|
|
 |
|
|
Pages: 1
PC Brand reccomendations
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: AK47
Well, its about time I get a new computer. My 133 just aint cuttin it lately, and with graduation coming up, I stand to get a fair sum of money.
I first looked at Dell online. Ive only heard good about them and I figured to give them a shot. Well, I configured two sets.
Dimensions 4400 series. P4, 1.7ghz, 40gig hd, 128MB DDR SDRAM, 17in flat screen monitor, cdrw, standard 16mb videocard. total= 869 + an estimated 100 for shipping and the total is 969 without a printer
Dimensions 2200 series, Celleron 1.3, 40 gig hd, 128MB shared SDRAM, 17in flat screen monitor, cdrw total = 769 + an estimated 100 for shipping and the total is 869 without a printer.
Well, those were a little more than I wanted to pay. So, I went to best buy to see what they had. I found an HP system identical to the Dell 2200 model that I customized online. Same stuff in the actual comp, and a 17 inch flat screen monitor. Total cost, with a crappy printer was $749. Thats quite a bit more reasonable to me.
So, what am I trying to do here? Basically I'm lookin for a reccomendation. I dont actually do that much on my computer. I use it to go online, write things, use powerpoint, and very rarely, play a game or two. Thats really it. Nothing big at all. Hell, my 133 has lasted me quite a long while- its suited my needs just fine. All I want is a nice system that I can use the same way. I'm leaning towards the HP simply because its cheap and it looks like it will be just fine.
What do you all think? Considering what I need a comp for, would the HP be fine for me, or should I look for something different. Thanks alot for any help.
oh, by the way, building a system is pretty much out of the question. If my parents see me spending this much money, they want me to do it safely (at a store or company like dell online). Even if I had bill gates come build me a system, they wouldnt be comfortable with it. Its just how they are (and I am to an extent). Buying a system at a store just seems more secure.
thanks for listening to me bable on about stuff I dont really know about 
Posted by: Kdr Kane
If it comes with Windows XP, I'd recommend 256 MB of RAM. Claims of Microsoft making bloatware are not exagerrated.
Posted by: AK47
Ok. Sounds like a good idea.
Thanks
Posted by: Freak
Go with the Dell 2200. HP < Dell. HP loads too much crap onto your system, and personally I hate their mini-towers.
Posted by: JANNA
if money is a factor check out the Dell Refurbished section. u can get a comp at half that price with the exact same warranty as the new Dells. and most often those refurb comps are just comps that got ordered made then canceled by the buyer.
Posted by: SKYHN
I reccomend dell. I have only heard very minor things from them, and I have dealt with them and they seem good.
I also reccomend HP, if you have a costco membership, they have really good AMD and Intel HP PC's in there for good prices(My pc is an HP from costco). But dont buy from HP direct.
Posted by: Tweaker
Jim Morrison saids "Dell" AK! 
Posted by: tkron
My recomendations and reasons for not being top of the list.
Dell
Sony (a bit expensive)
HP (no decent video cards and propritory software, also often does not have AGP slot)
Compaq (Propritory software and lack of consistent hardware)
Gateway (usually have problems with these. lack of support, cheap components.)
IBM (hard drives, also selling computers that cannot work (crash every 3 weeks requireing a reload of entire operating system), unless you contact them)
E-Machines (cheap slow you should avoid at all costs)
Avoid any computer which does not have an AGP slot like the plague. If it come with shared memory, that is usually a bad sign.
Suggest you avoid computers with a built in motherboard video (unless it has an AGP slot)
Posted by: redwench
well we know what you use it for now. but what about over the next couple years? if youre going to college, you may want a dvd player in there.
Posted by: Bobaroo
Dell is a good brand and I have never had any problems with them.
I would personally up the RAM to 256mb and up the video card. The 16mb integrated cards that Dell give you suck.
Posted by: AK47
 Quote:
Originally posted by redwench
well we know what you use it for now. but what about over the next couple years? if youre going to college, you may want a dvd player in there.
|
Yeah, I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I dont see my needs chaning anytime soon (or even in the future). I'll be majoring in law enforcement and justice andminstration, so the computer wont be too big of a factor.
Got a dvd player hooked up to my tv
I'd really like the Dell, but the cost is a bit of an issue. Thanks Janna for the idea- Ill have to check out the refurbished ones. That could be the solution I'm lookin for.
If I dont find anything there, HP does have a somewhat nicer system with an Athlon inside. Might check that out too.
Thanks alot for the reccomendations and keep em coming if you got any
Posted by: Bobaroo
I was looking at the Dell Refurbished PC's and you can get a few good deals. There are a few PC's under $750
Here are a fewhttp://outlet.us.dell.com/Dispatche...CUZU1A&tgtSeg=I
A P4 1.8ghz, 256mb RAM...not a bad deal
Posted by: air_canada
I'd recommend cranking up your RAM, for all it's worth. Your motherboard will likely have space for 256 to 512 MB of RAM. RAM is relatively inexpensive these days, so buy some. Also, avoid integrated Video and sound if you can, although sound isn't necessarily important to you.
Also, get AGP video, possibly something bought outside the computer.
Recommendation: Do not buy Compaq. I dislike their integrated everything. They put integrated video and sound and put PCI slots. 5 PCI slots! 5? What are you going to put in them? Extra video and sound?
I wouldn't buy things which have a lot of integrated machine crap. That annoys me.
Posted by: Dabom
Quote:
Originally posted by air_canada
...and put PCI slots. 5 PCI slots! 5? What are you going to put in them? Extra video and sound?
|
Most motherboards have five to six PCI slots; that's not a reason not to buy a computer. Hah, there are plenty of useful PCI cards out there.
Posted by: Canis Lupus
Quote:
Originally posted by air_canada
5 PCI slots! 5? What are you going to put in them? Extra video and sound?
|
DVD decoder card, TV tuner card, network card, Firewire card, RAID card, SCSI card, case cooler (hehe), etc...
Posted by: Bobaroo
I love having more PCI slots. The more the merrier....You can never have to much space
Posted by: air_canada
OK OK. 
Posted by: SKYHN
One thing I forgot to say about HP's: They put cheap ass video cards in their systems. Mine came with a POS TNT2. I think they have switched to GF2 MX cards now, but still thats pretty weak. If you are going to be gaming with it, then you will want to upgrade the vid card to a nice GF4 TI 4200 or even a GF3. If you arent going to be gaming, they will be fine the way they are.
Posted by: AK47
Its safe to say that I wont be gaming with this comp. Maybe some black and white or halflife, but other than those, PC gaming aint my thing.
A question. Best Buy just started carrying VPR Matrix systems. They are seemingly more loaded than the hp systems and cost just about the same. Anyone know anything about this brand?
Posted by: SKYHN
Wow, those are good prices for that kind of a system! I dont know anything about that brand, but if its got a good warranty, you can really go wrong. Monitor sold seperately though.
Posted by: AK47
Thats what I thought...
Heres the one Im lookin at..
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e...88&cat=0&scat=0
$799 with a free $100 giftcard and a $100 mail in rebate. Not bad at all.
Posted by: Bobaroo
Wow....that is not bad at all.
It also comes with a decent video card so you don't get those crappy integrated cards.
Posted by: Nfested
Whatever you do, do buy a COMPUSA PC BRAND. Those suck as hell and I was a victim of their poor customer-service.
Posted by: JANNA
if ur really interested in Dell refurbs call them do NOT do it over the web. and call at either 8AM central or 3:50Pm Central they restock their refurbs lists at those times. if u call in the middle of the day there may not be good deals to be had. check everyday. i just got 3 comps for work all have 256ram 40gigHD two have cdrw one with a DVD all are under 450$ running P4 1.4 and 1.6 im sure the motherboards for those are fully integrated video so a little more money will get u a damn fine comp.
Posted by: AK47
Intersting Janna, Ill have to give them a call. I searched online and didnt find too many great deals.
as for these VPR systems I mentioned, it turns out that they are Best Buy's brand. They make them and they sell them in their stores. Read about it here : http://www.gtamarketing.com/StarTrib-BestBuyPCs.html
They seem to be quite a bit for what they cost. and yeah bob, they actually come with a decent videocard.
Posted by: Swilo
I looked at that VPR system and it doesn't look bad. The only 2 things I would doubt is what manufacturer they're getting their parts from (maybe you could ask someone in store who makes the motherboard, video card, modem, etc) and the XP Home edition OS (see about getting 2k/XP Pro, or sticking with whatever you have now).
If you can get a refurbished dell, go for it. They usually have decent hardware and good tech support. A lot of people at my college had dells and were pleased with them. Nobody had a comqrap, and for good reason. A few HP owners, but not many.
Also, a GF2 MX200/400 video card is PLENTY of power if you only do light gaming like casual HL or B&W. I've only got a Voodoo3 and am not feeling the absolute urge to upgrade yet.
Might I also suggest that instead of hauling along all your console stuff you look into a PC Gamepad and some emulators? Will save you tons of space and clutter if you had planned on bringing your consoles with you.
Posted by: AK47
I am leaning more towards that VPR system. Its a little more than the HPs I was looking at, but it does have quite a bit more.
One of these days Ill wander up to the Best of Buys and ask about the pc in question. I'm sure I'll just get a bunch of praise for the thing (considering its made by best buy and I'm sure they make more money on those), but hopefully the guy (or gal) I speak with can help me out.
The refurbished Dell is still an option. Ill have to give them a call early in the morining to see what they have. Probably thursday.
And I do have all my snes games on roms as well as Zsnes. Also have a gravis game pad pro which is pretty decent for snes emulation. While home, I do prefer playing the actual snes on my nice tv, but at college, that may not be so accessable (with a roomate and all). So, I definatley will take the emu and roms with me, but the snes will probably come along too. Other than the dc and dvd player, its all I got on my tv cart
Posted by: SKYHN
What kind of monitor are you looking at? or will you just use the one you have now?
Posted by: AK47
I want to get a 17 inch flatscreen. I have a real dumpy 15 inch one right now. 17 will be just right.
any monitor recomendaitons besides the expensive sony trinitrons I have looked at ?
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
The Phillips Brilliance monitors kick major ass. I have a 17" Phillips and a 19" Sony Trinitron and the Phillips monitor makes it look sick in comparison.
Posted by: JANNA
my preference are the viewsonic perfect flat. they have the perfect flat screen of the LCD flatscreen monitors but dont suffer from the exorbitant price and huge performance hit of them.
Posted by: Swilo
I'm pretty happy with my Samsung.
Posted by: air_canada
That VPR rig ain't bad at all.
For the screen, though, if cost-cutting is important I wouldn't get too fancy. You might even avoid flatscreens if you are in a bind. I like the system but you might want to look at the manufacturers. I wouldn't like to hear about you having a crappy motherboard or even worse, a DEER power supply. Just make sure you don't end up with one of those. They're dangerous.
Posted by: Sarc
That VPR rig might be the way to go.
All major brand of pre built PC manufacturers have propriatery components in them which makes it terribly difficult to upgrade. Yes, even Dell.
But from a "safety" stand-point, since you're not building the system, chances are, you may not do any major upgrades to the system down the road either. I.E., change out the motherboard.
I'd say, check out the brands of components used in the Best Buy brand like Swilo said, and if that goes south, just pick one that's shown to be reliable and doens't fill your system with a bunch of crappy software you'll never need.
Posted by: JANNA
the thing about Dell is their cases now are non-proprietary for the newer comps unless u get like a slimline space saver desktop design of course. but the regular optiplex boards will fit in any standard case. and the cases will take any board.
Posted by: AK47
Well, thanks alot for all the input. You're all making this purchase quite a bit easier.
Looking in the Best buy ad for this week, I found a pretty good deal.
A VPR system very similar to the one I posted above, except the P4 is 1.8g and it comes with an 80 gig hd. Other than that, the system specs are identical. However, the big thing here is that it comes with a 17 inch Samsung Dyna Flat 17 inch monitor. Total after all rebates (no, not the msn deal) is $999.99.
I could go for that...
Posted by: tkron
That does not look too bad. If I were to buy it I would immediately increase the ram to 256 by buying one more.
Only drawbacks I saw were:
the integrated sound card, but if you wanted to upgrade your sound, it would only require diabling the integrated card and installing a PCI sound card.
no joystick port (game port)
but again you could just get a PCI sound card and they usually have a game port (joystick port)
Posted by: JANNA
el-cheapo comps from places like best-buy ur probably gonna get a crappy power- supply that is proprietary and require u to migrate the whole thing to a new case in few months when it goes poof. and ur liekly to be scraping the bottom of the bucket on component quality like el-cheapo HD and ram. its not just the motherboard that make a decent comp. a good comp is the sum of its parts. im not trying to dissuade u from a VPR just let u be aware of what goes into making a computer that has some lasting quality to it. if ur going to get a VPR and seriously considering one look at E-Machines too since the VPR brand is just best-buy's house version of the E-Machine.
Posted by: AK47
Well, el-cheapo is the way I want to go I cant spend too much on this thing, college is costing me plenty
So, considering that I'm really not using this comp for more than internet, word, and the very occasional game, would an el-cheapo comp really be that bad? I mean, I understand all the risks of buying a shitbox comp with crappy parts, but do I really need to worry too much about that (considering the kind of use the machine will get)?
Posted by: JANNA
its a crap shoot really last year i had 8 E-Machines at work that were purchased shortly before i was hired. 6 months later after moderate use i had 2... 3 just plain died with dead motherboards due to powersupply failure. 1 fried its CPU and memmory when the power supply zorched. the other four had massive HD failure. the 2 that are still running have seen heavy use but have given no problems at all and will liekly run for a good long time. the 4 dead HD ones i replaced the drives and PS and case and they still run. so if u do go the cheapo comp route like that i strongly recommend replacing the case and PS with a quality one.
Posted by: Digitalphatman
E-machines don't count, they are beyond el cheapo and are the worst comp u could buy.
And i know someone who bought one of those best buy machines and they are pretty good and the person who bouhgt loves it. Its a good comp for what u want to do and even for some light gaming.
Posted by: SKYHN
Another thing I forgot to mention about HP: They are using nForce Mobo's now. I dont know which PC's use them, it may be all, but they do use them now.
Posted by: AK47
is that a good thing?
Posted by: AK47
Well, found out that the VPR systems that I've been loookin at have ATX brand motherboards and a 300-watt power supply (dunno what type).
Dont know about the HPs...
Posted by: SKYHN
nForce Mobo's are pretty good from what Ive heard.
I believe that HP's have pretty heavy powersupplies. I think I read somewhere that GF4 Ti's need 400 Watt or higher Power Supplies, and Ive got a GF4 Ti so it must be at least 400. It might even be 450.
But since you really arent gonna be gaming, you dont need to worry about that.
Posted by: Bobaroo
Quote:
Originally posted by SKYHN
nForce Mobo's are pretty good from what Ive heard.
I believe that HP's have pretty heavy powersupplies. I think I read somewhere that GF4 Ti's need 400 Watt or higher Power Supplies, and Ive got a GF4 Ti so it must be at least 400. It might even be 450.
But since you really arent gonna be gaming, you dont need to worry about that.
|
I thought the Ti4600 needed atleast a 350ps, and the other GF4 can work on lower ones.
I think the VPR system is the best way to go. A 300PS is not that bad, and would be fine for everything you need.
Posted by: SKYHN
Quote:
Originally posted by Bobaroo330
I thought the Ti4600 needed atleast a 350ps, and the other GF4 can work on lower ones.
|
I cant really remember. The number 400 comes to mind. Ill ask on Madonion.
Posted by: AK47
Well, things have changed.
After going back and forth, deciding how much I wanted to spend and deciding if a new comp is even worth it, I have made a decision. Gerb is gonna build me a comp.
After my parents saw how much a new computer was going to cost me, they more than embraced the idea of building a decent system for around $300. Heck, my dad was shocked at how cheap it would be.
So, in a week and a half (once I make some money), Gerb and I (mainly Gerb ) are gonna put together a nice little cheap comp for me.
Posted by: SKYHN
Geez, what you getting for $300?
Posted by: Bobaroo
Quote:
Originally posted by SKYHN
Geez, what you getting for $300?
|
He should be able to get a decent computer...
Celeron/Duron
128mb Ram
16mb Vid Card
and I am sure he can take stuff like the floppy drive and CD-ROMs from his old computer.
Posted by: AK47
According to Gerbilo, this is whats gonna go down:
Duron 1 ghz = $35
128, probably 256 of pc133 = $20 or more if 256
A solid motherboard- I couldnt tell you what, but Gerb was suprised at how cheap it was considering that it was a decent mobo = $100
Case = $30
40 gig 7200 Maxtor = $80-$100
That all adds up to a little under $300. If I go with more ram, which is likely, add a little more. Like bob said, Gerb wil be using stuff from my old comp too. Oh, and I'll probably want a decent burner in there eventually, so add another $100 or so down the line (not right away). Also, the videocard is still not set yet. Probably go with a cheap little 16mb one, but Gerb has a 32 mb (cant remember what kind) that he might be selling. So, I'll just have to wait and see.
And of course I'm going to pay Gerb for doing all this, so yeah, the system will be over $300, but its certainly alot cheaper than anything I was looking at.
Posted by: Sarc
Since you're going to build your own system, you might consider a mobo with a NVidia NForce chipset.
I don't know if your going with a locale shop or online, so if locale, you options may be a bit limited.
If you go online, a place like NewEgg.com has a MSI K7N420PRO for $123, a little more than $100 dollors you were looking at, but it has built in video, something like a Geforce 2.
That would be more than enough since you're not going to be doing much gaming, and that mobo would give you the support for DDR RAM, which would help your system last a little longer.
DDR is only a little bit more than SDRAM, like a few dollors for the same amount.
Just an idea.
Posted by: AK47
Mkay, thanks for the info.
Gerb is lookin at an Abit board. I couldnt tell you the specifics, but that is the brand.
As for where I'm shopping, I picked up the case today at a local computer shop. On sunday, we are going to a computer show that is held each month at a local college. And, whatever we dont get there, we will purchase online.
As for videocard, it looks like I'll be going with Gerb's 32 mb Geforce 2 (I think thats what it was). He'll sell that to me when he gets his Geforce 4.
As for the ram, I will look into what you said. If the ddr ram is only a little more, perhaps it will be worth it
Thanks!
Posted by: Sarc
From what I hear, Abit makes pretty good boards, I've never used one, but they've always got decent reviews.
Just remember, if you do decide to go with DDR RAM, you have to get a mobo that can use it.
Initially, when DDR first came out, there were some mobo's that had support for both DDR and SDRAM, but most are one or the other.
Posted by: Heathen
A-Bit do make good mobos.
.... erm thats all I have to say right now!!!
Posted by: AK47
Good to hear that the A-bits are somewhat recomended. Perhaps Gerbilo knows what he's doin
Posted by: AK47
The Computer show today was pretty good
Got the Duron for $42 ($39 online)
128mb of PC133 for $19 ($15 online)
Heat sinc with fan was $12
2 other fans for $3 each
And a cheap Vortex2 advantage soundard for $15 and a real cheap keyboard for $5
And, just the other day, I got a Maxtor 40 gig 7200 rpm HD for $89.99.
So, with the case, the total I've paid so far is $233. My motherboard just dropped in price, so with shipping, it will be around $70 online. Gotta order that soon.
Also, a Yamaha 24x burner is on sale at best buy for $99.99 after mail in and instant rebates. I might go get one of those. Also, Gerbs geforce 2 videocard which he will sell to me will run $50.
So, the last two things are optional, but I'll probably spring for them.
|
|
|
|
|
