HELP from computer experts (NOTE I DIDN'T SAY COMPUTER GEEKS!)

[lawdog]

I'm looking at a new PC for home, but don't want to dump a fortune on it. Is a Celeron processor any good or should I bite the bullet and get the Pentium machine? There is a substantial increase in the Celeron units to the Pentium ones. I've been pricing a few on Dell.com today.

Also, what do you think a person should get (like sizes of memory and speeds etc.) for a home computer to do basic word processing, internet (high speed via a wireless router) and letting the kids play some games on there. I don't want to go overboard, but I don't want something that doesn't work either (got that already...).

THANKS!

[Slyster]

To save money.. I'd come to the cities and visit a CompUSA and get an "eMachines" computer for around the $500 level. Then you also need to buy a monitor.. but you can go anywhere here.. cheap 15" to a 21" flat screen LCD.. not matter what this is a great cheap option. You can even get an AMD64 (3000 or higher Mhz) for $500.. this is the top of the line today.. no need for Intel (Pentiums) believe me. And these higher level eMachines come with decent onboard video too! And sound. You can always upgrade later with a AGP video card.. but friend of mine who bought a 3400Mhz model can play Doom3 no problem.. and this is a game that really pushes and stresses any modern machine.. no need for a $300 video card.

[Valv]

If you go to Dell.com you can get new machines shipped to you for less than BestBuy E-Machines.

[azzclwn]

Try the Dell HSOforum, go to the Dell outlet on the bottom of the page, they sell refurbs, customer returns etc, all come with the dell warranty. Keep checking there as the inventory is constantly changing. I have seen some good deals there.

For instance, just saw a p4/2800, 80GB HD, 512 RAM, and DVD writable drive,

$334. Thats cheap, and s/b all you would need for a long time.

[MedicDan]

global computer has awesome used, refurbished, and new computer deals. do a google and you should easily be able to find it.

[delcecchi]

dell has occasional deals for as low as 299-399 including a flat screen monitor. Or buy and AMD based system. At the moment they are better. 500 plus a monitor is too high for a utility computer.

If you are a gamer, ignore all I have said.

[ChemE]

Why buy anything other than a Mac Mini? All the digital imaging, wireless, internet, gaming, wordprocessing you'd ever need in a home computer. Stack that onto the most stable operating system ever made and, if needed, boot directly into that other OS, called Windows, but why would you need to? Have fun shopping! Wish I had the same dilemma.

[PerchJerker]

A celeron processor is ok but is on the low end. Runs hot for a processor, works OK in a home PC but definately avoid it in a laptop. It probably won't perform as well as the other processors of the same speed but you're probably splitting hairs.

No matter what you are doing, you can never have too much processor speed or too much RAM (especially if you're not looking to break the bank when you buy). That's what makes the computer "go fast". Combine that with a high speed internet connection and a good video card with some memory of its own and you should be good to go.

If you plan to do any video editing or anything like that you will want to bump up the processor and memory.

Memory is cheap. I'd try to go with a minimum of a 2 Ghz processor with 1 G of RAM.

Depending on what your current PC is (ie. if the motherboard can handle it), it is not that hard or expensive to upgrade the processor, memory, cards, hard drives, cd/dvd drives, etc. That's what I have done over time, periodically got a faster processor, or more memory, or bigger harddrives, etc. Most recently I replaced the power supply and added a dvd burner.

Good luck, have fun shopping (if that's possible).

[MNUser]

I second the Mac Mini. Here is a refub from the Apple HSOforum:

Refurbished Mac mini 1.42GHz

1.42GHz PowerPC G4

512MB DDR333 SDRAM

ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB DDR video memory

80GB Ultra ATA hard drive

Combo drive (DVD/CD-RW)

DVI or VGA video output

Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth

$519.00

------------------------

1.5GHz Intel Core Solo (runs both Macintosh and Windows XP)

2MB L2 Cache

512MB Memory

60GB ATA hard drive

Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)

Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth

$579

It comes with all the software you will need. iPhoto for all you photo needs, iTunes for all your music needs, Safari, for surfing the web, iDVD, iMovie, iWeb and AppleWorks. You will not need to buy a thing. Oh yea, all you will have to do it hook you computer up to the high speed internet and surf away. No configuration needed.

Get yourself a 17" flat screen for 200 or so and you have the best. No viruses, stable OS, and it will last years!

I have a G4 Tower that is 8 years old and it has NEVER had a thing done to it. The kids play games on it. I have a 20" iMac I use and it is AWESOME.

[LaZyDayZ]

Im an AMD guy and most G33KS will tell you to go with AMD processor. Not only are they better but cheaper too.

For a basic home set up I agree with most of the above posts except for the Mac guys and I have found emachines to be dump. Dell PC's are ok and there service is top notch.

I would also consider hsolist. You can find some pretty good deals, just make sure it has a return policy in the event it arrives DOA.

One thing you mentioned that could put a spin on things is you mentioned kids and games.

Depending on there ages and types of games you are thinking will have a huge bearing on vidio card needs. If they are planning on playing any of the newer titles a radeon class or geforce card will be a must.

Dont get some vidio card bundled onto a motherboard.

I would reccomend a minnumum of 512 MB on memory, and 80 Gig on the hardrive.

If you know anyone computer savy your best bet is to build it your self. You can save a great deal of money and end up with an awesome PC.

I have built 200 plus pc's over the years. A phillips screw driver and about an hour is all you need.

[jweitgen]

My vote is you can't go wrong with a dell. Go to dell.com and you'll be able to build something that suits your price range and unless you are playing lots of games or running high end graphics software, it probably doesn't matter.

[JohnMickish]

Lawdog, I'm pretty far from an expert but I can tell you what I have that does the same things you need. I have two Dell PC and one Dell laptop for the wife (oh she needed it soooo bad). Both PC's are Pentium 4's, one 1.6 Ghz and one 2.2Ghz. A 40 and 80 gb hard drive respectivly. All three computers play well together thru a high speed wireless like you have. The best part is I payed $300 and $400 for each PC, new, shipped to my door from Dell. Not one lick of problem.

My brother is a IT guy and he kept telling me he could build me one with this or that or whatever. I decided to purchase new because I just wanted to turn the thing on and have it work with no hickups.

I say purchase Dell and get the fasted processer you can afford. Skip the warrenty and spend the money on as much ram as you can get. I say at least 512. Dell should be able to get you one to your door for under 5 bills with a flat screen.

[IndyEFI500]

Lawdog:

What everyone has said is all good advice. I personally don't care for Dell due to a laptop I had at work once that was completely rebuilt one and a half times within in a 10 month period, and it wasn't even my fault on that one.

AMD will buy you more bang for the buck but Dell does not handle them, only Intel. HP's have proven good to me at home and at work. Watch out for Toshiba because they tend to tweak the OS and give you a lot of trash you don't need that will only slow your system down un-neededly.

Mac mini's are the latest cool toy to hit the shelf and can do a lot of great things but take some getting used to if your not used to them. It may be good though if your kids use mac's at school.

If you stick with the Gates mafia powered units, buy as much memory and processor as you can possibly cram in for the buck. If you don't know much about pc's or have an IT geek in the family, service plans can be saviors. Also, be sure to have anti-virus and even a firewall. There are a few good ones out there that are still free.

A couple of of unusual places that you can catch good deals are Office Depot and Office Max especially when they are clearencing a model. Another place that can be great or really bad is Wal-Mart. My sister shops there a lot and got a great system about a year ago. Sorry to have rambled on but those are things that I have seen lately.

[PerchJerker]

I have not looked at Dell very much but those sound like some great prices. Pretty simple and easy way to go.

I also have a AMD processor. Recently got a 120 gig harddrive for $50 after rebate, my cd/dvd burner was $30 after rebate, the last couple times I added memory it was $20 for a 226 mb stick of DDR2.

Like someone said, a few minutes of time, a screwdriver, and very minimal know-how is all you need to build or upgrade your own. With a little patience and shopping for rock-bottom prices, over time you can upgrade and assemble a pretty awesome machine for pretty low $$$.

[Pherris]

Best buy has done away with the mail in rebate so you get the discounts at time of sale. Makes "utility" machines very in expensive. Good luck with your purchase.

[TiredOfWorking]

If you are a computer novice, I would recommend that you purchase from one of the major players. (Dell,HP,etc.) Any PC wil work for Internet, e-mail and word processing. As someone mentioned earlier, games are the things that require more horsepower. The most important advice I can give, regardless of what you buy is:

MAKE SURE THAT YOU INSTALL AN ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM AND KEEP IT UPDATED AUTOMATICALLY. CONFIGURE WINDOWS UPDATE TO AUTOMATICALLY DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL ALL SECURITY PATCHES.

If you do not do those two things, and hook it up to a high speed Internet connection, it will be trashed in less than a week.

[DTro]

Quote:

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A couple of of unusual places that you can catch good deals are Office Depot and Office Max especially when they are clearencing a model.

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I can echo what others are saying about needing the nice processor, large amount of RAM, video card etc.

I tend to disagree though that for the average person needs all that, your $500 bundle at *name the store* will work out just fine.

Emachines got a bad rep in the begining, but they were bought out by another big company (forget off hand). They are better quality now. Having said that I just picked up an Emachine at Office Depot. I paid just under $500 for the CPU, 17" LCD, and a nice all in one printer:

Here are the specs:

CPU: AMD Athlon™ 64 3200+ Processor

64-bit Processor with AMD64 Technology

(512KB L2 Cache, 2.0GHz, 2000MHz FSB)

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition (SP2)

Chipset: ATI RS482 chipset

Memory: 512MB DDR (2 × 256MB) SDRAM, 400MHz Dual Channel

Expandable to 4GB

Hard Drive: 160GB HDD (7200rpm, 2MB cache)

Optical Drive: 16x DVD±RW multiformat double layer drive

Media Reader: 8-in-1 digital media manager (Secure Digital (SD), Smart Media, Micro Drive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Compact Flash, Multimedia Card, USB 2.0)

Video: ATI Radeon® Xpress 200 (PCI-Express® )

128MB DDR shared video memory

Sound: AC '97 Audio, Dolby 5.1 (6-Channel)

Network: 10/100Mbps integrated Ethernet LAN

Modem: 56K ITU V.92-ready Fax/Modem

Peripherals: Standard multifunction keyboard, 2-button wheel mouse, amplified stereo speakers

Ports/Other: 7 USB 2.0 Ports (2 in front, 1 in Media Reader, 4 in back), 2 IEEE 1394, 1 VGA External Connector, 1 Parallel, 2 PS/2, 5 audio ports (2 in front, 3 in back)

Dimensions: 14.25"H x 7.25"W x 16.00"D

Weight: 22.5lbs (PC only, no packaging)

I guarantee you, unless you have an inside guy and can buy parts wholesale or pirate software, you cannot build for this.

I'm a huge "build you own" guy, but trust me, these specs will be plenty for you, for maybe 4-5 years, or more.

[eyechaser99]

I would definately get at least 17 inch flat screen Lcd monitor 3.0 ghz 512 MB Ram 200 GB hard drive Dvd+-RW/Cd+-RW (to burn dvds and cds). I would either go with Pentium or Amd 3000+ processors unless your getting a wireless labtop. The new Black Sony Vaio is the best one you can get as it doesnt run on a fan and makes less noise. HP/Compaq are the best fit I would say for you. I would stay away from Dell. Best Buy or Sams are places I would check out for deals.