Buying a PC

So a good friend of mine recently asked for good brands to buy a new PC.

I didn't tell him at the time (tho he'll know now) that I bristled at the thought of buying a new computer. What I mean is, buying a machine already pre built by a company like Dell, Acer, HP, Fujitsu, etc. I'm not saying that they don't work but I am saying this about prebuilt machines:

• You are forced to choose the parts that they provide to you and the boxes are tough to upgrade. Don't need that 6GB of RAM for an additional $120, or that 2nd Disc drive for an extra $30? Too bad, it's part of the package. If there's a cheaper 3D card out there that you'd rather have, you gotta stick to whatever they give you. Also, that tiny box might not fit that new 3d card you want to upgrade, or that motherboard might not support a faster processor when it comes out, leaving you in the lurch.
  
• They build in the cost of labor and services and warranties that you might not need. Sure, it might seem nice that they threw in the 1 year service warranty, but they take it out by adding the cost of that warranty and the labor to put your machine together in the total price of the machine. Generally, and I do mean this generally, 20-30% of the cost of a pre built machine is labor alone (wholesale prices for parts aside).
  
• Their tech support sucks. You know something is fishy when Leonard from Missouri speaks like he just spent all of five minutes learning English. And I'm not criticizing or being prejudice about this either. A lot of those call centers do not have the abilty to really help customers out by expediting the process, or giving actual tech help over the phone. They're just there to process the warranties if they are deemed worth it. (Funny story: in college I worked at a helpdesk and whenever we called in machines, oftentimes they tech supports would ask our Indian ITs for scores of the cricket match of the day, as they were not able to do that at their call centers)

Bottom line is, you're often paying extra for what "they" think you need. There are some benefits to this though.

• They *think* they know what you need, and for the most part, are pretty close. Most of you (and some of my friends) are not hardcore computer gamers, so you don't need the fastest 3d card out there, or the fastest memory and cpu chip to burn through your game. Your dual core machine will do just fine chatting on Gtalk, checking email, opening Word documents, and watching Youtube clips all at the same time without any problems. So these companies will aim for system specifications that will satisfy the customer without breaking the bank: solid systems that will do what most people need it to do.
  
• I (and others like me) are not your personal IT (Jean I am looking at you). Because you paid for their services, they will help you fix your problems, even if it means sending you new computer parts to replace the broken ones. You've already paid for it after all in the initial cost. Furthermore:
  
• You do not care how computers work, you do not want to know, and for the most part, you don't need to know. I compare this to a car: most people do not want to know how a car works, they just want it to work. But others like me are curious and we take a much more hands on approach. This takes the worry off of your hands. Pick what you like, and they'll put it together for you so all you need to do is plug it in and turn it on.

That's all and good, you say, so what or where should I look for my next pc?

I must admit, I have trouble at this myself. Partially because I build all my computers by hand, so I pick the components up for cheap from the internet and put the thing together myself. However, I had to find a pre built one for my girlfriend, as I did not have the time to put one together for her. Luckily we found a sweet deal for a Dell machine, one that had everything she needed, except for a 3d card which I bought and jammed in their to make it an even sweeter machine. There's no shame if you buy a mostly prebuilt machine for dirt cheap and just change a few things to make it even better ^_^.

If you are looking for decent packaged machines, I have very limited experience, but I can make my recommendations.

• If you want a Mac, stop reading this article and go get one from Apple. You'll be overpaying of course, but we can't stop you there if you're hell bent on conformity.
• If you want just the cheapest system possible with limited support when the parts fry, go Dell. Really? Dell you say? Yes. If you shop Buxr.com or Dealhack.com, there are discounts and specials run by Dell all the time for a decently spec'd system. You can read reviews on their systems frequently on cnet.com and other sites to make sure you're getting good value and reliability. However, I'd like to point out that they recently recieved the lowest score out of all the major computer companies for tech support, so your mileage may vary.
• I like Gateway. REALLY?! WTF? Gateway?!?! Yes, and calm the hell down. We all know Gateway was awful back in the day. They were so awful they were actually put out of their misery by Acer, who bought the brand and basically made everything a hellua lot better. Their systems are pretty good, due to the fact that Acer has been around for a very long time in the background before they started to take over companies like Packard Bell. Acer is actually now the 3rd largest in computer desktop sales after Dell and HP. AND their tech support isn't half bad.
• I don't know how I feel about HP. They make printers, yes, but PCs? I unno, my Uncle works for them, and he owned a Sony Vaio, so...... O_o
• Oh and on that same topic, Sony can kiss my ass. I got screwed over a while back trying to buy an lcd when this girl sold me a Sony Vaio one that had a proprietary video cable....WTF.

Dual Core vs. Quad Core: Is four better than two? Not always. Would you really want four ears?

This topic made me want to slap someone in the face until I could see my prints on their skin. For those of you of the less technical world, you might remember the dark days when most computers had one CPU where all of the computer's thinking was handled. Then came dual core, where your machine thinking was handled by two brains. Then quad core. Now there are FOUR brains running your system. That's good right? Not necessarily. With two cores, it meant the two brains could share work easily. I get one piece, you get the other. Things get more complicated with four cores. Coordinating between four different brains requires applications to be developed with four cores in mind. Most applications aren't being programmed to take advantage of four cores yet. In addition, most people would not be taxing the system enough to merit four cores. Does your computer really run THAT slowly? Odds are, you probably have a virus hogging up most of the resources.

But what about buying a quad core now to prepare for the future?

This is about when I resume my slapping. Why would I get a quad core now for something to happen in the future? Why should I bother paying a premium for my quad core now only to really take advantage of it in a year or two? By then, even faster quad cores would be out, and my quad core would be even cheaper! So no, those of you who are thinking like this, someone needs to rub your face into your monitor and go "NO."

If you bought your quad core for $200 now and in two years show me an app that takes advantage of quad core, I will go out and buy an even faster quad core than yours for half the price you paid. In the mean time, I would be sitting pretty with a cheaper and just as fast dual core, possibly even faster per core than your four.

So there you have it. I got some steam off my chest, and you just got smarter and an entertaining read. For those of you who are reading this for my traveling advice, I am planning on trying to take a plane back and forth a weekend from DC to NYC and back for $130 round trip. Will I make it? We'll find out soon! In the mean time, stay smart and stay cheap.

Requested: External Hard Drives for Dummies

Sorry for my delay in posting. My work has been picking up, and I've basically have been sorta running the show on my project...regardless, I'm back and I'm going through some requests that I've missed...Jean I'm looking at you.

(If anyone is ever looking for some great advice on places to go in NYC that aren't touristy but trendy, check out my friend Jean's blog.)

Alright, here we go.

Hard Drives: The Never-Ending Battle of Storage Space

As with a lot of things on computers, there is a constant need for more. More memory so our programs can load faster, more screen size and resolution to see more stuff on our desktop, more graphics power for our games, more processing power for all the stuff we do on our computers....including games, and more hard drive space to store all of our photos, documents, video, music...and games...

Ugh, I'm such an old man I remember when hard drives were listed in megabytes, and not gigs. The value of hard drives were measured in terms of $$$ per gig. I remember when it was above a dollar a gig. Nowadays, internal SATA hard drives go for less than 10 cents a gig. External hard drives are hovering at just over a dime. Prices continue to drop. Had I made a recommendation before Christmas (like Jean asked me) it would actually be more expensive than it is now by a little bit. In addition, a few months from now, prices will change, and probably for the cheaper. As companies figure out how to cram more space into a hard drive and parts and manufacturing becomes cheaper the price will continue to go down, benefitting the consumer.

So What Should I Look For?
Since prices are constantly in fluctuation, there are some basic things to look for in a hard drive.

External vs. Internal vs. Make your own external
Back in the day, the cost between an Internal Hard Drive and an External Hard Drive were fairly significant. My 120 gb external cost me $150 bucks, while a 120gb internal hovered at around 120. Nowadays the cost between them aren't as bad. This is very helpful for those of you who: A. Don't know how to swap your hard drives in your computer, or B. Have a laptop or want to keep the drive somewhere away from your machine.

In addition, you can purchase enclosures and internal hard drives and combine them together. You can get them in desktop hard drive or laptop drive sizes (3.5 inch vs. 2.5 inch) I know people that keep literal stacks of hard drives, have an enclosure that they plug the hard drive into whenever they need it and store the drive away until they need it again. Probably too geeky for most of you.

Hard Drive Brand
Throughout my geekhood, I have run across die hard fans of certain brands of hard drives. (The fact that there are hard drive fan boys and the fact that they are friends of mine is a scary thought but I digress) Much like my tv recommendation, brands don't matter as much as specific models. In general, I would stick to major names like Maxtor, Western Digital, Hitachi, Samsung, and Seagate. Even then, do check the internet over the model you want to buy. Issues crop up here and there for certain models, like Seagate's Barracuda or Western Digital's 500gb MyBook. Or if we want to keep on this train there's also issues with Maxtor's MaxLine Pro 500 gb. They also don't call Hitachi's Deskstar drives failstars for no reason either. You could try other companies like Fantom too. The bottom line is: Do your research. If there are known issues, they will be obvious online when you type in your model number. If random people bitch about it here and there they might just have isolated issues. But if you see the words well known or widely reported, buyer beware.

Cost

At this point and time, I think the sweet spot for external hard drives is roughly 1Tb for less than $100 bucks. You can pay a little extra for more features, but if you just want simple drive that turns on and off and lets you put stuff on it, anything around $100 is a good deal.

Backing up your system

Some people like to have little things like backup systems built into the external hard drive that automatically back up your stuff. While some work ok like Maxtor's OneTouch for the most part I honestly don't recommend those as they usually require installing some special app that takes up resources or require the use of that app to restore the system. Me personally, I drag and drop all my important files in My Documents (pictures, paperwork, music, video) and Program Files (saved games, configuration files, etc).

While there are tons of different apps for pc, my friend requested help for Mac, which makes the choice easier: most external hard drives don't come with apple-compatible software for backing up, or the programs are crap compared to the ones out there, namely Super Duper and Time Machine. Super Duper is an extra $27, while Time Machine is built in.

For those of you with Macs, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you guys use either one, preferrably Super Duper, which keeps a bootable copy of your ENTIRE system on whatever backup drive you want, which will let you instantly boot up your hard drive on a different machine if your old one kicks the bucket. Time Machine requires the OS install cd and needs to restore itself to a new machine before you can use it. That isn't to say that Time Machine is useless, since it keeps incremental versions of your system, which allows you to find that word doc you deleted yesterday, or even those photos from a few days before. For a better breakdown, check out Shawn Blanc's article on Bulletproof Backups. If you are a geek on a budget though, you can either go it alone, or try out Carbon Copy Cloner, which I have heard is a great alternative if you want something better than Time Machine with the flexibility of Super Duper.

Beyond backup apps, there really aren't too much in terms of raw features for external storage. Security might be an issue, but I would be more concerned about physical security (aka locking it up) than connection security. You could look at something like Maxtor's Black Armor, but if you need that much security, I wouldn't look at this article.

Firewire might be important if you need a dedicated connection for something, or maybe an ethernet connected one so you can share on a network. But those don't come cheap.

Recommendations

So what do I recommend? For barebones and cheapness, I recommend the Seagate FreeAgent 1.5 TB for $130. If you need that security, there's the BlackArmor 320gb for $80. If you need portability, the Western Digital Passports aren't that bad either. Finally, Fantom has a 1TB for just over $100, and the reviews aren't bad at all. Always check prices and reviews. If you need to know the very cheapest hard drive price at any time, you could use pricewatch.com to get a baseline before you start shopping. Remember, always check reviews for the model you're going to buy.

Again, with backups, pc-wise you'll have to look for them because I don't use them. Mac wise it's simpler: Time Machine, but Super Duper if you can muster it, or Carbon Copy if you're cheap.

Next article will be on gaming, since every spare minute I have I spend on that. I haven't bought a new game in a while, but I have amassed a freakin' collection now. Again, if you have a request, just drop a comment or email. Geek smart and geek cheap.

Requested: Wireless Headphones: Freedom for a Price

I had been trying to put this up for a while, but December-January was a bit of a break from work for me. I got a good amount of extra work done that I had been meaning to get around to, in addition to selling some old games and beating older ones (damn you FFVII). Anyway, I digress.

I promised someone I would do some research on wireless headphones, just to do a bit of webcrawling for fun. However, I realized some things:

-Wireless headphones are a mixed bag for me. I am a cheap person; wireless headphones are generally not as inexpensive as their corded counterparts due to the cost of adding the wireless component.
-However, I am also a lazy person: walking around my house and listening to my music on my computer (not mp3 player) without cables is nice, and also blaring it without bugging my roommates at 3am is great also.
-But in the end, quality wins: wireless headphones sound quality isn't as good as corded headphones due to signal interference.

I noticed my parents had two of them when I came home for the holidays: dad watches his action movies at night without waking my mom and mom can watch her chinese/korean/american dramas without waking my dad or forcing him to watch said drama.

They got these: Sony-MDR-RF960RK-Wireless-Headphones

They're not bad, but I still wasn't impressed and thought they could get better. I think they got these as a gift from my uncle tho, so I can't blame them. And the reviews look okay on Amazon too. But here are some things to look for if you're shopping around for these:

Brand. Any audiophile will tell you the brands that are the best and those same brands apply here: Sennheiser hands down offers the best quality, but Sony puts out many decent headphones as well. Buyer beware though with Sony: they have many models that range from suck to great so look up your specific model carefully.

Infrared, Radio Frequency, or Bluetooth? There are different ways to transmit audiot wirelessly:

-Radio Frequency uses radio waves to transmit to your headset, allowing you to wander up to 100 meters away from the base unit. The downside is that the signal is easily interfered with by cell phones, microwaves, tv signals, and wireless routers. Good headphones will scan different frequencies to find the best channel to transmit with as little interference as possible however.
-Infrared are good for movie viewing or laying in bed. These require a direct sight to the infrared transmitter in order for them to work, but they provide less interference compared to radio frequency headphones.
-Bluetooth seem to be the most varied and work with things from computers to cell phones and have a very high quality output, but you can't use them for a theatre set up, for example.

Use: Are you using it for a movie setup, bedtime, wandering the house, or wandering in general? Bluetooth can be used with any bluetooth enabled device, but you can't easily set it to work with your tv. RF headphones will let you walk around the house, and IR is good if you use them in one specific spot with one specific device and offer a clearer sound. Also, if you buy bluetooth, make sure that the thing you want to use it with is compatible with the headphones. Some headphone makers have headphones that will only work with certain ipods for example.

Price: Adding features such as audio-canceling will also jack up the price like mad. In addition, Infred is usually more expensive than RF.

The safest bet looks to be the Sennheiser RS120 for about $80, RS130 for about $120, or RS140 for about $190 based on your price range. Again, make sure you distinguish between RF and IR, I think these are all RF and I would vote for that only because I could walk around with them on, but be aware that RF gets hissing sounds in moments of silence due to interference.

Headphones are one of the things you can't skip on for good quality sound. You can pretty much buy the crappiest mp3 player out on the market and if you pick up a good set of headphones it'll sound amazing.

Which is why I'll stick to corded headphones, thank you very much. Stay smart, stay cheap.