Computer- desktop

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Ray.Charles
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Computer- desktop

Post by Ray.Charles » November 17, 2015, 8:22 pm

Need to replace the one on my desk--about 7 years old.
Went to find Hardware House as my first stop-- no longer in business, I was told.
Any recommendations for where to go next?
Also, what to buy to meet my basic requirements: Windows 10 for my e-mail, MS WORD and EXCEL.
I saw an HP that did not have a separate box, had 'everything' packed behind the monitor.



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rick
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Computer- desktop

Post by rick » November 17, 2015, 8:33 pm

Desktops do seem to be dying out. The all in one seems to be replacing it, but most people just buy a large laptop. Like you i was looking at desktops last year and not much choice. We can talk on Thursday.

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jackspratt
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Computer- desktop

Post by jackspratt » November 17, 2015, 8:43 pm

Have you looked at mini-PCs?

Given my basic needs (similar to yours), I will be investigating closely next time I am due to upgrade.

http://techreport.com/news/29326/intel- ... c-mini-pcs

I haven't looked at their general availability in Thailand, but there are numerous online options to purchase.

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parrot
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Computer- desktop

Post by parrot » November 17, 2015, 8:54 pm

I'm guessing that Banana Computer in Central can put together a computer to fit your needs.....they have all the components there, including desktop cases and technicians.
For me, nothing compares to the comfort of a desktop......with a 20+" monitor. If I want to surf and chill on the porch, I can do so with my Galaxy tablet. But when I want to bang out a few pages of Thai homework, or view Trevor Noah or the latest episode of some TV show, nothing compares to watching it on a big monitor and the comfort of my computer chair.

If my desktop goes belly up tomorrow, I'm buying another desktop.....full size keyboard, and extra large monitor. Windows 10 (free) and openoffice (also free).
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/18/techn ... -face.html

cambsangler
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Computer- desktop

Post by cambsangler » November 17, 2015, 9:04 pm

Another option is "Advice" on the Wattananuwong Road at the rear of Central Plaza. There are two shops here. Go to the one on the right hand side as you head left from the CP car park. There is one guy that speaks good enough English to understand what you ask for and will offer guidance too, if you need it.

I have been using these guys over the last year or so and they are really helpful, and not expensive.

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waanjai
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Computer- desktop

Post by waanjai » November 17, 2015, 9:06 pm

After Tohnan Conputers (Charoensri Complex) closed I had the same problem. But I found a good alternative:

https://www.advice.co.th/product

They have different shops in Udon, one is on Wattananuwong opposite to Thai-French beef.

They have over 50 Tower-models (Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo)
https://www.advice.co.th/product/desktop-pc

and also the small duties All-in-one PC in many models
https://www.advice.co.th/product/all-in-one-pc

Of course over 100 different Notebooks
https://www.advice.co.th/product/notebook

Again, it all depends on what you want to do. If video is of concern to you or You need pretty much of storage space then Towers are still the best. Have seen one there with 10 Solid State Devices (the follow up to HD drives) that found my interest as I am saving movies. :D

Stevo
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Computer- desktop

Post by Stevo » November 18, 2015, 12:22 am

rick wrote:Desktops do seem to be dying out. The all in one seems to be replacing it,
Have to disagree there Rick... based on the number of desktops I get asked for.
waanjai wrote:Have seen one there with 10 Solid State Devices (the follow up to HD drives) that found my interest as I am saving movies. :D
That's an expensive way to store movies.. I have over 3,000 movies stored on WD Green drives (1 and 2 TB) to put that lot on SSD's it would cost more than the entire rig, inc. the monitor. :confused:

'Advice Distributions' are about the best locally, for building you a machine to suit your needs.

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BobHelm
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Computer- desktop

Post by BobHelm » November 18, 2015, 7:02 am

The big advantage for desktops is that they are easy to upgrade & add components.

Personally I would not be too worried about which manufacturer make the box. Most of the main components within are made by third parties anyway & it is them that are important.

Processor I would go for an Intel chip, rather than any other & their 6th generation Intel® Core i chips.
There are 3 basic models & they go up in processing power as the number increases - the price equally goes up too. There are difference 'clock speeds' within the model ranges as well - the higher the speed, the better the performance.
i3 - Really only man enough for pretty basic work. Probably will not give a very good result for live streaming. Costs about 4,000 baht
i5 - Probably good enough to provide the power needed by most people. Costs about 8,000 baht.
i7 - If you are in to high graphic games or database analysis then this is for you. Costs about 12,000 baht.

RAM Memory. The least that you are likely to be offered is a machine with 2GB. Most will have 4GB. Personally I would upgrade to at least 8GB & 16GB if I wanted to live stream sports. 16GB is about 3,000 baht.

Hard drive storage Most will probably come with a 1TB disk, although some will have half that. It is enough for most people, unless you want to store a lot of movies. If you intend to use the computer to store data that is important to you, then it is necessary to think about how much data that will be. It is foolish to back up data on the same disk, so you will need either cloud storage (One Drive, Google Drive, DropBox etc.) or an additional hard drive. 500 GB would cost you less than 2,000 baht.
It is unlikely (I have not seen in Udon yet) that the PC will come with an SSD drive. These are relatively new technology drives that have no moving parts (Solid State). Their advantage is not only speed of access but reliability. They are pretty expensive per GB of storage but are well worth considering adding. A 120GB disk will set you back about 1,800 baht. However that is big enough to put your operating system(s) plus any programs on. This considerably speeds up loading & shutting down the machine.

Sound & Video Cards Nearly all the equipment will come with sound & video included on the main (mother) board. Some of the equipment will boast of a better video chip. Unless you are into games & movie watching then this is good enough for most uses. It is possible to buy dedicated sound & video cards & fit them to a desktop though. These greatly increase the standard output. A sound card that allows you to add a 5 speaker system can be had for as little as 500 baht - or as much as 8,000 baht if you want to add a professional 'surround sound' system. A simple video card can be added for just over 2,000 baht. They have dedicated memory on the card that means that movies & games are shown seamlessly. The top end video cards are very expensive (30K baht) & probably requires that the user does some serious
video editing to justify the expense.

So, you can pay as little as 10K, or almost as much as you like, it really depends how you are going to use it.

Advice, that a number of posters have mentioned is a Wholesale & Distribution company. They supply independent shops, so seeing the Advice sign outside a shop (& there are probably 10s of them in Udon) is an indication that they could obtain anything in the catalogue for you, but no guarantee. The quality of work supplied very much depends on the quality of the owner & the staff & not on Advice.

J.I.B in the Complex is well worth a look.

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BobHelm
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Computer- desktop

Post by BobHelm » November 18, 2015, 7:25 am

Ray.Charles wrote:I saw an HP that did not have a separate box, had 'everything' packed behind the monitor.
This is called an 'all in one' computer ray.
Initially created by Apple, many moons ago. They have come back into fashion (I guess for space reasons) & most of the manufacturers make a couple of different models now.
I wouldn't buy one myself & wouldn't recommend that anyone else did either.
While they certainly save space I think that they are an expensive way of doing so. You could, undoubtedly, do what you have outlined that you want to do on one. I think that a desktop would permit you to do the same for a lower price, or a higher specification though.
The major gripe with all in ones was that they were very difficult to upgrade or repair. Some of the modern ones have tried to address that - but, beware, some haven't.
My personal concern with them is that they have a tendency to overheat. That is a real problem in a hot climate like Thailand where the normal temperature is mid 30s C & can make them unreliable unless you take additional precautions.

Ray.Charles
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Computer- desktop

Post by Ray.Charles » November 18, 2015, 9:56 am

You guys are a superb group of helpful forum members. Helped to broaden my knowledge and perspective, and narrow my selections...all-in-ones are out for me. Last week, I brought back from the U.S. a HP laptop with Windows 10 which is a lot easier to handle than my LENOVO with Windows 8, but I am still looking for 'My computer' button on it.
Should be able to post my selection and my experience before the end of the week.

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BobHelm
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Computer- desktop

Post by BobHelm » November 18, 2015, 10:06 am


Ray.Charles
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Post by Ray.Charles » November 23, 2015, 9:16 am

Yesterday, I bought a desktop from the JIB computer in the CENTRAL. The first thing the salesgirl at the JIB in the Landmark asked us was how much we wanted to spend; we walked out.
None of the per-packaged brand-name boxes at the CENTRAL was up to Bob Helm’s guidelines: i3 processor, 1TerraB Hard Disc, 4 MegaB RAM, and my requirement, Windows 10.
So, I had them package one for me:
CPU: I3 4160 4,190B
Motherboard 1,890
RAM: 4GB 890
Hard Disc: 1TB 1,790
Power supply 590
Case: LG 990
TOTAL: 10,340B
Mouse 220B; Keyboard was included.
Windows 10 (not a copy): 3,290B
I also bought an expensive 24 inch SAMSUNG Monitor for 4,790B. I did not realize that the screen did not tilt.
I bought the new desktop because the hard disc in my 7-year old HP box was broken. I hesitated but replaced it with a hard disc with the same spec as in the new computer, and since my VISTA was in the broken-down hard disc, I bought a Windows 7 copy for 300B, and a battery for 75B.
The young sales girl, Boom, was very pleasant and knowledgeable, and so was the young man technician, Thon.

glalt
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Post by glalt » December 9, 2015, 6:50 pm

I bought my last computer from Lazada. Delivered right to my house. Decent price and delivery.

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samuel
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Post by samuel » December 9, 2015, 9:46 pm

Ray.Charles wrote:RAM: 4GB
i always recommend 8 GB RAM for windows 10.
if you want to later upgrade from 4 to 8 GB RAM, then take notice that you have to have the 64bit version of windows 10 installed.
the 32bit version of windows 10 can only handle up to 4 GB RAM.

Ray.Charles
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Computer- desktop

Post by Ray.Charles » January 14, 2016, 8:22 pm

I have run into a problem on trying to hook-up my old copier/printer/scanner (Canon MP280) to the new desktop.
Copier- being stand-alone is not an issue
Printer- the interface between the old printer and the new desktop is compatible; I can send files to be printed from my new computer to the old printer.
Scanner- my new desktop can not receive the scanned image form the Canon. I am prompted to buy acdsee Pro8. Your advice please.

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waanjai
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Computer- desktop

Post by waanjai » January 14, 2016, 8:59 pm


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BobHelm
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Post by BobHelm » January 15, 2016, 6:03 am

As waanjai indicates, it is a scanner driver issue.
That is the only way that you will resolve the issue - a program like Acdsee will not help you.
Scanners are notoriously troublesome to connect to just about any Operating System..

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Khun Paul
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Post by Khun Paul » January 15, 2016, 6:26 am

When I was looking to upgrade my computer and my old desk-top had all but gone to the scrap heap, I asked a friend of mine a computer geek what was the best options available. In looking we both came to the same conclusion to purchase a laptop not large but easily portable and also a large screen and a few external passports to augment the storage capacity. The question was then which one. the best package on the market last year was Lenovo , with a 1.3 intel processor, not being a gamer .
The creen cost me approx. 4-5 k and two 1 Tb external and one 2 tb external completed the deal. After looking at various shops I decided to see what CSC in landmark were like, the manager there a Thai is competent to the point of being very good, he not only loaded Windows 10 ( I have the original disc ) as well as the latest then Windows 2013 original. He loaded it and then checked it for 24hrs before allowing me to part with my money and take the computer away. it has not failed me.
I use them for anything else from tablets to phones, as the checking procedure means that if he is not happy, he will use another one. he did that with a Samsung phone I recently purchased, he was not happy with how it performed and told me no good, bad bnits and got another one out of the box and proceeded to check that, when he was happy I bought it.
NOW folks that has to be better then buying one , and having to go back because it is wrong and being told no fix manufacturer. he sent the bad one back to Samsung, which is as far as I am concerned his job, I get the good one.

CSC just sell computors and other small electronic bits, if you want other stuff he sources it for you .

I am happy with my laptop, , better than buying a tower and I can also take it anywhere with me if I need to. Which I cannot do with a tower.

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Computer- desktop

Post by bluejets » January 15, 2016, 12:16 pm

Ray,
Do you have all the drivers installed for windows10 ...canon mp280
Apparently the scanner also needs a driver called ....navigator ex

Preparing for Scanning with the Operation Panel
Before scanning originals, check the following.
Are the necessary software applications (MP Drivers and MP Navigator EX) installed?
Install MP Drivers and MP Navigator EX from the Setup CD-ROM when they have not been installed
or have been uninstalled. To install MP Drivers and MP Navigator EX, select MP Drivers and MP
Navigator EX in Custom Install.
Are the settings for saving scanned data specified with MP Navigator EX?
When you save scanned data on the computer using the Operation Panel, you can specify the
settings for saving scanned data in Preferences of MP Navigator EX.
For details on the settings, refer to the on-screen manual: Advanced Guide


Quote from the manual ... 1021058814.pdf .....Canon manual
Apparently suits windows10

cheers..Jorgo

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parrot
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Computer- desktop

Post by parrot » January 15, 2016, 1:23 pm

Ray.Charles wrote:I have run into a problem on trying to hook-up my old copier/printer/scanner (Canon MP280) to the new desktop.
Copier- being stand-alone is not an issue
Printer- the interface between the old printer and the new desktop is compatible; I can send files to be printed from my new computer to the old printer.
Scanner- my new desktop can not receive the scanned image form the Canon. I am prompted to buy acdsee Pro8. Your advice please.

Ray, several years ago when I upgraded to Windows 7, I found out that version no longer supported my scanner. Not wanting to buy another, I tried taking a digital photo of some documents.....and found the quality was as good as anything I needed. Since then, I've used digital photos for insurance, IRS, credit card, and others.....all with no issues.

I'm guessing you're in the same boat with your scanner.

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