Buying a new computer
 

I need a new computer, and i'm pretty much an off the shelf buyer. I don't need anything fancy, just internet and email mainly, but i do want to be able to burn cd's and dvd's.

is this a decent product for the price? is there something else i should be looking at?

off the shelf

one word: fuckdell

they have really really slipped. i have a one year old paperweight, and this one is all fucked up, too.
that said, i don;t know what i'd buy if i was shopping. i might even cross over to mac.

2 words- BUY CLONE

1 word- FUCKANYCOMPANYWHOSELLSYOUAPCTHATYOUHAVETOCALLKANSASONYOURNICKELTHEDAYAFTERYOUBUYITTOFIXIT. Story- a customer of mine bought a brand-name PC and the local shop wouldn't and couldn't touch it. He had to call Kansas to get the dork on the phone to help him access the BIOS and it took over 20 minutes just to get an operator, calling long-distance from Nova Scotia.

Moral: Buy a clone, because then you can do your own fixes and mods without ruining your warranty or having to call half-way across the continent for tech support. You may save some bucks at the front end buying a Dell or other PC from a flyer, but in the end, build your own or buy local. You have a lot more control over vid cards, sound cards, memory, HDD, etc.

ok, then - Dell is out.

considering that all i want to do is surf, email, cdr/dvd burning - what specifications do i need? price isn't the big issue. value is. i don't want to pay a bunch for bells and whistles that a non gaming type like me will never use.

celeron/pentium?
speed
memory
come on - this is the cellar, i hear there were one or two computer types in here...

I thought SteveDallas bought an off the shelf Compaq last year? has that gone ok?

Nobody is serving your needs, l123. The problem with Dell and other such vendors is that they inevitably build some serious cost-cutting minimums into their systems and have no interest in building you something that will last.

You need a dirt cheap CPU, an average but reliable main board with built-in video and audio, a cheap case with an expensive power supply, name-brand memory, Seagate drives, an LCD display and WinXP.

I bought a dell last year on the company employee purchase program and I haven't had one bit of trouble with it.

I just bought my husband a new dell on this year's plan, 3.2G w/HT, 80M HDD, 256M Nvidia 6800, 1G RAM (upgradable), DVD-R/CD-RW, 19' viewable Flat Panel LCD monitor, loaded (modem, NIC, optical mouse, keyboard, floppy), shipped 2-day and 4 yr inclusive warranty. $1600. including tax.

When next year's plan comes up, I'll finally get my laptop.

This is our 5th dell total. Never EVER had a problem with them. Tried clones, ex husband built his own, had a friend build em, had nothing but problems. Go Dell.

The trouble with the big companies is that by the time you know that a system they sold you is solid and stable, some MBA has probably proposed a cost-cutting measure to crappify the latest offering, so anyone you give a reccomendation to will be screwed and hate you forever. The good thing about the big companies is that once you get past their defensive layer of bad technical support, they usually have some good technical support in reserve, which you don't necessarily get with a homebrew system.

so are you all saying i need to find someone to just build one for me? how much will i spend? how do i find a person to do it? (and know that they know what they are doing?) i know store bought is inferior, but there has to be something simple and decent sitting on a shelf somewhere. i have absolutely no desire to ever open my computer up and do anything to it myself.
i am very good at helping people plan for retirement, send kids to school, and save for a house... that is where my time is the most productive - i'm willing to pay others for their expertise so that i don't have to become knowledgable in some areas.

Macs are simple and decent and sitting on the shelf, but they may not be compatible with certain programs you may or may not require. They can certainly surf, email, and burn discs. PCs are more of a gamble. I've had good experiences with Dell, but your mileage may vary.

ok, Mac - i have heard people who have gone Mac never go back. what is different about them? i don't care about the technical stuff - just the things i would notice in the course of doing what i do.

i have never even looked at a mac so keep your giggling to yourselves i admit i am completely ignorant when it comes to computers.

oh and i guess back to my original question - other than dell being the devil's spawn - does this system (the one that started the thread) have what i need to do what i want, or would i need to turn around and buy upgrades?

It would do what you want. I'd probably upgrade the mouse (optical is nicer), but that's a minor point.

The Dell is fine for what you want. My previous employer bought me that exact desktop. It functioned.

The other upgrade you might be interested in is moving to a larger screen. I want one that does 1600x1200 native. I was VERY surprised to see costco offering this one for $499 after rebate.

Macs- The interface is sufficiently different from a PC as to possibly be disorienting, even though Microsoft likes to borrow ideas from them. The software library is considerably smaller, and you may encounter file format problems if you often trade documents with PC owners. But that may or may not be an issue for Microsoft formats if you get MS Office for the Mac.

Response time: 25ms
Does that translate to 40 Hz? Could be a problem for some games, but otherwise looks like a pretty cool monitor.