Help me choose a new computer

[illflem]

The chouses are giving me a headache. CPU only, less than $1000. Looking at Dell but still too many too choose from. Internet and email mostly. Phone line connection only. Help, my current hard drive sounds like it's running low on oil.

 

[Deezul1]

Cant help on what to get but stay away from E Machines, good entry level internet cruisers but not much quality.

 

[sdalton]

I bought a Gateway 500 series. It has a flat screen. I bought it around January. 1. 8 Ghz Pentium 4, 40 GB hard drive, 256 MB RAM, Good sound card and Video Card. It was around $1100. It would have been much cheaper without the flat screen, but it was worth the extra money.

I have had no problems, and it runs so quiet you can only hear it running if you are about a foot away.

 

[TORQUE THIS]

DELL



Great price for what ya get and excellent customer support.



I have a notebook, and 2 pentium 4 machines with XP.

 

[lschultz]

We got a Compaq at home. Don't think I would get another cause we have had a few problems. We got new Dell at work and there fast. Your gonna get what you pay for. Maybe if I put it this way you can relate-Cummins or powerjoke or Durapad.

 

[JConley]

Find the one that gives you the most bang for the buck, and buy it. All the major companies are going to use the same motherboards, so dont look at the name on the outside of the computer. Like Chrysler. . Dell, Gateway, and others are assembly lines, not manufacturers.

 

[bigkid59]

Hewlett Packard all the way!



In the early 80's I was Maintenance Manager for the distribution center of a major corporation. The company decided to install a new computer system at all plant locations and at the distribution center. The choices came down to IBM or Hewlett Packard. HP won out because of a few features better suited to our particular application.

I worked with the HP technicans and engineers during the installation and I actually installed all the power supply system as well as fabricating and installing all the cabling for a 120,000 square foot warehouse. I have never worked with more professional people than the HP guys. I decided then that HP would be my choice for personal use.

I am now using a HP Kayak XA model I bought three years ago. It is only a Pentium II 400 but came with Elsa graphics, 7200 RPM SCSI hard drive, along with other premium features. I have 320 mb of memory and the machine has been trouble free. By the way, the Kayak comes with a 3 year warranty with the first year being on site.

When I bought mine it was a recently superceeded model that Ubid had 4 of. I paid around $800. 00 for it, which I considered a bargain as I found the same unit priced at $3200 on the internet.

I highly recommend HP products as long as you go for the commercial models instead of the lower priced series, such as the Pavilion. I have heard of some problems with parts interchangability on those.

Good Luck!

 

[dmurdock]

For Internet and e-mail, business apps, etc... . (basically everything excepts 3d games), you CANNOT go wrong with an

e-machine. Like Jconley said, the name on the outside is just a sticker on the case. . all the parts are subbed out. Just picked one up for my aunt, $399 out the door at fry's in Austin (no monitor).

 

[PHaller]

Mac G4... "Nothing else even comes close". Or is it, "The ultimate driving machine". Maybe it's, "Oh what a feeling" I can't remember.

-Paul R. Haller-

 

[dmurdock]

Originally posted by Paul R. Haller

Mac G4... "Nothing else even comes close". Or is it, "The ultimate driving machine". Maybe it's, "Oh what a feeling" I can't remember.

I think the term your looking for is "$900 bucks at the cheapest".



If you really want to thumb your nose at the establishment (and for less than $400 bucks-which is !THE MOST! you should pay to surf the net, check e-mail,etc... ) then how about this little celeron dandy running mandrake linux... where at?? Wallyworld, of course.



http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...pe=19&dept=3944&path=0:3944:3951:41937:102252

 

[merryman]

Have you considered one of the local "builders"?

We had a local guy put one together (7 years ago), and the few times something has gone wrong, and when we wanted an upgrade, we run the thing over to his shop and while we wait, he checks it out, replaces anything that has gone sour or is fading and does any upgrade we chose. We have two of three times had him greatly increase the speed as faster stuff has become availabe. This machine started out with under one gigabyte, then went to l. 2 gigs, and is now at 6 gigs, and its the same "box" we bought 7 years ago. Other internals have been upgraded as well. Cheaper and a whole lot less trouble that shipping one back to one of the major brand places if there is a problem.

If I understand it correctly (I am NOT a computer person), some of the "brand" units are not suseptable to just unplugging a problem part and plugging in a new one as the custom builds are.

At least here in Oregon there are these neighborhood computer builders all over. Many people here go this route.



Vaughn

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Check out Costco. Their 1 year warranty means you can trade it in if it is too slow after a year!

 

[LarryB]

If that's all you use it for I'd just add another hard drive. Is your going out or just full?

 

[KMC]

Yes, what Merryman said! Have a local builder do it. It is custom to your needs, usually cheaper, and all industry standard parts so that upgrades are easy. Plus they don't come pre-loaded with the tons of crapola that you have to figure out how to remove!



Some of the big name companies, not all, but mostly Gateway will use non-standard proprietary parts and design. They purchase this way save themselves money but it renders your machine very difficult if not impossible to upgrade. These machines in a sense become throwaways when you want to upgrade.

I used to function as sys admin for a small office of 15 computers and with the limited budget we had did alot of upgrading. We had a couple of Gateways and I learned to hate them for this reason. You could maybe upgrade memory or a HD, but a MB swap or anything major - forget it. Packard Bell and Compaq were also upgrade challenged due to proprietary design. This was a number of years ago and things may have changed but be forwarned.....



I have bought all my machines local since and never been sorry.



Ken

 

[Bigsaint]

Bill, I'd go out and pick up a PC rag with the latest reviews. Most are fairly discriminating and should help you to decide. I have one Gateway and one Dell, both are great but there are other options available.



My brother in law had one built at a local shop, to his specs. , which is nice and works well. You can also go online to most of the major manufactures websites and price one out with what you want.



Scott W.

 

[The patriot]

I've had this HP for about 9 months now, I still like it.

1. 4 AMD Athlon, 40 gig Hdd (I know, I should have gotten bigger) CD burner, DVD, 512 Mb ram, USB, serial, and 1394 ports out the ying yang, 17" monitor. It was $1100. 00 at staples. Theyre still selling the same thing for the same price, but now theyre kicking in a printer. I got the 5 year in home warranty, so it was like $1300. 00 when I was done.

As mentioned, there are some pretty good deals at Costco and BJ's.

Eric

 

[DieselDoghouse]

But! if ya get one of them thar Mac G4's whatru gonna do with all the extra free time? Y'all be bored not chasin down viruses and waitin fer that egg-timer thingy to empty!!

 

[illflem]

Thanks guys. Thought of going back to a Mac but remember downloads that didn't work and sites I couldn't see. Otherwise it was great. Maybe things have changed...



Found a local guy who will build me a setup with more than I need for $450. 3 year warranty and 35% buyback every 2 years. Here it is

ECSP4 Motherboard w/audio, 64MB ATI Radeon Video, 20GB 7200 Hard Drive, 56K V. 90 Rockwell Modem, 256MB PC-133 Memory, CDRW, 3. 5" Floppy Drive, Keyboard, Mouse

 

[NVR FNSH]

Can you get him to throw in a digital camera?



Brian

 

[hammersley]

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