Hey I need suggestions for my new computer. I know little.

UndergroundKing · Oct 30, 2001

Alright people I have had endless problems with my 5 month old dimension 8100 so thanks to some great arguing from a family member I am gettin a full refund. Now I need a replacement fast being in college and I can't get another Dell. My computing needs are internet, game playing like Madden 2002 and Max Payne. I watch downloaded Video a lot too since I have ethernet. I am gettin a KLIPSH 2.1 sound system and Id like to save my parents some cash with this 2400$ refund. What is a system with monitor Preferably flat screen for 1700$?

I am getting real pissed because I have minimal knowledge and I keep hearing SD ram sucks with a P4, but all the P4's being sold at stores Have SD ram.

I have looked at Sony and Compaq and I think I would probably go with a VAIO right now. My only worries is that is only expandable to 512 mb ram. It is the 1.7P4, 256mb, 80 gb model.

The compaq i was lookin at was the 5000 series.

I really don't want to put a computer together on my own, nor do I want to deal with a small local retailer just because I keep seeing these places come and go every month.

for the monitor I would prefer a 15'' flat, because I love the one I am using, but if anyone has reasons why i shouldnt go flat i want to hear.

I am open to suggestions, but I am really leaning towards a high end best buy type system.

Thanks A MILLION for your help.

littlelee · Oct 30, 2001

sod that look for a smaller computer shop and ask about their prices , p4's suck so go for the new athlon Xp's you should be able to pick up a decent PC in your price range

ive found that large PC companies are a pain in the ass and ive had to get a lawyer in one time about them. i prefer to make them myself as at least theres 24 hr yourself support lol

you unfortunatley dont have that luxuary and so a smaller less well known place would be best , they will offer better prices because they dont stamp a corperate name on them which makes them cheaper !!!!

and if you buys from them at least you know who your dealing with

BrunoPuntzJones · Oct 30, 2001

<< for the monitor I would prefer a 15'' flat, because I love the one I am using, but if anyone has reasons why i shouldnt go flat i want to hear. >>

flat=bad ghosting in games usually. depends on the quality of the monitor. and if you absolutely have to have intel and not amd, and dont want to build your own, you should have stayed with dell

UndergroundKing · Oct 30, 2001

Dell Jerked me around Left and Right. They pulled so much bullcrap on me that I finally had enough. I had service techs bringing their frickin kids in my dorm room to watch Buffy while they messed up my computer even more. So I got a family member that basically said hey you know what? give us our money back or ill get my attorney. They thought he was bluffing but they soon found out he wasn't and they put the check in the mail.

Dell has THE WORST tech support I have ever encountered. I don't care that service is a top selling point for them. Awful experience and I am never going back.

Mitzi · Oct 30, 2001

<< Dell Jerked me around Left and Right. They pulled so much bullcrap on me that I finally had enough. I had service techs bringing their frickin kids in my dorm room to watch Buffy while they messed up my computer even more. So I got a family member that basically said hey you know what? give us our money back or ill get my attorney. They thought he was bluffing but they soon found out he wasn't and they put the check in the mail.

Dell has THE WORST tech support I have ever encountered. I don't care that service is a top selling point for them. Awful experience and I am never going back. >>

First off, welcome to the boards!

Woo, thats bad support!

I cannot suggest any PC retailers because I, like many (most???) of the people around here build and support our own PCs. At the end of the day the best way to get exactly what you want is to build and support your PC yourself.

You say that you don't want to build your own because of lack of knowledge but I don't think your knowledge is minimal - you know what SDRAM is for a start! Besides, building PCs is hardly rocket science, the most you may need is a little bit of advice and thats what these boards are for, its like having a team of 76271 (at last count!) specialists on hand, 24 hours a day - all you have to do is ask.

Also building your own machine certainly wont cost any way near what that Dell machine cost, so you will certainly be saving you parents some cash.

I'm not saying do it, I'm just saying consider it, put in a little research, ask some questions, do a little learning and you'll have the ability for life and you'll never look back.

What ever you decide to do, good luck.

HamSupLo · Oct 30, 2001

Dude, you're getting a Dell!!

Mitzi · Oct 30, 2001

<< Dude, you're getting a Dell!! >>

Isn't that getting a little wearing yet?

ChipNOW · Oct 30, 2001

<<

<< Dude, you're getting a Dell!! >>

Isn't that getting a little wearing yet? >>

Yeah... it is

But anyways... firstly, welcome to the AT forums - I hope you find it as enjoyable a place as we obviously do

I'd agree with the above in saying go to a smaller OEM...

Just a couple of guidelines you should be referring to with that pricerange:
Ensure that:

<LI>your CPU is at least 1.7Ghz, be it an Athlon XP by AMD, on an Intel Pentium (preferably Athlon XP)
<LI>make sure your motherboard is from a quality manufacturer (Epox, Iwill, Asus, Abit, ECS, Tyan, Gigabyte to name a few) and utilises the VIA KT266A, nVidia nForce 220D/420D or SiS735/745
<LI>you have at least 256MB SDRAM, DDR in the case of Athlon, or DDR OR RDRAM for P4
<LI>you have a GeForce3 Ti-200 / ATi Radeon 7500 graphics card or better
<LI>you have at least 60GB of hard drive space, and that the hard drive is 7200rpm
<LI>you look at the particular LCD monitor you wish to buy - there are HUGE differences in quality between models
<LI>BE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU HAVE A QUALITY POWER SUPPLY!! Can't stress this point enough

Adhere tothis very basic outline and you should be halfway to a really good PC!

Hope this helps,

Chris

UndergroundKing · Oct 30, 2001

I am now considering builing my own, but if you were being forced to take that Sony, would you be happy?

SpecialEd · Oct 30, 2001

my boss uses one of those cute little SONY VAIO computers. didnt see any problems with it. It even came with this pen where you could write on the screen... very cool.. but completely usless. My boss's Sony is built in one of those really small cases. It took me like two hours to figure out how to open it. I discovered that they not very upgradable. It was basically onboard everything with only two PCI slots and no AGP slot.

Like every else said... everyone at AT builds there own systems.. its the only way to know exactly what your going to get. Plus you get much more performance for you money.

If you never have built your own, it can be a good learning experience! I recommend browsing these forums to get an idea of what it entails and what types of problems you might run into. Building your own is not always smooth sailing....

Mitzi · Oct 30, 2001

<< I recommend browsing these forums to get an idea of what it entails and what types of problems you might run into. Building your own is not always smooth sailing.... >>

Sounds like very good advice to me! You can save yourself hours of fustration by spending an hour researching and checking compatibilities etc.

UndergroundKing : I'm glad you're considering building your own PC - nothing quite like getting your PC built and working the way you like it. Good luck with it!

UndergroundKing · Oct 30, 2001

So say I do decide to build my own system...... What is the best and cheapest way to acquire the parts I need? I am a collge student with no transportation so that is a problem.

And what the hell do I do about software? Won't that get really expensive?

SpecialEd · Oct 30, 2001

<< What is the best and cheapest way to acquire the parts I need? >>

the answer to this is very simple my friend: order your parts online... not only is it less of a hassle, its alot cheaper and you get way more selection. Also everything gets delivered right to you mailing address at school. No transporation really needed. Some sites I recommend:

newegg for all your hardware needs... the best service, the cheapest prices... I've ordered $1000's of dollars worth of hardware... not one complaint.

pricewatch this site should give you an idea whats expensive and what cheap for particular hardware.

mwave if you can't find it a newegg... go here.

Crucial for all your memory needs... life time garuntees and free shipping!

Most important: DO THE RESEARCH BEFORE YOU START PURCHASING PARTS!!! I can't stress how important hardware research is. You don't want to end up with crappy parts...

as for software: Win2k is $140 at newegg... WinXp is $150... choose what ever you want.

the guy down the hall might let you borrow some software.. but you didn't hear that from me

nord1899 · Oct 30, 2001

Check out GamePC. Yes they are one of those "smaller OEMs" but they are very much a quality shop. I have bought my current system from them over a year ago and they are still running strong (might help that they are in Palo Alto, meca of geekness).

One thing they can do is assemble and burn-in you hardware. Basically that means run it for 48 hours and make sure it all works okay. They will also inform you of any possible problems with a particular configuration you send in (they saved me a lot of grief with that when I bought a system).

The biggest drawback with GamePC is that you will pay more that if you truly build you own from Newegg or Mwave. The parts are a bit more expensive and assembly costs a bit more. But they have warrenty and customer support.

Mookow · Oct 30, 2001

Where I go to college you can buy the "Buckeye Bundle" which means you get the CDs in it for a week and have a legal license to the software (most people upgrade Photoshop or their OS this way). After the week, you have to return the CDs... but most of us can burn a CD in under a week.

UndergroundKing · Oct 30, 2001

Where I got to school we are planning on kicking some buckeye A$$ on November 24th. Go Blue.

UndergroundKing · Oct 30, 2001

I have a friend who is tellin me he can build this with LCD for 1500.

xp 1800+, asus a7v266-e, and 512 pc2100 ddr ram

Think he can?

m1ke101 · Oct 30, 2001

<< I have a friend who is tellin me he can build this with LCD for 1500. >>

probably could, but what kind of lcd? probably not the best for gaming.

MikeMike · Oct 30, 2001

check out alienware.com falcon-nw.com and voodoocomputers.com a little more than dell but they r great computers and great tech support and offer the latest and greatest

oh wait f*ck u michigan buckeyes suck but im a buckeye fan hehehehehehehe so disregard what i said above or u could use it
go bucks but wait their quarterback sux so we r gunna get crushed

MikeMike · Oct 30, 2001

finally decided to read the entire post might have been better to do earlier. but there is all kinds of ways to get software something called pirated software my friend has xp pro pirated dont know how the hell you would do that but sum 1 did and you can just borrow it from other peopl and use ur sweet cd burner to force read ms office and you will have ms office

Hey I need suggestions for my new computer. I know little.

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