That's it, I'm done. Need advice.

[Portreve]

PREAMBLE RAMBLING:

Coming into this holiday season, I've had a few things happen. So, a whole ago, I stopped being able to use the Fitbit Versa Lite that is bought at the end of July. Evidently Fitbit had issues with compatibility with host devices (i.e. the smart phones we use to pair them with) and when I tried to nuke-n-pave the thing, I couldn't finish the process, and I've never been able to finish the process. Along the way, I was looking to see what I might do, and of course what with Apple kind of making arguably best-of-breed, I gave them due consideration.

I even thought about getting an Apple Card to help pay for the iPhone and Apple Watch, but unless you already have an iPhone (and maybe an iPad) you cannot sign up for their card. What kind of dumbass walled garden is that?!?

Then, recently and in unrelated news, I managed to delete my archival copy of a very important project I did, and the only way to try and reconstruct it is to reinstall Mac OS X for the benefit of the program I need. Here's the thing, though...

I recently had installed Mac OS X while going through my really only so far first significant spat with Linux Mint, over wireless issues. I did a nice firmware update, and ended up with Mac OS X 10.13.6 which then also included me doing an update to my Apple account. No big deal. But now that I was deliberately trying to put Mac OS X back on, I couldn't get past the initial account setup so I could start downloading and installing Mac OS X 10.8 (as a prelude to re-upgrading) because now it needs the different security arrangement they're using that the 10.8 installer isn't compatible with, and there is simply no getting around it.

This led to me actually calling Apple tech support and then leading me through the process of doing an account reset, which for security purposes will take 2-3 days to complete. In the meantime, I'm just without a computer. Too bad, nothing they could do about that. How the #@€K can anyone consider this to be reasonable?!?!?!?

If not for the fact that I genuinely need my computer, I was about ready to actually hurl it into a wall and throw it out onto the street where it could be driven over and crushed. Suffice it to say I can sometimes have a very short and very unkind temper. Also, a friend of mine happens to have his own copy of that project, so as soon as I get my computer set back up again, I will download it and then, as soon as possible, make absolutely certain this situation, or anything similar to it, never happens again.


THE POINT:

Ok, so frankly at this point I never want to see our personally own another piece of Apple hardware. Here's what I need, and why I bothered to pay this thread to begin with...

I want to get a tower. I've been looking on Amazon at Dell Precision and OptiPlex units, but the bottom line is I want something decent but it doesn't have to be crazy expensive. Based on prior conversations here, I know that "expensive" is a very relative term, so let me further define things.

I would like either an i5 or i7 based system with either a really good Intel integrated graphics card, or something by either AMD or Nvidia. I'm thinking a cap of about $600 maximum, but preferably a couple hundred less than that.

I'm reaching out to this community because I know I will not search everywhere and find everything in my own, not that I am not looking on my own, and I do sincerely respect the wisdom and knowledge contained with this community.

Thank you — all of you — very much, and in advance.

Your Irritated and Angry, but still humble
Portreve

[JerryF]

Try http://www.tigerdirect.com/

They have great deals! That's where I got my refurbished HP EliteBook 8460p.

[lsemmens]

Hi Portreve, I'm sorry that I am not closer, I'd certainly help you in your quest. None of my computers are under 5 years old and all bar one is running Cinnamon without any issues. I generally purchase my computers at ex government auction. The laptop I am typing this on came with an I5 Processor, 8Gb RAM and a 128Gb SSD. As far as performance goes it is more than adequate for my needs - database development, browsing the 'net. Word Processing. You may find one at one of your local auction houses for a fraction of an equivalent new one. The only caveat being there is usually no OS installed and sometimes there are hidden faults not readily discernible to the casual observer. e.g. ONE key on my lappy does not work, however, I mapped it to another one that I don't use and all is well.

[chiefjim]

You may wish to consider assembling your own system. I've found $500 +/- can give you a very capable machine. I'll spend the most time looking for cases. The mid tower being my current choice. Inexpensive and easy for these older hands to work inside. Buy one without a power supply then spend for something decent to meet your expected needs.

Building your own gives you total control on what priorities inside the box makes sense. Prefer more memory over a faster cpu? Do it. Still want a Blu_ray burner? Get it. Your machine configured to your desires not some marketing guru making the choices instead.

[farkas]

You could try a refurbished machine. Many under $500. Always check out the warranty and return policies.
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp ... CAc&uact=5

My choice was to build my own. Built two of them with no problems. Brand new machines, to my specs, I know exactly what's inside. Easy to upgrade if and and when wish to. Currently running Mint 18.3 on one with a 250 GB SSD. Probably upgrade it to a 1TB or grater SSD when Mint 20 comes out and save the current drive, as is, as a backup.
I used, https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ , to check for compatibility of parts.
It'll give you a good idea of what your machine will cost, and it will warn you if the parts are incompatible.
It also has examples, build guides, of what has been built.
Building your own might try your patience with a lot of small screws, tight quarters, not many instructions, etc.

[trytip]

i got my current system by craiglist thinking it was genuine hardware and OS for $360.US great deal for a decent mobo with ryzen3 and 2TB drive. well it was a kid working at some computer repair place and managed to put together a tower with parts leftover from their shop. suffice it to say the win10 license wasn't even installed and the tower was dead when i brought it home. seems with these new hdmi outputs if it doesn't have a correct resolution at bios it just give you a BSOD (black screen of death)
i call the kid up and he tells me about hdmi/tv incompatibilities and sure enough i unplug the tv and the monitor fires right up
a few days later trying to keep up the win10 and learning how to block updates, some of them got through causing some meltdown and again the system would not boot
i take it back to the kid he does some swapping and terrified that i will be asking for money back he offers me a 256GB SSD and installs win10 on it in about 10 minutes. ok, kid good enough just don't ever post things for sale that are not finished
moral of the story is, saying "build a computer is cheaper" sure, but it's nice to walk in take the tower, go home plug it in and watch some youtube
there is no one size fits all in buying a computer. go to amazon and search for a ryzen5 tower or i7 tower but just know that with every hardware/software there is a learning curve that you alone must overcome

[AZgl1500]

THE POINT:

Ok, so frankly at this point I never want to see our personally own another piece of Apple hardware. Here's what I need, and why I bothered to pay this thread to begin with...


Your Irritated and Angry, but still humble
Portreve

I feel your pain.....
I hate Apple with a Passion, they burned me in 1983 so bad, that I gathered up all my computers into a box, called newspaper and sold them all off in one batch for $3000.
a Mac512, 2 Apple II+, and a Apple something or other, that I have forgotten now.

I was that pissed, and I have never, ever, allowed an Apple product into my house.

I buy a lot of great deals with TigerDirect....
highly recommend watching them.

[murray]

This led to me actually calling Apple tech support and then leading me through the process of doing an account reset, which for security purposes will take 2-3 days to complete. In the meantime, I'm just without a computer. Too bad, nothing they could do about that. How the #@€K can anyone consider this to be reasonable?!?!?!?

I feel your pain, I truly do. At work we've got an app that was available for iOS and for various reasons we had lost the login details to get into the developer account. It took us a couple of weeks of talking with Apple to finally get access to the account, it was soooo painful! That just reinforced my dislike for all things Apple.

[lsemmens]

I used to work for an Apple Centre - Had one on my desk. I was a computer salesperson and I did not sell one apple computer. I was selling IBM! They owned an IBM retail store too. Eventually they ported their finances to DOS/WINDOWS so I could have what I sold on my desk. That was back in the days of Windows 3.1.

[Portreve]

Last night, it worked, but today TigerDirect is down for the count. Getting nothing but 500 Server Error errors when trying to access their website. Hmmm...

I have given more thought to it, and I've decided against building. Honestly, I haven't the budget to build what would be worth the effort, and I don't see the point in custom-building a deliberately low-spec unit because that's all that's in the budget. I'd rather just buy an existing system, which would be less expensive when you factor in the cost of a mobo, CPU, cooling unit, RAM, another PSU (because the tower I have right now has a 300 watt PSU)... it just doesn't make any sense to me to build.

Right now I'm looking at HP, Dell, and Lenovo desktop systems, both on NewEgg and Amazon. I checked out PC Part Picker, but it goes to show anything worth looking at is really out of my budget.

[DJF113]

I've loved every Dell machine I've owned so far, most of them I picked up on the Dell Outlet website.
https://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/22/cam ... l=en&s=dfh
They've usually got some refurbished units at pretty good prices. I'm not a fan of their customer support, but then I don't like talking with customer support anywhere!

[bridnour]

I will second Dell. I'll also second not being a fan of their customer support.

However, they're one of the brands that support bios/firmware updates natively on Linux. (ref. https://fwupd.org/).

Another reference I would look at in shopping for a pre-built system is the Ubuntu certified list (https://certification.ubuntu.com/desktop).

If it runs Ubuntu, it will run Mint.

[deepakdeshp]

https://community.linuxmint.com/hardware/search
Amd ryzen series of processors have more value for money than Intel ones.

[old_noob]

I recommend getting a refurbished Dell on ebay. Some very good hardware on there dirt cheap.

[deepakdeshp]

Refurbished Lenovo 430 has been recommended many times on the forum.

[kc1di]

Take a look at Newegg.com They have some good deals on Dell refurbished. I've had very good success from them.
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=referbished+dells

[151tom]

I'd suggest the Dell Optiplex series desktops.

I've got several Dell Optiplex 380 series from 2010 core 2 duo e7500 processors and 4.0 GB DDR3 ram and Intel integrated graphics adapters and mechanical hard drives.

These desktops are still running strong and were built to last and work well with any Linux distro I've installed on them.

It would be cool having a new super fast desktop however I see no reason for not using what I already have in excellent working condition.

[Portreve]

Looks like there's going to be a delay in getting any hardware.

My company has brought in an outside company to do the jobs my team and I do, and they are slowly gobbling up sections of our company that we operate in. I'm having to be sent two-ish hours north of where I live now just to have stores I can go to, and the higher-ups in the company are trying to put the kybosh on that deal, even though that would literally leave us with no work and no hours. (Suffice it to say I am now aggressively trying to get another job before the eventual end comes.) I'm going to start up another thread to discuss this.

Apologies for hijacking my own thread.

</hijack>

[AZgl1500]

so sorry to hear of the threat to your livelihood.

higher management can be so brutal, I used to work for a company that was bought out by Dutch Shell of Holland, they came in and fired everyone below middle management.

us technicians who had a decent job, were told we could continue to work, but would have to provide our own transportation and tools, and our salaries would be cut to $12/hour and there would be no 401K donations ever again. we lost 6,000 people in 3 months time.

[lsemmens]

Time was when a good union could look after the interests of employees. Sadly, those days are gone. I wish you well Portreve.