New computer shopping(desparate help needed)
Hello to all my short-media forum family! Its been a while I might say, well anyway to get to the point, I'm shopping for a new PC(moving to new apartment and want to leave this one to my mother..and kinda upgrade aswell) NOW I know "very" little about comps. (this board help'd a bunch with my hsa and other spyware problems I learned a ton.) back on topic right now I have a "no name brand" PC running windows xp w/comcast cable dsl (thats all I kno lol) I basically just dont wanna get dooped when I go asking around I'm looking in the pricve range of $500-600 maybe if thats possible. I juz want something that has a fast internet connection and is not slow and sluggish. It will be used for internet browsing as well as I do do some recording on it like a at home studio kinda. cd/dvd burner and ill be happy. so if u guys can help me out with a ferw specs so I sound like I kno what im talking about when I go out that would be greatly appreciated.
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umm..for $500-$600 i would not count on a very good computer if your going to a computer store. (computer store = ripoff) they will charge you WAY to much for labor not to mention they will most likely have a pretty hefty mark up on everything. They may also not use quality componets, they will still give you say, the same amount of ram, but it will most likely (85%) a lower grade than what they are charging you for. if you do decide to build it your self, i will post another post of the componets just so you know what you could get if you build it yourself.
Honestly, at any retailer, $500 will buy you about the same thing. It doesn't matter what you get. Go to dell.com and get a cheap dimension, or go to compusa or best buy or any other megaretailer and you'll get the same thing with a different label slapped on it. it makes no difference at that price range.
Besides saving a lot of money, you'll be able to put together a custom machine. You won't be paying for stuff you may not want or need.
On top of everything else, you'll know your computer inside and out. This makes troubleshooting much easier down the road.
Also don't buy low quality components.
Mobo -- Soltek SL-K890-Pro -- $102
Proc. -- AMD Athalon 64 3000+ Venice -- $146
Memory -- OCZ Enhanced Latency Memory 512 Mb -- $69
PSU -- Enermax Noise Taker 420 Watt -- $70
Video -- PowerColor Radeon X700 -- $120
HDD -- Seagate Baracuda 160 GB SATA 150 -- $89
DVD Burner -- NEC 3540a -- $42
Case -- Maxtop Signature Case -- $28
Total Pice: $666 (alright now that is scaring me since i just added that up on the widows calculator... i didnt even plan for that one....DEVIL BE GONE!!)
so i went over a little that could be easily be trimmed by a step down processor, ram, video, or mobo. It just depends if you wanna go cheap now, or have this rig last you a while longer.
I went cheap on the case in order to get you some better ram and a bigger hard-drive, after all, you did say that you recorded, so you will need a plenty big hard drive.
You make the decision. If you decide to build it yourself i personally promise you I will help you all that i can when assembling it. and if you dont have an OS. (sarcastically) I wouldnt find a spare in the closet and wouldnt be able to mail you a copy of a decent os, or you could just use kubunto, which i have on one of my rigs.
It would be great for just surfing the net and what not. But that is a discusion for another thread.
Any of those cheap Dell computers you buy are gonna need a tech visit in about 2-3 months if not sooner. Tell your wife that your spending MORE MONEY not getting something worth a damn.
To be serious, make sure that that Dell does not contain any proprietary parts. You don't want to have to spend $150 for a $35 PSU at some point in the future. Be wary of the add-ons, my sister was looking at a Dell laptop recently. Great price up-front; bad deal when you throw in all the dreck they want to sell you.
Build your own for the same price and you'll both acquire the knowledge of a second-year CompSci student. How much would that be worth to you?
RAM = 1 gig (2x512mb) DDR 333-400
HDD = 120gig SATA (I still use EIDE cause I'm just cool like that)
The Dimension you showed above has only 256MB of DRAM - that is absolutely bone-dead minimum. 512 is low standard, 1024 has become fairly common.
If at all posible id convinve her to let you build. but if not, then id have to say to get an optiplex. first of all, i think they are a little cheaper cause they are meant for small to large business's. Our school ordered over a thousand of them and they are rock solid. if you do get that and its has to be intel (yep, dell=intel most of the time) id try to get at least a p4 doing at least 2.4, all those celerons are are expensive paperweights. I actually have one on my desk from way back when.
Modern 3D games? 1024mb at least
So let's add up the extra's and see what the true cost will be:
basic system - $299.00
15" LCD - $159.00
Win XP CD - $10
Wordperfect - $69.00
1 year warrantee - $29
Total, less shipping - $599.00
Also, you will need to buy a minimum of 256 MB more ram to have Win XP run decently. Plus, if you want a DVD burner, that is another money outlay you will have with the system. One other thing about buying that cheapie Dell is that it most probably doesn't have any PCI-e or AGP slots for an add-in video card too, so decent gaming is out for it.
As for Word Perfect...I use it nearly daily, unfortunately. I don't think the whole suite is worth $69. But that's another topic.
But dont you hate marketing. Suckers in so many people. but alas, there is proof that ir works, my mom is one of them. She had to have an hp instead of me building her a better pc for the same price. now she says that i shoulda just built it. I love being able to say "I told ya so..."