A great piece of information there Romayne, thanks for sharing that with us. I'm sure it will prove invaluable to our members.
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What I would like though is someone to tell me what specifications I should be looking for in a new machine. ie, best processor, best graphics card, best sound card, memory etc. Did ask my son but he came out with a load of technobabble which left us even more confused.
I'll try to answer this Eric without throwing loads of specs. at you.
The first, and probably the most basic, question you need to ask yourself is - what do I want to do with my computer?
This may sound a little silly, but the use you intend to put it to will determine what specification of computer you need to be looking at.
For example, if you simply want to surf the Internet and do a bit of online shopping, then you would not need a PC with the biggest and best components installed, as the processing power is not demanding for such tasks. Therefore you could save a lot of money in your purchase.
On the other hand, if you do a lot of graphics work, video editing, playing games (online or offline) then you would need a more powerful specification - i.e. faster processor, more system memory (RAM) and a fast graphics card with lots of on-board memory.
The thing to do Eric is look at the programs you are currently using, and see what the minimum system requirements are to run them. This will be a good guide as what to look for as a minimum specification in a new PC. You mentioned you use Photoshop 7. As I recall, the current minimum spec to run that is - (a) Pentium III class processor, (b) 128 MB memory (192 MB actually recommended), (c) Video card with at least 16MB of on-board memory, and the following Operating Systems - Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0 (service pack 6a), Windows 2000, Windows XP.
Whether or not Photoshop 7 will run under Windows 7 is questionable. Photoshop 7 is an old version and as such is probably no longer supported by Adobe for updates. They have newer versions available now which will have been updated to support Windows 7 -
CS4 being their latest release. As an example, I have currently been using Photoshop Elements 7 which was released prior to the release of Windows 7. I have just upgraded this program (this morning actually) to version 8, which Adobe report will now run with Windows 7, this being one of the new features in this version.
As I don't have Windows 7 at the moment, I couldn't check if PE 7 would run under it successfully or not. And like you Eric, this is one of my favourite programs that I need to keep using.
You have a difficult choice to make Eric. Either stick with your current PC which Photoshop 7 and your other programs run with quite happily, get a new PC with Windows 7 and install your existing programs and hope they run okay (and if they don't, check if program upgrades are offered anywhere), or get a new PC and buy the latest Photoshop, etc., that will run with Windows 7 (admittedly, a much more expensive option).
As regards what the best video card is, this is subjective. I have only had personal experience of two well-known brands -
NVIDEA and
RADEON - both of which I have found to be reliable performers. The important thing to look for in the video (graphics) card is the amount of on-board memory it has. In this case, more is better. I would say at least 128 MB, but 256 MB is better. This would also speed up the viewing of web pages that have a lot of graphics on them, and they are not that expensive. If the PC you eventually buy has a lower-memory video card for example, you could ask them to put a different one in, and pay the difference (if any).
If you buy a Desktop PC, as opposed to a Laptop, you can easily have them upgraded later on. Add more memory (RAM), get a better graphics card, etc. And I'm sure your son could help you with that.
Another option you have is to go into a reputable computer shop and tell the sales staff exactly what you want the new computer for and see what they recommend. You could also tell them the programs you have, and ask if they know if they will or will not work with Windows 7.
I hope this has been helpful to you Eric.
Laurie.