Stuck on Repeats

[Jack Manfred]

So I need a new computer. The desktop I'm using to type this is about 7 years old and runs Windows XP. It's slow and cranky.

I mostly use my home computer to surf the web and to hold my music library. I had about 80 GB on my iTunes before I had a catastrophic failure about 2 years ago. I haven't re-ripped my CD collection, but plan to do so when I get a new computer.

Now that Microsoft has released Windows 8, I'm thinking it's time to get a new computer. I don't need a laptop (especially because I'm also considering getting an iPad too). Are any of you using Windows 8 on either a desktop or laptop?

I know some of you swear by Apples, and they look nice in the stores, but they're expensive, and I don't know if it's easy to back everything up to an external drive. Cost is an issue, but I don't want to get whatever's on sale at WalMart.

So...

Mac or PC?
Laptop or Desktop?
How do I store all my music and avoid another catastrophic failure?

Thanks in advance.

Jack

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by Jack Manfred

Mac or PC?

Mac. I switched in 2005 after annual crashes to my windows box. Better operating system for the home user.

Laptop or Desktop?

Depends. You get more computing power with a desk top but once you get used to walking around holding a two pound computer it's hard to leave.
I'd recommend a macbook air or something with a 256 GB flash drive. No moving parts. Or if you want a powerful desktop one of those 1200 imacs will be sweet.

How do I store all my music and avoid another catastrophic failure?

Plug in a portable hard drive and it will back up your entire box. Or you can pay $25 a year for itunes match and all your media resides on the cloud, accessible from your iPhone, ipad or any computer whenever you want.

Probably if you sign up for it now, you can redownload anything you already downloaded from iTunes (which you can do anyway if you ask nicely).

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by Jack Manfred

I know some of you swear by Apples, and they look nice in the stores, but they're expensive, and I don't know if it's easy to back everything up to an external drive. Cost is an issue, but I don't want to get whatever's on sale at WalMart.

Macs aren't necessarily expensive for what you get . . . what you can't get is a low-end box from Apple.

Backing up is extremely easy - the operating system comes with "Time Machine", which is an automated backup program. All you need is an external drive that you plug into the computer (you can remove it and back up less frequently). I have restored a laptop on which coffee was spilled to its replacement from one of these backups--new one ran just like the old: preferences, settings, files, etc. all exactly the same (except for the newer software that was already on the computer).

[Sparklehorse]

Originally Posted by Icky Thump

Probably if you sign up for it now, you can redownload anything you already downloaded from iTunes (which you can do anyway if you ask nicely).

I recently discovered with my iPhone that all the music I bought from iTunes is already in their Cloud and I could download to my phone. Most of my music isn't from iTunes and I don't really use my phone to listen to music but thought this was kind of neat.

Boston Globe tech writer has a review of Windows 8 for your consideration.

[Fugee]

Originally Posted by Jack Manfred

So I need a new computer. The desktop I'm using to type this is about 7 years old and runs Windows XP. It's slow and cranky.

I mostly use my home computer to surf the web and to hold my music library. I had about 80 GB on my iTunes before I had a catastrophic failure about 2 years ago. I haven't re-ripped my CD collection, but plan to do so when I get a new computer.Jack

I'm a PC girl. I considered a laptop when I got my new computer a few years ago but decided for my needs, a desktop was the best value.

I got mine from the Dell outlet and have been happy with it. It had everything I wanted and was considerably cheaper.

The desktop vs. laptop decision may affect whether you want Windows 8 or not. I've heard that it was designed for tablets and maybe laptops but not really for desktops. If you get a desktop, you may want to stick with Windows 7.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Fugee

The desktop vs. laptop decision may affect whether you want Windows 8 or not. I've heard that it was designed for tablets and maybe laptops but not really for desktops. If you get a desktop, you may want to stick with Windows 7.

I believe there are different versions of Windows 8 for tablets and PCs.

As for the age old desktop/taptop debate, it's really a question of preference. If I didn't have and iPad, there is no way I would choose a desktop. Too hard to surf while watching TV.

But given that I do most of my home surfing from the tablet now, maybe a desktop would work, and they are cheaper than the comparable laptop.

Something to keep in mind, though, is your future work situations. My work-issued laptop is a massive Dell that I would hate to travel with. Thankfully, I can take my much sleeker and lighter home laptop with me when I travel, which makes it totally worth it.

Everyone who has a Mac seems to like it. I just don't want to teach myself something new, I guess. I did consider an Air when last I was shopping, but ultimately I wanted at least a few internal components.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally Posted by Adder

I believe there are different versions of Windows 8 for tablets and PCs.

As for the age old desktop/taptop debate, it's really a question of preference. If I didn't have and iPad, there is no way I would choose a desktop. Too hard to surf while watching TV.

But given that I do most of my home surfing from the tablet now, maybe a desktop would work, and they are cheaper than the comparable laptop.

Something to keep in mind, though, is your future work situations. My work-issued laptop is a massive Dell that I would hate to travel with. Thankfully, I can take my much sleeker and lighter home laptop with me when I travel, which makes it totally worth it.

Everyone who has a Mac seems to like it. I just don't want to teach myself something new, I guess. I did consider an Air when last I was shopping, but ultimately I wanted at least a few internal components.

Based solely on what I read in the article I linked above, I believe that Windows 8 is the same across all platforms but obviously you can't make a non-touch screen suddenly a touch screen.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ltl/fb

I think mentally I'm stuck in mid-30s.

Oh, me too.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)

Backing up is extremely easy - the operating system comes with "Time Machine", which is an automated backup program. All you need is an external drive that you plug into the computer (you can remove it and back up less frequently). I have restored a laptop on which coffee was spilled to its replacement from one of these backups--new one ran just like the old: preferences, settings, files, etc. all exactly the same (except for the newer software that was already on the computer).

2

My brother backs up to the cloud, but I'm not convinced that the company he's using will be around in five years, so I haven't gone that route.

eta: I just switched from a PC to a Mac at work, but I'm using VMware Fusion, which lets me run a Windows desktop on my Mac. So far that seems to work very well.

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally Posted by Jack Manfred

So I need a new computer. The desktop I'm using to type this is about 7 years old and runs Windows XP. It's slow and cranky.

I mostly use my home computer to surf the web and to hold my music library. I had about 80 GB on my iTunes before I had a catastrophic failure about 2 years ago. I haven't re-ripped my CD collection, but plan to do so when I get a new computer.

Now that Microsoft has released Windows 8, I'm thinking it's time to get a new computer. I don't need a laptop (especially because I'm also considering getting an iPad too). Are any of you using Windows 8 on either a desktop or laptop?

I know some of you swear by Apples, and they look nice in the stores, but they're expensive, and I don't know if it's easy to back everything up to an external drive. Cost is an issue, but I don't want to get whatever's on sale at WalMart.

So...

Mac or PC?
Laptop or Desktop?
How do I store all my music and avoid another catastrophic failure?

Thanks in advance.

Jack

1. Personal choice. Macs are very popular with coders, hipsters and both young and old people. PC's are also popular with hackers, gamers, anti-hipster hipsters and middle aged people. I personally use an Alienware desktop and alienware laptop. Also have an android phone, iPad and Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD, etc. etc. I find apple products to be designed nicely, but somewhat lacking in something--though that could be just my impression of the iPhone biasing everything. Lots of engineers use macs, so do artists, so what the hell do I know.

2. Desktop with multiple screens. Wonderfully productive or unproductive, you choose.

3. Multiple redundancy. Like many have mentioned, the apple cloud service, an external drive. Or spread the 80GBs across many multiple free cloud services, like google music, dropbox, mozy and my favorite, sugarsync. I even pay for more storage on sugarsync. Burn it to a dvd. Save to multiple computers. Or just spare yourself the hassle and get a premium subscription to Spotify.

[Gattigap]

NYMag:

Witnessed the morning after Halloween, at the corner of Houston and Avenue A, in Manhattan's powerless dead zone: a woman in a full-on Superwoman costume, hailing a cab that she will likely have to share with others, including people doing their morning commute, due to post-hurricane transit scarcity.

If you see such a sight in lower Manhattan involving the poor souls with whose Halloween one-night stands are unlucky enough to live in the powerless dead zone, kindly divert your eyes. For you will be witnessing the World's Worst Walks of Shame, so harrowing as to be, in some ways, glorious. An act of defiance, even. Hung-over Hurricane Halloween defiance. We are all in day-old Superwoman costumes today.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Gattigap

NYMag:

When the young lady was selecting her one-night stand from the Halloween party, one would think that a young man living in the dark zone would not have been nominally as attractive a mate as one with electricity and running water. This guy must have been one big stud to overcome, and worth whatever shame she must bear.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

2

My brother backs up to the cloud, but I'm not convinced that the company he's using will be around in five years, so I haven't gone that route.

I'm not sure that really matters, as long as they give some notice they're going under, or at least that they don't go under the day you need that backup.

That said, I'm not so keen on backing up all my porn and evidence of illegal activity to the "cloud" (aka, China's PLA).

[Jack Manfred]

Thanks for all the feedback. I think I'll take a look at the Apple desktops again. I used a (bulky) laptop in law school (which died 7 years ago, necessitating the purchase of the desktop I'm using to type this). If I need to surf the web while watching TV, I think the iPad will suffice.

Almost all the music in my iTunes library comes from my CD collection (and the CDs I sold after ripping them) and bootlegs*, mashups, and oddities that I found on the internet. I like owning physical CDs, which means I'm a middle-aged man.

* found The Avalanches Cornerstone mix online today which I hadn't heard since the hard drive crash.

Which reminds me...

Which artist has infuriated you by never releasing a second album?

Which artist has infuriated you by releasing a second album years later? (e.g. Stone Roses)

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by Jack Manfred

Almost all the music in my iTunes library comes from my CD collection (and the CDs I sold after ripping them) and bootlegs*, mashups, and oddities that I found on the internet. I like owning physical CDs, which means I'm a middle-aged man.

Welcome to the club.

Which artist has infuriated you by never releasing a second album?

Which artist has infuriated you by releasing a second album years later? (e.g. Stone Roses)

Arundhati Ray for the first one, Helen DeWitt for the second. Except their albums were novels.