Old computer is gasping for breath, dying fast...

[DiaperedKhajiit]

I can't play around as I would prefer, so thought it best to just come right out and ask plainly-
As someone who doesn't understand the first thing about how these Black Magic Boxes (ie, Computes), work? The one I've been using for nearly six years is literally dying in front of me. It's a custom built unit from a very knowledgeable technician in my town, but sadly, he shuttered his business last year (yay COVID). Now, I have no one within a fifty mile radius of me that I 'Know', much less trust with this thing.
I realize PC's don't usually have a long life span and was already saving up my $$$ to (have my trusty Tech.) build me another. Now that is off the table, forever.
I will not use any of the 'Big Box Stores' for this. Been there, been raped, will never do it again.
Anyone have any advice for folks who need a trusted source for this? If I must out-source my $$$ I don't want to be wrung through the wringer with a scam.
Anyone use such a service, where we can actually talk to a living person (that understands and can speak English coherently? No, I'm not racist, but DELL taught me just how futile THAT exercise can be)? I live in the U.S. of A., West Coast, but heck, if I'm talking over a telephone I suppose that's not a biggie, as I'm going to have to deal with shipping regardless. I'm HUGE on value/dependability and most of all: GOOD SERVICE! I don't want to buy a new anything, then hear nothing but silence on the other end if there's a problem.
I do not need or want the latest, greatest, up-to-the-datest lightspeedfast PC. I play some games but nothing crazy/new or heavy in HD/tech (to my knowledge). I DO write, and wanted to get into digital art, so need something that I can 'Grow into' for awhile.

That's it, sorry for the long rambling post.
You folks usually have lots of great advice, and I'm wise enough to know I am not wise about PC's, but neither am I afraid to ask for help when needed.

Thank you.

 

[RachelOlivia]

I can't play around as I would prefer, so thought it best to just come right out and ask plainly-
As someone who doesn't understand the first thing about how these Black Magic Boxes (ie, Computes), work? The one I've been using for nearly six years is literally dying in front of me. It's a custom built unit from a very knowledgeable technician in my town, but sadly, he shuttered his business last year (yay COVID). Now, I have no one within a fifty mile radius of me that I 'Know', much less trust with this thing.
I realize PC's don't usually have a long life span and was already saving up my $$$ to (have my trusty Tech.) build me another. Now that is off the table, forever.
I will not use any of the 'Big Box Stores' for this. Been there, been raped, will never do it again.
Anyone have any advice for folks who need a trusted source for this? If I must out-source my $$$ I don't want to be wrung through the wringer with a scam.
Anyone use such a service, where we can actually talk to a living person (that understands and can speak English coherently? No, I'm not racist, but DELL taught me just how futile THAT exercise can be)? I live in the U.S. of A., West Coast, but heck, if I'm talking over a telephone I suppose that's not a biggie, as I'm going to have to deal with shipping regardless. I'm HUGE on value/dependability and most of all: GOOD SERVICE! I don't want to buy a new anything, then hear nothing but silence on the other end if there's a problem.
I do not need or want the latest, greatest, up-to-the-datest lightspeedfast PC. I play some games but nothing crazy/new or heavy in HD/tech (to my knowledge). I DO write, and wanted to get into digital art, so need something that I can 'Grow into' for awhile.

That's it, sorry for the long rambling post.
You folks usually have lots of great advice, and I'm wise enough to know I am not wise about PC's, but neither am I afraid to ask for help when needed.

Thank you.

I know you don't like 'big box' stores, but I always buy my pc's from the dell business outlet site. I usually get a returned unwanted or scratch and dent (not refurbished). You get a three year on site warranty on the business site and very good value from the outlet. May take some patience waiting for the right model at the price. My current desktop is over 8 years old and still going strong. Bought with Windows 8 and upgraded to 10. Okay, so it won't run w11, but it is 8 years! Likewise my Dell tablet is 6 years old and still super.

 

[ade]

Tell us what's wrong with it

If you're set on buying a new machine, don't forget to consider whatever software you already have for compatibility with a newer operating system.

My old machine, upstairs, is over 17 years old (am I reading myself right? ) and still out performs newer machines, although it's used purely for functional and storage purposes (and has had some hardware upgrades).

 

[NinjaPizza]

We can totally help! But first I would ask yourself what you plan on using the new computer for. If gaming is a significant factor, you might want to just buy yourself a console. Seriously. 300-500$ for a machine that plays games is fairly cheap, especially considering the price and availability of video cards. You can buy a console AND a halfway decent laptop for less than the price of a gaming PC.

However, if you want a PC for digital art or film you will likely want some muscle. But the first thing I'd still do is make a list of the games you play/intend to play and the programs you intend to use, then their system requirements. After that you can play around with a system builder like PC Part Picker and get some ideas of how much things would cost if you built them yourself.

Not all laptops and prebuilts are bad, by the way. A little pricey? Yeah. And some of them ARE bad, but if you research those and stay away, you'll be all right.

 

[DiaperedKhajiit]

Tell us what's wrong with it

If you're set on buying a new machine, don't forget to consider whatever software you already have for compatibility with a newer operating system.

My old machine, upstairs, is over 17 years old (am I reading myself right? ) and still out performs newer machines, although it's used purely for functional and storage purposes (and has had some hardware upgrades).

We can totally help! But first I would ask yourself what you plan on using the new computer for. If gaming is a significant factor, you might want to just buy yourself a console. Seriously. 300-500$ for a machine that plays games is fairly cheap, especially considering the price and availability of video cards. You can buy a console AND a halfway decent laptop for less than the price of a gaming PC.

However, if you want a PC for digital art or film you will likely want some muscle. But the first thing I'd still do is make a list of the games you play/intend to play and the programs you intend to use, then their system requirements. After that you can play around with a system builder like PC Part Picker and get some ideas of how much things would cost if you built them yourself.

Not all laptops and prebuilts are bad, by the way. A little pricey? Yeah. And some of them ARE bad, but if you research those and stay away, you'll be all right.

I know you don't like 'big box' stores, but I always buy my pc's from the dell business outlet site. I usually get a returned unwanted or scratch and dent (not refurbished). You get a three year on site warranty on the business site and very good value from the outlet. May take some patience waiting for the right model at the price. My current desktop is over 8 years old and still going strong. Bought with Windows 8 and upgraded to 10. Okay, so it won't run w11, but it is 8 years! Likewise my Dell tablet is 6 years old and still super.

That's a conversation I wish to have with the company/other that actually builds them, services them, and then/if there's any problems, I can handle it with them, personally. I can't do that 'Here' and am not about to reveal my IRL info. online like this. (I may not be tech-savvy, but I am a bit wiser about security/safety in online conversations).
Basically, has anyone here dealt with an established company in this way, and do they feel comfortable referring them?
My 'List' of local individuals/small businesses within a 75 mile range is quite small due to living in a very rural area. It really sucks that the one great tech. is no longer in business. He literally had the corner on the market for our entire community/town/local region, and sadly did not pass it on to someone else he felt trustworthy/knowledgeable enough.
Just to try and answer some of the questions/suggestions you folks made? (so you don't think I'm just blowing you off with indifference)-
Dell. Yes, Dell. My first two PC's were via them. The first one was fine/did fine (circa year 2000, so going WAY back here). But PC performance was skyrocketing so fast at that time, by the time I realized what I was doing (mostly just writing via 'Word' and spreadsheets/similar for work), that PC was already a dinosaur. Liking Dell, I purchased the next one from them, and THEN got shafted three ways to Sunday. Not only did this thing not do specifically what I asked for/thought I'd bought, from some online chat help by a couple folks I trusted, I dug into the guts of the thing to find out was was REALLY inside, and then discovered I'd been totally scammed by Dell. Of course, they didn't give a rat's ass when I contacted their 'Customer Support' with the details, and the same happened in trying to deal with the 'Warranty/what was ordered vs what was delivered' fiasco.
I'm a pretty simple person about some things. If you lie/steal from me, I'm done with you. Forever. It's over. G-bye Dell, may you rot in whatever Hell will still accept your worthless soul!
So, a youngster built me my next PC, and again I discovered the hard way, all the software he installed was 'Pirated', and when I began having problems, tried contacting the legal/legit software companies, was explained just what happened and why they would not help me. So, lesson learned- don't trust someone you don't know, and who has no legit 'Business' on the line if they lie/cheat/steal (yes, yes, yes, I realize many business still do this, for as long as they can get away with it, and then disappear.).
My current PC has 1TB of memory, divided between one 500GB standard HD, and one 500GB SSD (for my games, photos, writing storage mostly). Gaming so far has been quite simple. I've a few old style chess programs, I play 'Skyrim/Oblivion/Morrowind, and have ESO' (or, had. Three are now unloadable/playable). I've tried playing a few MMO games, but my molasses DL speed just saw me getting slaughtered by everyone, so the fun factor was pretty lousy and I stopped trying. Besides, I've still got my two PS4's, one PS3, 2, an N64 and 'Gamecube' that still keeps me entertained, so it's not all bad! Writing is just writing, faily utilitarian stuff, nothing fancy about it.
Now, digital. Here I'm completely blind about software/hardware pros/cons, availability and cost. I must sit down and show whomever what I've been looking at, and what I want to do, and again I'd love a system that lets a 'Starter Artist' begin, but still be capable of letting me grow/learn more, and use it as I do.
I absolutely detest Microsoft, though I have/had/use Windows 7/8, and so far haven't murdered the thing (yet). I had ONE 'Loaner' PC with Windows 10 on it, and I will never, ever again, trust/use Bill Gates' BS software/snoop-ware/mandatory daily upgrades/patches/what all, which made using the thing basically worthless for me, because it takes forever to DL anything and that's all the thing did, daily! I'm not a huge fan of 'Apple' for IRL reasons, though everyone I know who has/uses their tech products swears by them, again, it's something I'm woefully ignorant about and if I'm forced to take the leap over to them, have to be certain it's worth the extra $$$ and learning curve!
I'm not wealthy enough to buy a new PC every two-three years or so. I really need something that'll last a minimum of 5 years. I already have nearly $1,500.00 saved for the expected new build from the tech. I knew/used, so I'd have to say right now that's my ceiling (though of course I can go a little more if I must). This cost does not include the digital art platform I've got on my 'Wish List', and that thing runs nearly $700.00 by itself, on a good Sale).

Still, I'm like a blind woman in a china shop, with a very long white cane, who's been spun around a few times and then told to find the exit w/o knocking anything over! ;-)

Thank you all for taking the time to read and reply! You folks are the best!
(((((hugs))))