Pugwash Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Also, the NTFS file system has been upgraded on Vista, so the fragmenting is not that bad, even on a default system. Like I said, modern OSes don't require that the user to worry about fragmentation. It's snake oil and there are plenty of people out there willing to sell it to you. If your windows system has got to the point that you think fragmentation is an issue, it's time to reinstall from scratch anyway as the registry cruft will be causing your PC to slow down and you're looking for something to blame. Windows XP needs a fresh reinstall every 12-18 months on a well-used system, according to my experience and that of my peers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Jeez the guy just wanted a cheap new laptop and now this thread has turned into "Battle of the IT Nerds"!!!! FWIW in my "amateur" experience of 8 years of Mac use... Defragging a drive running OS X is like running anti-spyware/malware programs - pointless and unnecessary. Same with anti-virus, although I admit perhaps I should be more altruistic and use protection in view of my colleagues' PC-based systems - unfortunately I'm still a selfish user/carrier, who feels it's not my problem if they don't protect themselves. Call it my caring bedside manner However, back OT, I spend a lot of time fine-tuning my maxed-out Powerbook's speed, and the one thing I notice more than anything is the effect whenever the HD gets full, namely the brakes get slammed down hard! Like the human neural pathways I'm more familiar with and that IT architecture is modelled on, if you have no reserve capacity for neural processing, then other auxillary systems are recruited, thereby affecting the interdependent functioning of the entire CNS, neurotransmitters to synapses etc. Unless of course, that is another stupid logical assumption Pug? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Jeez the guy just wanted a cheap new laptop and now this thread has turned into "Battle of the IT Nerds"!!!! Geeks, not nerds. There's a difference. However, back OT, I spend a lot of time fine-tuning my maxed-out Powerbook's speed, and the one thing I notice more than anything is the effect whenever the HD gets full, namely the brakes get slammed down hard! If your computer tells you the drive is too full, then yes, your performance will suffer. Both Mac OSX and Windows warn you when you're too close. The warnings are real and you can have catastrophic effects if you don't listen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaedo Posted October 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Jeez the guy just wanted a cheap new laptop and now this thread has turned into "Battle of the IT Nerds"!!!! Actually, I am quite enjoying the tangent this has gone off on. I used to be right into computers, even started doing some programming courses at university, but just couldn't follow it all. But in the last 3 years I have not done much reading and keeping up with everything, so this is a fun refresher. On that topic I have had to use both macs and PC's for certain parts of courses over the years, and I just plain don't really like the way macs work. So still have to side with getting a PC to be honest. Just been looking at the specs of the laptops we sell, they are actually a celeron M processor, not core 2 duo. So not as impressive as it could have been, but on the other hand they do have DVD writers built in, whereas the cheapest mac at twice the cost only had a DVD reader/cd writer included. And also, with the fact computers need upgrading every couple of years, I still think a cheap option right now is the best idea; and then in a year or so go with an all out system that does everything including making me breakfast and doing my washing. They should be able to so that by then, right? Again, all I really need it for presently is email, word, spreadsheets, internet, watching the occasional video and not have to wait 5 minutes for it to tab between outlook and firefox. Nothing too taxing really, anything fancier than a really cheap model would almost be overkill really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viennawatch Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Nothing says ostentatious like a 35 minute max battery life on a laptop. Well you are absolutely right on that one, but then again, I can't help myself.. I'm a mobile gamer... Just pretend the laptop is a desktop and plug it in everywhere... PS, I think battery life is 45 min. hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaedo Posted October 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 Well, after spending the day looking at various specs on different systems, thinking about whether I should go with a decent system and finance it, and a bit more searching, have found somewhere that supplies ram for the system I currently have. It is only expandable up to 1gb, but presently it is only running 256 anyway (actually only around 194 after taking into account the graphics card). So I have got 1gb of ram on its way, will get someone that knows what they are doing to install it, so I should be looking under $250AU installed. Should hopefully keep what I have running a bit better for the next year, when I do finally upgrade properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkerouac Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 Well, after spending the day looking at various specs on different systems, thinking about whether I should go with a decent system and finance it, and a bit more searching, have found somewhere that supplies ram for the system I currently have. It is only expandable up to 1gb, but presently it is only running 256 anyway (actually only around 194 after taking into account the graphics card). So I have got 1gb of ram on its way, will get someone that knows what they are doing to install it, so I should be looking under $250AU installed. Should hopefully keep what I have running a bit better for the next year, when I do finally upgrade properly. That sounds like a decent move. If you no longer have the docs that came with your system, try to find instructions online for installing the new RAM. I'll bet you can easily install it yourself and save ab. $30-40. The insides of computers, even laptops, are a lot less delicate than the insides of our watches. Just be sure not to shuffle your feet across the carpet before you do this. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaedo Posted October 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 An update: ordered 1gb of ram (max my system can run) at the weekend, and it arrived today. Took longer to find a screwdriver than it did to install the new ram. So much faster, actually works properly now, rather than just hanging all the time. Might not be the newest or fastest system around, but for what I am doing, and with what I was used to, definitely all I need for the moment. And to think, I was going to do this a year ago but was told by a local electronics department store they could install it for me, but I would have to try to source the ram myself as it was no longer available and ebay would be my best bet for some second hand ram... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornerstone Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Sounds great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a german in denmark Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 An update: ordered 1gb of ram (max my system can run) at the weekend, and it arrived today. Took longer to find a screwdriver than it did to install the new ram. So much faster, actually works properly now, rather than just hanging all the time. Might not be the newest or fastest system around, but for what I am doing, and with what I was used to, definitely all I need for the moment. And to think, I was going to do this a year ago but was told by a local electronics department store they could install it for me, but I would have to try to source the ram myself as it was no longer available and ebay would be my best bet for some second hand ram... Sounds good, phaedo. You might even consider getting yourself a faster (and bigger) new hard drive. Together with more ram it did the job on my old R40 ThinkPad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Sounds good, phaedo. You might even consider getting yourself a faster (and bigger) new hard drive. Together with more ram it did the job on my old R40 ThinkPad... The debate over hard drives in laptops is one of speed vs power consumption/noise/heat. While a 7200rpm drive may be faster than a 5400rpm drive, which one uses more power, or which one creates the most noise and heat, requiring louder fans and even more power consumption? Before upgrading your laptop HDD, make sure you're not crippling the laptop with unrealistic power and cooling demands first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a german in denmark Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 The debate over hard drives in laptops is one of speed vs power consumption/noise/heat. While a 7200rpm drive may be faster than a 5400rpm drive, which one uses more power, or which one creates the most noise and heat, requiring louder fans and even more power consumption? Before upgrading your laptop HDD, make sure you're not crippling the laptop with unrealistic power and cooling demands first. You are absoloutely right, Pugwash, of course you are . I swapped the 4200rpm/40Gb Hitachi that came with my R40 with a Seagate 7200rpm/100Gb HDD. Initially it did make slightly more noise (or maybe different kind of noise, more distinct), but it's hardly noticeable any more, I've gotten used to it. Heat is the same but power consumption seems to be lower, battery charge is about half an hour more. Maybe I was lucky. Start up time and general handling, still one year after, is remarkably faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 If you are looking for a hard drive, why not go external? I just picked up a 500GB WD mybook premium at costco for 159.99! Well, actually I picked up two. I would have grabbed the 1T, but for some reason it only had a USB connection. Not good for us Mac users. I need the firewire so I can work with my video files directly from the external. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Not good for us Mac users. I need the firewire so I can work with my video files directly from the external. USB2 is fine for video on a Mac, as long as you're not working in HD and as long as you've got enough RAM to buffer the stream. Sure, Firewire is better for continuous bursts, but USB2 is fast enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkerouac Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 If you are looking for a hard drive, why not go external? I just picked up a 500GB WD mybook premium at costco for 159.99! Well, actually I picked up two. I would have grabbed the 1T, but for some reason it only had a USB connection. Not good for us Mac users. I need the firewire so I can work with my video files directly from the external. I bought the exact same model about two weeks ago. Awesome. Just plug it in and go (although I did reformat the drive before actually putting data on it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 yes, I am editing HD and man does that take a lot of resourses! My processer is a G5 2.0, with 1GB ram. chugs along slowly, but still can do the work. I would like a tower, but that just takes up too much space and it is not like I'm editing as a profession. Maybe when my apple care runs out in the spring, I'll pick up a new machine. The good news is, if I don't use my apple care, my dealer applies that to the purchase of a new machine. Not that bad of a deal. And yes, if you have a mac, it will work by just plugging in, but if you want to read and write to the drive, you have to reformat to OS Extended. That way I can import all my video files directly to the external and work with them from there. I may set up the other one with USB2 with airport so I can set it up as a shared external so my wife can access it with her Macbook Pro. Or just use it as a RAID. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 yes, I am editing HD and man does that take a lot of resourses! My processer is a G5 2.0, with 1GB ram. chugs along slowly, but still can do the work. HD on 1GB? Here's a setup I've used for HD video (uncompressed, 1080i): http://ten80.fr/index.php?page=tech&article=hdstorage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 HD on 1GB? Here's a setup I've used for HD video (uncompressed, 1080i): http://ten80.fr/index.php?page=tech&article=hdstorage yeah, it is not very efficient. I was using FC express on HDV 1080i, so a not as big as true HD. But for now I'm making little clips with iMovie 08, but it is a compressed format. The jury is still out, but for little projects it is fine. It is pretty cool to upload to a .mac account and share, but I will definately need to get a better machine if I want to work in uncompressed. I did a couple movies in express and it was fine if I didn't have to do a lot of rendering. otherwise I would have to walk away for a while. my wife's computer is a 2.4 dual core with 2GB so that would work a lot better, but that is hers, not mine. haha I'm still learning the format and the program, but it is fun, especially capturing moments of the little one. But damn, do those files take a lost of storage space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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