Recommendations?

syko86 · Mar 14, 2004, 08:58 PM

Hi, I'm planning on getting a new 120GB hard disk, graphics card and speakers. My budget for the graphics card is anything around a 9600XT range. Any suggestions? Thanks!

By the way, sorry for not posting for such a long time, been busy with some personal stuffs. Thanks again in advance

.

zerodamage · Mar 14, 2004, 09:05 PM

well the 9600 XT range is around 180 U.S. Dollars and right now a 9800 Pro can be picked up for 212 U.S. Dollars. I would come up with 30 dollars more and get the much better card. Go a lot further than a 9600, especially with Doom3 and HL2 coming soon.

syko86 · Mar 14, 2004, 09:41 PM

Hi there, thanks for the quick reply, but I just checked the price list. Over here, the difference between a 9600XT and a 9800Pro is 130 dollars

. By the way, I'm from Singapore ^_^. What about the hard disk? What brand should I get?

And I'm planning on getting the 621 from Altec Lansing for my speakers...

Vampyromaniac · Mar 15, 2004, 08:38 AM

For graphics card, definitely 9600 XT, if that's your spending limit (also check the price of 5900 XT, if it's the same, get that)

Hard drive, I think most would recommend Western Digital. WD1200JB has 8 MB cache and 3 year warranty, go for that

For speakers, those Altec's are pretty decent for the price.

syko86 · Mar 15, 2004, 02:05 PM

Hm WD hard drives? I was thinking about Hitachi and Maxtor, but recently there seems to be a lot of problems with Maxtor drives. Oh ya, any other speaker suggestions? By the way, thanks for the replies.

toddsmack2k · Mar 15, 2004, 07:27 PM

I would go with a Western Digital such as Vamp suggested. For speakers I tend to like Logitech or Klipsch.

Vampyromaniac · Mar 15, 2004, 09:35 PM

What is your price limit like for speakers?

~~Crash Override~~ · Mar 15, 2004, 09:48 PM

btw guys western digital recently ended the 3 year warranty on their Caviar SE Parallel ATA drives it seems

I just picked up an 80GB HD to use as a spare for storing data and such and inside the package was a one year warranty statement

Vampyromaniac · Mar 15, 2004, 10:05 PM

EDIT: according to this, it is indeed 1 year for Retail kits, but it's still 3 years for bare drives.

syko86 · Mar 16, 2004, 12:18 PM

Thanks for the replies everyone. All of you seem to suggest WD, is it that good? I'm currently using Maxtor, but they've been getting bad reviews/comments as of late. Hitachi seems good, but I might just buy WD after all your suggestions. Vampy: Hm.. Around 200 SGD limit for my speakers, I think it's around 150 or 175 USD or so ^_^. Thanks again.

toddsmack: Over here they don't sell the better Logitech models, just the Z340, Z640 and stuff

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Vampyromaniac · Mar 17, 2004, 07:27 AM

200.00 SGD = 117.713 USD

Hmmm, I think that Altec 621 is probably your best bet.

syko86 · Mar 18, 2004, 06:21 PM

Oh ok, sorry for the wrong conversion :X. No offense meant

. Hm, any better speakers just slightly above that price? And... No one has any experience with Hitachi? Once again, thanks.

~~Crash Override~~ · Mar 18, 2004, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by syko86
Oh ok, sorry for the wrong conversion :X. No offense meant . Hm, any better speakers just slightly above that price? And... No one has any experience with Hitachi? Once again, thanks.

Hitachi bought IBMs Hard Drive line.

IBMs Hard Drives were known as DeathStars (making fun of the DeskStar name) because they were dying left and right.

Here in our house we got 2 of them DOA and a 3rd one that functioned for 2 weeks before dying.

Hitachi since buying the line may have fixed that but I doubt it

Western Digital really is the best bet.

Also Altec Lansing speakers are awesome.

Personally I only have a 2.1 speaker system from them and damn does it sound good for the fact that I only paid $25 for them.

I havent even used my actual home theater system since hooking these up.

Vampyromaniac · Mar 19, 2004, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by syko86
Oh ok, sorry for the wrong conversion :X. No offense meant . Hm, any better speakers just slightly above that price? And... No one has any experience with Hitachi? Once again, thanks.

It's no problem, I was just providing info

As for Hitachi, their hard drive division was acquired from IBM last year. IBM had produced high-quality drives until their infamous 75GXP line of drives which had very high failure rates, and the 60GXP line that followed also had notable failures, but less than the 75GXP. Since then, they produced 2 more lines of drives that were back in line with the rest of the industry, then they sold their division to Hitachi. This Hitachi line of drives is fast, but most people suggest WD since they've been making fast, reliable drives for a long time now. If you'd like to read a review of the Hitachi 7K250, here's a link: StorageReview.com

Now, for speakers, why don't you list some of the speakers in your area that are in that price range, and we'll let you know about them. The prices of speaker sets in Singapore might not compare to each other the way that they do in other countries, so it would be easier if you listed some. (And we'd know for certain that those speakers are available there, instead of us suggesting stuff you might not have there.)

syko86 · Mar 19, 2004, 01:14 PM

Ah ok, I'll most probably get a WD hard drive then. Thanks for the linkage

. Hm... Here's a list of speakers sold in Sim Lim Square (Some shopping centre over here which specialises mainly in computer/electronics stuff). http://sg.hardwarezone.com/priceguid...lter=name&pg=0 Thanks for the help. Also, I'm buying a printer as well, and have been considering the Epson CX3100. I've no experience with Epson printers before, and would like some opinions

. Thanks in advance

.

Vampyromaniac · Mar 19, 2004, 09:25 PM

Looking at that list, I'd still say the Altec 621. About printers, sorry I don't know much about them.

swimtech · Mar 19, 2004, 11:15 PM

Around here, one of our technicians who works exculsively with printers would recommend HP without a doubt. They don't have the lowest cost per page, but are reliable, excellent quality performers. The Epsons are very well engineered (same company as Seiko - who of course make great watches), but tend to have a high cost per page. Epson's quality is the best though...

Unless you need photo quality output most of the time, I would recommend the HP line. HP's tech support and parts availability is good (comparatively speaking) too.

Edit: When I've had occasion (and there have been many), I've bought HPs for offices here at work for printing text chores and some graphics work - I've had nothing but positive feedback and not one complaint.

syko86 · Mar 20, 2004, 08:31 AM

Lol, I'll get the 621 then :P.

swimtech: I use to have HP printers, but their catridges are too expensive. Over here, it's close to double, sometimes triple of a Epson catridge.

Also, I want one of those 3-in-1 printers to save some desk space. ^_^ Suggestions?

Anyway, thanks for the help!

I can't wait till my house renovation is over, in 2 weeks or so, then I can get these stuffs

.

Mar 14, 2004, 08:58 PM	#1
syko86 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 130 Rep Power: 0	Recommendations? Hi, I'm planning on getting a new 120GB hard disk, graphics card and speakers. My budget for the graphics card is anything around a 9600XT range. Any suggestions? Thanks! By the way, sorry for not posting for such a long time, been busy with some personal stuffs. Thanks again in advance . __________________ "Shoot Yourself In The Head, A Better Life Is Ahead." "Who do you side?" "Myself, of course." http://shux-inspir3.spydar.com Shucky Poets

Mar 14, 2004, 09:41 PM	Thread Starter #3
syko86 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 130 Rep Power: 0	Hi there, thanks for the quick reply, but I just checked the price list. Over here, the difference between a 9600XT and a 9800Pro is 130 dollars . By the way, I'm from Singapore ^_^. What about the hard disk? What brand should I get? And I'm planning on getting the 621 from Altec Lansing for my speakers... __________________ "Shoot Yourself In The Head, A Better Life Is Ahead." "Who do you side?" "Myself, of course." http://shux-inspir3.spydar.com Shucky Poets

Mar 15, 2004, 08:38 AM	#4
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	For graphics card, definitely 9600 XT, if that's your spending limit (also check the price of 5900 XT, if it's the same, get that) Hard drive, I think most would recommend Western Digital. WD1200JB has 8 MB cache and 3 year warranty, go for that For speakers, those Altec's are pretty decent for the price. __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

Mar 15, 2004, 02:05 PM	Thread Starter #5
syko86 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 130 Rep Power: 0	Hm WD hard drives? I was thinking about Hitachi and Maxtor, but recently there seems to be a lot of problems with Maxtor drives. Oh ya, any other speaker suggestions? By the way, thanks for the replies. __________________ "Shoot Yourself In The Head, A Better Life Is Ahead." "Who do you side?" "Myself, of course." http://shux-inspir3.spydar.com Shucky Poets

Mar 15, 2004, 07:27 PM	#6
toddsmack2k It Never..... Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,173 Rep Power: 0	I would go with a Western Digital such as Vamp suggested. For speakers I tend to like Logitech or Klipsch. __________________ [color=blue]*Bleeding From the Inside Pouring Out, The* *DriverHeaven* Spiral, We Shall Never Let Go Of.[/color]

Mar 14, 2004, 09:05 PM	#2
zerodamage HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 3,478 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	well the 9600 XT range is around 180 U.S. Dollars and right now a 9800 Pro can be picked up for 212 U.S. Dollars. I would come up with 30 dollars more and get the much better card. Go a lot further than a 9600, especially with Doom3 and HL2 coming soon.

Mar 15, 2004, 09:35 PM	#7
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	What is your price limit like for speakers? __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

Mar 15, 2004, 09:48 PM	#8
~~Crash Override~~ Banned Join Date: May 2002 Location: Olympia, WA Posts: 2,448 Rep Power: 0	btw guys western digital recently ended the 3 year warranty on their Caviar SE Parallel ATA drives it seems I just picked up an 80GB HD to use as a spare for storing data and such and inside the package was a one year warranty statement

Mar 15, 2004, 10:05 PM	#9
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	EDIT: according to this, it is indeed 1 year for Retail kits, but it's still 3 years for bare drives. __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250 Last edited by Vampyromaniac; Mar 15, 2004 at 10:13 PM.

Mar 16, 2004, 12:18 PM	Thread Starter #10
syko86 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 130 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for the replies everyone. All of you seem to suggest WD, is it that good? I'm currently using Maxtor, but they've been getting bad reviews/comments as of late. Hitachi seems good, but I might just buy WD after all your suggestions. Vampy: Hm.. Around 200 SGD limit for my speakers, I think it's around 150 or 175 USD or so ^_^. Thanks again. toddsmack: Over here they don't sell the better Logitech models, just the Z340, Z640 and stuff . __________________ "Shoot Yourself In The Head, A Better Life Is Ahead." "Who do you side?" "Myself, of course." http://shux-inspir3.spydar.com Shucky Poets

Mar 17, 2004, 07:27 AM	#11
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	200.00 SGD = 117.713 USD Hmmm, I think that Altec 621 is probably your best bet. __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

Mar 18, 2004, 06:21 PM	Thread Starter #12
syko86 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 130 Rep Power: 0	Oh ok, sorry for the wrong conversion :X. No offense meant . Hm, any better speakers just slightly above that price? And... No one has any experience with Hitachi? Once again, thanks. __________________ "Shoot Yourself In The Head, A Better Life Is Ahead." "Who do you side?" "Myself, of course." http://shux-inspir3.spydar.com Shucky Poets

Mar 19, 2004, 01:14 PM	Thread Starter #15
syko86 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 130 Rep Power: 0	Ah ok, I'll most probably get a WD hard drive then. Thanks for the linkage . Hm... Here's a list of speakers sold in Sim Lim Square (Some shopping centre over here which specialises mainly in computer/electronics stuff). http://sg.hardwarezone.com/priceguid...lter=name&pg=0 Thanks for the help. Also, I'm buying a printer as well, and have been considering the Epson CX3100. I've no experience with Epson printers before, and would like some opinions . Thanks in advance . __________________ "Shoot Yourself In The Head, A Better Life Is Ahead." "Who do you side?" "Myself, of course." http://shux-inspir3.spydar.com Shucky Poets

Mar 19, 2004, 09:25 PM	#16
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	Looking at that list, I'd still say the Altec 621. About printers, sorry I don't know much about them. __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

Mar 19, 2004, 11:15 PM	#17
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 122 System Specs	Printer... Around here, one of our technicians who works exculsively with printers would recommend HP without a doubt. They don't have the lowest cost per page, but are reliable, excellent quality performers. The Epsons are very well engineered (same company as Seiko - who of course make great watches), but tend to have a high cost per page. Epson's quality is the best though... Unless you need photo quality output most of the time, I would recommend the HP line. HP's tech support and parts availability is good (comparatively speaking) too. Edit: When I've had occasion (and there have been many), I've bought HPs for offices here at work for printing text chores and some graphics work - I've had nothing but positive feedback and not one complaint. __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Mar 20, 2004, 08:31 AM	Thread Starter #18
syko86 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 130 Rep Power: 0	Lol, I'll get the 621 then :P. swimtech: I use to have HP printers, but their catridges are too expensive. Over here, it's close to double, sometimes triple of a Epson catridge. Also, I want one of those 3-in-1 printers to save some desk space. ^_^ Suggestions? Anyway, thanks for the help! I can't wait till my house renovation is over, in 2 weeks or so, then I can get these stuffs . __________________ "Shoot Yourself In The Head, A Better Life Is Ahead." "Who do you side?" "Myself, of course." http://shux-inspir3.spydar.com Shucky Poets