computer question -- am i being ripped off here?

[tortoise]

Quote from JA_LDP:

you mean you hate OS X? just out of curiosity, why?

You know, it's funny thing. I can't really defend it. But I've never felt at home with any Mac OS. I find it counter-intuitive, precious, and creaky. In fact, every time I sit down at a Mac (with Mac OS loaded, that is), my blood pressure starts to rise. Something about the Mac OS just feels ... like something out of an earlier era. Like a really promising Beta of an operating system that never ... quite ... gets there.

As it happens, I left Windows for Mac about a decade ago and worked, more or less, full-time on a Mac for two and a half years before migrating back to Windows. It was ok, but my return to Windows felt like an escape from eccentricity.

I know this must sound nuts, as Mac OS is supposed to be all "human-centric," etc. But there it is. I simply don't understand why anyone bothers with it.

Mac hardware, on the other hand, is entirely different story...

 

[garchbrooks]

Quote from tortoise:

You know, it's funny thing. I can't really defend it. But I've never felt at home with any Mac OS. I find it counter-intuitive, precious, and creaky. In fact, every time I sit down at a Mac (with Mac OS loaded, that is), my blood pressure starts to rise. Something about the Mac OS just feels ... like something out of an earlier era. Like a really promising Beta of an operating system that never ... quite ... gets there.

As it happens, I left Windows for Mac about a decade ago and worked, more or less, full-time on a Mac for two and a half years before migrating back to Windows. It was ok, but my return to Windows felt like an escape from eccentricity.

I know this must sound nuts, as Mac OS is supposed to be all "human-centric," etc. But there it is. I simply don't understand why anyone bothers with it.

Mac hardware, on the other hand, is entirely different story...

It's the price I can't get over. You get so much more computing power per dollar with non-Apple hardware. It's also the fact that if you buy their hardware release at the wrong time, you end up losing even more money.

As far as UI and usability, Apple products have always been more usable and friendly. It's just that, as a programmer, my main apps are usually emacs, gcc, and R. I can't get behind the price premium baked into Apple products.

 

[tortoise]

Quote from garchbrooks:

It's the price I can't get over. You get so much more computing power per dollar with non-Apple hardware. It's also the fact that if you buy their hardware release at the wrong time, you end up losing even more money.

As far as UI and usability, Apple products have always been more usable and friendly. It's just that, as a programmer, my main apps are usually emacs, gcc, and R. I can't get behind the price premium baked into Apple products.

I'm not seeing that price premium. I just went over to the Dell website to configure a Precision workstation comparable my Power Mac, and it would've cost more than my PowerMac (and this was with a single quad Xeon processor, as compared to the dual quad Xeons in the Power Mac). And it was butt-ugly.

Now, perhaps you want to argue that Dells are overpriced as well, and that someone can do better at Joe's Corner Computer Shop. Maybe so. But, as I've said, I've been down that route, and it's proven itself to be a tad too expensive for me.

 

[JA_LDP]

Quote from stock777:

I have more than a clue, gotten when I did my due diligence before building my i5 rig. (Built my own since the 80's) My research indicated that other than spending $300 more for the computer, you'd be getting next to nothing in a performance boost.

I took your 'cheaper' comment literally, if that's not what you meant, so be it.

For anything but the most insane co located hft bullshit, I defy you to show me a practical difference in performance for a trader.


PS Buying a pre built computer is nearly guaranteed to be underpowered and overpriced. Especially from so called 'specialty' shops catering to a niche.

The literal meaning of the word 'cheap' is inexpensive. By saying the i5 is cheaper than the i7 literally means the i5 is less expensive than the i7. That's what I meant. You took my comment figuratively, not literally.

PS I don't have 30 years under my belt like you may have, but I've been repairing and building machines for 8 years, since I was 16 years old. You don't need to explain to me the differences between building and buying.

 

[christianhgross]

Quote from Rodney King:

Wow, an intelligent post. What are you doing on E'trader?

LOL... Seriously though, there are time intelligent posters on ET. Actually I happen to like Elite trader... Though and I think there is quite a bit of noise.

ET has some very distinct attributes that I at first was not aware of:

1) Bait questions or comments. Like, "the US sucks", or "the US is the best", or "Money sucks". Those are the questions you just avoid or if you don't better get your barbs out.

2) The newbie question like, "I have this trade and I am like loosing all of my money". Those questions attract the responses like, "oh you are such a looser, and get the heck out of ET"

3) The "I have a magic strategy that is making me lots of money and I just want to ask if I am special..." Enough said on the responses that will attract.

4) And finally through the rest of the noise you have real questions like, "am I being ripped off", which will attract real responses, and will have real discussions...

The one thing I wish Elitetrade had was peer review like Slashdot. In Slashdot you had the same problem of the noise. Then when peer review came out you could distinguish between noise and real commentary. Made Slashdot readable.

 

[Rodney King]

Quote from tortoise:

I know this must sound nuts, as Mac OS is supposed to be all "human-centric," etc. But there it is. I simply don't understand why anyone bothers with it.

I use OSX and Windows roughly equally often. My broad view is that simple, default'ish activities usually are more intuitive in the OSX GUI, but when you need to twiddle or customize, it's often more difficult.

Of course, OSX vs Windows has been hashed over a million times elsewhere...

 

[stock777]

Quote from JA_LDP:

The literal meaning of the word 'cheap' is inexpensive. By saying the i5 is cheaper than the i7 literally means the i5 is less expensive than the i7. That's what I meant. You took my comment figuratively, not literally.

PS I don't have 30 years under my belt like you may have, but I've been repairing and building machines for 8 years, since I was 16 years old. You don't need to explain to me the differences between building and buying.

cheaper

1 a : purchasable below the going price or the real value b : charging or obtainable at a low price <a good cheap hotel> <cheap tickets> c : depreciated in value (as by currency inflation) <cheap dollars>
2 : gained or done with little effort <a cheap victory> <talk is cheap>

>>>> 3 a : of inferior quality or worth : tawdry, sleazy <cheap workmanship> b : contemptible because of lack of any fine, lofty, or redeeming qualities <feeling cheap> c :


oh well, sonny, another learning experience for ya.

 

[JA_LDP]

Quote from stock777:

cheaper

1 a : purchasable below the going price or the real value b : charging or obtainable at a low price <a good cheap hotel> <cheap tickets> c : depreciated in value (as by currency inflation) <cheap dollars>
2 : gained or done with little effort <a cheap victory> <talk is cheap>

>>>> 3 a : of inferior quality or worth : tawdry, sleazy <cheap workmanship> b : contemptible because of lack of any fine, lofty, or redeeming qualities <feeling cheap> c :


oh well, sonny, another learning experience for ya.

thank you for helping me prove my point. here's another learning experience for ya, meat. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=figuratively+vs+literally.

 

[bigarrow]

Quote from christianhgross:



Step 2: Buy cheap, but powerful hardware. This means; forget RAID on the computer, buy an external NAS that is raided. 3 Gigs RAM per computer is plenty, and a dual or quad core computer with plain vanilla CPU is plenty as well. You don't need a high graphic card, average is good enough! Typically your computer should cost you no more than 500 USD.



Christian Gross

I am looking to purchase a dedicated trading computer. Where and what do I look for to get in the $500 range. Any other tips on hardware are appreciated.
Thanks for you help.

 

[tallpaw]

Thank God I read this post. I was almost ready to buy a new F22 from tc.com several weeks ago but after reading this ... I am glad I did not . I went to a local computer shop that was highly rated for computer repairs in Maryland (so you have to figure they build good computers also) through checkbook magazine and had one built. The gentlemen sat down with me and we went over specs to configure my new computer with 4 screens. Saved over $ 1200.00 going with the local shop compared to trading computers. com. My computer has been running like a gem. Have not had one problem with it. Thanks alot tortoise for initiating this post. It looks like it saved me alot of time and money.