Computers

[Cathie]

I'm looking for a computer and not sure what to get.  I've always had Dells, and I currently have one that is 2 years old with problems.  At this time, Dell is sending a tech out to give me a rebuilt hard drive.  I'm not happy.  So does anyone have any computer suggestions?  I'm currently on Case Catalyst.

 

[Glen Warner]

Hi, Kelli.

A few years ago, I heard about a disk imaging program called Ghost.  It was free, and it would copy your hard drive exactly as it was, so you could simply slap a new hard drive into your old laptop and restore the disk to the way it was (less the new drivers for the new system).  Alas, Ghost was bought up by Norton, and after they "improved" it, no one recommends it anymore.

That said, I just did a search on the following phrases:

"hard drive" "Ghost software"

I found a few people asking about disk imaging software, and someone mentioned something called "Ping," which apparently stands for "Partimage Is Not Ghost."  Here's the description:

"PartImage, or Partition Image, is a Linux/UNIX utility to make an image of your partitions in a file. It is able to image only used portions of the partitions saving time and space. The images are compressed. The utility supports the ext2fs, ext3fs, ReiserFS, FAT16, FAT32, HPFS, JFS, XFS, UFS, HFS, and NTFS file systems. This is a live ISO that you can burn onto a CD so that you can use it on any computer regardless of the operating system that is running."

You can get it here:

http://ping.windowsdream.com

Alas, I have no experience with this software, but if your hard drive is dying anyway, you can download this software, run it, burn the disk image to a few DVDs, and restore the old disk image to the new hard drive ... and the only thing different would be that your new hard drive is bigger.

Good luck!

[Mary Jo Cochran]

I bought a Dell Latitude 410 last December for $230.00 (through TigerDirect).  It doesn't have a CD drive.  It does have three USB ports.  I have my DigitalCat Student software on here.

 

It's working just fine.  For $230, this computer is meeting my needs.  It's cheap.  It's small enough to carry around (I plan to take it to depos).  I can use a thumb drive to save and later move to my PC.   I thought I would miss the CD drive, but I don't. 

[Mary Jo Cochran]

Don't forget, you can buy an external hard drive at Best Buy and plug it into your computer.  It's external, so all you have to do is plug it in.  It's a good way to back up.

[Martha R]

Ouch!  I just bought a Lenovo Thinkpad SL150 and the audio is not good and downright horrible when the fan on the computer turns on.   An external mic doesn't have the volume as the internal does.  Weird.   I am very disappointed.

[Janiece Young]

Can you return it and get your money back?

[Martha R]

Yes, I can but it will cost me 90 bucks to return plus I spent a lot to get it optimized and transfer the hard drive but oh, well, it's all a business expense.  It's too important a tool to settle for not what I want.  Funny, I heard such good things about Lenovo's.  I mean it's a nice computer but it's funny how the sound is so bad.

[Janiece Young]

I spent about that to return one, actually I think I spent a little over $100 and I've never regretted it b/c I can't stand bad audio.  Just think, you will probably have that computer for 3 to 5 years.  Do you want to be miserable listening to bad audio for 3 to 5 years?  Also, I think it really slows me down when the audio is bad and I have to listen over and over and over....

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

I am with you, Martha.  I just bought the Toshiba Satellite and the audio is terrible.  I went back to Best Buy complaining today and they told me it's past 14 days and I am shit out of luck.  Pretty much stuck.  It took me that long to realize I can't fix it.  Grrrr!

[Martha R]

What did you end up getting, Kelli?   I had good luck with Sony.  I should have stuck with it.

[Janiece Young]

I have a Sony and the last time I checked they do let you return them if you buy them from Sony.  Mine is working great.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

I got another Toshiba because the last two I had were wonderful.   I have been using the internal microphone because the computer would not accept any external mic.  Best Buy said maybe I should try a USB external microphone but they had cheap ones.  I got on Amazon and bought one for $100.00 so hopefully that will make all the difference.  Other than that, I love the computer.  However, in this job the audio quality is everything and especially with the super technical cases I do.  Makes me nervous having crappy audio.

 

Everyone sounds like they are in a long tunnel with an echo at the end.  Not good.

[Cathie]

Kelli,

 

You should try the USB mic from, I think, Martel.  They are located in Yorba Linda or Anaheim Hills off of La Palma.  It's more than $100 but worth it.  I may have the name wrong but I'm not too far off.  If you are interested I can find out for you.