O.T. but since we are ALL here because of it I have a computer quest.

My original computer (bought in 1995) got hit by lightning thru the telephone line....long story short, I threw it away, was cheaper to buy a new one per the comp. repair shop!! Since I am to cheap to buy new, the neighbor lets me borrow his spare it's an old H.P. but it works, BUT it takes about 15 minutes to get up and running get on line and "surf" THEN I only have dial up, BUT it is the NETZERO hi speed, and when I went to look at that U-TUBE video, listed on here ***led "so you think the hot rod is dead" it locked the computer up!!! Turned it off by the power ****on, redid everything again....20 minutes later BOOM locked up again!!! ****!! again turn off back on, and went to another video, and damn the computer doesn't lock up but it sits there on the UTUBE page, 3 min. later I here a "grunt" the picture moves and stops, 4 min. later another "grunt" pic. moves again and I give up!! closed out the screen, then went to hook up the wifes X-m*** gift, A new video camera, and tried to download the disc, to see the video on the computer and a screen pops up ...computer not compatible... and it locks up again!! so here I am about an hour and a half later and I realize I need to buy a NEW computer!!! so my question is what do I need???? We ONLY use it for the internet!!!! I do absolutely NO other things on here, I look at web sites, and would like to look at this Utube thing, and listen to music on it...THAT IS IT!!!!! I have the keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers, etc. from the old system, so I don't want that stuff, but when I went brosing last night I only saw systems that included all that!!! GIGS, MIGS, AND MEGABITES, mean absolutely NOTHING to me, I don't understand it , and don't really want to. Do I just need to STOP, and get a full set up like say wallmart, best buy comp usa or something. $425.oo is the best deal I can find, and the salesperson says it is EVERYTHING I need!! But thats what my neighbor said with this current one he loaned me,...Utube has about 20 hot rod videos I want to see so I am ancy here to go "run out and buy the chepest one" What SHOULD I look for??? Again it is ONLY to look at internet stuff and load my wifes videos from her camcorder...Thanks, Ken

 

Holy ****, I type with 2 fingers and don't look at the screen at the same time when I type... SORRY that was so LOOOOONG!!!

 

There is a computer repair shop on Nevada, just south of Wellesley. It's next to the Taco Johns. They have reconditioned computers without all the **** you already have, or at least they did when I got my computer repaired there last year. I'd trust them, they were real honest and reasonable with me, so I think their used computers should work reasonably well.

 

I know this is not what your asking but your old computer will be 20 times faster with DSL ever consider getting rid of the dial-up? All I remember from the research I did when I was looking was to stay away from Intel Celeron processors and they seem to be the norm in the $400 range. I was told to get a Pentium 4 or better hope that helps. Good luck

 

A refurbished machine from a shop is a great idea. get it with a clean hard drive & just windows installed. The trouble with those cheapie off the shelf Dell or Compaq things is they are loaded with **** you'll never ever need, most of it just slows the machine down anyway.
Something else you could look into is TigerDirect.com. Get ahold of them, tell em what you're lookin for, and see what they have to offer. All new machine with ONLY what you need on it, worth a peek anyway.

 

i'm not a computer expert...but stuff like youtube on a dialup is going to a problem. i'm on a dialup and it doesn't work for me

 

you tube wouldnt work on any of my machines on dial up...had to go to DSL.... it runs on even this old clunker in the shop now.....hate to see you buy a new computer only to have the same problem


if all you do is internet , you are going to have to have a high speed connection...took me a long time to accept it here.

 

1- Stay away from any online video ****
if you have an old computer and dial up service.

2- If you don't have them already,download Spybot
and Ad-Aware,plus all their latest definitions.

3- Start your computer in safe mode,run Spybot,
and Ad-Aware,and delete all the **** they find.
Then look under Programs->Accessories->System Tools,
and run the Windows Maintainance Wizard.
When that is finished,run Defrag again.

That is just a start,and should help.

 

too bad you're not closer, i could build you a bare bones computer for less than $300...i will be moving up that way in a few months, but i doubt you are wanting to wait that long

 

General rule of thumb if you're going to move forward. Don't get anything older than windows 2000. Xp is preferred. It takes 512 meg of memory to work right. A 40 gig hard drive will get you by if you don't load it up continually. You will be happy with a 128 meg video card but can get by with a 64 meg unit. To run the modern stuff you will need directx 9 and a modern version of shockwave and quicktime. I have a download called K-Lite codec pack that has an older version of windows media player and codecs to play almost every format known to the computer world. If you stay away from celeron processors and get amd 64's or a recent pentium you will have enough speed to be in good shape for several years. I'd watch the want ads for someone who needs to sell a unit but if you aren't computer literate you run the risk of getting a mess.

 

I recently bought a new computer at Staples because I thought mine went out. I went to Staples because they had an ad for one for like $300. It was cheaper with the monitor than without because it was a bundled deal and there wasn't alot of **** loaded into it that you'll never use or even know what they're for.

Like you, I only use it for the internet and photographs AND I also type with two fingers looking at the keyboard, not the screen...Anyway, It turns out there was nothing wrong with my computer, somehow I figured out the problem was my monitor so I returned the computer to Staples no questions asked.

You should also consider high speed connection as someone suggested, it's a world of difference.

 

WFOguy Thanks, for that info, I wrote it all down and will "hand it" to the next computer store guy I see!!! The ads come out tommorow in the sunday paper so I'll check them out and compare, UnkleIan: I wrote all that down, but to be honest I don't even know what a "safe mode" is!!!! BUT I still have the info and now I can look it up and learn, Racefab... I think you got it... I just don't accept all this "new fangled" ****! BUT I think I am gonna have to try the DSL stuff, Last time I heard DSL, meant "D*CK ****ING LIPS" (sorry) so I am a little lost on that, is there a difference between DSL, and say like the Comcast High Speed Internet???? Or is that just a different term for the same thing?? I guess it all comes down to I have to buy a comp. as I want to give back this borrowed one, so maybe by tommorrow night I'll have it hooked up?!?!? Then again...maybe not! We'll see,..... AGAIN GUYS thanks for all the info, keep it coming if anyone else has more....Thanks, Ken

 

comcast high speed is to DSL as DSL is to regular dial up. it's also about twice the price of DSL. i love my high speed and get annoyed when i'm on a DSL computer because it seems so much slower. try the DSL though, it's dirt cheap anymore and TONS faster than netzero high speed...

 

once you go hi speed you will never go back

 

so how is the high speed hooked up?? does it still go thru your telephone line? or is there more **** I gotta buy?

 

depends on which kind you get, DSL is a special box on your phone line, cable is a special box on your cable, wireless broadband is a special box on your roof. figure double or more $$$ per month compared to dial up....but it varies a lot on where you live, what neighborhood, sometimes which side of the street you live on!. usually only one or two of the 3 choices are available, but where you can get all of them prices are lower. we only have wireless broadband where I am, it's 50 smackers a month and a hefty installation fee if you don't sign up for 3 years

 

Oh i miss taco johns....

got cable and its super fast...a bit pricey but i cant stand anything else now...its soooo much faster and you can watch ur vids too.

The ol timers always say....do it once do it right...you will be surprized on how much more you will use your computer when you got to high speed

 

ALL I have is 56 K dial up- I can see the Utubes....
It is a lot to do with the machine itself too...A lot of folks have their harddrive full of ****/pics and dont delete the Temp internet files/cookies etc etc......

 

Yeah I learned recently about the temp. files and cookies delete think and do that on a regular basis now (every couple of days), also do the "de-frag" thing once a week, doesn't change anything, when I look at my little "2 screens" talking to each other picture in the lower right hand of my screen, a number shows up when I put the mouse over it: bytes sent/bytes recvd. it is always @37333 or @46666, I was told that is really slow! Is that where the high speed comes into play? Or why can I not get that 56k number?!?!?!?

 

the 56k number is for a good twisted pair connection to a not too distant telephone switch....when I had dialup I could only get 28.8 (or less)!

 

You-tube on dial-up is like drinking a milkshake through a coffee straw. Here are the details of the connection speeds:

Dail-up: up to 56 kB
DSL: Typically 1.5 MB but can be more depending on the provider and if fiber-optic is available in your area. It is for me, so I get 3 MB
Cable: Typically 7-10 MB (the bandwidth is shared which means that when all of your neighbors are on their computers, everyone's connection slows down).

Layman's terms...DSL is around 30-60 times faster than dial-up. Cable is about 4-6 times faster than DSL.

Bryan

 

I dealt with that **** for two years! Common in older houses and apartments, and telco usually doesn't have much sympathy.

Bryan

 

Almost any new computer you buy now even the least expensive will be good enough for surfing the net and watching YouTube and a lot better than what you are currently working with. Like everyone has said dump the dial up get cable or dsl.

 

Man, I have NO idea what you mean by "twisted pair connection"??? We are off with notes in hand to check 'em out now, Do I also need to buy a modem, for the DSL service?? right now I just plug the phone line into the back of my "confuser" when I want to go online. I called a couple of local stores this morning asking some of these questions I asked you guys and still got different answers from everyone of them, so I am glad I asked you guys, and THANKS for the help and info, I'm SOOO nervous, I don't like buying things without all the knowledge I think I should have about an item, but gigas, googles, and megas, are too much for me!!! Ask me about an impala, or a fleetline and I'll tell you everything about 'em but this is overwhelming, I'd rather take that $400.00 and buy some cheater slicks, and skinny fronts, but I guess I gotta "roll with the current times"...wish me luck!!...Thanks again, Ken

 

damn, isn't there a teenager around there who can explain it to you?

Pretty much all newer computers have a "LAN card" or "network card" in them, this is a hole where you can plug in a "cat 5" cable from a DSL or cable modem. The phone or cable company should provide (sell you) the DSL or cable modem when they install the high speed service.

 

NO!~! We sent them off to spend the night at friends houses... It's New Years !!! YAAAAA,... well we still have the baby at home!! Gonna try to get the misses drunk

 

Let me add my "Me too."

Dial-up ****s. Period.

No advice on your PC. I'm a Mac guy.

 

HERE I AM!!!! 6 hours after buying my new fangled device, It is N O faster than the other one!!!!! although I can download my wifes pictures and videos, it still took a loooooooong time to connect and get here!!!! this is after $839.00!!!!!! I am so frusterated!!!!!!! I guess I will do what you all have said and try the high speed!!! MAN I FEEL LIKE A DOPE, buying this fin' thing!!!!!!! Ken

 

Listening to you guys talk about computers........well now I know how girlfriends and wives must feel listening to guys talk about engine sizes, bore and stroke, gear ratios etc.