Jen,
First, congratulations on going about this the correct way, i.e.,
delineating what you want to do with the machine before going shopping.
Most people buy a computer first, then try to do things with it that
the machine will do only poorly, if at all.
I'd recommend instead as a general strategy to buy an already-built
computer... what just about everybody does. Take your specifications
(pretty much what you emailed to the list) to your local computer outlet
and have the salesperson
actually write down which machines they sell
which satisfy those specs. Alternatively, you could email your specs to
an online salesperson and have them reply to your email with machines
they sell which satisfy the specs.
If you can't find a ready-made machine that's what you want, then you'll
have to fill in the gaps by installing cards in slots. It should be,
for example, fairly easy to buy a card which gives you a couple more USB
ports. Note though that the card you buy has to match the slot. This
might be especially critical if you need to install a second video card.
Don't actually buy the machine until you're certain that all the cards
you're going to need to install will fit-- physically and technically--
into the
slots on the motherboard. This goes of course for the RAM too,
though this is hardly ever as problematic.
Re: gigabit ethernet: Are all the other nodes on your local networks
also running this, including your router? If not, then it's a
questionable feature.
That's enough for now.
Good luck,
ken
On 10/19/2013 02:58 PM Dr. Jennifer Nussbaum wrote:
> My current desktop has been having some issues lately and I think its
> time to consider replacing it. Ive been having trouble finding exactly
> what I want, even tho' this is straightforward, so i though I'd ask here
> to get some advice, maybe even about
building my own machine (which Ive
> never done but am willing to learn).
>
> This is to run Wheezy for simple desktop use--web surfing, running home
> music network, some videos, some coding, but no gaming, no video/sound
> editing, no real storage needs.
>
> I DO want:
>
> Small or smallish form factor (currently using a slim tower), attractive
> SSD (small capacity--everything impt is on a NAS elsewhere, i just
> want the system to run fast)
> Ability to have two monitors (currently using VGA and HDMI 'cause
> that's the ports i have)
> Optical drive
> Lots of USB ports (3.0 not really necessary but wouldnt
hurt I guess)
> Gigabit Ethernet
> Relatively quiet, energy efficient
> 8 GB RAM (for future-proofing, don't normally need much)
>
> I DON"T want or don't care about:
>
> Massive speed and 16 cores (but want enough that I wont need to
> replace in a year)
> Fancy video card (built-in has always been fine, if I can watch
> movies that's all i need)
> Fancy sound card (I use USB into a DAC for serious things)
> Massive mechanical HD
>
> When i look at computers from HP or Lenovo, it looks like it costs a
> fortune to add a SSD (and i dont want to buy a separate one from Crucial
> and then have the original one in a box on my shelf) and memory. The
> cheaper machines seem to be worrisomely basic, like in a year they won't
> be able to run YouTube, and the more expensive ones still need upgrades
> of SSD and RAM. And in particular the smaller form factors tend to be
> pretty spendy.
>
> But i have literally no idea how to assemble a machine from scratch, and
> in trying to browse i dont even know how to find a smaller form
> factor--i cant find an elegant slim case, just huge fancy gaming ones,
> or dull ugly boxes of various sizes.
>
> All advice appreciated, thank you!
>
> Jen