Neptune Aquatics

Looking to buy a new desktop (Not a Mac) Suggestions

seminolecpa

seminolecpa

Past President
BARcard
Looking for an all around workhorse type computer (non laptop, non Mac). Good internet speed, large storage capacity and fast. Primary use would be for , internet surfing, photo editing , music and photo storage, excel, powerpoint and personal finances. Don't do any real computer gaming but I do watch streaming vidoes and tv from (for example baseball games on mlb.com), so I am not sure what that whould suggest I need in the video card realm.

Sugguestions would be appreciated as I built my last computer about 5 years ago and it is pretty well ready for the scrap heap.
 
No suggestions as I built my box about 6 years ago as well, but let me know what you're planning to do with your current build :) I'm always on the lookout for cheap parts.
 
I'm hoping you want XP instead of Vista because vista f'ing blows.... But either way, any cheap tigerdirect/newegg/fry's machine will do. If your not gaming your saving your self a bunch of cash. The onboard/built-in video cards are decent and the streaming video uses very little graphic card power. If you do go with XP, don't get more than 3GB of ram (unless you go 64 bit, which you don't need to) because regular old XP will not use anything more than 3GB.
 
Micro Center is having a sale on a Dell Desktop for about $200 with Pent 4/512MB RAM and 40gb drive. I saw it in the papers yesterday.
 
Well what you mentioned your primary uses you really don't need that powerful of a computer. Your internet speed will be dictated by your ISP, photo editing might be the biggest toll on your system if you did SERIOUS editing, but if it's making corals look pretty then you won't need the muscle. Your video needs most likely will be CPU limited more so than video card based, as even most onboard video are quite adequate to deal with the streaming needs.

My advice to someone such as yourself, look on dell.com, get something with the Core2Duo chipset, Quad Core is a waste IMO, you can pile in as much hard drive space and memory as you want through their customization menus. Even going without a monitor if you already have a LCD that still has some life left in it. If you don't absolutely need the machine now, I'd say wait as Windows 7 is supposed to come out next month IIRC, and you'll be paying for the operating system whether you want to or not, not sure if they allow you to strip it from the machine, so your O/S for your last computer could still be used if you don't like Win7.

The Inspiron or Vostro (small business) probably would be your most economical bets. Either way you go I'd go for the 64 bit operating system just so you have the ability to go beyond 4 gigs of ram in the future. If you want massive storage solutions, I'd probably just buy a 2nd drive off newegg or something, but Its been a while since I've priced hardware so not sure if Dell is that much more for the upgrades in size.
 
try this

http://dealnews.com/HP-Pavilion-s3710-t-Dual-Core-2-4-GHz-Desktop-PC-for-350-free-shipping/293361.html

The HP Home & Home Office Store offers the HP Pavilion Elite s3710t Intel Dual-Core 2.4GHz Desktop PC, model no. NH969AV#ABA, for $349.99 via the directions below. With free shipping, that's the lowest total price we could find. (We saw an s3710t with a bigger hard drive and better video for the same price three weeks ago, since expired.) Sales tax is added where applicable. It features an Intel Pentium E2220 2.4GHz dual-core processor, 3GB RAM, 250GB hard drive, dual layer DVD burner with LightScribe, memory card reader, and Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit. To get this deal:
Click here to begin and choose the $379.99 option
choose "Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)"
choose "3GB DDR2-800MHz Dual Channel SDRAM"
apply coupon code "SV2132"
 
I'm a power user, generally build my own computers, etc...

I actually like Vista and haven't had any problems with it. I think it got a bad rap early on due to some legitimate complaints/bugs but with the patches it's quite good and I prefer it over XP. My system is very stable, i leave it on all the time and rarely if ever have to reboot.

If you're looking for a good deal, you should check out www.bensbargains.net and search for "Dell". There are lots of online coupons that Dell is constantly circulating.
 
pixelpixi said:
You don't want a mac? Okay... get Linux! :D
Click to expand...
Which is exactly what I am doing right now! Everything opensource :-D Windows crapped out hardcore on me with a massive virus overload surge which was impossible to remove (or almost). Since then, I moved to ubuntu and love it. It is taking a fair bit of getting used to, but that is just a learning curve. Everything is FAST. really fast. (running the new Jaunty release)
 
How do you like 9.04 Tony? I've had that little button pop up saying "new release available" but everything is working fine for me in 8.10 so I think I'll hold off on it for now.

For Bryan and anyone else thinking about switching, Ubuntu really isn't that much harder to work with than a slightly gummed up Windows box. Then you learn how to do everything and things become a cinch, and much faster IMO. No need for linux to only be used by CLI geeks :)
 
well, I had 8.10, but when windows died, so did 8.10 ...because... I installed 8.10 with wubi which apparently is a turns ubuntu into a VM. I have about 3gb of photos on the 8.10 root disk which I need to access still (if you know how, let me know! :D)..since itis a VM, it isn't accessed through GRUB.
Since 9.04 was out, I loaded that onto a new partition instead of 8.10. So far I like it a lot. Pandora runs now too without any issue! The only "problems" I have is when I try and run some programs through WINE, but that is...a windows issue. I haven't been using ubuntu long enough to know all the performance changes, but so far, I like the speed of the system. Not sure what was changed, but things load really fast especially on bootup.
 
Any thoughts on this one?

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11330142&search=DellMay&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Mo=12&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&Sp=S&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&N=5000043&whse=BC&ViewAll=99&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=DellMay&Ntt=DellMay&cm_mmc=BCEmail_MayMVM-_-Focus-_-3-_-SelectDell&No=5&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1
 
Thoughts in what way Bryan? It has the new i7 cpu and takes advantage of DDR3 ram, both of which while sexy are a bit over priced for how good they are. The XPS line of Dells are definite power user computers. It'll last a while, and you'll most likely be happy with it, however it is over powered for what you mentioned you want in a computer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top