'Puters

[falco]

What is better about Windows 7 over XP? I have been using XP since it came out and it works just fine for me.

That being said, I think my next purchase will be a Dell laptop with Ubuntu.

[falco]

Also, my wife has Macbook and it sucks. I don't know how anyone could use one.

[SkinBasket]

Ziggy, don't forget that you have until the 11th of July to preorder the Windows 7 upgrade for $50 (for Premium) or $100 (Professional). Just make sure that whatever you order has Windows Premium or Professional (not Ultimate) and that you preorder the matching upgrade. Price goes up to $120/$200 after the 11th.

Premium: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002DHLUWK

Professional: http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Wind.../dp/B002DHGM50

What are the general differences between the different versions of Windows 7?

I don't know. I just get what's on the computer and use it. I haven't found any problems using Vista Ultimate for all the doomsday talk about the OS. It never crashes and it puts icons of my programs on the desktop. I click them and the program starts. That's all I need. The weather and XM sidebar widgets are nice though.

[hoosier]

Vista Enterprise seems to have resolved all of the problems that earlier versions of vista had, and IMO is far more efficient than XP. Once you get used to the silly little changes Micosoft has made with Vista, it's a delight to use.

[Partial]

Ha! Delight? If you guys think using Vista/7 is a pleasure, you should try a Mac. Wow!

[retailguy]

I'm thinking about this one for my wife.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152116

I bought a hard drive from New Egg about 3 months ago. I don't use that debit card very much, and hadn't used it in about 3 months. Within a week, I had $500 in unauthorized charges.

I made the purchase while at work, behind the office firewall, and on my work machine which gets virus/spyware/malware scanned daily. I have yet to find any kind of intruder on that machine.

I don't buy from New Egg anymore.

[Patler]

Microsoft's comparisons of the different versions of Windows 7:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare-editions

[Partial]

I'm thinking about this one for my wife.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152116

I bought a hard drive from New Egg about 3 months ago. I don't use that debit card very much, and hadn't used it in about 3 months. Within a week, I had $500 in unauthorized charges.

I made the purchase while at work, behind the office firewall, and on my work machine which gets virus/spyware/malware scanned daily. I have yet to find any kind of intruder on that machine.

I don't buy from New Egg anymore.

I've bought over 100 products from NewEgg and never had a single problem. That is very bizzare. They're by far the de facto online computer store. I <3 them!

[retailguy]

I'm thinking about this one for my wife.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152116

I bought a hard drive from New Egg about 3 months ago. I don't use that debit card very much, and hadn't used it in about 3 months. Within a week, I had $500 in unauthorized charges.

I made the purchase while at work, behind the office firewall, and on my work machine which gets virus/spyware/malware scanned daily. I have yet to find any kind of intruder on that machine.

I don't buy from New Egg anymore.

I've bought over 100 products from NewEgg and never had a single problem. That is very bizzare. They're by far the de facto online computer store. I <3 them!

It is very surprising. I don't quite know what to make of it.

I've had a debit card cloned twice. The other time was 5 years ago. Thinking back, I was purchasing a lot of network hardware at the time (I think) and I bought all that from New Egg too.

I don't know. Seems bizarre, but I've been through the bank statement 5 times with the bank on the phone. My wife and I both have debit cards, she uses hers all the time, but the fraud came from my card, and the previous transaction was over 90 days prior, and hadn't been used since.

I had our IT folks come up and manually scan the PC, nothing was found. I checked the scan logs, and nothing had been deleted by the machine either.

I can't explain it.

[MJZiggy]

I think I'm more confused than when I started...but thanks everyone for the suggestions whether offered here or privately. I'm leaning toward the Dell outlet...I just have to figure out which what I should get and how much (if any) I'm saving on it.

[Partial]

Screw the dell outlet. It's a good deal when there are coupons. Look at the homepage of Slickdeals.net and when you see something in your price range pounce on it.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=1438351 is a good deal

[MJZiggy]

Slickdeals only helps me if I know what I'm looking for. I don't know what I'm looking for, I just know I don't have it now.

[Partial]

Slickdeals only helps me if I know what I'm looking for. I don't know what I'm looking for, I just know I don't have it now.

That's fair. Go with something 400-600 dollars. Trust me it will be plenty of computer for even the most demanding users who aren't doing intense 3d rendering (which is NOT adobe CS -- adobe CS is very CPU and memory intensive, not 3d graphics intensive at all). I would recommend soemthing with a smaller screen so it's portable. 15" is pretty big and 17" is gigantic.

Anything that isn't a "netbook" and on the homepage will be plenty of computer and a very good deal. You really cannot go wrong with that advice at all.

[Scott Campbell]

I think I'm more confused than when I started...

I'm not surprised. The suggestions are all over the board. I like Skin's advice the best - treat it as a disposable purchase. Don't over buy on specs.

[Scott Campbell]

I'm thinking about this one for my wife.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152116

I bought a hard drive from New Egg about 3 months ago. I don't use that debit card very much, and hadn't used it in about 3 months. Within a week, I had $500 in unauthorized charges.

I made the purchase while at work, behind the office firewall, and on my work machine which gets virus/spyware/malware scanned daily. I have yet to find any kind of intruder on that machine.

I don't buy from New Egg anymore.

Man that is weird. I'm like Partial, and have probably bought over 100 times without a hitch. I use credit cards instead of debit specifically for the fraud protection.