r for their comments. I had never heard of UBUNTO – until now of course. I’ve had a quick look at the web site and I might give it a try. I do have a bit of expertise being an ex electronics engineer from the days of ‘valves’ but I moved into IT for a few years before I retired. My overriding principle is KISS keep it simple (stupid) which in my experience is always the best approach. Your comments have reassured me about keeping my XP machines operational.

If you like XP (as I do!) then you might like the “Lubuntu” flavour of Ubuntu best.

I particularly like a derivative of that called LXLE (see http://lxle.net/) which comes bundled with lots of useful software preinstalled.

These versions give a Destop experience that is pretty much a “crib” of the Windows XP desktop.

The main standard version of Ubuntu now comes with a very different destop called Unity, which not everyone likes. A bit like Windows 8, Unity is quite different from the general Windows 95/98/2000/XP (etc…) model, so there is a steeper initial learning curve – arguably for little ultimate benefit. Unity has done for Ubuntu something akin to what Windows 8 has done for Microsoft – so a derivative of Ubuntu known as Linux Mint now seems to have become the “most popular” Linux family.

I have had a couple of low cost Dell desktops – both have been great machines. I still have the Vista-era quad-core desktop – this cost me about £300 in Tesco when they were selling them.

One way to get a fast “destop” would be to buy an off-the-shelf machine sold as a “server” – these seem to come with the fastest and most reliable components in them.

Another way would be to entrust a local computer shop to assemble a besopke machine. When I used to frequent computer fairs in Birmingham, I often saw firms such as Bytetech Computers doing such work there on a “while you wait” basis.

Desktops are also suitable subjects for “home build” projects. You won’t necessarily save any money compared to the cost of an off-the-shelf product – but you can at least tailor the machine for your exact needs.