I’m a techie who buys Dells. You can’t beat the prices, and I’ve never had any problems with them.
[QUOTE=dil]
Compaq Presario - total junk. Worse than E-machines. No compatability whatsovever.
[QUOTE]
Preach it. Jeebus, those are a pain… However for the limited purposes stated before, as long as the person has no intention of upgrading in any way shape or form, they will do. But there’s better stuff out there for the same price.
BTW, they still do put out a distinct line of HP-Pavillion branded PCs – too valuable an asset to let disappear. These include the so-called “Media Center” systems. Of course, now being a Compaq line they stuff them with a lot of superfluous stuff that nobody really needs and can actually make things more complicated (No, thanks, I do not need a Command Center. I can use the *&^%$ taskbar and Start-button to launch applications, thank you very much…)
Also, be aware of warranty service terms – in some Big-Square-Box Stores, if you do not take the “extended service” contract with them, then even for under-warranty service you don’t return to the point of sale, you have to find whoever is the Manufacturer’s authorized shop in town and take it there yourself.
I’ve bought/built 6 computers in the past 5 years, own 4 computers now, and work as a computer programmer (play as a hardcore geek).
My advice echo’s alot of what others have said, if you want a premade comp, buy Dell. My Dell lasted 3 years without a problem, was easy to upgrade, and the customer support was excellent.
Gateway is ok, alot of girls I know like the cow box for some reason. Support and reliability are decent.
HP is ok. Easy enough to upgrade, reliability is good, but customer support is eh.
eMachines are crap. Barely upgradeable. No customer support (well there is, but its total crap).
Compaq is the debul. I hate em. The two I’ve worked with were not reliable. The customer support, though patient, took alot of patience on my part, because it takes forever to sort thru the proprietary crap to fix them. Then after 1 year, they crap out, and maintenance was a regular thing. Upgrading them was mind-numbing.
I have no idea bout the newer Sony Vaio machines. They look really cool, but the prices are a little higher. No idea on the reliability or CS. I’ve seen them work and they seem decent in operation, but no long term experience with them.
I have a Sony Vail and it’s the best computer I’ve ever owned (and I’ve owned several). It’s been completely reliable for two years now, not once incident that was the result of hardware.
I do suggest you avoid Compaq however, I’ve had more problems with them than I care to remember. Truly a pain in the ass and not worth the cheap prices.
Correction to my previous post: Vail=Vaio
I’ve only bought two PCs in my life, the first was a Tandy 1000 RL around 1990. The second was an Athlon 1800+ from Starburst Technologies via eBay. I did have to put in a better power supply later on but otherwise it works great.
Until I bought the Athlon, I was using a P3 box that had gone through years of upgrades. It started as a Compaq 386.
Yet somehow, we Mac folks manage to live even without the miracle of quality titles such as The Hawkeye Loft Management System or Screen Saver Maker. 
If you don’t want to build it yourself, I recommend Dell. At work we use nothing but Dells and we’ve had nothing but good experiences. Mrs. Giraffe also owned a Dell before I moved in and built her one, and she was quite happy with it.
I strongly recommend not buying from Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. I’ve had several friends who have tried to get their computers fixed when something went wrong with awful results (i.e. they take it and keep it for two months, then send it back just as broken as before).
OK, let’s analyze this; Moody Bastard is just now (2004) buying a computer and therefore is probably not concerned with all the “bells and whistles” available.
I’ve been buying Apples (Mac’s) since the mid 70’s and have never been disappointed.
The last one I bought is the eMac. This is a great little machine for $750 and for another couple of bucks, you can get the top of the line that will burn cd’s and the maximum RAM and largest hard drive available.
And, as rjung pointed out, I’ve never (in 30 some years) had to worry about a virus.
Also, as suggested by some, I certainly wouldn’t worry about buying one that would be sufficient for 5 or more years. Most people buy new ones much sooner than that.
Regarding Mac vs. PC: I suggest Moody Bastart get whichever he’s (?) more familiar with. Yes, Windows boxes are vastly more susceptible to viruses but they’re easy to avoid. I’ve had one virus and that was about ten years ago.
Sorry, Moody Bastard. Don’t know what happened there.
Yet another “me too” :rolleyes:
I’m a SysAdmin with a Fortune 500 Computer Services Company. I build my own rigs for home, but just tell friends and family to call Dell.
We use them for all our desktops at work, and they are pretty decent, reliability-wise. As previously noted, you can about hang up more than one upgrade, but, if you are happy as it comes, it should do you 3 years easy.
When I crack one open, I can see why they are so cheap, but, despite appearances, they really DO hang in there and cause few problems. The ones we have had in the last 7 years have successfully walked that increasingly fine line between “not a penny over-engineered for the task at hand” and “cheap crap”.
I guess it is a more impressive accomplishment than my own, home-built, absurdly-overbuilt-compensating-for-something rigs . 
Dells may be going the old-school Compaq route of proprietary parts, so it makes upgrades difficult.
Still, when you think about it, a non-proprietary home-built or white-box computer won’t have expandability for more than a few years now, because standards for form factors drive and card interfaces are constantly changing. Mid-1990s-era AT form factor computers were instantly rendered non-upgradable when the current ATX form factor was introduced. Sure, you could replace a sound card or hard drive, but forget about swapping motherboards or power supplies, finding a good PCI-based video card, or finding any new cards that will fit the old IDE slots. There’s talk of replacing the ATX form factor with something else, talk of replacing the PCI and AGP card interfaces. A current white box machine probably has threeor four years of upgradability in it before the whole thing, case included, can’t be upgraded any longer because of changing standards.
One thing I like about Dell; noise suppression. They’re extremely quiet, even more so than I’ve ever been able to get a homebuilt computer with ultra-quiet fans and power supplies.
I like the idea of Sony and HP. PowerSpec is an up-and-coming brand, too; it’s the desktop division of WinBook.
Been said before in this thread, but I feel I need to reiterate the point.
The ‘e’ in ‘e-machine’ stands for ‘evil’.
I don’t have advice to give, but i do have a question:
What’s with all the “new” Dells for sale on ebay? How does that work?
Many of the vendors say that the computer comes with a full one-year warranty. I didn’t think a company like Dell, that specializes in direct sales over the internet, would sell to resellers. How do these people get Dell computers and sell them cheaper than the company?
I bought Dells for my parents, but you haven’t said what you want to do with it.
Do remember that if you build your own, you’ll have to supply all your own software: Dell et al can supply Windows XP plus Office and more for not very much.
If you don’t want to play games, go for a Dell. If you want to play games, then check Dell, but make sure that the machine has a full-sized AGP slot.
A custom machine will give you exactly what you want at a premium price.
Granted the above, you need to think about other factors such as space and noise. I’m fond of my Shuttle system, but it is comparatively noisy, and difficult to quieten. If you’re interested in a Small Form Factor PC, try Biostar.
Nother geek chiming in. I buy Dell.
I would never buy Gateway because their proprietary stuff is too whacky, and the only ones who can get it is Gateway, so you have no choice who fixes your computer, even if they are jerks. At least with Dell, Joe Schmoe can get his hands on the parts. Gateway’s customer service (at least 2 years ago) was terrible, so I’ll never darken their doorstep again. Compaq business machines are hit or miss. True, the presario’s are total crap, but they’ve put out enough clunky Deskpro’s that it’s just easier to avoid the whole line. HP is decent. IBM is pricey, but good. eMachine will never be considered a viable business machine, so I wouldn’t even consider it. Macs have their place, and if the machine will have anything to do with graphics, the Mac is the obvious choice. Local builds are an interesting thought, but beware the fly-by-nights. Get references from people you know and trust before making that kind of business decision.
I’ll cast another vote for Dell.
I’m a network admin. We buy Dell laptops, desktops, and the occasional server/network appliance, as well as hundreds of additional desktops that go back out the door with the equipment we manufacture. Their service and support has been spotty in the past, especially while they attempted to outsource much of their support overseas. Our experience has been pretty good…we always get the 3-year service deal, and when something under warranty goes belly up, they send a tech out with a replacement part. Anything from a bad motherboard to a broken plastic latch on a laptop. We have a number of field service technicians around the U.S., and Dell has dispatched technicians to their homes to replace failed equipment.
In fact, last week I had a hard drive go bad in a server drive array. I called Dell, and I had a new drive in my hands in under 4 hours.
Another vote for Dell. I’m one of my company’s tech support people. We have a couple hundred PC’s which we support over a 5 state area. About 90% of these machines are made by Dell. We have definitely been pleased with the reliability of their machines. When we have had to place the occasional service call, Dell has been very quick to rectify the problem via rapid parts shipment or by sending a tech to do the job for us. I will say, though, that if you’re going to buy a Dell desktop, you should try to buy an Optiplex system. I think that they tend to be more reliable than the Dimension systems which are foisted off onto the home computer buyer.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Compaq, but I’ve got to admit that the Evo D300 system that I bought from TigerDirect has been a real winner for me. I bought it a year ago for $399 and it included a 3-year on-site parts and labor warranty. It’s not the fastest computer around (P-4 1.6 GHz, 20 GB HD, 256 MB, Windows 2000), but it’s quick, stable, quiet, and very reliable. Our company bought 10 of these at the same time I bought mine and all have performed equally well. I think that the Evo is also built a lot better than Compaq’s Presario systems. If you can find a similar deal on an Evo system, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Check Ebay to see what you can find. I’ve seen Evo D510 systems with similar warranty coverage for around the same price.
The only computers I have had trouble with are Compaq - three times.
Never again!