atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Computers & Programming Computers, Software, Accessories Upgrade my PC?

So I'm thinking about upgrading my PC (see my other topic on reboots) but there are a couple of things holding me back.

First - Hardware. I've got some old legacy stuff that I really like and would hate to give up. I don't know if I can get a new machine that supports them. These include:

1-An IBM keyboard with a built in Trackpoint Mouse (Very comfortable for word processing). It requires a mouse port and a keyboard port - Are these still available?
2- A US Robotics external 56K FaxModem. Not for dialup but about every two months I have to send or receive a fax. It rqures a Serial Port - Is that still available?
3- An HP Scanjet SCSI Scanner. We use this every day for scanning, copying, faxing. It requires a Type I or Type II SCSI card. Will I have a problem using this in a new machine?
4- An HP Laserjet 5 printer. Old, B/W only but real solid. I'm real fond of this baby. I guess I could use it as a network printer (it's got an ethernet port) but it's currently connected via a parallel port.

It seems to me that all the new machines I've seen have nothing but USB ports. I've already got a USB laser mouse, a connection to my Treo, my wife's Palm pilot and our digital camera on USB. How much can you cram on that bus?

So, first question - can I get a PC with legacy hardware connections?

Second sticking point - the OS. Vista sucks. We have some machines at work with it and they just bite.

I would think about going to a MAC but besides the hardware I've got too many files on software that's probably not compatible. I know Excel and Word can be read by MACs but how about Paperport, Visio, dbase, Wordperfect & DeScribe?

Anybody have any suggestions?

TIA,

Sam

If you go to the Dell site and look around I think you will find what you are looking for. What you DON'T want is Vista! So I would act now while XP pro is still available.

-Hal

Thanks Hal!

Have you heard anynthing about rotten service with Dell? I've got two friends that have Dell PCs - both under warranty and they've been having real trouble getting them fixed.

Sam

I just got a Dell laptop, I was able to get a serial port and XP Pro
To put it bluntly, Dell's customer service sucks most of the time. It is outsourced to India...

I have been getting screwed with Palm pilot support that's been outsourced to India. They are absolutely horrible.

Whenever I call an "800" number and hear that accent I know I'm not going to be happy.


Sam

USB to mini-DIN adapters (old style keyboard and mouse connectors) and USB to serial adapters exist just for this purpose.

The keyboard adapters are about $2.00. For a serial port adapter, I am extremely happy with my Belkin FSU109. There's a guy selling one on Ebay for $7.00. It works with WinSPM and my Palm Pilot just fine.

I've got an 18-year old HP LaserJet 4 printer that still looks brand new. It is an absolute workhorse and will not die. Since it is so well supported on Windows XP and Vista, I doubt there would be any problems with a LaserJet 5 in the mix.

SCSI support is difficult with newer machines. I've always loved the speed of this architecture, but it never really caught on in the end-user market because of the price. Replace your scanner with a newer USB flavor. Like all other HP products at the time, the ScanJet was a beast. Newer models will seem fragile, but they're not really all that bad. Get a $99 flatbed and I think you'll be surprised. The resolution and color matching is superior to what you've got.

My next machine without question will be a MacIntosh. The newest ones are Intel-based and can be made to "dual boot" (that is, boot into Windows XP or the Mac OS). Alternatively, there is software like Parallels Desktop 3.0. It is written for the Mac OS, but it is smart enough to open the correct alternate OS for you. In other words, if you have WordPerfect 6.1 (like I do cuz I hate MS Word) and you click on a *WPD file, Parallels will automatically open up a copy of XP in a window and run the program natively in that window. It also supports program calls Linux, which is the underbelly of the Mac OS.

I don't know. I've disliked Microsoft for a long time (I was an OS/2 & Unix guy)but Macs are looking awfully good.

Sam

I Have gotten Dells For our fire house and had Problem after problem with them. Not to mention my dell laptop that pooped out.

My new Laptop is an IBM Lenovo X61 that has a paralell port and a Serial port. I am now hooked on the IBMs again
The Little Lenovo M Desktop Has a serial port and a paralell Port, And is available with XP

I had a couple of thinkpads back when and they were excellent. Maybe that's the way to go.

I'm more than a little nervous about going with a Mac after all this time with PCs. My buddy's daughter works part time as a tech support rep for Mac (NOT in India, here in NYC as a matter of fact) maybe I'll talk to her and get some ideas.

Of course I'll have to hear all kinds of abuse first. She tried to talk me in to Macs years ago.

Sam

if you stick to dells enterprise product lines (optiplex, latitude) the call centers are in london ontario and texas

I would also make a minor suggestion that if you are wanting to stick with IBM compatible PC's running Windows XP that you do something soon. I have heard (source = semi-reliable) that Microsoft will release NO MORE OEM of XP after 1/1/08.

Well, I own a legitimate copy of XP , i guess I can always transfer it to a new PC if I have to.

This sucks. I'm just too busy now (and the stores are too crazy) to go through this before 1/1.

Sam

Well I got a Latitude laptop. It's at home and I am still at school so I have not even seen it yet. I'm hoping I never need to call tech support

Update: Got home, opened the laptop. It's beautiful and works fine. I customized it with my applications and so far, so good
Gotta love XP!

New Macs actually run Vista better than PCs....

Have you considered building a system?

It's really quite simple... and there are motherboards that still do serial and parallel ports. It does seem like the mainstreamers are discontinuing them.... One of my friends got a dell, and I tried to set it up for her, but the printer was parallel and the dell didn't have it. She ended up buying a new USB printer.

Checklist -
Motherboard
CPU/heatsink (retail package)
memory
hard drive
case

Your old hard drive can be added as a secondary drive. And you can salage the optical and floppy drives if they're still in good shape.

SCSI cards are still available, and if your existing system has one, it could probably be transferrd as well.

Transferring the XP license/activation might be the hardest step.....

Rob -

I always used to build my own systems. I stopped about 10 years ago, and I can't tell you why.

Another good option. This probably makes #9.

Thanks,

Sam

I have run nothing but Dell's the last several years, and no issues. Not even with tech support. People often forget that a PC requires maintenance. They load some third party software full of spyware and crap, and then wonder why their machine doesn't work, and don't want to hear the tech support guys tell them to reload the OS. So I would buy a Dell before I would buy any other machine. MAC's are out too, because of cost and proprietary software. You can simply ad a parallel or COM port to one of their machines if it doesn't come with it, just make sure you have enough PCI slots. You can get adapters to use PS2 connections on USB..but not all will work. You can pretty much have as many USB as you want..I think my dell came with 6 or 8 and I added another 4 and two firewire. I have been running Vista on both machines for almost a year. No issues from this end.

i've had a dell d600 for over 4-5 years now. I can't tell you how many times it has hit the floor in a crowded mfd rooms. It takes a likin keeps on tickin. Small Business Tech support has been great. I had one of the removable drives
go down. One call, a brief validation of the cause of the issue and they had a replacement in the mail. My next machine will probably from Dell. I would like to build one though.

I just helped a friend upgrade his system that died. I put in an AMD AM2 2.3 GHZ dual core, 2 gigs of RAM, a new motherboard, and a 500GB SATA drive. I think it only cost him about 300 bucks in parts. Plus he bought me lunch

This is probably too late, but if you get a C series Dell Latitude, you get the option for Dual Batteries, a REAL serial port and the "C/Dock II" I have has a real native SCSI port on the back. SCSI is fully supported on XP. I use mine with a HP ScanJet 4c.

I've seen these for around $300. Mine is a C610 PIII 1Ghz, the dock works with C600,C610,C840 for sure. I have not tried any of other C machines.

Not too late. I continue to procrastinate. Plus I've been tied up with some family matters. And religious matters And.....

Sam

The only possible sticking point in your hardware would be the SCSI scanner. Not many PCs come with SCSI of any type pre-installed anymore, and even if you do get one with a SCSI card/port, you will more than likely have to use an adapter, as the SCSI standard has advanced several iterations in the last decade, including wholesale changes to the physical connector.
With SCSI/USB adapters, I suggest caution. The software drivers for many are not up to par, imo (You can always blame Microsoft - everybody else does). And it's gonna be hard to find a SCSI2-to-USB adapter, which would mean an adapter chain.
Assuming your PC won't have a SCSI port, I'd just look for a SCSI card online. Adaptec (venerable SCSI/storage specialists) used to make a well-regarded SCSI2 card which you could find retail for less than $50. But any SCSI card would work with the proper SCSI2 adapter.
My $0.02 regarding Dell: I've been doing business with them (across their product line) for more I care to remember. Basically, for a work/business PC you should avoid the Home/Home Office division. As was suggested, even in the business divisions, avoid the "re-branded" Home PCs. Stick with strictly business lines such as Latitude (laptops), Optiplex, or Precision (if you're really betting the business on it)
Same goes for the HP machines (though they're consistently 5-8% more expensive in an A/B comparison)
I have nothing against the Mac. I own a MacBook Pro and have owned Apple machines since 1977 (The choice back then was between a car and an Apple II - the Apple being slightly more expensive. The nerd in me beat the rebel, and I got the Apple). But for a whole bunch of reasons which would take a lot to list here, if this was the only PC that I have, I would not go with the Mac.

Good luck,
Perry

Edit: The Adaptec card I was refering to above is the 2906. This is an internal PCI card. Most computers these days have PCI slots on the board, but there are a few that only have the newer-type slots, called PCI-Express. For a laptop, you can probably still find a PC Card with a SCSI port or use an "expander" with a SCSI port built-in, but that's more stuff to lug.

If you know the scanner model, I can look up the port it uses of the many options. Then it would just need the card for a desktop or a SCSI PC-Card for the notebook and the appropriate cable between the card and device, the cable is usually easy to locate. A seperate notebook card will be more expensive than a replacement USB scanner for a notebook. This is one of the reasons I suggested that particular Docking station/notebook combo.

If you are not absolutely tied to using the scsi scanner on the notebook, Id suggest getting a USB scanner and that would work fine with any new notebooks.

As an example I have an thinish USB scanner which is bus powered that I keep in my notebook bag for scanning paperwork when I am on the road doing installs. The USB scanner is great for quick document imageing. When I'm dong high quality color photo scanning I use the SCSI scanner I have at home.

The scanner is an HP Scanjet 4P. I've got a PCI SSCI card for it now. If I change PCs, I'll move the card.

Sam