I am considering getting a new computer. But I need advice. Every computer I've
owned has been problematic in running smoothly because the hardware has
been underpowered relative to the requirements of the software I've tried to run.

I've certainly learned that systems off the shelf are often underpowered in
terms of the amount of RAM they come with.

So here are some questions: what's a good new machine (in terms of hardware) for Internet browsing where you may have, say, a dozen windows open at a time? A related question is this - what hardware configuration does it take to have Windows Vista run
well? How well does the search capability in Windows Vista work?

I have Windows XP Home edition on a Pentium IV 1.3 GHz 384 Meg RDRAM and it
gets sluggish when I have too many tasks running simultaneously. Also, searching
tends to take far too much time.

Pretty broad questions I realise. Any and all help sincerely appreciated.

JAJansenJr
JAJansenJr@gmail.com

to make it simple try to ask the hw vendor the right configuration for what you wan't.

but from my experience:
- xp pro sp2, (wait for vista after 2 years old for stability and support)
- dual core or equal processor (pentium E class).
- ram ddr2 800 with at least 1 gb, ecc/buffered preferred.
- vga pci-e with at least 128 bit transfer.
- mb with at least 800 fsb...
- casing with good cooling system.
- stable psu (class like enlight brand)

>mb with at least 800 fsb

I could understand nearly all of your recommendations but what is the meaning of mb and fsb?

JAJansenJr
JAJansenJr@gmail.com

mb= mother board
fsb=front side bus --> 800 is the speed of data transfer



btw this is only a minimum requirement, better if you exceed what i mention above

i'm running vista and i love it. stable as hell, but i built my system around vista to insure support. with vista you MUST have at least 2 gigs of ram and a dedicated gpu for smooth operation.

I think the configuration posted by reedone are more than enough to support xp pro easily. they re definitely not the minimum recommended requirements. If you have what he suggested than you should fly through it just fine.

Vista does require at least 2gb ram although the recommended amount is 1gb. But i still would not recommend vista. I d rather have XP than Vista myself.

If you are buying off the shelf branded PC than you might not be able to do upgrades yourself as that might void the warranty. If you can i d say go for your own customised one which is easily upgradable by yourself.

Hope this ll help.

regards
Raj

well i put those because now that configuration is the common one today, you can have it for 200-300 bucks (70 for mb, 80 for processor, 60 for vga, 50 for enlight psu, and the rest for casing, keyboard, mouse, etc but not monitor)

I have a Toshiba A75 S2112 series laptop. Recently I have been unable to burn music, unable to save files to a disk, and cannot install program or watch DVDs on my computer no longer. I contacted technical support about my computer, and we tried to uninstall and reinstall the driver but it didn't work. they told me I had to purchase a recovery disk. However if my computer won't read other types of disks, why would it read a recovery disk? It sounds like the disk begins to spin, and then it stops. I don't want to spend $40 on a recovery CD that isn't going to work. My computer is still under warranty and I am wondering if Im better off taking it to where I bought it and having them look at it, to determine if it's a software or hardware issue. Any suggestions??

if it is still in warranty you "must" make use of the warranty

anyway, is it really hardware related or a mess up in your OS system? if it is on your OS system, the best bet is to use the recovery cd/dvd you receive when you bough the laptop.