Houndy may need a new computer, darn it, come and suggest things to her :3

[Houndoom_Lover]

That long ass titles says it all. My computers under some serious deress, and it may be a hardware problem. And as this is the third time somethings wonky happened to it. I need new computer suggestions to narrow the search down...Also, here are some key notes.

-I want a desktop
-I need to beable to download ye old Word with the tan background on it.
-And have enough memory for for me to use artsy software like GIMP, ACID...um, yeah.
-And have internet capablilities (They all do now'er days right, wheee!)


That's it. Fire away :3

[Master Rudy]

I've been searching for a computer myself. While I'm still a ways off from actually getting one I would recommend checking out the HP Pavilion P6130Y. In short it's pretty much a more modern update to the HP computers that came with Win XP Media Center 2005. Key features are:

-8 Gigs of RAM out of the box (expandable to a max of 16)
-750 GB hard drive
-AMD Phenom Quad Core processor
-A free upgrade from Vista Premium to Windows 7 if purchased before 1/31/10

It comes with Vista out of the box but you should be able to get the updrage to 7 once that's on on October 22nd. As a matter of fact that free upgrade should be on almost any new computer you buy before that date provided it originally had Vista. Depending on the store and the make of the computer you may either get an upgrade disc or a product key for a download. As for the paticular computer I've suggested I don't quite know how that compares to the specs on your current one. However all in all it should be a fairly good choice for nearly anyone. It comes with a quad core processor and 8 gigs of RAM out of the box. In laymans terms memory should be far from an issue. I'd imagine it'd have Microsoft Word as well. It's very rare that I see a computer without it. The only real issue I see with this paticular HP is the fact that it's got an intergrated graphics chip. Provided you aren't looking to play WoW, Aion, Fallout 3, ect that really shouldn't be an issue either. The old A1130N that I use to share with Brandy/Asi when we were still living together had a Radeon X200 as it's intergrated chip. Now I have no clue about the programs you use but here's a quick rundown of what ran ok on that chip and what I had problems with. It ran WoW fairly decently outside of major cities. My average framerate was about 25 FPS on high graphic settings (it wouldn't let me pick ultra on that chip). 25 FPS isn't exactly great but it's also not bad. Most older games (such as Morrowind) ran wonderfully on it. Games such as Oblivion however had serious slowdown issues on even the lowest settings. Video on various websites such as Hulu and You Tube was also fairly smooth. I also occassionally used things like Windows Movie Maker quite a bit. Personally I don't know if that chip was capable of running the desktop in an HD resolution due to the fact that the monitor that was hooked up to it was a plug and play standard res monitor. As a result the option wasn't there.

Now mind you we're talking about a computer from five years ago. I'm sure this newer model has better than an X200. I'm mainly just trying to give you an idea of how the intergrated chip ran to give you an idea of where you could potentially see problems pop up. This paticular model HP runs for about $629 at Best Buy but I have seen them sell it on special for $579 before. Overall I really can't see you going wrong on this one. The only real problem would of course be the intergrated graphics/video chip. Personally if I were you I'd spend an extra $60-100 to get a halfway decent video card to put into it especially if your looking to use an HD monitor with the computer.

[Houndoom_Lover]

The only game I may play on it'll be DC Universe, but I could always get a computer solely for game playing in the future, right now, I just need a work computer. ^w^

Oh! I didn't think about Movie Maker, I use that sucker often. That's good that it works.

Hhm, if I bought this one, I'd have to invest in a card. Since my monitoer is HD...but that's not to bad. This one looks really nice, actually, and the free upgrade to the new Windows is a plus. It's a cryin' shame I love XP so much >w> I hope Windows 7'll be more like that.

Thank you so much, Rudy, you're like tied with Jesus on the rank of super mega awesome right now. I'm gunna have to see about this indeed...

JHow are you on your computer quest :3? You've made me curious

[Master Rudy]

The only game I may play on it'll be DC Universe, but I could always get a computer solely for game playing in the future, right now, I just need a work computer. ^w^

Oh! I didn't think about Movie Maker, I use that sucker often. That's good that it works.

Hhm, if I bought this one, I'd have to invest in a card. Since my monitoer is HD...but that's not to bad. This one looks really nice, actually, and the free upgrade to the new Windows is a plus. It's a cryin' shame I love XP so much >w> I hope Windows 7'll be more like that.

Thank you so much, Ruby, you're like tied with Jesus on the rank of super mega awesome right now. I'm gunna have to see about this indeed...

JHow are you on your computer quest :3? You've made me curious

Not doing so well. I was recently promised a job at a place that just opened but the lying sack of shit dodged me for two weeks and strung me along until I finally managed to get ahold of the asst. manager who said all the hiring was done. Computer wise I know what I want but I can't get it without money you know?

As for the Win7 Upgrade from my understanding of what the open beta testers have been saying it's kinda like 95->98 years ago. It has the look of Vista but overall it's much improved. Kinda like how 98 was to 95 about 10 years ago.

Oh and Blade if you value life and the ability to draw another breath you will not call me that......

[Blademaster]

>Ruby

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

That is now officially your new name.

[Houndoom_Lover]

Darn you, Dave! You made me hafta sign in and fix my slightly dislexic mistake! *flips the B around*

Hahaha, aw I see. The jerks, you should light their garbage on fire. I hope you get enough money. What are your eyes oogling on?

Hhmrhm! I rather like the sounds of Windows7 though I wish they had stuck to the old windows XP design.

[Telume]

When in doubt... customize

[Master Rudy]

When in doubt... customize

There's always this if you don't care for the look of 7/Vista. I've had various XP computers skinned to look like Vista. Aside from little things here and there as well as the stuff XP can't replicate it looked pretty good. Right now I'm using a custom XP skin, Vista's sound pack and 7 Beta's icon set along with a wallpaper changer that cycles every two hours. It looks pretty good. Shame I can't show you guys a pic of it however (the lack of Paint is a pain in the ass). I know that on some websites I've seen theme/skin packs to make Vista look almost exactly like XP. Just be sure you know what your doing first. If you mod the wrong files you could potentially be looking at a reinstall.

EDIT-And speaking of Macs I've actually got one that makes Windows look 100% like OS X in one of the skin packs I have. Nearly wanted to throw up when I saw it X_X

[Houndoom_Lover]

...And speaking of Macs I've actually got one that makes Windows look 100% like OS X in one of the skin packs I have. Nearly wanted to throw up when I saw it X_X

That made me laugh, that did. Gave me a great mental image.


Hrhm, I'm gunna hafta get it mailed to me. Will any Windows Intaller Disk Work? I foolishly left my at home >w> Fail.

Thanks all over you ^_^ I seriously post here with more problems then anyone here, gward.

[Houndoom_Lover]

^w^ I will! You can still do that, right? The whole roundedness is upseeting to me for some reason. It's really Mac like and it throws me off.

I was taught on a Mac when I was a child :3 They may make me nervous

[Telume]

I was taught on Mac + Windows, so I'm familiar with both, it depends on your taste of OS, if I had to go with one though I'd go with Mac though.

Though this is probably me just being biased, I never really liked Windows.

[kainashi]

I was taught on Mac + Windows, so I'm familiar with both, it depends on your taste of OS, if I had to go with one though I'd go with Mac though.

Though this is probably me just being biased, I never really liked Windows.

you get more with a pc for the same price as a basic mac.

[Houndoom_Lover]

I'll prolly end up costomizing my new one if and when I get it.

The other day, like two days ago, my internet finally connected, so I downloaded Malwarebytes and it took off the little destructo-cons. Or so I thought, just last night, I tried to restore my computer to Step. 1st and when if finished (Restoration Incomplete) horrible things happened. And now I can't even turn it on without it bugging out.

>w< I'm scared.

[kainashi]

what happened exactly?

[Houndoom_Lover]

Well, about the week when school started, I got malicious software dsomehow >w> And it ravaged my computer nicely but I could still open word, GIMP, and use Skpye for some reason (I couldn't use measanger or IE) so I called the Tech people repeatively and they finally sent some one three/two weeks ago, and then he came and fixed something- not the main problem at all @w@ He fixed my flashdrive ports but not the problem

and I didn't want to call back and seem nubbish so I just copped.

But two days ago, my windows measanger connected before my very eyes so I tried the Internet, and it worked! I downloaded Malwarebyte and had 63 infections and then I fixed the shitty virus stopper the school makes us use and when on my merry way.

But last night it was being weird, so I tried to restore it. The restoration failed and as soon as it rebooted up, a horrible fakey Secuirity thing poped up, turned my desktop an awful blue colour and wouldn't let me open anything >w>

So its off now, because I'm scared. Hepls

[Telume]

That's a virus, it might be a Conflicker. I had the virus too and its REAL hard to dislodge. Did it disable your Windows Update?

[Houndoom_Lover]

I'm unsure- Prolly >w> It prolly did. I don't recall seeing Windows Updates since this started, now that you mentioned it. Or my sweet updated news side bar >w>

How did you end up shaking it off? Conflicker. That a horrible name for something.

[Telume]

The ONLY way to shake it off is unfortunately to reformat. I haven't yet heard of anyone who shook it off manually.

There are tools but you'd have to know how to work them. And since you seem to have a very limited knowledge of computers (no offense) I don't think that would be possible for you. X_x

[Houndoom_Lover]

No offense taken :3

>w< And everytime I call the Tech people they act like I should know exactly what I'm talking about. It's...upsetting. So, what should I do. Reformat, then? How would I go about doing such a thing?

[kainashi]

you need the windows install disc. you boot from it and go from there.

[Telume]

Pretty much what kainashi said.

[kainashi]

any windows cd would work but it's best to use the one you want to install (i assume xp/vista?).

[Houndoom_Lover]

I have an XP, so it should be an XP? ^_^ I bet I could find one on campus! That's great...thank you.

[Jeff]

Well, you're giving your computer a fresh start. All your files, programs, and even Windows itself will be wiped out (so back up your files first!). So, you can install whichever version of Windows you want. If you were to go with Vista or Win7, you'd have to make sure that your computer would be able to handle it. If you don't want to mess with that, then yeah, just go with XP, since you know your computer can run that.

[Houndoom_Lover]

I just had it whiped a before going to school -_- So I don't have much on there, I made sure I didn't. And everything else, as you say, I had backup :3 'cause everyone needs backup. It's in the mannual

Buzz Lightyear quote that.

Um, yeah. And I can always upgrade it later

[Master Rudy]

Hey Houndy I don't know if you managed to get the old computer working yet or are still in the market but here's a bit of news for you. That HP Pavilion P6130Y has been dropped by Best Buy. In it's place they started to carry the P6230Y. It's pretty much the same damn thing but the major difference is Win7 is preloaded. Only real issue however is that as a result HP is gonna milk you for an extra $50. This bumps the price up to $679. If a local BB still has the old one it's possible you may still be able to get that at the old price. Just be aware that you'd need to load up Win7 yourself. Also don't forget that if it's bought after 1/31/10 that you'll also have to pay for the upgrade. As a result depending on what you can afford to spend as well as when you'll actually be able to get it you may just be better off with the new model.

As an extra bonus BB is current doing a special where you can get a brand new 20" HD LCD monitor with it. Just click here to view the full package that they have. At regular price it's $159 so if you've got the extra to spend it may be another thing to look into ^_~