NEW COMPUTER - Need an act of MERCY :) Info/ Help not sure if this is correct category

[Nerkerlerchios]

OVERVIEW

i have a neurodegenerative disease, and i need a new computer and a new laptop. the issue is that because of my health issue, it is overwhelming for me to sort through all the information. i can't build a pc. i don't know anyone personally to build one that i would trust, and even if i did, i can't rely on anyone to come back and fix any future issues that i might have with it. i need reliability and a good warranty. because of this issue, i first went to dell. i thought this was a good idea because they can just give me what i need, but then i get upset with the the fact that people are telling me i can get the same thing for at least $500 less. the only problem with that is that no one tells me *how* i can find the same for less. they may tell me parts, but not whole systems and where to get such a system.

are the XPS's i'm about to list the way to go, or is there something better/ better price/ better components available elsewhere?

is there anyone available that is willing to take me by the hand and walk me through this? i was given this website because a person on fb thought i might get help here. i am putting key words throughout this post in bold, specific questions are indented, and i'll add a bulleted summary of what i am looking for at the end.

i need a new desktop and a laptop. it's also time for a new tv, and i want this at the same time so i can stream movies on it - not necessarily from "known" streaming sites. i'll need to be able to hook my desktop or laptop to it via hdmi. i think that won't be issue with any pc i get these days, though.

i've had laptops die or need various replacement parts within two years, and i'm tired of it. i've had emachines, asus, and dell, and my dell inspiron 15 just died. my desktop is old, a dell dimension 3000 that i got in 2004, and overall, it's been pretty good except i had the hd replaced a few years ago and it's loud. it's been loud since day one. i can't handle the noise--> sensory issues, so i need something very quiet.

oh, first and foremost, budget is not a huge issue here. i have saved a few grand for this purpose. i'm looking at the dell xps line, so you can see that i have a decent amount to spend, but if i can save any money, then i'd be really happy. my biggest concern is whether or not the dells are the way to go.

DESKTOP

dell had me looking at an All in One XPS 27 with SSD and mag drive, but the ssd was only 32 gb and the mag was 2 Tb. i don't need that much storage on mag, and i'd rather my ssd have a little more, but really, my biggest issue is RAM. my laptop (dell insp 15) had 8gb, and it would run slowly just with me running chrome.

i don't game much, but when i do, i don't want any issues speed and graphics. i don't want issues with speed at all, and the only limitation that i'll accept right now is with my connection. i know there is nothing i can do about that, although i just read that the type of router a person has can help with that. this was in an issue of "consumer reports". something was mentioned about a new ....something (memory issues, sorry) like 802.11 ag something something. also mentioned was having a router that was dual bandwidth, which could cut out interference. at any time, we could have a desktop, laptop, wii, and ps running. the only time that is an issue is for the ps person, which i'm not worried about here. sorry if this is a tangent. i am not sure what all to say about wanting speed on my computers.

i read that 27 is over 44 pounds. is that a normal weight for a computer?

is there an advantage / disadvantage to having an all in one? i won't be doing any upgrades to it once i get it as i won't know how to.

the xps 27 has the following info in regards to the above. i have an entire quote, but it's really long. please let me know if i need to add more info:

16GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz (8GBx2)
580-AABZ
1
Dell KM714 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse English
490-BCDV
1
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2GB DDR5 with TPM
555-BBDT
1
802.11bgn + Bluetooth 4.0, 2.4 GHz, 1x1
400-AABZ
1
2TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive + 32GB mSATA Solid State Drive
619-AGCT
1
Optical Drive : Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM,
DVD/RW, CD-RW)
331-2594
1
Integrated 5.1
555-BBCS
1
802.11abgn + Bluetooth 4.0, Dual Band 2.4&5GHz, 2x2
331-5795


an aside: why is the first mention of 802.11 bgn and the second one says abgn?

i've got about a $3100 quote on this because i did add office (200) photoshop and something else (80) [i don't like the free ware versions of these] and tax and mcafee, which i'll have them remove.


LAPTOP

the laptop that dell quoted me is an XPS 15. i want to download Battlefront when it's released to my laptop, so there will be some gaming on it. Elite Dangerous looks really amazing, and i'd like to add it as well.

again, i have the requirements of speed, noise, graphics, etc. i'm concerned about weight for this as well as i'll most likely use this a lot in bed and on my lap.

here are basic specs from the quote, again, if this is not enough info, then please let me know:

16GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx2)
583-BBOP
1
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2GB GDDR5
658-BCPH
1
Software for 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0, Dual Band 2.4&5 GHz, 2x2
400-ADHR
1
512GB Solid State Drive
619-ADTC
1
High Definition Audio with Waves MaxxAudio Pro
555-BCGD
1
DW 1560 + BT4.0 [802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0, Dual Band 2.4&5
GHz, 2x2]
450-AAQN
1
4th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4712HQ Processor (6M Cache, up
to 3.30 GHz)
630-AAAU
1
91 WHr, 6-Cell Battery (integrated)
555-BBLJ
1
15.6-inch UltraSharp(TM) 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) touch display
658-BCMI

this is right at $3000, which seems like a lot for a laptop, but i don't know.

NEEDS SUMMARY

• 
  Reliable Components
  Speed
  Quiet
  Cooling
  Good / Reliable Warranty
  HDMI input/output
  BluRay + DVD (CD)
  

thanks for any help.

 

[Karsten75]

I suggest you buy from Dell or Lenovo. My personal preference would be a Thinkpad T-series laptop from Lenovo as well as a K-series desktop. Have one of the online representatives walk you through. Add 3, 4 or 5 years in-home warranty and if you have money, add the Unlimited annual tech support option.


Good luck.

 

[Nerkerlerchios]

anyone else?

 

[Karsten75]

I've had more time and managed to read through more of your long post. FYI, long posts like that tend to turn most people off.

I think Dell saw you coming if they quoted you over $6,000 for two computers.

If I was your adviser, I'd first ask you why you need two computers and what you can't achieve with a great laptop with maybe an optional monitor, mouse keyboard and external hard drive that you can dock your laptop to.

Realistically, I'd advise you not to expect a computer (especially a laptop) To last over 4 years - 3 is more likely.

If you are concerned about the weight of the laptop, I'd also point out that many newer, lightweight laptops do not even allow the user to replace the battery, so once the battery wear out (with my usage patterns, that's about 19 months to 2 years) then you are SOL with a portable solution, although you can still connect it to mains and use it.

All-in-one "desktops" are probably more of a toy or a kid's computer. Think laptop with a screen that makes it too large to carry around. And you can't swap stuff out or upgrade anything - same as with a laptop. The one thing that sets a desktop apart in a class of it's own is probably the screen and the graphics card. Now the graphics card is probably more critical to a gamer than to a person working with Photoshop, but the specifications you list has what I consider a mediocre graphics card - not good for gaming at all. Sadly, that's the same card in the laptop. SO from a capability perspective, there's no difference. You may as well get a nice big screen and connect it to the laptop.

In laptops, the screen size (and of course resolution) are some of the most critical aspects. it affects weight, battery life and what it's good for - watching movies or working with Photoshop.

Go here and see what type of a laptop you can configure for <$2,000.
http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/

 

[Kisianik]

For PC - http://www.digitalstorm.com/desktops.asp I just had mine Apollo from them, company based around San Francisco with local, not India (no offense, but a language issues), support, you can add good warranty. You can get something there starting at $799, not bad.
Laptops - it is difficult, Dell quality recently went down, especially with users converting to Win10 issues, if you decide to go Dell, go with Win8.1 not 10 for now, maybe in 6 moths or so those issues will got resolved, but not yet.

 

[Nerkerlerchios]

thanks -

i need more than one computer because i am not the only person in my house that uses one. all laptops are now broken, and our desktop is about to die. it's almost 12 years old. it's just time to upgrade anyway. i want a laptop for myself and a desktop for the family room.

i got two quotes from digital storm. one for a laptop, and one for a pc. after talking to a few people, though, i might see if i can get my husband to help me build a desktop and just buy a laptop for now. i do wish to get input on the laptop specs i got from digital storm, but i'll start a new thread for that.

 

[Kisianik]

thanks -

i need more than one computer because i am not the only person in my house that uses one. all laptops are now broken, and our desktop is about to die. it's almost 12 years old. it's just time to upgrade anyway. i want a laptop for myself and a desktop for the family room.

i got two quotes from digital storm. one for a laptop, and one for a pc. after talking to a few people, though, i might see if i can get my husband to help me build a desktop and just buy a laptop for now. i do wish to get input on the laptop specs i got from digital storm, but i'll start a new thread for that.

$6000 for 2 Dells, that is amazing, considering AIO crap they offered.
If someone in your family really can put PC together from scratch (not just think they can do so), then go for it.
If you want something, headache free, air cooled PC, nice laptop all for well under $6K - DigitalStorm (DS) provides this easy. Just to inform you, DS has nice forum like this one with a lot of knowledgeable users like here, who can help to choose the right PC and laptop for you.
If you are OK with switching platforms, than go for Apple laptop without Retina display (has some longevity issues), that will last you forever, I have 3 MacBook PRO, I think the oldest one is about 6 years old - still working good, except for the battery, no issues otherwise.

Lenovo, in my opinion, not meant to offend anyone, Chinese company which will cut corners like Dell and in result, I don't think they can provide quality that lasts.

 

[Karsten75]

thanks -

i got two quotes from digital storm. one for a laptop, and one for a pc. after talking to a few people, though, i might see if i can get my husband to help me build a desktop and just buy a laptop for now. i do wish to get input on the laptop specs i got from digital storm, but i'll start a new thread for that.

The way Tom's forums are set up, there is a high probability that your new thread will be missed by contributors to this thread. If that's what you want, fine. If you are hoping for some form of continuance, then you may want to post links to your new threads here.

Digital Storm is a good PC maker, but not really low-price. They don't have the required volumes to get great price breaks that they can pass on to their customers. Their labor costs are high. ALl that is reflected in the end price to the customer.

I don't know what your financial situation is like, but I personally prefer not to pay top-tier prices for commodity items such as desktops and laptops.

 

[Kisianik]

Digital Storm is a good PC maker, but not really low-price. They don't have the required volumes to get great price breaks that they can pass on to their customers. Their labor costs are high. ALl that is reflected in the end price to the customer.

Agreed on this. It costs me about $600-700 overhead on $3000 system (it will be less for cheaper PC), but I wanted headache free new good PC with good support if needed. After hardware warranty expire, I still entitled to phone support with DS direct for life of DS. And it is build in "USA", not outsourcing, for those sentimental users only.

 

[madmatt30]

Can I just drop in on this & suggest something that many people forget/neglect to mention or are not aware of.

The thing I speak of is 'steam streaming' - what this is essentially is the ability to stream a game that is physically installed on one PC connected to your home network to any other windows 7 & onwards PC connected to the same network.

What this means essentially is that if you purchase a relatively high powered desktop PC with a good quality GPU & CPU you really have no need to purchase an overpowered laptop - anything capable of streaming 1080p will do the job fine.
It means keeping the desktop powered onbto play games on the laptop but will save you literally $100s-$1000.

Its generally underrated & underused but it works wonderfully.Playing GTA v at ultra settings on my lenovo 65w tiny PC is some what surreal!!

More information

http://store.steampowered.com/streaming/
https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=ms-android-oneplus&espv=1&q=steam+streaming+youtube&spell=1&sa=X&ved=0CBkQvwUoAGoVChMIpK-4hb2XxwIVxSVyCh3AGwGC

For videos showing this in full flow just search YouTube for steam streaming.