My friends a n00b...

[TheGeek]

My friend is a n00b when it comes to computers, and he told me to help teach him about them. I am too damn impatient too teach someone about anything, so do you guys know of any websites that can teach him the basics? thanks

 

[Baked]

Yes, tell him to buy a dell, it's the most humane thing you can do. I was gonna recommend Apple, but that's just cruel.

 

[Rip the Jacker]

http://forums.anandtech.com

http://www.kids-online.net/learn/c_n_l.html

 

[TheGeek]

lol. he wants to know about computers, he's not buying one

 

[Megatomic]

Link him to mechBgon's PC assembly tutorial. He'll learn a lot from it.

 

[slash196]

Originally posted by: Baked
Yes, tell him to buy a dell, it's the most humane thing you can do. I was gonna recommend Apple, but that's just cruel.

Humane in the same sense that shooting a lame horse is humane.😀

 

[LED]

Mechy's link would be my bet but then again ...I like making $20+ an hour off of my Buds and their Puters and then I leave em his link for my surcharge 😉

 

[Soujiroh]

This site is very helpful and will explain a lot of basic things.

www.howstuffworks.com

Very good site in my opinon.

 

[Porter21]

When my friends wanted to know some info about comps, I was happy to teach them.

 

[Zap Brannigan]

Tell him to subscribe to MaximumPC magazine.

 

[Zepper]

Maximum PC is a joke - basically designed to shill high-end gear to idiots with more money than sense.
. O'Reilly books just came out with a new title on "Building Your own PC" or similar (I think by the Robertses) and it should be full of useful info (their previous "PC Hardware in a Nutshell" books were darn good) - just remember that the Robertses are VERY conservative in their recommendations.
. I would recommend a book like "PCs for Dummies" also (just not that particular one, as I hate the dumbed-down premise and attitude in most of the "Dummies" books) - but I've heard that the new "Linux for Dummies" is pretty good. But then, if your "friend" is the type that "can't find his backside with both hands", then maybe the Dummies-type books are for him. Of course this suggestion is only good for those capable of reading and absorbing info from books. However, if your "friend" is another victim of the government (aka public) school system then the following may be the only option.
. Perhaps something like the PC Professor's computer tutorials on CD or DVD. You can usually get a starter set for "free" - have to pay shipping/handling charge and deal with a barrage of pressure to buy more.
.bh.

 

[Gurck]

AT forums.

Originally posted by: Porter21
When my friends wanted to know some info about comps, I was happy to teach them.

Depends on the person, some are open & willing to learn, others are stubborn asses about it who do everything you tell them not to.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: TheGeek
My friend is a n00b when it comes to computers, and he told me to help teach him about them. I am too damn impatient too teach someone about anything, so do you guys know of any websites that can teach him the basics? thanks

Direct him to sites like this one. Reading various posts and HW news is how I trained myself (along with building rigs). He'll have the added of benefit of you around so he can ask questions/get answers.

 

[Budmantom]

"Future Rig: "



lol

 

[loic2003]

Originally posted by: Baked
I was gonna recommend Apple, but that's just cruel.

why would that be, then?

 

[hopejr]

Originally posted by: loic2003

Originally posted by: Baked
I was gonna recommend Apple, but that's just cruel.

why would that be, then?

good question. it's probably the best thing you can do to a noob. no viruses to worry about, easy interface, less crashes (it does crash, but not as often), but lets not get into an argument 😛

Now dell or HP/Compaq are cruel.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: hopejr

Originally posted by: loic2003

Originally posted by: Baked
I was gonna recommend Apple, but that's just cruel.

why would that be, then?

good question. it's probably the best thing you can do to a noob. no viruses to worry about, easy interface, less crashes (it does crash, but not as often), but lets not get into an argument 😛

Now dell or HP/Compaq are cruel.

What if he wants to play games or use programs he reads about here or on other tech sites? Apple's as cruel as Dell/HP/Compaq until you figure in price, then it becomes doubly cruel.

 

[loic2003]

now now gurck, I'm not getting drawn into the mac/PC debate, I have work to do 🙂
Here's what each type of system is generally good for:

PC's
Gaming (for now: more titles are appearing on the macs day by day. Most modern games are out or are coming out on the mac soon)
Little apps that you hear about in here
Cracking dodgy software (although also possible on the mac)

Apples
Every day usage (e-mail, the net, music, video, word processing, file management etc)
Security (unix-based core, solid OS)
Programming (cocoa rocks)
Processing power (64 bit processors, 64 bit OS)
Actually getting on with work rather than doing 'maintenance' (defraging, clearing out crap, spyware scans, virus scans, registry cleanups, etc)
Design work
Comaptability (works with most windows & a lot of linux stuff, not true in reverse)

Price isn't so bad at all if you spec out a similar PC and get all the equivalent software that the apples are bundled with. Of course the PC isn't going to be any good at 64 bit processing, even if you get 64bit hardware...


Basically, PC's are good for playing around, apples are good for serious work.

 

[mircea]

Originally posted by: loic2003
now now gurck, I'm not getting drawn into the mac/PC debate, I have work to do 🙂
Here's what each type of system is generally good for:

PC's
Gaming (for now: more titles are appearing on the macs day by day. Most modern games are out or are coming out on the mac soon)
Little apps that you hear about in here
Cracking dodgy software (although also possible on the mac)

Apples
Every day usage (e-mail, the net, music, video, word processing, file management etc)
Security (unix-based core, solid OS)
Programming (cocoa rocks)
Processing power (64 bit processors, 64 bit OS)
Actually getting on with work rather than doing 'maintenance' (defraging, clearing out crap, spyware scans, virus scans, registry cleanups, etc)
Design work
Comaptability (works with most windows & a lot of linux stuff, not true in reverse)

Price isn't so bad at all if you spec out a similar PC and get all the equivalent software that the apples are bundled with. Of course the PC isn't going to be any good at 64 bit processing, even if you get 64bit hardware...


Basically, PC's are good for playing around, apples are good for serious work.

Well you can add this to a PC:
----Every day usage (e-mail, the net, music, video, word processing, file management etc)
----Programming
----Processing power
----Actually getting on with work rather than doing 'maintenance' (defraging, clearing out crap, spyware scans, virus scans, registry cleanups, etc) -- if you know what you do (and where not to go 😉 ), you only have to sst the PC to do the defrag and anti-virus when you are not at home or at sleep. So when you are on you can do just actual work and/or gaming which is more than a Mac can 😛

Design Work??? isn't that actual work?
Compatibility is something that depends on how you look at it. You say that it's compatible with windows and others, I say that Windows and others manage to creates files that Mac knows how to open but Mac's don't know how to make files to be opened by other OS.
By the way I have nothing against Mac's with the exception of price, which also causes the limited amount on the market which in turn limits the software and games made for it, which makes for less actual work that can be done on it, because there is no software for certain types of work to be done.

That being said, I have a friend here that asked me to take my PC apart and teach his kids and all the kids around our block about PC components, and that he would pay for it. I think that making my new build will be the perfect moment to do just that. Plus they get to see all the problems you can get in so they will still have me build theirs 😉

 

[loic2003]

Originally posted by: mircea
Well you can add this to a PC:
----Every day usage (e-mail, the net, music, video, word processing, file management etc)
----Programming
----Processing power
----Actually getting on with work rather than doing 'maintenance' (defraging, clearing out crap, spyware scans, virus scans, registry cleanups, etc) -- if you know what you do (and where not to go 😉 ), you only have to sst the PC to do the defrag and anti-virus when you are not at home or at sleep. So when you are on you can do just actual work and/or gaming which is more than a Mac can 😛

Design Work??? isn't that actual work?
Compatibility is something that depends on how you look at it. You say that it's compatible with windows and others, I say that Windows and others manage to creates files that Mac knows how to open but Mac's don't know how to make files to be opened by other OS.
By the way I have nothing against Mac's with the exception of price, which also causes the limited amount on the market which in turn limits the software and games made for it, which makes for less actual work that can be done on it, because there is no software for certain types of work to be done.

That being said, I have a friend here that asked me to take my PC apart and teach his kids and all the kids around our block about PC components, and that he would pay for it. I think that making my new build will be the perfect moment to do just that. Plus they get to see all the problems you can get in so they will still have me build theirs 😉

Every day usage: The mac is better at it. One example: file management. Create and save a word file on the desktop. Drag the word file a few levels down into your file system (eg program files on the PC or app folder on the mac). Open word and go to recent documents, click on the document you just saved. The mac will open it no problem. The PC will stress out and have to do a whole drive scan to locate the file again.

Programming: yeah, you can program for a PC on a PC, but things like C, C++, java, etc can all be programmed on a mac. Plus they have more processing power thus compile faster.

Actually getting on with work: yeah true, if you learn what you have to do to maintain a PC they are maintainable. But you still have to have antivirus/firewall software running (which you have to pay for, too) and you have to waste your time actually setting up the defrag, etc. time is money.

Design work: I separated this because macs are far superior to PC's in this field. Ring around some design agencies and they'll be using macs. 98% of all printed material (from news papers to road signs) is created on a mac.

Price: Macs actually retain their value and can be resold. Have a look around eBay and you'll notice that people are getting some quite reasonable prices for macs that are quite old. PC's lose their value far quicker. You also get a lot more from a mac, so the price is most certainly justified. Macs are more expensive compared to PC's as Jags are more expensive than Fiestas...

Compatibility: What you said is not true. Apple support open standards. One example: save a contact in outlook/outlook express. It's in the .msg format which is pretty useless for anything but outlook. Do the same in an apple and it'll save it as a v.card: a standard that outlook will read, but so will most mobile phones, other mail clients, PDA's, etc.

Processing power: The G5 is a serious processor. So serious that Virginia Tech used a cluster of apple powermacs to create the 3rd most powerful supercomputer on the planet (maybe even the second most powerful at one stage). It did this at a tiny fraction of the price of the computers ahead of it.

Gaming: 18 months ago it'd be quite fair to say macs were poor for gaming. This has changed significantly in recent times and many more titles are being ported to macs.

 

[hopejr]

Ooooooopppppssssss. Looks like I started a war. Sorry guys.

Every day usage: The mac is better at it. One example: file management. Create and save a word file on the desktop. Drag the word file a few levels down into your file system (eg program files on the PC or app folder on the mac). Open word and go to recent documents, click on the document you just saved. The mac will open it no problem. The PC will stress out and have to do a whole drive scan to locate the file again.

I noticed this. It's amazing.

Programming: yeah, you can program for a PC on a PC, but things like C, C++, java, etc can all be programmed on a mac. Plus they have more processing power thus compile faster.

You can write C or C++ code for the terminal (not using cocoa or anything like that) and cross-compile it for x86 and it will work on a Linux PC. You can do the same with X11 apps. Nice stuff. Only problem - mono is still not great, so writing .NET apps on either OS X or Linux is still not great.

Actually getting on with work: yeah true, if you learn what you have to do to maintain a PC they are maintainable. But you still have to have antivirus/firewall software running (which you have to pay for, too) and you have to waste your time actually setting up the defrag, etc. time is money.

Setting up defrag to start at a certain time is already done IIRC. It's in Scheduled Tasks. But I like how OS X defrags on the fly (reading and writing a <20MB file defrags it, without performance loss). When a package is installed, the hard drive is defragged at the end.

Macs are more expensive compared to PC's as Jags are more expensive than Fiestas...

A comment like that will be bound to get up someone's nose 😛

Compatibility: What you said is not true. Apple support open standards. One example: save a contact in outlook/outlook express. It's in the .msg format which is pretty useless for anything but outlook. Do the same in an apple and it'll save it as a v.card: a standard that outlook will read, but so will most mobile phones, other mail clients, PDA's, etc.

It would be nice if mail (even Microsoft Entourage can't for goodness sake) could read the Windows Address book. Save time having to convert all the addresses to vcards. However, the Address Book in Tiger supports CSV, so one can export to CSV from WAB when switching 😀.

Processing power: The G5 is a serious processor. So serious that Virginia Tech used a cluster of apple powermacs to create the 3rd most powerful supercomputer on the planet (maybe even the second most powerful at one stage). It did this at a tiny fraction of the price of the computers ahead of it.

It's a pity that the notebooks are still stuck with G4's. My iBook is a G4, and I don't mind (even though it's a little slow with some things, especially carbon apps like MS Office 2k4, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004, and stuff written for OS 9 - cocoa is the way to go). A 64-bit CPU would be nice.

Gaming: 18 months ago it'd be quite fair to say macs were poor for gaming. This has changed significantly in recent times and many more titles are being ported to macs.

This is true. Titles may be coming on Macs months later than PC's, but at least they're coming out. Hopefully a trend will start as a result of both versions of WoW coming out at the same time. As there are many PC only games, there are also many Mac only games (anyone tried Bugdom?? It's so fun!!!).

Now the OP and many other ppl probably aren't interested in a PC vs. Mac war. There's plenty of them on these forums without starting another one 😛 BTW, there's pros and cons of both. I've used both platforms extensively (PC's more than Macs), and I know where my loyalties have shifted to.

 

[loic2003]

It's a pity that the notebooks are still stuck with G4's. My iBook is a G4, and I don't mind (even though it's a little slow with some things, especially carbon apps like MS Office 2k4, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004, and stuff written for OS 9 - cocoa is the way to go). A 64-bit CPU would be nice.

The G5 is a pretty power hungry processor (you seen the water cooling in the top of the line powermac 🙂 ). Apple and IBM are hard at work at squeezing one down to fit into a power/ibook apparently, but they need to be able to retain the battery life and minute form factor that currently is the envy of all other notebook manufacturers. Tough job but we might be seeing it this summer with a bit of luck.

I have an iBook and a new G5 iMac, both of which are pretty damned sweet. It's the little features I like the most, such as the battery life indicator on every battery, the 2-colour LED plug on the power adapter so you don't have to open the notebook up to see if it's charged, the way the clip to retain the screen in the closed position retracts when you open it and then comes out magnetically when you bring the lid down, the way you service it by lifting the keyboard so the underside of the notbook isn't ruined by little plates to put more RAM in, etc, etc.

=====

Having said all this, I do get a lot of enjoyment out of my PC. I have a nice stable install and very rarely see a crash occur (although it's got some serious hardware issues at the mo since I changed the PSU). I like being able to put my own machine together with my own cooling solution, etc.
I do really hate having to nurse the thing all the time, however, and get frustrated when I can't forget about the actual computer and get on with what I want to do. The re-install every 12 months is annoying too.

Difficult to suggest going for one or the other, I guess. I have both and am very happy this way. I wouldn't like to get rid of either platform, but would probably keep the mac if forced to choose.