E Scouting Computer

[cfdjay]

Hey guys. I’m really getting into e scouting for my upcoming fall adventures and I’m finding my 10 year old + computer is pretty slow and choppy. I can barely use OnX let alone google earth at the same time.

I’m wanting a desktop solely committed to e scouting. Everything else my other computer works just fine for. I’ve been looking at eBay and marketplace for used desktops but I’m leaning toward an iMac.

What would you guys suggest? Large screen is a must and I’m trying to keep it under $500 but unsure if that’s possible.

What specs should I be looking for?

Thanks in advance


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[onX Hunt]

Good luck on your hunts this fall!

For onX all you really need is something that can run Chrome and we recommend something that can run the newest version of Chrome, the minimum specs for that 128mb of Ram and 100mb of free space.

With Google Earth the minimum specs are at least 128mb of Ram and 200mb of free disk space. Those are the bare minimum and the more Ram and free space you can get the better, especially if you are running them simultaneously as that will allow the computer to run smoothly with all those programs up.

I believe the lowest amount of Ram on the iMacs is 4gb which is plenty to run both of those programs. And as far as an operating system for Macs, we recommend using OS High Sierra and newer.

Feel free to give us a call at 406-540-1600 or email [email protected] if you do have any other questions!

 

[j33]

Not a Chromebook as I can't seem to figure out how to download google maps pro to my desktop

 

[cfdjay]

What internet speeds do you recommend? I'm in a pretty rural area but using OnX has never been an issue until now.

 

[wapitibob]

I use google earth pro every day for e-Scouting and have for years on an Acer laptop with 8gig RAM and a 1 TB drive. Over those years I've also used Arcgis Explorer and topofusion extensively. I still use topofusion because it saves topo and sat imagery to the laptop so I can use it in camp. Onx/GAIA/etc are all internet based so the pc doesn't really matter.
In GE Pro, most of my layers are resident on the laptop, either provided kml/kmz or geopdf that I converted. I use topofusion to create unit wide topo and sat imagery overlays that I use in GE when in camp and don't have internet (kml/kmz, waypoints, tracks, etc are resident and don't need internet to run in GE.) I also use the old pre onX plat4GE product that shows state/fed land, pvt land, landowners, walk in areas, etc.

 

[ericacymcdonald]

Have you thought about just upgrading yours? I know absolutely nothing about computers but a few months ago I looked around online and found the best way to upgrade my older thinkpad. It was incredibly easy with zero knowledge. I put a SSD hard drive, added ram and redid the heatsink. Now it's plenty fast and I'm in it maybe 150 bucks and 45 minutes tops with zero knowledge going in about electronics

 

[cfdjay]

Have you thought about just upgrading yours? I know absolutely nothing about computers but a few months ago I looked around online and found the best way to upgrade my older thinkpad. It was incredibly easy with zero knowledge. I put a SSD hard drive, added ram and redid the heatsink. Now it's plenty fast and I'm in it maybe 150 bucks and 45 minutes tops with zero knowledge going in about electronics

That would be ideal. I think I just need to upgrade the RAM.

 

[wapitibob]

if it's a win7 pc, create a bootable win10 usb stick and delete the partitions during setup. It'll run like brand new.

 

[ericacymcdonald]

That would be ideal. I think I just need to upgrade the RAM.

It was very simple on my laptop, look at some YouTube videos. Check if you have a hard disk drive or solid state drive. Switching to solid state will do the more for you then anything else even ram and they are cheap but so is ram so might as well do both while you're at it. I literally didn't even know what any of this solid state or hard disk was or anything about ram before I switched it on mine out and I had zero problems. Make a bootable disk of windows if you want to start from scratch like I did or make a backup of your hard drive if you want to keep all that you have now

 

[cfdjay]

if it's a win7 pc, create a bootable win10 usb stick and delete the partitions during setup. It'll run like brand new.

It's an HP Pavilion p7-1054 and came with Win7. I've since updated Windows. Is there a way to still do it?

 

[ericacymcdonald]

It's an HP Pavilion p7-1054 and came with Win7. I've since updated Windows. Is there a way to still do it?

Create installation media for Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to create installation media for installing or reinstalling Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10.

support.microsoft.com

 

[cfdjay]

Create installation media for Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to create installation media for installing or reinstalling Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10.

support.microsoft.com

Awesome. Thank you. Now I just need a flash drive that big!