if you could have any setup you wanted...

[Deb7456]

...what would it be?

My MacBook hard drive crashed for the second time in three months. :no: I am SOOOO grateful that I backed up a couple days ago & hadn't done much since then!

I'm guessing they'll say they want to replace the HD again, and I'm guessing DH will say, "No thanks!" He wants to get a whole new system (and he thinks a desktop would be more reliable than a laptop).

Sooo... what would you go with, if you could start all new?

Another thing to consider... My backup is formatted for Mac. I wouldn't know how to restore all my files to a new PC, if we went that route. :confused:

Thanks!! :)

[Kathleen]

As a PC girl, I am always going to lean that way, so I wont' go specifics, but just some general things to think about.

Laptop v. Desktop - the life of a desktop is always going to be longer. Parts are much more upgradeable so you can add a larger hard drive, faster processor, new video card, etc. at less cost. Although, some really stripped down desktop boxes are more limited a mid-to-high end desktop should give lots of flexibility. Of course, they aren't portable, so if you can only have one, you are the only one who can really decide if you can "survive" with just a desktop. Do you currently take your MacBook all over the house, on vacation, would be lost without it tethered to your arm?

As for reliability, in my 20 years of owning computers (both for work and personally), I have had 3 hard drive crashes in laptops and none on a desktop. I know I have just totally jinxed myself! So, I tend to agree that desktops might be more stable, but no matter which way you go, you need to have a consistent and reliable back-up system.

If you were to switch from Mac to PC, you would likely have to purchase quite a bit of new software, as applications are often platform specific (they are likely available for Mac and PC, but you only own the right to to one of them).

[Leea]

Our computers are PC, but generally, based on what I want and what I've gotten used to having...Lots of HD space, fast processor, tv tuner, jukebox set-up for music (have this now...my husband runs computer/tv, etc through a tuner/amplifier so we get great sound) built-in card reader for photos, lots of usb ports, cd/dvd reader writer, lots of external hard drive, 19 inch monitor, Adobe CS4, Corel Paint Shop Pro (each does some cool things the other doesn't do) graphics tablet with pen :) I know that some of these, like the programs and tablet, are extras beyond a computer system, but some of them I use daily, like the tablet and pen, so I mentioned them :)

[Deb7456]

Cool!

What about monitors? Any ideas on what's best?

Kathleen - If I switched to PC, software isn't a big deal. But since my EHD is formatted for Mac, I didn't know how I'd get my files (mostly JPEGs & PNG, a few Word & Excel) transferred to a PC.

[Leea]

I have a Sony and really like it, my DH has a Sceptre and likes it...both are a few years old. We looked at them in the stores and decided based on how they looked to each of us. DH uses an older PC that he put together himself from parts...mine is the same, but newer, and while the tower on his stands on the desk, mine is kind of a horizontal console...it's made to lay horizontal and I've got the monitor set on top along with a small wireless keyboard....and along those lines, I would also like a keyboard with the home key way off somewhere away from the backspace key where I can't hit it accidentally when I want to backspace :)

[Leea]

I forgot to mention...my computer is a part of our living room entertainment center...it's in the cabinet with the tv, and set up so the monitor can display on the tv if we want to show home movies and photos for family get-togethers and I use it for music, photo albums, scrapbooking, audiobooks, etc...family and friends use it when visiting for playing games, reading e-mail, going online, looking at photo albums, etc.

[nafeesa]

When I had to changed out my desktop for a laptop (I needed something portable, as I travel extensively) I got a "desktop replacement". It's 9 pounds heavy, but it works well.

It has quite a bit of RAM (for a laptop) at 4 Gigs (and it's DDR3 which is the best RAM you can get), a large wide-screen monitor and a full sized keyboard with numpad. IT has 2 graphics cards and 1 gig DDR3 dedicated graphics memory. I also have a SATA 7200rpm hard drive, so it really works fast. I bought a gaming computer, so that it could render images at high resolution and not get bogged down.

At any given time I have open and running: My web browser (often both Chrome and FireFox are up simultaneously), a text editor, my FTP program, Photoshop, Lightroom, ACDSee, Picasa, my font viewer program and my IM program. Also, generally I have multiple folders open to various areas of my internal and external hard drives. Not even to mention all the "little things" that run in the background.

I keep my mouse plugged in, my EHD plugged in and when I remember, my Wacom tablet. I *MUST* keep my cooling pad hub plugged in under my laptop, as it gets very hot on surfaces. But I hardly ever have system errors or crashes, and when I do they are program specific and not computer based.

Basically, if you want portability, I recommend a desktop replacement laptop. If you don't care, get a desktop that is designed for heavy gaming and graphics rendering - as this is going to have the best video cards and memory options. Go to your local computer store and tell them what you use your computer for, and generally they can help find you a good match. Then file the specs and price and shop around.

[Kathleen]

I have probably used a Mac for a total of about 6 hours in my lifetime, so I am not going to be the best source of how to do things on a Mac! I BELIEVE that JPG and PNG files are universal format and should go between the two platforms interchangeable. Microsoft Office files, at a minimum should be able to be converted without too much trouble, if not just opened straight up. I think Photoshop files should go back and forth also.

Have you spent much time on a PC? Since you are coming from a Mac, I would hate for you to expect one thing and get something different. I suspect that there will be a bit of a learning curve from an operating system perspective, although, programs should operate relatively the same.

Do you have access to a PC of some kind you could hook up your EHD to it, and see if things do just drag and drop?

About a year ago, I got a new monitor - a Vizio 26" monitor (http://www.vizio.com/productCatalog.aspx?id=2608) ($400+/- at Costco). It has built in speakers and I think a great monitor for the price. It is big, but I love it!!!

Other things if you decide to go with a desktop computer (either Mac of PC), I really like having a built in card reader, and I would go more for INTERNAL hard drives, rather than EHD for your primary storage. I have two internal drives, one that is 160GB and is my system drive, and has all my Windows files and other programs. My second internal drive is 500GB and is where I put all my data. Then you need a back-up source to back-up your data. Either another internal drive, an EHD or a service like Mozy. Internal drives read/write faster, and are more reliable than external drives.

I love my Logitech wireless mouse (MX Revolution (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/130&cl=us,en) - it rocks) and wireless keyboard. Also my Wacom Intuos 3 tablet (Intuous4 is the current model). I have a medium sized tablet, but would probably go for a small one if I were buying a new one. The medium size takes a lot of desk space, and most of the time I have mine mapped to not use the whole tablet anyway.

I don't use my CD/DVD drives much, but having two is nice when I need it (to copy a CD/DVD).

[Dani B]

Just went and took a peek at that monitor - ohhh what a beauty that is ! :tup:

I have probably used a Mac for a total of about 6 hours in my lifetime, so I am not going to be the best source of how to do things on a Mac! I BELIEVE that JPG and PNG files are universal format and should go between the two platforms interchangeable. Microsoft Office files, at a minimum should be able to be converted without too much trouble, if not just opened straight up. I think Photoshop files should go back and forth also.

Have you spent much time on a PC? Since you are coming from a Mac, I would hate for you to expect one thing and get something different. I suspect that there will be a bit of a learning curve from an operating system perspective, although, programs should operate relatively the same.

Do you have access to a PC of some kind you could hook up your EHD to it, and see if things do just drag and drop?

About a year ago, I got a new monitor - a Vizio 26" monitor (http://www.vizio.com/productCatalog.aspx?id=2608) ($400+/- at Costco). It has built in speakers and I think a great monitor for the price. It is big, but I love it!!!

Other things if you decide to go with a desktop computer (either Mac of PC), I really like having a built in card reader, and I would go more for INTERNAL hard drives, rather than EHD for your primary storage. I have two internal drives, one that is 160GB and is my system drive, and has all my Windows files and other programs. My second internal drive is 500GB and is where I put all my data. Then you need a back-up source to back-up your data. Either another internal drive, an EHD or a service like Mozy. Internal drives read/write faster, and are more reliable than external drives.

I love my Logitech wireless mouse (MX Revolution (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/130&cl=us,en) - it rocks) and wireless keyboard. Also my Wacom Intuos 3 tablet (Intuous4 is the current model). I have a medium sized tablet, but would probably go for a small one if I were buying a new one. The medium size takes a lot of desk space, and most of the time I have mine mapped to not use the whole tablet anyway.

I don't use my CD/DVD drives much, but having two is nice when I need it (to copy a CD/DVD).

[Kathleen]

Yes, it is!

[Miss Shannon]

I'm cross-platform with a Windows desktop and Mac notebook.

I've built all my PC desktop systems. My husband has an iMac which he uses for game development, so it could probably handle digital scrapbooking. I'm holding out for a Mac Pro, myself.

If I were going to build another pc I'd wait till Windows 7 comes out in October probably, and I'd build with an AMD Phenom processor.

I have a ViewSonic 20" monitor that I'm happy with.

The issue with the format of the external hard drive is not so much the format of the files, but the filesystem the drive is formatted in. Fortunately, there's a solution and it's networking. Files can go over a network no matter how the hard drives are formatted. If you have a router that allows you to plug in a usb hard drive to share or you can plug it into another mac and share it over the network, you would be able to get your files to a new Windows machine.

As for hard drives, I'm an internal hd girl myself. I've got 3 in my desktop (a 300gb which is my boot drive, and 2x 500gb) and we have a Windows Home Server(which works with our macs and PCs) with 5tb. I don't buy any hard drives smaller than 500gb but really it's been 1tb drives and up for the last year or so. We just got our first 1.5tb drive recently.

[Deb7456]

Thank you SO much, Shannon! I've never messed with the networking settings on our computers, so I guess I'll have to figure all that out.

Our wireless router has four USB ports on the back that are labeled "to Wired Computers." If I want to share files with our current PC, I can just plug the EHD into one of those ports??

Anyway - I think we're going with an iMac for me - the baseline 24" version. I'm hoping 4GB RAM will be sufficient! If I remember right, it will have a 640GB HD, which will be plenty... for now. ;)

[Kathleen]

Actually, the ports on the router, you would plug an Ethernet cable from a computer. Then you create a network where you can drag and drop files from one computer to another on the same network. You will likely need to set up a simple network to do this, but you should be able to either use instructions that came with the router, and/or something built into either the Mac OS or Windows.

[Deb7456]

OK - so I can't exactly plug my EHD into it to retrieve files... but if I do get the iMac (hopefully this week!), it still opens some options I didn't know I had, as far as sharing files between the PC & Mac. I've been using a little thumb drive for that, and it would be nice to have an easier option.

Actually, what would be nicest is to have a backup EHD that was formatted for both PC and Mac. Then I'm not without my data for two unbearable weeks again if my iMac crashes!

And even nicer would be if my new desktop never crashes!

[Miss Shannon]

OK - so I can't exactly plug my EHD into it to retrieve files... but if I do get the iMac (hopefully this week!), it still opens some options I didn't know I had, as far as sharing files between the PC & Mac. I've been using a little thumb drive for that, and it would be nice to have an easier option.

Actually, what would be nicest is to have a backup EHD that was formatted for both PC and Mac. Then I'm not without my data for two unbearable weeks again if my iMac crashes!

And even nicer would be if my new desktop never crashes!

My husband has a 24" iMac, it's beautiful. 4gb of RAM should be good for a while. Do you have a mix of mac and PC in the house already? If you do, you might want to look at getting Network Attached Storage. I have a whole server for it, but you can get something smaller and less complicated like a basic NAS array or even just a Network Attached external hard drive that has an ethernet out which you can plug into any normal router and any computer on the network can share.