Moving Out, Moving On

[Seil]

I'm moving out in a few months! Whoo! Free from the shackles of... free housing and free food... and.... wait...

Anyways, my bigger brother is the computer expert of the family, and my parents had always been using him as their tech support (and believe me, they need a lot of tech support. They're almost as bad as this. (http://www.applegeeks.com/comics/issue46.jpg)) Anyways, my brother moved out, and since I'm the second best techie in the family - which isn't saying much - I'm roped into doing a free tech support. As stated above, I'm moving out soon, and as the main point of this thread is stated below, I wanted to ask a quick question - what should I do so that life doesn't end up like this:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u59/Poetisch/20051212h.jpg

Anyhoo - I need my own computer for my own place, and I was wondering... Laptop or PC? What brand? How much memory? What software should I get?

Since I'm moving, I need a new job - but it's in a big city, so thankfully there's more opportunities. I'm hoping to get a job at a newspaper, or working in retail - but if I can't find anything in those areas, I'll work in a kitchen somewhere, or most likely, as a laborer. So I guess I'll just need the computer for its writing software - but I'd really like the computer to be able to handle some of the new games out there... and I need a whole lot of memory, just 'cause.

I'm leaning more towards a laptop, 'cause it's more portable and personal.... but what do you guys think?

[darth vader wannabe]

The first question you should always ask when getting a new computer is "What am I going to use this for?"

If you're going to want to be playing the high-end games (such as Bioshock, for instance), and you feel confident about your techie abilities, you should build your own computer. It's not as difficult as it may seem, and you have much more control (and much less cost) than if you bought it from someplace.

In the same vein, if that's what you want a computer for, get a desktop. Laptops are traditionally hamstrung from the factory to help reduce heat output and battery usage.

If all you want your computer for is basic internet access and word processing and mild gaming (I'm talking Bejeweled type games here), then just get whatever's cheap. Try and avoid Gateway if at all possible, but for the most part, the others are the same.

As for more to the laptop/desktop issue, ask yourself this question: "Do I have a reason to take a computer with me?"

If you're working at a newspaper (especially as a reporter), then the answer is going to more than likely be yes.

If, however, you can't give one GOOD reason (visiting the parents isn't a good enough reason, as it seems like they have a computer that you could borrow for at least the basics), then stick with a desktop. In general, they're more powerful for less money.

For the family tech support stuff, I have no real advice, as I'm currently living at home as well, looking to move out on my own once I get a job. Being 22 and living at home sucks, but at least I have a B.S.

[Fifthfiend]

I wanted to ask a quick question - what should I do so that life doesn't end up like this:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u59/Poetisch/20051212h.jpg

1. There was way the fuck too much post before you got around to asking that for you to have any business saying "quick question." Stop touching language in its bathing-suit area!

2. Tell them "Gee mom and/or dad that's a real stumper. You should call Chester, you know he's much better than I am with these complicated technical issues." And then laugh as you picture your brother's imminent misery.

3. Yes I have decided that your brother's name is Chester. Make sure and inform him, god knows what totally inappropriate thing he's been going around calling himself up 'til now.

[Ryu Van Burace]

darth pretty much covered it with the "think about what you need it for" point. Really do this. My parents asked some random friend's son who started speccing shit out the wazoo with high end graphics programs, DVD burner and the rest, my parents only want to use the Office Suite (letters and spreadsheets only at that) and surf the internet so I took that list and started crossing things out.
In terms of preventing tech support questions heading between your eyes at mach 10. Sorry man, there's very little you can do about it. Sooner or later, you'll have to visit and they getcha. On the plus side, you don't have my sister who seems to want to insist on teaching them the wrong freaking terms. To her, it's not download, it's install. It's not a floppy, it's a disk (which also covers CDs, DVDs, Flash drives, etc.). Dealing with it: keep it simple and go step by step, asking them each time what they can see on the screen. Tell them what the term desktop means and what the start button is because that really freaking helps.
I'm lucky. As stated above, mine don't use it for that much.

[Seil]

Home tech survival stories below.

In terms of preventing tech support questions heading between your eyes at mach 10. Sorry man, there's very little you can do about it. Sooner or later, you'll have to visit and they getcha. On the plus side, you don't have my sister who seems to want to insist on teaching them the wrong freaking terms. To her, it's not download, it's install. It's not a floppy, it's a disk (which also covers CDs, DVDs, Flash drives, etc.). Dealing with it: keep it simple and go step by step, asking them each time what they can see on the screen. Tell them what the term desktop means and what the start button is because that really freaking helps.

My dad was writing an e-mail, didn't want to send it to everyone all at once, he wanted to send each e-mail individually... for some reason. Anyways, this is a direct, word-for-word quote:

"Is there some way I can... I dunno... copy and paste this into another e-mail so I don't have to retype it?"

And then I had to show him how. My mum works a whole lot with sound software, 'cause she's a vocal teacher for my sister's school and privately. Anyways, the sound wasn't working - no sound was coming from the speakers. So she starts wigging out, grabs me, tells me to fix it. So I check the drivers, the system volume, the speaker volume, whether or not they were turned on, re-installed the drivers... that sorta thing. Then I figured out what was wrong, reached back, and plugged in the speakers. I was a bit peeved that she didn't at least try to see if the speakers were plugged in. (><)

Anyways - I'm leaning more towards a laptop. Even if I don't get the job I want, I like the portability. I'm hoping that there's a way to hook up the laptop to a tower, so I can back-up everything. Basically, I want something fast, has lots of storage space, able to connect to the internet - wirelessly, if possible - and can run some of the newer games coming out... like Bioshock, which I was thinking of earlier.

Is there anything I need to know? Like system specs? Which video card or sound card or whatever to ask about? I'd like to say I'm computer literate, but I'm not that savvy... savvy?

=3

[Ryu Van Burace]

Home tech survival stories below.
ouch. At least your dad knew the right term to use. I think mother's are possibly more prone to this though. Mine seems to suddenly lose the ability to read out messages on the screen to me:
"It says something"
"What does it say mum?"
"I don't know. Something about windows"
"One sec" *bangs head on table*

Anyways - I'm leaning more towards a laptop. Even if I don't get the job I want, I like the portability. I'm hoping that there's a way to hook up the laptop to a tower, so I can back-up everything. Basically, I want something fast, has lots of storage space, able to connect to the internet - wirelessly, if possible - and can run some of the newer games coming out... like Bioshock, which I was thinking of earlier.

Is there anything I need to know? Like system specs? Which video card or sound card or whatever to ask about? I'd like to say I'm computer literate, but I'm not that savvy... savvy?
=3

Actually on a tangent slightly: I cannot recommend enough getting a USB HD caddy. Not only will it facilitate your file transfer but it means you can take files with you to other computers really easily. It saved my life for my final year uni project. Plus, it means that you could possibly go for a slightly smaller HD in your lappy but at 10k RPM.
What kind of budget are you thinking? Myself, I would LOVE an Alienware but cannot justify it as a work computer.,..yet :D If you can swing it though, it'd pretty much cover you entirely for Bioshock.
And please avoid Vista for now. Wait a year or so, so that most of the usual launch issues are patched out/worked around (Please note, I'm not saying bad things about Vista as I usually do, this happens to all OS when they get released).

[Demetrius]

Depending on the neighborhood you will be living in (crime rates), I would suggest something as big and bulky as possible... I'm just sayin'.

[Seil]

I'm going to be living here, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria%2C_British_Columbia) and it is a tad bit dangerous - but I dun go through dark alleys at night, or wander into biker bars and start fights.