Desktop Or Laptop?

Well the Lenovo is on it's way with a HannsG monitor, not sure if they're any good but they were the cheapest ones I could find with connector options other than just VGA

 

For gaming, those new curved monitors are awesome

 

I have an HP and a Dell, I prefer the HP any day. It is not impossible to upgrade components of a laptop . There are usually videos on You
Tube.

 

You've obviously never tried to get into a MacBook or a Sony Vaio. Not impossible, but a complete pain in arse. A careful operation that requires, as you say, consulting online tutorials.

 

I havent touched my desktop in like a year, its just been sitting there


HP stream notebook, in cute little blue casing, I love it to death

Flexi plastic LED display, none of that stupid very breakable Gorilla glass

I'm not going to buy another desktop, I dont like getting stuck inside anyway

Dont buy an Acer, they blow

 

Well I bought a Macbook 10 years ago, and every time I did anything like watch a film or play scrabble on it something set the fan off and it sounds like a hairdryer. Years of trying to get to the bottom of it failed. Overrated crap. The screen went dark at the bottom, then stopped working. I had to send to Apple to get the optical drive replaced after 1 year and they sent it back with a new screen that broke within a year. THe ODD is also really noisy. Apple are a bunch of cunts.

Five years ago I bought a Sony Vaio, ex display machine. Got a good deal on it. Intel i7 8 core, 2GHz, 4GB RAM, NVidia Geforce graphics card, blueray, the full package. Worked great for two years, I thought finally a nice computer that just works, a slick machine I can play games on etc. Now I have the same problem with the bloody fan being noisy and again I just can't get to the fucking bottom of it! Also, it locks up if I do hi def photoshop work on it, or look at more than 10 images in a row on windows image viewer.

So I'm hoping that maybe if I buy a desktop at least if I have problems like this then at least I can get inside it and easily replace the fan or add more ram or whatever the fuck I need to do.

 

My nerd friend assured me when I said I can't wait when I have a new desktop that it will have a much more silent fan: they don't make noise anymore. Guess he was wrong...

It works fine on my HD tv. You just don't get HD from your desktop pc that way. But it works fine. If I get a new desktop pc however I am certain I will go HD then as well. But I don't a new monitor. Just a new pc which probably has standard a graphics card or onboard thing with an HD outlet on it.

 

My first PC 20 years ago was a dell and that was quite noisy, but it wasn't as noisy as these two hairdryers I currently use. As I say upon the recommendation of a techie friend I might add on a second SSD on there, which apparently speeds things up and potentially solves noisy fan issues.

 

VGA will work with some modern monitors, but it can screw up the colors and doesn't work with all of them. It's just the wrong cable to buy new unless you already have a monitor that requires one.

 

I agree, if you have to get new stuff there's no good reason to stick with VGA. But in my experience a VGA cable from an old(er) pc to an HD television works just fine.

 

nope

nope

nope

they all use integrated video, you need a dedicated GPU, preferably an nVidia card.
The most intensive task you mentioned is the photo editing, and most modern programs offload that work to the GPU, that is why your i7 sony sucks so bad at it, and so will any offering with integrated graphics.

go to newegg or similar and build your own.

definitely get an SSD for the OS, makes a HUGE difference, and a 7200 rpm drive, WD caviar black HD's are one of the best you can get for data.

don't get one with a micro-ATX format motherboard, that greatly limits future upgradability.

as far laptop vs desktop, again for what you want to do, you need more power under the hood, you are not going to get it from a laptop unless you spend ~ $5000.
any offering in a reasonable price range would be fine for the majority of uses, browsing, movies, middle of the road gaming, etc. BUT they will all suck when it comes to manipulating those huge images you want to work with.
Go with a desktop because the major components; CPU & GPU will be full power and not "crippled" to maintain temps as they are in laptops.

fuck the i3, get an i5 with the K nomenclature; 4500K for example, because the K series have the unlocked multiplier and can easily be overclocked.


laptops are convenient, but won't handle the graphics work you want unless you spend $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.


oh and get a minimum of 8 gigs of ram, preferably 16, it's relatively cheap.

 

Cheers Stinky.

I don't really know what integrated graphics chip means but I'm willing to learn.

I just thought, fast as fuck state of the art bollocks would the do the jobbie. Obviously I was wrong. Different architectures for different strokes I guess.

Why can't there just be one bloody computer that can do everything and nevers needs to be updated?

Buildy owny is what I'd ultimately like to achieve, but skinty mummy buy me a Xmas present but with limited time and budget is what has dictated my purchase. The main thing is it's a computer and it's new and if either of my two fuck up laptops suddenly die on me especially my Viao then at least I still have a computer that's new and supported online by who?

What is a micr-At formatted motherboard? Is that why the lenovo has?

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The most important thing here is I can at least churn my Vaio processor around some serious;y fucked up photoshopping MEANWHILE I will have another completely separate computer for internetting and stuff. How many computers does it take to run adobe and firefox/chrome at the same time. Two shit ones.

 

It doesn't screw with the color that bad, which is why the manufacturers use them with cheap monitors because its a cheaper cable. The problem is the newer monitors coming out are so much better than the old its starting to become really noticeable when you slap one on a better monitor. I think it was Lg that just came out with a reasonably priced ISP monitor with a million to one contrast ratio which is something you only find on twenty thousand dollar OLED TVs. That kind of contrast is especially good for gaming and watching horror movies and cheap VGA just won't cut it.

 

integrated video is either the CPU doing the graphic work as most low-mid price intel based systems have, or like your sony has integrated graphics, but using an nVidia chipset, but it has still been clocked down in order to conserve energy/battery life and reduce temps.

micro-ATX motherboards usually have a video slot and 1 additional slot for an add-on board.
That may be all you need, I always opt for more bells and whistles or the opportunity to add them if desired.

 

but sending a hi-def signal through VGA results in suckiness,.

just cut to the fucking chase and get systems/monitors that use HDMI or better yet DisplayPort.
DisplayPort is the best because it transmits the most data and can be used for devices other than video.

and get an LCD with as high of resolution you can afford, preferably a 24".

 

I can only go with what seems like the best deal with what I can afford.

So basically my NVidia GEFROCE graphics card is integrated, in other words it doesn't have a little processor of it's own and that's why this machine is sort of good a gaming but also sets my fan on fire. It was never like this in the first two years, it seemed to become more sensitive to overlocking as time went on.

I think this lenovo has good scope for updating and tweaking. I thought I was buying a big desktop when I handed over my mum's card, but apparently the dimensions on the Tesco site were generous by a factor of 2? Why can't these people just get the fucking details right, how hard can that be? Anyway, it's a medium sized tower as opposed to a compact practically a laptop sized one.

 

I can concur with that. After my Macbook screen fucked up, partly from me throwing an empty bottle of beer at it one night (not in anger) and smashing it I've been going Apple bollocks standard adaptor to VGA in to a monitor ever since, and no the quality is not the same but it doesn't matter because it's my old old computer now.

Contrast ratio is bollocks, but it's usuable for music and porn films.

I'm on my second external now, first one went fuck last year and it took me a lot of pissing about to get this new one to comply, having a half broken screen doesn't help.

 

HDMI can carry sound while displayport can't but, I agree, its the best option out there in every other respect. The problem is it ain't cheap and this is about as cheap as a home computer gets. Upgrading to a slightly better i3 and HDMI were about the best options I could think of that would even make it worthwhile to eventually add a graphics card. His integrated graphics suck by even integrated graphics standards, but it should be good enough to play a little until he can upgrade. Without at least that slightly better i3 and HDMI I'd say adding a video card is money thrown down the toilet because both the frame rates and picture will suck no matter what video card you add.

 

no,
"DisplayPort can be used to transmit audio and video simultaneously..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort

 

Must be the newer version. Can't wait to see what's possible next with thunderbolt and usb. They really need to create a single standard plug that can do just about anything imaginable with home electronics. Some are already suggesting replacing the standard wall power outlets with usb that can transmit data and produce 90w but, I'd imagine that would take at least another ten or twenty years to settle on a new standard.