I figure, if you’re gonna buy a computer just get the nicer one. I doubt it’s a huge expense relative to your salary and it will last you longer, probably by 2-3 years at a wild guess.
Being cheap, and already knowing the router is working, I’d spend the $7 and try a cheap new USB wifi adapter - even if I was thinking of buying a new machine. That might let you shop at year leisure.
Oh, btw, did you check whether the USB port is working?
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Yes…yes, I did, and yes…yes, it is.
Yeah, the old USB Wi-Fi Adapter must have died during the move. I bought a new one from BB and am again cruising the information highway. :guitarwo:
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Alright, so a new desktop isn’t imminent, but if you guys see something on super-sale (from amazon, costco, best buy, target, circuit city, radio shack, whatever) post about it in this thread, will ya’?
This. And what it will amount to is like $1,000 less you leave your kids.
The desktop pc in the OP is too old to accept the latest Windows updates. Hence, the bump.
I started with Costco…figuring, my membership will get me the best price…and randomly picked a computer based pretty much on price point.
Then, I took that computer & searched for it. I think I’m comparing apples to apples here & that, dude, if I buy straight from Dell, I’ll be best off.
Costco $750
Amazon $709
BB $700
Dell $620
Am I completely messing up here?
Wife also wants a huge monitor (that can be connected wirelessly) & that will probably necessitate a wireless keyboard & mouse, so if you have advice on that, let’s hear it.
I think I see three different hard drive configurations among those four links, producing a bit of fruit salad for comparison.
I can’t comment about wireless monitors, other than noting that my bias is for wired connections between things that don’t move, since wireless connections share frequently congested spectrum.
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I didn’t even realize there were wireless monitors, but I’d wonder about lag. Monitors need a lot of data.
Also, what does she want the monitor for? I bought a really cheap one on a whim, because i needed it for work. I basically bought as many pixels as i could in the size that fit on my desk. And it worked great for work, but i struggled playing video games, because it was too hard to see when the scene was dark. The issue wasn’t just assisting the brightness (i tried) it didn’t have enough steps of brightness, or something like that. I’ve since bought a new monitor with good stats for gaming, and it makes a huge difference.
Just for work…she’s an MDS nurse, so it’s just looking at a lot of information on the screen at the same time, so she wants a big screen (that won’t necessarily fit on our desk where the desktop computer is) that will most likely be placed onto a very large table.
Alternatively, if I got a long enough cord (10-20’) I could plug it in directly.
I have several 10 foot DP cables running around the crude mockup of the Starship Enterprise that is my office. I’m not certain that 20 foot DP cables are sufficient.
If “need a big monitor, and it’s not suitable to have a desktop in that location” is a deciding factor, the non-name mini PC I mentioned earlier in the thread has been updated:
Despite claims to the contrary, it’s not a gaming PC, but it’ll handle normal “work” tasks, and it’s small enough (slightly larger than my two hands held together in a praying position) to fit most places…including potentially mounted to the back of a monitor.
I don’t know that I’d want to run a full model from my job on the one running in my living room…but I wouldn’t want to run one of those models on my work laptop either. 
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Beelink SEi12 order placed. Thanks for all of the advice.
I should note – it is just the CPU, power supply, and maybe an HDMI cable. You’ll need to supply keyboard and mouse/trackball.
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Indeed. In addition to the keyboard & mouse, I can probably scrounge up an HDMI cable as well. :tup:
The old speakers that I have came with green & pink pokey things that were inserted into the back of the computer. Apparently, for speakers on this beauty I’m going to need some blue tooth thing. Does that mean it’s wireless?
Any recommendations for which one to get? Is installing something like that pretty easy (i.e., will they recognize each other or will it be a pita to get it set up)?
can you hear me now?
I’ve done a similar thing, with similar results. Luckily, I don’t play games on my PC a lot anymore. The expensive monitors have less “ghosting”, so that when a sprite moves across the screen at high speed, it doesn’t leave a trail behind it.
I didn’t think about the need for sound device when I suggested Beelink, since I get sound through the HDMI interface.
To plug in wired mic and speakers, you can add a USB sound fob, something like this:
Ooh…that’s a nice $9 solution. Thanks for that.
Is there anything else I should consider before buying that & just hooking up the old speakers? Here’s a link to what they are.
Are there some (new) speakers that I should consider instead? …since they’re not that much more expensive & the technology is better these days?
Actually, that was just the first one that popped up on Amazon.
I have actually bought a couple of this model:
…for ham radio use. It’s not a fancy device, but it works.
If it has a single speaker connector, you should be all set.
My Beelink computer is connected to the living room TV. I do sound over HDMI through the TV’s sound bar.