JeffC Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 had my computer for years must be 7/8 years at least its a dell dimension 9200 whatever one of those is and although it works ok it keeps freezing and sometimes when im on the net the pages gets corrupted with outlook express , so I think its time I invested in a new one, as you know i havnt a clue on these things so will require pointing in the right direction as the technical jargon doesnt mean a thing to me quite surprised how cheap they are to buy so looking at somewhere like here what would you recommend, other than the net and uploading my wesite and bookwork (excell) i dont really do anything else on a computer wouldnt mind a better monitor while im on, business will be footing the bill but dont want to go overboard spending http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk....ia.html Quote
John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 If a PC keeps freezing, buying a new one is not really the most cost effective answer. Cleaning up the old one or re-installing the software is where I would begin unless you really want a new one? Quote
JeffC Posted October 5, 2011 Author Posted October 5, 2011 If a PC keeps freezing, buying a new one is not really the most cost effective answer. Cleaning up the old one or re-installing the software is where I would begin unless you really want a new one? Pete has wiped this one about 3 times now John and it is ok once he has done it but I just thought that technology might have moved on in the last 8 years or so since i got this one and should maybe invest in a better machine Quote
JeffC Posted October 5, 2011 Author Posted October 5, 2011 quick look on google this is what i have now which might as well be in chinese for what i understand of it Manuals Back to Contents Page Specifications Dell™ Dimension™ 9200 Service Manual Processor Processor type Intel® Pentium® 4 Intel® Pentium® D Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Level 2 (L2) Cache at least 2 MB on Intel Pentium D, Pentium 4, and Core processors Memory Type dual-channel 533-, 667-, and 800-MHz DDR2 Memory connectors four Memory capacities 512 MB or 1 GB Maximum memory 4 GB BIOS address F0000h Computer Information Chipset Intel P965 Express Chipset DMA channels eight Interrupt levels 24 BIOS chip (NVRAM) 4 MB NIC Integrated Intel 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection System clock 800- or 1066-MHz data rate (depending on your processor) Video Type PCI Express Audio Type Sigmatel 9227 audio codec Internal 7.1 channel or PCI option cards Expansion Bus Bus type PCI 32-bit (PCI Specification 2.2) PCI Express x1, x4, and x16 (PCI express 1.1a) Bus speed PCI: 33 MHz PCI Express:100 MHz Bus throughput PCI Express: x1 slot bidirectional speed - 500 MB/s x4 slot bidirectional speed - 2 GB/s x16 slot bidirectional speed - 8 GB/s PCI connectors three connector size 120 pins connector data width (maximum) 32 bits PCI Express (x1) connector one x1 connector size 36 pins connector data width (maximum) 1 PCI Express lane PCI Express (x4) connector one x4 (x8 connector wired as x4 electrically) connector size 98 pins connector data width (maximum) 4 PCI Express lanes PCI Express (x16) connector one x16 connector size 164 pins connector data width (maximum) 16 PCI Express lanes Drives Externally accessible: two 3.5-inch drive bays (FlexBay) two 5.25-inch drive bays Available devices serial ATA drives, floppy drive, Media Card Reader, DVD drive, and DVD/CD-RW combo drive Internally accessible: two 3.5-inch hard-drive bays Connectors External connectors: Video (external card) 15-pin VGA connector 28-pin DVI connector Network adapter RJ-45 connector USB two front-panel, six back-panel, and two internal USB 2.0-compliant connectors. Audio seven back-panel connectors for line-in, line-out, microphone, rear surround, side surround, center/subwoofer Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel, and S/PDIF; two front-panel connectors for headphones/microphone System board connectors: Serial ATA six 7-pin connectors FlexBay Drive USB 9-pin header for optional Media Card Reader (3.5-inch bay devices) Fan 5-pin connectors PCI three 120-pin connectors PCI Express x1 36-pin connector PCI Express x4 /x8 98-pin connector PCI Express x16 164-pin connector Thermal sensor 1x2 2-pin connector PS/2 and serial port connector 2x12 24-pin connector Floppy 33-pin connector Controls and Lights Power control push button Power light green light — Blinking green in sleep state; solid green for power-on state. amber light — Blinking amber indicates a problem with the power supply inside the computer. If the system cannot boot and there is a solid amber light, this indicates a problem with the system board (see Power Lights). Hard-drive access light green Link integrity light (on integrated network adapter) green light — A good connection exists between a 10-Mbps network and the computer. orange light — A good connection exists between a 100-Mbps network and the computer. off (no light) — The computer is not detecting a physical connection to the network. Activity light (on integrated network adapter) yellow light — Blinking indicates activity on the network. Diagnostic lights four lights on the front panel (see Diagnostic Lights) Standby power light AUXPWR on the system board Power DC power supply: Wattage 375 W Heat dissipation 1280 BTU/hr Note: Heat dissapation is calculated based upon the power supply wattage rating. Voltage (see the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide for important voltage setting information) 90 to 135 V and 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz Backup battery 3-V CR2032 lithium coin cell Physical Height 46.05 cm (18.13 in) Width 18.75 cm (7.38 in) Depth 45.42 cm (17.88 in) Weight 12.7 kg (28 lb) Environmental Temperature: Operating 10° to 35°C (50° to 95°F) Storage –40° to 65°C (–40° to 149°F) Relative humidity 20% to 80% (noncondensing) Maximum vibration: Operating 0.25 G at 3 to 200 Hz at 0.5 octave/min Storage 0.5 G at 3 to 200 Hz at 1 octave/min Maximum shock: Operating bottom half-sine pulse with a change in velocity of 20 inches/sec (50.8 cm/sec) Storage 27-G faired square wave with a velocity change of 200 inches/sec (508 cm/sec) Altitude: Operating –15.2 to 3048 m (–50 to 10,000 ft) Storage –15.2 to 10,668 m (–50 to 35,000 ft) Quote
John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Okey dokey. No point in getting carried away though with spending big. The cheapest one on your link looks OK to me but probably doesnt include a monitor Quote
peterg Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 If it's 7/8 years old then getting a new cheap one will be a good solution and you can load the applications on it as a clean install which will(should) resolve any problems accrued over the years... this would be my choice of the PC World machines for £330 and you could either get the bundled monitor which adds £120 to the cost or this is a good 19" monitor for just £64 Quote
Dibby Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 If you're going for a desktop, a Core i5/ i7 based computer will probably do you well and in terms of memory, the more the merrier. Anything else is a bonus. You won' need all that processor power now but 5 years time with a new version of Windows or Windows 7 with a bazillion updates it will feel less creaky. Memory and hard drive space has never been cheaper and dead simple to upgrade in the future if you run out of power and space. PC World is your mass-market PC shop and may not get you as good a deal as getting someone to build one up from scratch, but it's a lot easier to warranty anything that goes wrong. Just don't fall for their upselling of bumph you don't need, like antivirus for only £30, overpriced cables and bundles. Antivirus is free, cables are cheap elsewhere. TBH I'd go to Dell online and buy whatever's in your budget off them without having to understand the numbers, it'll be a decent deal, they'll give you decent aftersales support Quote
bobsy Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 My computer knowledge is pretty poor, and in fairness if you've had the same computer for that long it's clearly not you're uppermost interest. I usually buy from Dell, they really are just plug and play. I know people slate Dell, but they really have been 100% with me. Dell has a funny pricing system, you pick what you want, then it asks for more money than it was, it's pretty strange, and obviously people don't like it. However, if you pick a tower that is more expensive/better than you need, you still get a better deal than if you bought the cheapest one and brought the spec up to that level. The last tower i bough was from ebuyer, a friend set it up once I'd got it. apparently it's pretty good, and a bargain, well it works and does what's needed anyway. 2Fwww.ebuyer.com%2Fproduct%2F251310&h=RAQDtgRtu If that link doesn't work, then you'll realise how little I do know Ok, link doesn't work, now there's a supprise Stiil, people who used to build their own now buy from here due to them being as cheap as you can buy the bits. Quote
Captain Colonial Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Another vote for Dell. I've got something even older, a Dimension 8300. The only thing that has failed was the video card, which was outdated anyway and a doddle to change. Apart from that, nothing (touch wood) has gone wrong. The original keyboard still works great, good housekeeping on the software means it runs fine, and it outlived the expensive Illyama monitor by two years (got a Dell 24" widescreen for £170 which is superb). What I like about Dell stuff is the guts of it are so easy to work on when you need to. A clamshell case that opens easily, cards that click into place without screws, extra slots with extra easy mount clips for future expansion, just a doddle to service and expand in future. Put in a new 1TB HDD when my old 120Gb HDD was full, couldn't have been easier. A lot of what people think is their machine getting old is actually software loaded at start up dragging down the memory. This comes from progressive adding software over the years, which soon starts arguing with each other for resources. I recommend the free Glarysoft Quick Startup which allows you to disable lots of crap stuff running in the background at system start up (HP printer software, QuickTime, Adobe and others are notorious for loading at start up, and before you know it, it takes ten minutes just to start your computer). Give that a go and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Quote
Dibby Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Another one for the cleanup is Piniform's CCleaner on free download for home use. Although, I tend to find these cleaners are oif limited value because the cycle of endless updates from Windows and the other prorams, installing and uninstalling stuff leaving residual bumph in the background bogs a system down and it's not as effective as wiping Windows off and starting again - a good idea to do once a year if you want to keep your PC in tip-top condition ... Windows is a bit like the oil in your Westie! Out with the bad oil, in with the good oil, you don't try to 'clean' your oil once a month, you replace it every year. Quote
JeffC Posted October 5, 2011 Author Posted October 5, 2011 what the score with monitors then, got a Hp 20" at the mo noticed they do led backlit monitors, are these likely to give you a headache after looking at them for a while Quote
Captain Colonial Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Another one for the cleanup is Piniform's CCleaner on free download for home use. Although, I tend to find these cleaners are oif limited value because the cycle of endless updates from Windows and the other prorams, installing and uninstalling stuff leaving residual bumph in the background bogs a system down and it's not as effective as wiping Windows off and starting again - a good idea to do once a year if you want to keep your PC in tip-top condition ... Windows is a bit like the oil in your Westie! Out with the bad oil, in with the good oil, you don't try to 'clean' your oil once a month, you replace it every year. Agreed Dibby, use CCleaner as well myself, very effective at tidying up Windows Registry. Quote
SootySport Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 If you can stretch to a Mac you wont be dissapointed, they last for years, are fast and don't keep asking "Are You Sure" Mini Mac is no frills takes up no space and you can use a TV as a monitor. Quote
Captain Colonial Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 what the score with monitors then, got a Hp 20" at the mo noticed they do led backlit monitors, are these likely to give you a headache after looking at them for a while Is your current one a CRT then? The backlit LED ones are, for me anyway, less stressful than a CRT one by a long way, and no heat generation either. Certainly with a good one, a better image and sharper resolution than CRT too. Make sure you don't go the old-fashioned VGA connection route, though. Quote
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