Not sure about the protocol of this board so I'll just say hi.

Once I knew all this stuff - most people still think I do. Oh, how wrong they are!

Simply put, I'm one of the PC oldtimers - the ones who go back to when it really was just an IBM PC and we wrote our own apps in DOS and BASIC. I spent over twenty years as a developer and then support system manager. Finished running a $20M annual hardware/software planning and purchasing program. The operant word is "finished". I retired in 2001 and my expertise stops there.

What brought me here is wanting to replace my current systems and not feeling competent to do it on my own. I do not intend to hang my hopes on a support/sales operative in Pakistan or the local sisteen-year-old expert at BestBuy.

The systems I want to update and hopefully consolidate are:

1) Compaq Win2K desktop with 768 MB RAM and a 20GB HD whish is only about 3/4 full. It has a CD-RW drive and a CD/DVD read-only and accesses the internet via 56.6 modem because we live too far from anywhere for broadband; and
2) Compaq WinXP laptop with 256M RAM, 20 GB drive, read-only CD/DVD and a PCM-CIA Wi-Fi card.

That said, would someone be willing to tell me WHICH PCHelp forum(s) I SHOULD b asking my questions in?

Thanks in advance

Chuck

Welcome to PCHF.

Am moving this thread to a more appropriate forum.

ClaryCreek,

Hello and welcome to the site. If you would be so kind as to post your issue in the forum pertaining to it. This helps contain all the related issues into one centralized place and makes for an easier time for someone searching the forum to find the right thread. Thanks.

EDIT: Gandalf beat me to it

ClaryCreek, I'm sorry for this confusion. I have already moved this post for you.

I'm happy to see a fellow old timer. My first computer was a TRS-80.

1. My first question to you is what do you want to do with your NEW computer(s).

2. Are they now networked together?

3. How much can you afford to invest?

4. Ready made computers are usually less expensive.
Or would you rather build it piece by piece?

Include as much details and information as you can so we know exactly what you want.

Again my apologies for the earlier cross-communications.

No sweat, Gandalf - I've done my time as a moderator down the years. I can trump your TRS-80, BTW. My first one was a Sinclair with 2K RAM and a cassette tape drive.

QUOTE: "1. My first question to you is what do you want to do with your NEW computer(s)."

DUH! How many times have I asked that question myself, and it didn't even occur to me. Sorry.

We're really not looking for much more than we already have. The old box works OK but it won't take any more RAM and the processor is sluggish by modern standards. I've goten around it some with a large virtual memory cache but the technology is just way out of date.

I really need to move beyond Win2K but even the unsatisfactory versions of Vista are beyond this box.

We want to be able to download and store movies and miusic and I would like to store more of my photos to the hard drive instead of pushing them off to CD.

I'd also like to be able to engage in real-time online gaming if I can get broadband access at home. We both do a fair amount of correspondence and accounting work and eBay, but that's all low-footprint stuff well within the stuff we have now.

I'd like to at least look into getting some sort of laptop that can be docked to a desktop monitor, printer and other periherals to take the place of both existing units.

There are two other concerns. Most immediate is that I need to move beyond Win2K but don't know whether to go with Vista or wait for Windows7. Gods, how many times has Microsoft put us through THAT quandary over the last three decades?

The other question I have, as I said, is that we have no access out here to DSL broadband, which is the only kind I really understand, My wife is pretty set for some reason against another satellite dish. I do have a Wi-Fi card in the laptop but that does me no good out here and the laptop is by far the less capable of the two machines. I'm going to have to find some help with that, but one thing at a time.

Other answers: They're not networked and are almost never used simultaneously. I want to buy off the shelf, with a warranty. I could build it myself and have in the past, but I don't want to. From what I've seen surfing the web and Best Buy, I can afford anything I'd need and then some. Looks like a good PC and flat screen monitor should be under $1500 - no problem.

Oh, and I don't want Apple - too old a doggie for that new a trick, I guess.

Don't know how much else I should add but if anyone has an idea or question, ask away. I'll either know the answer or know that i don't.

Chuck

No sweat, Gandalf - I've done my time as a moderator down the years. I can trump your TRS-80, BTW. My first one was a Sinclair with 2K RAM and a cassette tape drive.

My TRS used a cassette tape drive also and the tape drive has a bad head. Of course back then I didn't know any better. So it would take me 30 minutes or more to load one tape. Nightmares.

To start with, while I know you have experience, do not be offended if I speak in to basic a language.

QUOTE: "1. My first question to you is what do you want to do with your NEW computer(s)."

DUH! How many times have I asked that question myself, and it didn't even occur to me. Sorry.

No problem. It just makes me look smarter.

We're really not looking for much more than we already have. The old box works OK but it won't take any more RAM and the processor is sluggish by modern standards. I've goten around it some with a large virtual memory cache but the technology is just way out of date.

You want dual core or quad (Desktop)?
You want dual core or quad (Laptop)?

I really need to move beyond Win2K but even the unsatisfactory versions of Vista are beyond this box.

We want to be able to download and store movies and miusic and I would like to store more of my photos to the hard drive instead of pushing them off to CD.

DVD RW/CD RW combo?
External HDD (what size?) to save personal files on.

I'd also like to be able to engage in real-time online gaming if I can get broadband access at home.

Check with your local ISPs. They might have plans for your area.
Where do you live? City, State

We both do a fair amount of correspondence and accounting work and eBay, but that's all low-footprint stuff well within the stuff we have now.

I'd like to at least look into getting some sort of laptop that can be docked to a desktop monitor, printer and other periherals to take the place of both existing units.

Maybe, home network the printer so both computers can us it. Or, use the Desktop to be a host server for the laptop's access to the printer. Routers are not the expensive. While modern connectors are quick disconnect, it's always better to connect and forget. You can do that with a router. Desktop, Laptop, and maybe Printer connected to a router and the router connected to a modem for internet access.

What about a new All-in-One Printer?

There are two other concerns. Most immediate is that I need to move beyond Win2K but don't know whether to go with Vista or wait for Windows7. Gods, how many times has Microsoft put us through THAT quandary over the last three decades?

Do you want to go with something like ubuntu?
Ubuntu Home Page | Ubuntu

The other question I have, as I said, is that we have no access out here to DSL broadband, which is the only kind I really understand, My wife is pretty set for some reason against another satellite dish. I do have a Wi-Fi card in the laptop but that does me no good out here and the laptop is by far the less capable of the two machines. I'm going to have to find some help with that, but one thing at a time.

Do you have COMCAST in your area?

Other answers: They're not networked and are almost never used simultaneously. I want to buy off the shelf, with a warranty. I could build it myself and have in the past, but I don't want to. From what I've seen surfing the web and Best Buy, I can afford anything I'd need and then some. Looks like a good PC and flat screen monitor should be under $1500 - no problem.

Oh, and I don't want Apple - too old a doggie for that new a trick, I guess.

OK.

I'm sure you can search the internet. If you can find a desktop/laptop that interests you, that will go a long way to getting you what you and your wife want.

If you have an question, or if I have assumed a knowledge you lack, please let me know and I'll try to break it down more.

I await your answers.