Windows 7 hardware picks? Desktop Touchscreens? | The Coffeehouse

JohnAskew
9 girl in pink sweater

I'm wanting to gut an old server box with new MB/RAM/CPU in order to have a nice Windows 7 machine to R&D at home.

I've been thinking these parts, so far, any suggestions?

Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LBA 775 cpu

Mushkin 6GB (3x2GB) 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Touchscreen monitors seem quite pricey, but how else should one R&D Win7? Any ideas for this one?

SlackmasterK
I write my OWN blogging engines

Why not pick up two of these?

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

Don't get a touchscreen for desktop use, it's a gimmick. If you want to do it properly, get a Cintiq.

Instead go get yourself a good quality 24" display, like the Apple LED Cinema Display.

magicalclick

In reply to W3bbo

#Jun 26th @ 2:10 PM

OMG 2000 bucks.............. mostly I just don't want someone taking my mouse when we are using the same computer. They should using finger instead of touching my hand.

JohnAskew
9 girl in pink sweater

In reply to W3bbo

#Jun 26th @ 2:10 PM

@W3bbo, Not a gimmick, but R&D, i.e. a POS application... programming for multi-touch even...

BTW, a multi-touch monitor must be different than standard-legacy touch monitors (single-touch support only?); true ? OMG : OMG;

I don't see any avalanche of sales literature stating there is a difference, but I haven't been looking, either.

Is Win7 mondo-forgiving for old hardware? Same system reqs. as Vista?

magicalclick

In reply to JohnAskew

#Jun 26th @ 2:43 PM

This is as low as it can get CURRENTLY

http://on10.net/blogs/larry/Windows-7-A-New-Low/

P2 266Mhz and 128 MB RAM.

JohnAskew
9 girl in pink sweater

In reply to magicalclick

#Jun 26th @ 2:47 PM

OMG!

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

In reply to magicalclick

#Jun 26th @ 2:47 PM

Pfft, you can install Windows XP on a 486, and I've heard rumours you can even get it on a 386.

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

In reply to JohnAskew

#Jun 26th @ 2:43 PM

If you're doing POS-equipment dev and usability testing I'd use an actual POS display. HP sells them cheaply enough.

BHpaddock

In reply to W3bbo

#Jun 26th @ 2:10 PM

I have an HP TouchSmart 22" at home. It is most definitely NOT a gimmick. I use it every day. The machine has the included wireless keyboard in front of it, and I stash the mouse away since it's not needed.

Now, I don't do work on this machine. I do light web browsing, e-mail, IM, some media playback, and that's about it. It's on a high table by the window near my kitchen, so I'm generally standing while I use it. I read news on it every morning and I love being able to walk up to it, tap on some links, pan through the pages, etc. It runs in high DPI so the text is readable from a bit of distance too. Working with a set up like that with the mouse is pretty uncomfortable and cramps my wrist.

For a workstation / typical desk set up, it may not be very useful. But I just moved to a new (small-ish) apartment, and so I got rid of my desktop PC which I realized I was never using anymore. When I work it's either at my office or on my laptop, and I don't really play games these days, so the TouchSmart made perfect sense and I really like how it fits into my lifestyle.

Oh yeah, I got mine refurbished for $900 (looks and works as brand new).

hackerman1

In reply to JohnAskew

#Jun 26th @ 3:01 PM

hi !

wrong !

P2 266 MHz & 96 MB RAM, & 4MB Graphic-card...

if you read the FULL story you´ll see that i made 2 successfull tests, with 128 and 96 MB.

CreamFilling512

In reply to W3bbo

#Jun 26th @ 3:07 PM

No it won't install on less than a Pentium, it explictly enforces this requirement.

LeoDavidson

In reply to BHpaddock

#Jun 26th @ 3:16 PM

You're living in the future!

Hmm, touch-screen PC in the kitchen: It should have a windscreen wiper or something as it'll surely get covered in food! Smiley

I wonder if touch-screen stuff for PCs will take off or if it's going to be like tablet PCs again where almost nobody has it or writes apps to take advantage of it. It's obviously a big deal for mobile platforms but I think it'll be tough to move away from mouse + keyboard on the desktops and laptops, unless someone starts producing really cheap touch hardware.

blowdart
Peek-a-boo

In reply to LeoDavidson

#Jun 29th @ 2:36 AM

Touch screens are a very niche market. I've played with the HP one and if you're using it at a desk then it's very hard to use properly as it's upright and suddenly the angle of your hand movements has changed by 90 degrees from flat on the keyboard to reach out to the screen. I can see the use on tablet PCs, where you're touching the screen when it's flat on a desk, or in a kiosk (or the kitchen), but not in addition to "normal" working.

LeoDavidson

In reply to blowdart

#Jun 29th @ 3:08 AM

I agree. I was thinking that if touch/multi-touch is going to take off on the desktop then it would require either screens that are in/on the desk itself, or separation of the screen and the input device.

Screens on the desk might seem odd but aren't really if you think about how people did everything before computers. (I'd have to be a lot more tidy or have a second desk to put random junk on, though!)

A mouse pad that you could also touch with your fingers (since there are times when both input methods shine) could be cool if people could get used to aiming with it, or maybe if a light touch moved the pointer and a heavier touch clicked (so you knew where you were about to click but still only had to use fingers on a uniform surface). Maybe separating the screen from what you touch defeats much of the purpose and would be too difficult to use but I'd be interested to try it. You'd still get the benefit of multi-touch gestures.