Computer Shopping!!!!

[Gilly]

We got our taxes!


We got our taxes!


We got our taxes!



Ok, enough of that... Anyone out there savvy when it comes to finding the best deal for a computer online? What places do you find em at, etc.

What I ideally want is 40gig hard drive, Intel Pentium 3 or 4, 512 ram (but will settle for 256), and warrenty of 2 years or more.

Moniter included is a perk, because either way, we'll need to buy one.

So, show me what you can find, or point me to the right places. So far, we're specing them out through Gateway at around 780, and Dell around 900 (The difference is mostly the warrenty- dell was a 4 year, on site, full coverage for ANYTHING short of throwing it out a window, or beating on it with a hammer, while Gateway was only a partial 2 year warrenty, where we take it in, or ship it out).

So, that's what I'm looking to buy. :)

[Gilly]

Oh, also- I am dead set against eMachine. Even with Gateway taking them over, I've heard they're not actually changing how they are put together, and I need something more than just an internet machine.

[IAKaraokeGirl]

<----throws her fingers up in the sign of the cross and points them at you while screaming, "Run! Run! Run! Stay the hell away from Gateway!"


I feel better now. :)

Check out HP, too--they seem to have some good deals. All I've heard about Dell, though, has been positive. My bosses have written the ABA's technology column for the ABA Journal for years, and that's all they'll buy now.

[Gilly]

Good lord, I just found one that made me about shit myself. I've never heard of the company, though, and am finding like NOTHING online about the company- good or bad.

http://staples.com/Catalog/Browse/sku.asp?PageType=1&Sku=566677&bcFlag=True&bcSCatId=3&bcSCatName=Technology&bcCatId=71&bcCatName=Computers&bcClassId=142714&bcClassName=Pre%2DConfigured+Desktop+PCs

IAK- the one I have now is an HP Pavillion, which has served me faithfully for 4 years now, and I like it.

The one above has:

512 ram
120 gig hard drive (What do you DO with that kind of space?!?!?!)
Pentium 4
17" moniter included
1 year limited warrenty
Optical mouse
Multimedia keyboard


For $799

All those stats, and I can't even begin to think how expensive it should be, so now I wonder about the company.

[Gilly]

-mutters- They misspelled the name in the header, so I was looking for Nortgate, not NortHgate. Will go look now. -smiles sheepishly- baaaaa

[MilkToast]

I know that at work we have moved totally away from Gateway machines (very poor reliability) and over to Dell. We buy two grades of machines from them. The basic "home" style box that is usually on sale from Dell and then some engineering higher end workstations. In both cases the machines have proven (over the past 4 years) to be very reliable and we have had no issues with warranty work when needed.

The one observation is that the engineering grade machines, even though are the same clock speen and processor, do seem to have an edge in the performance department. This is not a subjective observation, we have run exactly the same simulations on each of the boxes and the more expensive one always wins. I think that it has something to do with the grade of the motherboard chipset and peripherals.

Had I known that originally I might have gotten one of the better ones for home.

In any case, the Dell machines are a good bet in my book.

I will also add that I have an HP Pavillion 763n here at home (2.4GHz P4) and it is an OK box for home. Sometimes it seems to get a little bogged down more than I would like (my P3 900MHz Dell at work does not).

Oh... and I would stay away from Compaq machines as well... they are now HP but the stuff that they have for the consumer line is crap.

[FallenAngel5]

That one that you found sounds fantastic... I've never heard of the company either, so research is probably a good idea. As for Dell. That's what I have at home, and all of my college is equipped with Dells. I've never had a problem with them, they run well. And about the 120 gig HD... sure you wonder now what you'll do with the space. I said the same about 1 gig harddrives when those came out... now my 12 gig hd is full! :)

[Gilly]

Hubby's work all uses Dell, as well, and that's really what we'll very likely get for his laptop. My own, well, mine never takes nearly as much abuse, and in the 4 years we've had this one, we've never had to replace anything, or use the 3 year warrenty we bought.

As for hard drives, I have a 20gig, and have only used 12 gig's of it. As a side note, I remember 5 year ago when we upgraded our computer to a HUGE 2 gig hard drive, and thinking, what are we gonna do with it? Yeah, 4 months later, we were more like, when can we get more?

[axe31]

The cheapest way to buy a new computer is self build one
It is often half the price but you need to know what you are doing
Luckily my mate and brother are expert at it you don't get a warranty
But if you go to a good supplier the parts are guaranteed

[PantyFanatic]

What axe31 said --------^ ;)



I'll be back later to share one prospective.:) (have to run and play right now :D )

[Romial]

Alienware (http://www.alienware.com)

Go there for all your computer needs. You won't need a new computer for a long long time if you get one from them.

[jseal]

Gilly,

Take your time.

First, decide what type of system you want. A standard desktop will be least expensive, but not as maneuverable as a laptop. Will a 17” monitor be big enough for you? The important thing is to compare features between like machines. Do you need a printer? Are there any particular software packages you want to use that are only available for a particular OS? If so, shy away from the others. If you plan to make this a gaming machine, go for speed – but it will cost you.

If you subscribe to Consumer Reports, they published a very competent assessment on Home Computers 2 months ago. It would cost you $5 to access their research. They were favorably impressed with some name brands

http://www.consumerreports.org/main/home.jsp?bhfv=7&bhqs=1

You can compare different systems easily if you will be running a Wintel box (MS Windows on Intel hardware). Ensure that the systems being compared have the same “sized” components, be they Monitor size, CPU clock rates or amounts of RAM or disk. How much is a printer (if you need one). When comparing like amounts of RAM, see if the acronym DDR is associated with it. DDR is fast RAM.

Check out Apple machines. The OS is rock solid, and has a VERY well thought out UI.

http://www.macmall.com/
http://www.macwharehouse.com/

If you or hubby is technically inclined, think about rolling you own as axe31 and PantyFanatic suggest; you could roll a fine Linux desktop machine for very little money.

Ask the sales staff how much shipping will cost. On occasion, they will waive the shipping. Are there any specials on productivity software (Word processor, spreadsheet, etc.).

I think that if you take your time and compare features, you’ll find that Apple and Dell (http://www1.us.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs ) deliver very good value for money. Your situation may lead you to a different brand, but even then, they are useful reference points.

Finally, if you do not already have broadband access (if you are still using dial-up), think hard about getting it. Pages that take forever to load at 33K or 56K, do so in the blink of an eye if you are connected using a DSL or Cable modem.

[Sharni]

Originally posted by MilkToast
Oh... and I would stay away from Compaq machines as well... they are now HP but the stuff that they have for the consumer line is crap.

Excuse me....we have 2 Compaq's....and after owning quite a few different machines over the years have to state that the Compaqs have been excellent....they have neither of them given us any trouble

I personally wouldn't own anything other than Compaq

[MilkToast]

Originally posted by Sharni
Excuse me....we have 2 Compaq's....and after owning quite a few different machines over the years have to state that the Compaqs have been excellent....they have neither of them given us any trouble

I personally wouldn't own anything other than Compaq
I should have prefaced my statement with "It has been my experience that...."

Before I bought my HP I tried two different Compaq machines (they were ~100 bucks less than the HP I ended up with) and both of them went back to the store for exchange within 2 days. I was just not happy with them. I really did not like what I saw in the internals or how the machines seemed to just lock up for these little bursts of time. It could have a lot to do with the software that was on them... in any case it definetly crossed them off my list of future candidates for when this PC needs an upgrade.

As for the build your own PC option... yeah that works fine if you have the patience to do it :) I seem to flop between a pre-built and the roll-your-own at each major upgrade. My secondary PC here is a roll-your-own and it has been rock solid.

[Sharni]

Milktoast hun....every brand of system sold can have its 'lemons'

For me the worst i ever set my eyes on was the IBM....4 complete machines we went through....and we still have problems with it!

[Gilly]

I prefer a desktop to a laptop, because of the durability. I've used laptops, and simple every day use of moving them around, shifting them, and what not, cords get loose, the connections wiggle out of place, etc, etc. I'm a desktop person, 100%. Hubby, on the other hand, loves being in the recliner, so he's all about the lap tops.

17" is bigger than the one I have now, which is fine as it is, so I think a 17 will be great. ;)

SOooo not an apple girl. ;)

We aren't really good at the hardware. We know our software good, but the hardware we aren't confidant enough about. I do have a friend who "claims" to be confident, but of the 3 machine's she has put together, none has lasted more than a year before burning out. No way in hell I'd let her build me one. :D

If we knew more about it, I'd love to just build one. But I don't think that'll be an option at all.

Also, we are on cable, the highest one we could get. :D I'll NEVER go back to dial up ;)

We like the Dell's a lot, but honestly, for the price, I'd rather just go with something a bit cheaper. When I stated out the dell with what I wanted, it was coming in more than the northgate with less stuff over all. Granted, Dell is a very good brand, and very good about replacements.

Compaq's... well, when we bought the computer we are running now, 4 years ago, we had just had 3 different friends who had bought Compaq's within about 6 months before us.

Compaq #1 was sent in for repairs (under warrenty) three times in that 6 months, all problems that were hardware problems. First time, the fan went out, next it was a bad memory sector, and lastly, the power source. She got rid of the computer after trip #3, and got a whole different brand.

Compaq #2 was only sent in once, in about a 4 month time period. I can't recall what the problem was, but it was just shutting itself down. Now, I'm thinking that the fan went, which was causing it to over heat, etc, etc.

And Compaq #3 had the hard drive go within about 7 or 8 months, I want to say, and then the power source went almost immediatly after they got it back.

That right there was MORE than enough for us to say: No, Thank you.

I'm sure they are good computers, but our own experience in hearing how rotten they were then, well.. that was enough.

[Kissy]

The truth is anyone who's had a good computer is going to stick with that brand and like Sharni said every brand has it's lemons. However I'd just like to say I have a Dell. Got it a couple years ago. The problems we had were...well a ton. Anyway my main problem was no one would help me, even though we had a waranty, everyone kept telling me to call someone else. It took us 9 months to get anyone to listen to us, and that was after I contacted the better business bureau and they gave me a number to call. Whoever I got ahold of finaly had us mail them back the computer and they sent us one that worked ok for the most part until recently. Now the cd burner quit working, and one by one, our ports won't recognize things we plug in. Anyway, we also never got our rebates. Not one of them. They mailed us a piece of paper that was labeled "packing slip" and when I mailed it back they told me it wasn't what they wanted, they wanted the packing slip! It was crazy and if your going to finance through them, well that's another story. They've actualy called and told us we owed them 3 months of payments when we weren't behind even one! And when I called them back they told me they had no record of ever calling me! But that's just my experience, if you're lucky to get a good machine the first time from them then I'm sure you'll be ok! :rolleyes: :D Good Luck!!

[Romial]

*cough* Alienware *cough*

[PantyFanatic]

*fart* bring the deed to the farm *fart*

lol;)

What I know of Alienware is good, HI END equipment, but SURE not at popular prices.

[Catch22]

Build your own. Computer that is, not farts.

[PantyFanatic]

Sorry to be so late Gilly. It was a long night, but I see you have lots of views to chose from.:)
I’m past due to start with a new box myself, and am searching out something that I want to last for at least 5 years. Check ANYTHING I say with somebody like MilkToast, who really knows what they are talking about. All my thoughts are self gathered. :dizzy: (be careful of “EXPERTS” ;) )

First point is that just like you, many people have their refund checks in fist and are computer shopping. Prices DO reflect demand throughout the year, and the undisputed best time is during summer vacation when sales are at their lowest. If you can keep the $ stuffed in the mattress for another month, you’ll get what you want for as much as 25% less than when school starts again, before the holiday or when refund checks start burning holes in pockets. ;)

Just from what I’ve seen, Dell has the best BASE prices, are reputable and provide support. BUT……… they are VERY capable at the sales desk and not a bargain with any add-ons you WILL want. They constantly switch the better feature for “free” and have the matching components “available” at the very full price.

I personally, have gone the tinker-toy route, since my first Trash-80, and plug the desired components together myself. That’s not as scary as it may first sound.:)

There are sites that will guide you through the matching components and give you a tone of information if you want to do a little digging. You have to decide how many dollars your hours are worth. Some sites just have the best prices while others have the most information. Like these:
http://www.pricingcentral.com/best/computer_components.html
http://www.pricewatch.com/

When you really look at it, your computer is just a processor (that does everything), some RAM memory (a place to do it), and a motherboard (to connect them and hang everything else on).

Right now AMD gives you the processor with the most bang for the buck and when I graph a curve, it’s easy to see that around 2.5 GHz is the sweet spot of $/performance.
I like the Athlon XP 2500 with Barton Core, for $75 - $80. The chip decides what RAM you need and you can get 512MB for about $120. Your applications dictate how much you need, but that’s about as little as I would go just to handle a good graphics package and do some multi tasking. You can always add memory very easily. Add a good chip cooler and heat sink for just a few bucks.

The manufacturers will tell you what boards they like with what chips and you pick something to match your extras. I like something with room for TWO hard drives. After screwing around some real virus problems just this year, when I knew better :o, I’ll never have my applications on the same drive as my data. I put my OS and programs (which is where most software issues occur) and ALL my data on another. Address books, pictures,…. EVERY BIT of data! When I have a problem, I just reload the programs without loosing the my files. 80 GB of HD are about $75.

Pick out what you want for burner, to watch TV on (I already have a bigger TV ;) ) or whatever. Chose a case that fits the motherboard and has at least 400 watts of power with some good fans. Cram it all in and do it for less than $6 bills. LOL :)

You can save a lot of dollars putting it together your self and you don’t have to touch a soldering gun to do it. Just read and plug. Now go talk to somebody that knows what they are doing. :D

[cbass1976]

very happy with my dell

[thedog]

Hi Gilly,

One point overlooked in all the above (don't mean to obfuscate your situation) ...

First I agree with PF about the AMD Athlon. Best price performance ratio going. And your not paying for the Intel name (over-rated) and getting equivalent or better performance. Yes, the 2.5 gig is a great buy.

And it's not really difficult to build your own system. When you buy one from any of the commercial vendors, it sort of equates to the NASA mission: you're getting 10,000 parts, all from the lowest bidder.

Building your own allows you to pick and choose which hard drive, which burner, which motherboard, etc. Putting them all together requires only that you take your time, watch out for static, and voila!!!

As I began saying, buying a commercial machine guarantees you are getting the "minimum daily requirement" as far as component reliability is concerned. Everything in there is running at the max design allowance simply because adding components that have, for instance, a 20% tolerance in their design factor means adding a couple of bucks to each unit ... Compaq, Dell, Gateway, HP, EMachines ... doesn't matter. When it comes to churning out 10,000 units a month, that couple of bucks per machine adds up, so they just don't do it. It's a matter of competition and price cutting.

One of the areas that are perpetually overlooked for the task at hand is the power supply. All the commercial vendors put in an under-nourished power supply, designed only for the components that are included at the point of manufacture.

When you begin adding more "stuff" (extra CD, a DVD, a high performance video card, etc) that require extra power, that whimpy power supply that was great on the vanilla machine can no longer provide the needed watts. The result is unexplained system hangs, blue screens of death, and various other anomolies due to fluctuating system voltages.

For example, most processors run at 3.0 volts. EXACTLY. When it's processing instructions at the rate of 2,500,000,000 per second, even a minor power fluctuation (1/100th of a volt) of say 1/30 th of a second means that the processor has just hiccupped on millions of instructions!!! BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH.

No matter what you buy, check with the vendor to make sure you are getting at least a 400 watt (more is better) power supply. A good beefy power supply will run cooler, and will not be forced to run at it's maximum. And because everything else in there depends on its stable operation, you will most likely have fewer problems with your other components as well, since devices that are able to run at their specified power ratings run cooler, last longer.

A good example of that is a CD burner. If the power fluctuates while you're burning a CD (the burning process requires more power), you can either throw the CD away or use it as a nice coaster.

If you choose to build your own, a good mid-tower case will have ample room for adding extra stuff in the future (more bays, more space for hard drives, etc) and most cases already come with a very good power supply as part of the package.

Good luck ...

The Dog

[thedog]

Oh ...

You may want to check out a publication called "The Computer Shopper"

Then you'll really be confused !!!

Or ... you might find a great system at a great price.

[Gilly]

Originally posted by Romial
*cough* Alienware *cough*


I checked them out. Built me a sweet ass purple puter. No way in hell I have the money to spend on their product though.

[Romial]

Originally posted by Gilly
I checked them out. Built me a sweet ass purple puter. No way in hell I have the money to spend on their product though.

But you said you got your tax refund...:p

[Gilly]

Yeah, but taxes only go so far. ;)


We bought the Northgate tonight, and slapped on the 3 year service plan, in case the cpu ends up being a dud.

I've done some reserch, and havn't found much wrong with them, but we'll wait and see. We'll be setting it up tomorrow, and hopefully will have it going and all our stuff transfered by Friday. :)

[MilkToast]

I'll only add this to the mix now that you have a box on the way... my apartment power (the AC power) is less than desirable. One of the best things I did for my PCs was to add a cheap UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to the main box. Not only does it keep it running during power outages (or more exactly, it gives you a chance to shut down cleanly) it is also a good line filter for a lot of crap. I went through 2 power supplies on one PC and another 2 on two other boxes before my UPS was installed. Since then no problems.

Just something to think about if you have had power supply problems in the past.

(PS. for those wondering how bad the power really is at the apartment here, the oscilloscope does not lie... it sags down to ~85VAC and can surge above 130VAC!)

[Gilly]

I don't think I've ever heard of that, I'll look in to it :)

Hubby also ordered his today- a dell notebook that he customized to his specs. He works for a college, so he gets 10% off ordering it through them, and there was a promotion going for an additional 10% through today only, so he managed to get his 1,180 notebook for 950, plus tax and shipping.

[PantyFanatic]

and how much is Dell charging for shipping a notebook? ;)

[Gilly]

The shipping on his would have been around $70-80, I think. Not entierly sure.


*More than it'll cost, that's for certain