Need Help with Specs for Buying W7 Desktop
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I’m looking to buy a refurbished Dell Optiplex with Windows 7.
My slow internet really bogs down with W10. Works ok with XPP, W7 and W8.
I have machines with XPP, W7, W8 and W10 but I can’t print using Surface (W8) or W10 machine so I want another w/ W7.
Its been a long time since I bought an Optiplex. I prefer SFF so I can sit the monitor on it.
What looks good here? thanks
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@my4mainecoons Is price a major concern? Also, I assume you’re aware of the potential security risks with a Windows 7 OS?
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@flatbob Price isn’t the biggest concern. I just looked at specs on my current machines. My W7 has a 6 GB HD and W10 has 8 GB. So I’m thinking 4 GB is too small?
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Is windows 7 still supported? If you’re looking at something that’s underpowered, maybe worth it to install chromeOS on it?
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@dangeruss The problem is my internet being underpowered, not the machines.
Download speed 6 mps, upload 3 mps. Yes, really.
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@my4mainecoons said in Need Help with Specs for Buying W7 Desktop:
@dangeruss The problem is my internet being underpowered, not the machines.
Download speed 6 mps, upload 3 mps. Yes, really.I remember those days of DSL… though not sure how the OS affects your bandwidth?
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@dangeruss IDK. All I know is that W10 machines are very slow compared to W7 and XP. With W10 it takes a long time to just load a single page and it often times out before it loads.
Normally I can watch videos without buffering using W7.
Things are slower now with more people working from home and home-schooling.
My Surface came with W8. I did the free upgrade to W10 then downgraded back to W8 because W10 was so much slower; that was a few years ago.My internet service is one of my favorite FW Hot Deals. $13.99/mo for life.
When I signed up in 2000 I was paying $9.99/mo for dial up and the OP of the deal told me it was worth $4 more a month. They didn’t quite keep to the “for life” because I’ve had one rate increase in 20 yrs maybe 10 yrs ago? I now pay $16.99/mo.
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@my4mainecoons I would absolutely have at least 8 GB of RAM. If all you plan to do with this machine is internet, that should be sufficient (although more is always better, assuming the system board supports it).
Regarding your browsing speed, what browser do you use, and have you tried different ones on your Windows 10 PC?
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@flatbob Chrome main browser on all my machines. The first thing I did w/ W10 machines was to change from Edge to Chrome and to disable Cortana. Then I went through and tried to delete what I consider bloatware. What I like about DFS machines is that they come with OS and that’s it. No links to X Box, free trials of Office or antivirus, etc. There are a bunch of things I can’t uninstall on my newest W10 machine and it was my inability to uninstall that made me think I should go back to buying from DFS.
Occasionally I can’t do something in Chrome so I have 4 other browsers installed on XPP & W7 machines but rarely use them.
I used to only buy DFS machines. Then because they were close to free I started getting machines from Staples. Staples machines come with a lot of bloatware. I don’t play games, watch movies or use social media. I own disc copies of software that I use e.g. Office and QuickBooks Pro.
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This turned into a Hot Deal for me.
Received an email from our Chief Information Officer in which he mentioned ongoing project of swapping out W7 machines since they were no longer supported.
I asked what they do with the machines. Could I buy one? Gave him specs I wanted: W7 with 64 bit, at least 8GB memory and 500GB HD. Small form factor preferably.
"If it’s a PC that is end of life for us I would give one to you."
and later from a tech “Those specs match our EOL machines. I can have one ready for you by next week, if you’d like.”