Thread: Need a New Computer

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I don't know if this helps, but when I got ready to buy a new computer, I was looking at the price leaders at the time, Dell and Gateway. I asked my chat groups to tell me if either caused problems. I got all positive feedback on Dell, but Gateway owners responded reporting troubles. I bought a Dell, and am using XP with zero problems in about 4 years.

Originally Posted by IC2

I generally use newegg for various things and have had pretty good luck - but did have to find out with a new CD/DVD writer that if you order OEM instead of accessory, you get the part - no instructions

I'll do my homework

yup. OEM always means brown box part only, no drivers

if you buy an OEM prosessor, you get prosessor only, no fan/ heatsink also no warranty.

My lite on dvd rw was retail, I got software, instructions and warranty for $40 +
shipping from Tiger direct.

Originally Posted by DennyW

Check out zip zoom fly. And look for a motherboard cpu combo at different places. The ASUS board is nice. You can safely overclock 30%, and stay stable.

I don't know about now but ASUS was having problems w/ there boards failing like last year cause the silicon composition was incorrect, big problem w/ dells cause they use ASUS boards. I prefer genuine Intel boards, or AMD liscensed boards if you want AMD

Also, make shure you get a board that has a Nvidia N force chipset or a Pentium chipset, don't get a VIA chipset, there crap

Originally Posted by Matt167

yup. OEM always means brown box part only, no drivers

if you buy an OEM prosessor, you get prosessor only, no fan/ heatsink also no warranty.

My lite on dvd rw was retail, I got software, instructions and warranty for $40 +
shipping from Tiger direct.

I opened the case, took out the dead drive, screwed in the new one and it works - but my luck isn't always that good. And opening a Dell case, it's often a challange just to find the latch and that was the hardest part of the entire job. The LG I bought was rated better then the comparable Lite-on and somewhat cheaper tho I did use a Lite-on as a replacement on my last PC and it was great. The only forum complaint was that the LG was noisy and slow. Compared to the POS I took out, it's dead quiet and faster then greased lightning. But then I'm somewhat deaf in my right ear, the same side the computer sits (thanks, Uncle Sam)

Last summer I found Microcenter had a couple of their brand "Micro Electronics" in the back room that still had XP Pro on them. Out front it was all Vista. You just have to ask the right sales person. I bought one and it's great.

laptops you won't be able to build from scratch, unless you have some connections, it is hard to find all of the components and so much is designed specifically for the manufacturer that is going to resell them.

Besides, warranty, yes when building a computer you get individual product warranty, but what this means is that if something breaks you have to send it to that manufacturer and wait for the return. the warranties also vary on length. you buy a system from somebody like Dell and can get the warranty on everything for whatever time period (up to what, 5 or 6 years) that you like.

My home computer I built as well, it's middle of the road on graphics because I don't play games, I think I have about 4gb of Ram, an older AMD processor (2gb?) and 2 300gb drives for capacity. (and of course the 150 dollar case with a window and neon lights I can turn on if I were in the mood) BUT if it goes down for a few days I can handle it. the computers at work are all Dell, something goes bad I call and have parts the next day. on a laptop I would only go with a new one, and dell for instance (I think there is at least one other manufacturer that does this) offers a "complete care" warranty as well. this covers even accidental damage to the laptop. that is the only way to fly. I have had two systems people spilled drinks in, plus a few right now that need repair because our laptop cart fell off the back of our box truck. by the way, testament to the dell product (latitude series laptops) 24 laptops in the cart, lift gate about 4' off the ground, cart stands another 4' above that. whole thing went off the back, only cosmetic damage!!!!

Red

Originally Posted by Dago Red

laptops you won't be able to build from scratch, unless you have some connections, it is hard to find all of the components and so much is designed specifically for the manufacturer that is going to resell them.

you can build a laptop. IBM's are easy as all the parts you can get new off the internet.

Originally Posted by IC2

I opened the case, took out the dead drive, screwed in the new one and it works - but my luck isn't always that good. And opening a Dell case, it's often a challange just to find the latch and that was the hardest part of the entire job. The LG I bought was rated better then the comparable Lite-on and somewhat cheaper tho I did use a Lite-on as a replacement on my last PC and it was great. The only forum complaint was that the LG was noisy and slow. Compared to the POS I took out, it's dead quiet and faster then greased lightning. But then I'm somewhat deaf in my right ear, the same side the computer sits (thanks, Uncle Sam)

Yea, I kno what you mean.. I made the mistake of buying a OEM vid card, came w/ no drivers... driver was 20 mb and I had dialup at the time.

OEM memory is worth it, anything else, not so much

I started building my own in 1985 with off the shelf hardware. At that time you could build for a lot less than you could buy. In many ways you still can if you do enough research and have reliable deep discount places to shop. Last year I was going to build a new pc, and I wanted a core 2 duo system with ram expansion capability up to 8 gb and a large 320 - 500 gb hd plus two dvd burners. After pricing the parts I found that I could buy a ready built system for less than it was going to cost me. (I paid $599, couldn't build for that price). Not as much self satisfaction, but it got me to where I wanted to be, cheap. This isn't always the case, but like I said if you do the research, it can happen.

The most important thing is the motherboard, and that is where all of research time should be spent. There are so many variables it's almost mind boggling. And needless to say, it is very difficult to find a motherboard at a reasonable price with all the bells and whistles that your heart desires. One good thing about building versus buying is that you won't end up with a proprietary system where many of the additional or replacement parts have to purchased from the OEM. I hate those bastards.

In any case, good systems can be had for under $500 or you can spend $3500 if that is what you desire. As for a laptop, I would never consider building one. The best rugged ones are Panasonic, but they are pricey. Toshiba's are the most reliable, but Dell is a close follower. With Dell you can pick and choose your components, which is a good thing.

The most reliable systems, desktop or laptops, are Apples, but they are not big sellers in the business world.

Originally Posted by DennyW

Hey, don't say that to loud Matt. My asus is 4 years old, and still kicking. 2.4 clocked to a 3.6.

Yours was made b4 the problem started, this was only 1 or 2 years ago. my dad
who works for a IT company, and is Dell certefied. was having to replace a lot of the boards on recall when they burned up. but I later found out it was linked to Retail ASUS also..

I tried to clock my socket A sempron 2500 to 2ghz from 1.75 and it became unstable. I can clock it to 1.8 w/o problems but 500mhz is unnoticable so I leave it factory.

Originally Posted by DennyW

The board I am using on mine is a P5P800.

If you wanted to, you could probably go to ASUS website and check to see if it has a recall on it, might have to Email them but, they got a list on what they had to recall I'm sure.

but if it's been running for 4 years, it's not gonna quit anytime soon. the bad boards burnt up within months.

My board is a Soyo K7M333 it was like $49 at the time I bought it

I just found this deal for $149 searching for myself ( my desktops starting to tire )

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...6047&body=MAIN

AMD 64 X2 3800 ( 2ghz dual core ) socket 939 ( VERY upgradable )

$60- $80 for a decent size hard drive

$50 or so for a good amount of ram

$20-$60 for a cd/ dvd rom.

$ 30-$50 for a PCIE vid card if you want high end graphics

What do ya think the cost would be to update my Atari 400 or the Commadore 64....
Quick funny story, needed to download a medium size file of pix/graphics. My Dell is 2001, put in a floppy, dam file was too big for the last two discs I had, went to my local Long's drugs for a pkg. Kid at the counter looks up and says,"We have not carried those for a couple of years, how about trying a zip drive". Holy shit did I fell stupid. I just ordered and got a new Dell, have not powered it up yet, not sure where it's going etc. I use my system mainly for pictures and video editing, this computer was maxed and stalling with video. Other than overload,she's run fine....

I'm a Mac guy. My Intel iMac does everything that our family needs. I also have XP Pro running on it, just in case I have to visit the Evil Empire.

tom