what sort of computer to get

[ajm]

folks,

I do a lot of data crunching and make some big spreadsheets for a large company. with the amount of policy stuff running in the background plus my (most probably) personal code/formula style, I seem to always get issues with time. I either get to take a lunch break while files save or I get a crash situation. I also get rows disappearing when scrolling through work but i am told this might be the video card or something like that. now, my lovely boss has told me to go forth and purchase a new machine with any bells and whistles that i want. trouble is I don't really know what i want as i don't have the foggiest notion what makes one computer better over another when it comes to calculating excel and running multiple other applications all at once. my google search found mostly advertising and then some interesting stuff on mapping genomes or something like that where they have monsters with 10 cores and 96gb ram. so, i call upon my fellow excel, access, office user types for suggestions as to what they have or have discovered works really well in the work environment.

cheers,

ajm

PS I am going to post on whirlpool.com.au also

 

[SydneyGeek]

For raw grunt, go for an i7 CPU or one of the higher spec i5's
Put in 8 GB RAM (or 16 if you use seriously huge workbooks, but my laptop has i7 / 8 GB and hasn't choked yet).
You don't need a graphic card if you get one of the 3rd generation i7's -- the on board graphics are fine for business-oriented machines.
Get a fast hard drive. If your boss lets you, an SSD for Windows and apps can make quite a difference. You will need a second HD for storing data; that doesn't need to be a speed demon but it wouldn't hurt.
Here's a link to a guy in Sydney (I know you're in Brisbane but should be a guide) who has something pretty good... detail info

Denis