I'll be buying a new computer...

[zeddicus]

Just as soon as my tax refund comes in. 

Have paid down all of my debts. Have a steady income now, will probably get a laptop for portability. Any suggestions?

If all else fails would even look into buying used. But there is still time to make that decision

[FORTRANS]

Hi,

   Of the computers I have owned, quite a few have been laptops.
Small, but not too small seems to be best.  The largest did not
get much use.  The smallest was nice if you were moving from
place to place (home, work, hotel rooms, Mom's house, etc.) but
did not get much more than e-mail done with it, too small a screen
for anything else.  Two have TV out features that extend the
Windows desktop to the TV.  I have found that rather useful at
times.  The older has S-Video, the newer HDMI.  I am using the
older one as a DVD player now.  My brother-in-law used the same
HDMI computer for internet video at one time.

HTH,

Steve N.

[zeddicus]

...quite a few have been laptops.
Small, but not too small seems to be best...

That's my thinking as well.  Will probably be looking into 64 bit OS,   as 32 bit seems destined for obsolescence.
I really dread the thought. Seems Windows Automatic Updates are all but impossible to completely disable, as I gather from what I have been reading with Windows latest offerings. I will surely miss humble XP Pro SP3. But if I can get hold of a used computer that has been properly wiped and has XP reinstalled (pre activated), I may yet go that route.  (obsolete as it may be), then later look into a 64 bit machine. All of this depends on the pending income tax refund that is due shortly, and budget constraints

Zedd

[jj2007]

I am on Win7-64, which is in many aspects better than XP. You can code in 32- or 64-bit, no difference.
Regarding hardware, take what your budget allows but don't accept less than 4 GB RAM.

[zeddicus]

I am on Win7-64, which is in many aspects better than XP. You can code in 32- or 64-bit, no difference.
Regarding hardware, take what your budget allows but don't accept less than 4 GB RAM.

Old habits die hard,  but I do realize that upgrading from xp would be inevitable, sooner or later.

Totally agree about ram. Was struggling before with the 2 gig's I had.

Will certainly be interesting learning to code for 64 bit. Barely had a handle on 32   

zedd

[hutch--]

Z,

Unless you need to carry it around, a desktop usually offers more bang for your buck and you can more easily change bits in it like hard disks, add memory and other accessories. It would be better if you could get a box with a 64 bit OS as it allows you to work in both. XP works fine but you are limited to 32 bit and the world is changing.

[zedd151]

 

"xp simulator" for android.

repeatedly displays shown error message, or others - users choice. lol

 then nice BSOD if either buttom selected.

 

plus legacy xp sounds - a real hoot.?

[Ascended]

I'd go a desktop all the way too.

I have a few laptops and I hate working with them. Small screens, finicky track pads, and cluttered keyboard.

Laptop's are always a few steps behind tech wise as well. They cost more for less.

[zedd151]

I agree that laptops are less than optimum. But on the other hand my limited financial resources will be the ultimate deciding factor. Plus, I had used laptops previously for quite some time with external monitor, bluetooth keyboard and mouse and had satisfactory results with that setup. And had the added benefit of also being portable. Of course memory was an issue, only 2 slots - but for what it was performance was acceptable.

So I am considering a used laptop to start off with. Then later - finances permitting - also get a (hopefully) new desktop. I recently got a minor promotion at work with a (also minor - lol) pay increase, so I'll be saving up...

64 bit, here I come....

[zedd151]

For the time being, I have been looking into using a virtual machine for my smartphone, and use a windows xp iso with it. There are several vm's available for android. Limbo is one and it looks interesting.

After work today I'm going to get all my computer related stuff out of storage.  I'be got tons of stuff that I made backups to DVD on. I think I still have my xp disk image. If not might go see what win10 goes for retail USD. If all works out, I could probably delay purchasing a computer until I have enough $$$ to get a decent system.

[Ascended]

Damn man! XP on your phone! You must really want to get back into coding big time! 

[zedd151]

Damn man! XP on your phone! You must really want to get back into coding big time! 

Damn right!

And I love my slimmed down version of xp.   

No bloat, no auto-updates eating up resources, etc, etc....

[zedd151]

quote from previous post of mine

After work today I'm going to get all my computer related stuff out of storage.  I'be got tons of stuff that I made backups to DVD on.

Well, I didn't go that day. I went the following day - only to discover that several storage lockers there had been vandalised. Stuff was either stolen or broken beyond repair. A total nightmare for me. I had a whole slew of old, hard to replace software, not to mention a boat load of original asm source codes that I had long forgotten.   

And to think that was part of my backup plan.   

I had made disk images of my hard drive and stored them on an external HD.
I also backed up those images onto dvd. Shoulda stuck 'em on the cloud.

The source codes are no big deal. Nothing there to write home about. It was just all the stuff I had written while getting my feet wet with assembly.

What really bothers is the software that can no longer be (easily) obtained.   
Not to mention my xp images. 

[Ascended]

Geez, you are having a bad run 

[zedd151]

Geez, you are having a bad run

Well, on the bright side I will be able to truly start fresh.

Nice shiny new (hopefully) computer. 64 bit Windoze - something else new.

Learning 64 bit assembly - more new...

But yeah been tough for me lately. But I have my health, have an income that allows me to actually save up some money, and I have the "can do" spirit - that keeps me going. Really miss writing and testing my buggy code. At least I have the means to post my random ramblings here...

seed