New Computer

[parrot]

My nearly 5-year old computer gave up the ghost a few days ago......as well as a 1.5yr old Samsung monitor. Since I had to go through the pain/agony of buying a new one, I thought I'd provide some feedback:
I didn't want a laptop and I wanted to limit the chances of needing to send off my computer to Bangkok for repair. A Thai friend of mine with a multitude of computers recommended the Hardware House on the second floor of the complex for a custom built machine (That's what I've done for my previous computers here, but my old shop has gone out of business). Khun Chai, at the HH, is the build-it guy, he speaks excellent English. He ran me through the options/prices for each component....the fact that he can converse easily in understandable English made the process much easier than I've experienced at other shops. The only software I asked him to install was MS 7 (an authentic version).
The machine was ready in a little over 2 hours.
The machine runs like a champ. I ended up downloading and installing Avast, Audacity, Starter, Spybot, Wordweb, Openoffice, PDF-X-change Viewer, Anki flashcards, Picasa easily in one evening (unthinkable a few years ago before ADSL came along).

My 1.5 yr Samsung (I bought at Pantip in Bangkok) went to the Samsung repair shop on Phosri Rd (across from the museum). No questions, no hassles, accepted the faulty equipment with a smile and a promise to either replace the monitor within a few days or have it speedily repaired. The verdict is still out on the final outcome, but I'm confident it'll at least be repaired.

Less than 24 hours after picking up the computer, I'm back in operation....nothing on the harddrives but MS7 and the software I've installed myself (all available free over the internet).

So far, I'm a happy customer.

[mak]

Thanks for the info. Where on the 2nd floor is HH? I'll give it a shot. My old shop has gone out of business also.

[jackspratt]

Have you confirmed your Windows is genuine?

http://www.microsoft.com/Genuine/

"Validate Windows" box.

[Bandung_Dero]

Have you confirmed your Windows is genuine?

http://www.microsoft.com/Genuine/

"Validate Windows" box.

Shlt Jack, and Parrot was having such a great day as well. You could have waited until tomorrow! 55555

[BobHelm]

Can you give some idea of the spec & the price (if you do not mind) parrot.
I have been promising myself a major upgrade on the poor laptop I have for a couple of months now!!

[deankham]

The machine runs like a champ. I ended up downloading and installing Avast, Audacity, Starter, Spybot, Wordweb, Openoffice, PDF-X-change Viewer, Anki flashcards, Picasa easily in one evening (unthinkable a few years ago before ADSL came along). .

Hi Parrot,
can you give a quick explanation of what the software is?
..Openoffice and picasa I use but the others i've not used before.

ta

[parrot]

The first sign that the software was genuine was the sturdy box marked with a gazillion warnings and advisories. The second sign was the first validation with MS and update. No problem, it's the real mccoy.....but MS7 home pro version was something like 5000 baht......."licensed for distribution only to specific countries within Asia Pacific and intended for system builders only" They have the cheaper MS7 basic/home versions as well....I think the cheapest is about 3800.

OpenOffice is a Sun Microsoft product......mimics MS Office......with word processing, spreadsheet, data base all built into one. Fully compatible with all my MS-generated documents (so far). As far as I'm concerned it looks like and works virtually identical to MS products (I'm sure there's differences, but so far, all the key punches/shortcuts that I've used are the same). It's a 145meg download.......once installed, it loads quickly!

Anki is a flashcard program, also free, that I use for my Thai lessons to help my vocab retention. If you're trying to learn any language (or even trying to improve you English vocab) this is an excellent program.

Audacity is an audio editor/recorder program. Again, I use it with my Thai. I download my Thai lessons from the University of Hawaii and Wisconsin (they're available to the general public for downloading)....most of the lessons have MP3 tracks....I load them into audacity and play back with full editing capability (like you can clip a phrase, paste it into
Anki, and create a new flashcard with built-in audio).

PDF-X-Change viewer is an open source program that does everything (IMO) that I'd ever use Adobe Acrobat for. I hate Adobe Acrobat.....it's highly bloated, slow, and has gigantic updates. For what the common person does with pdf document, pdf-x-change viewer does it all with speed and no hassle.
I use Wordweb while I'm reading online documents and come across a word that I don't understand. It's small and a simple keytouch does the trick.

I've been using Avast as my anti-virus for over 5 years. Updates everyday in the background, doesn't slow down my system, and has kept me virus free for that time. Norton, AVG, and a few others that I've tried over the years were too much of a drag on my system. I haven't tried the new free MS program.....but I understand it's pretty effective in keeping your system clean.

Starter is a simple download that shows you what your system is loading when you start your computer. I use a clean startup....try to keep power-on to hands on the keyboard to 1 minute. If your system is taking a long time to boot, often times it's because you're trying to kickstart the system with MSN, Yahoo, ebay, Skype, younameit at the same time. Thais are really good at this......it seems they feel the more icons in the lower right hand of your screen, the better off you are. Just the opposite is true. Simple to use program.

Spybot is my partner to Avast.......scans my system for spyware when I want it to. Hasn't failed me yet. Again, I understand that the new MS program may do what Avast and spybot does in one shake of the dice..........I'm going to do some more reading up on the program (Microsoft Essentials). You do need a genuine windows install to use the program......it'll check your system before allowing you to download the program.

Picasa is a photo editing program by Google.......does everything and much more than I'll ever need. Superior face recognition if you want to group your photos (without actually changing the location of the photos on your computer) by face.

I forgot to mention that I've been using gmail for several years. Sure makes it nice when you change computers. No messing with address books, old emails, etc.

Hope I covered all the bases.

[parrot]

[quote="BobHelm"]Can you give some idea of the spec & the price (if you do not mind) parrot.
I have been promising myself a major upgrade on the poor laptop I have for a couple of months now!![/quote]

Intel 6500 2.93ghz, 4 gig high-quality (G-Shill) ram, 500 gig Western harddrive, LG dvd read write, high quality power supply, Syndome UPS, Win 7 Pro, CoolerMaster tower (lots of air circulation....about 1000 baht more than the cheaper towers), ms keyboard, ASUS 8400GS video graphics (intermediate level). All parts out of original boxes with warranties.
Total cost 25,000 baht.
You could tone down the cost with a less capable (but still capable) processor, less ram, small harddrive, cheaper tower, Win 7 basic/home.

When you compare prices, most of the as advertised desktop prices in town don't include Windows. If you install a 'non' official copy, you'll likely have problems with updates and keeping the program running in the future. If you want the real mccoy, unfortunately, you have to pay.

I'm a happy camper because I keep thinking about that Epson 8 pin printer that I bought in Okinawa in 1981 for $600 and my homebuilt J-apple with 8k of ram that cost $550.....no monitor or harddrives includes. Those were the days!

[parrot]

[quote="mak"]Thanks for the info. Where on the 2nd floor is HH? I'll give it a shot. My old shop has gone out of business also.[/quote]

Second floor, as you're walking from Robinsons toward the other end, you'll pass the Apple store. Another 20m or so on your left hand side. Big sign. Can't miss it. Lots of laptops on display in the front of the store.

[BobHelm]

Thanks for that parrot.
Good spec - well worth the price you paid for it I think.
I would save myself on the Win 7 - would prefer to have a go with Linux on the next pc I have - already have the cd downloaded (the cheap part of the entire process )....So compares VERY favorably with what is available 'off the shelf' in the larger outlets..

[thedude]

How noisy - or quiet - is it? I know they've been trying to make them quieter, but mine are always too loud to leave on at night, as my bed's in the same room.

Gotta download all those torrents in the daytime! (If anyone ever want to buy tons of DVDs with lots of good movies/shows on them, lemmeno; will sell for price of DVDs - they're building up! PM me...)

[parrot]

Quiet was one of the specs I mentioned to Khun Chai as my old machine roared. If I didn't see the blue light blinking on my tower, I'd not know the computer was on. Time will undoubtedly take its toll, but for now, it's one super quiet machine.

[thalenoi]

Ah well I ordered a HPE-070d Intel Core i7-860 2.80GHz 6GB RAM, 1TB HD, DVD-RW, GTX260 1.79GB graphics card, VistaPremium 64bit *41900B + 7% VAT at HH. Delivery time 3 days. Fantastic machine, super silent

[Bandung_Dero]

Fantastic machine, super silent

Lucky you, I guess accept for the Graphics card (mine is a Gygabyte 260 GTX-OC) our machines are a little different and I have 12 fans in there kicking up a storm. I admit I torment my PC by heaverly over clocking it, one of the games I play to cure the Isaan bordom.

2 x 120mm and 1 x 100mm sucking into the case.
1 x 120mm on the PSU and another blowing out of the case.
2 On the Cooler Master for the CPU.
1 x 60mm on the Northbridge
1 x Graphics card cooler
3 x 30mm fans on the Corsair Memory modules.



Count em: There's 9 clearly visible here + 1 in the Graphics card and 2 on the cover that is missing for the photo.
It's noisy but reliable on the hottest of Udon days without A/C.