Recommendations
Looking for the best computer equipment (which does not mean the most expensive) but don’t know what to buy?
This is a list of hardware that our experts recommend you consider when shopping for your next technology purchase. Techno-geek tested and approved!
Netbook Computer
- ASUS Eee PC 1005HA 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook (1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, 10 GB Eee Storage, Bluetooth, XP Home, 10.5 Hour Battery Life) Blue $376
- If your using this computer for more than just surfing the internet than I suggest upgrading the ram to 2GB
- If you are planning on using this system for storing your music and photos then I suggest upgrading the harddrive to 500GB
- There are two cases I recommend. This one is great for just taking the netbook (and nothing else) and fits the netbook like a glove. This one is great for taking all of your stuff with you and fits the netbook like it was made for it.
- Decal Girl – Cool Skins for your netbook
- Some accessories you may need or want: extra wall charger, automobile charger
Secure Digital Cards (SDHD)
Keyboards & Mice
- Basic Wire Mouse
- Logitech VX Nano – Small mouse great for netbooks
- Logitech VX Revolution – Great mouse for notebooks & desktops
- Logitech Basic keyboard – No frills generic clicky keyboard. This keyboard is a wired keyboard that has no extra “Internet” buttons most of which never use anyway.
Networking
- Cisco 48 Port 10/100Mbps Switch with 2 1000Mbps ports
- Netgear 8 Port 10/100Mbps Switch
- Netgear 16 Port 10/100Mbps Switch
- Netgear 24 Port 10/100Mbps Switch
- Parallel port print server by Netgear
- USB port print Server
- Wireless N Access Point – This is a Access Point not a router. You will still need a router
PC Notebooks
- 17″ Toshiba – Toshiba Satellite Pro L350-S1701 Notebook PC – Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz, 802.11a/g/n WLAN, 3GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, DL DVDRW, 17″ WXGA+, Webcam, Windows Vista Business/XP Professional Downgrade $989.99
- 15″ Toshiba – Intel Pentium T4200 2.0GHz, 3GB DDR2, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6″ Display, Vista Home Premium
- 15″ Lenovo Windows xp – Lenovo 3000 G530 4446-25U Laptop Computer – Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz, 3GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.4″ WXGA, Windows XP Professional
- When looking for a notebook keep these points in mind:
- Stick with Toshiba, Lenovo, Acer – We have seen a much less failure rate with these brands.
- Buy Intel – Intel processors are much faster & have a longer battery life than there counter-parts. For high perfomace stick with the Core 2 Duo.
- Dont buy anything with less than 2GB of ram. Vista runs best with 4GB & XP runs best with at least 2GB.
PC Desktop & Servers
- Quad Core System – Systemax VXQ2 Desktop PC – Core2 Quad Q8200 2.33Ghz, 4GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, DVDRW, Vista Business / XP Pro Downgrade.
- Systemax VLS RAID 5 Foundation Server – The Systemax VLS RAID 5 Foundation Server is designed to be an entry level, cost effective, file and print server. This server is built with the SOHO customer in mind, offering an affordable solution to meet the customer’s file, print and entry level application serving needs.
- Quad Core Xeon Server – Systemax ELS Server Intel Xeon Quad-Core x3360 / 4GB DDR2 ECC / 250GB (3 x 250GB RAID 5) / DVDRW / Dual GB LAN – You will need Windows XP Pro, 2003 server or Ubuntu Linux Server As this system does not come with the operating system on it.
- APC UPS – Battery backup for your server
- EeePc Box – Very small Desktop PC
- My Hackintosh – Here are all the parts that I bought to build my own hackintosh. The only thing that is missing is the efix chip
Monitors
- Viewsonic – This brand seem to have the best warranty on the market and also they hardly ever die. Check out Newegg, Tiger Direct and Buy.com for the best prices.
Thin Clients
- Ncomputing L130 – Wide Screen Support, Speaker, zero foot print Buy 10 get 1 free Buy 5 get 1 free
- Ncomputing L230 with Keyboard and mouse – Wide Screen Support, 24 bit graphics, speaker, mic, usb port, zero foot print Buy 10 get 1 free Buy 5 get 1 free