In case the effort described here goes badly (or probably even if it goes well, actually), we’re likely to be in the market for a new computer in the next week or so.
Usage: standard household stuff. We don’t do gaming so nothing really high-end. We use it for a fair bit of music downloaded from iTunes or ripped from CDs. Fair number of photos (not enormous). And householdy stuff (Quicken, address books, etc.), We don’t want a really low-end box either, seems like we’d have to replace that sooner rather than later.
Current machine is a 4 year old Lenovo (maybe they were still IBM then) that has worked fine except when it hasn’t (failed spectacularly 2 years ago and we think it was the mother board but some techie insisted it was the hard drive and replaced that too). 2.86 ghz processor, I think, though the specs are all downstairs at the moment.
We’d consider a laptop except the kids would likely break that. Safer to have a box they don’t have to mess with, and a separate monitor (which has had its own share of http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441386&highlight=monitor but these days is working pretty well for a 7 year old dinosaur!).
Brand recommendations? I’ve heard that Dell’s low end is crap but their mid-level stuff is actually decent.
You cannot really go wrong with Dell or HP. Avoid Packard Bell. Get one with a good warranty.
Since sound is one of your main things, be sure to get an add-on sound card. The motherboard chipsets can have playback issues when multitasking.
In the unlikely event you’re feeling flush, get a second PC - one for the two of you (placed in your bedroom or office) and one for family usage, and buy a copy of Windows Home Server and install it on your old PC and network the lot. Nightly backups are very convenient.
I agree Dell and HP are safe choices, I’ve owned both and haven’t had any problems. If you’re buying from their online stores, be sure to keep an eye on bargain-hunting sites that post deals and coupon codes, like xpBargains.
I think for your stated purposes, any current desktop with a dual-core or quad-core processor and 2GB or more RAM would do fine. You might want to stay away from 64-bit versions of Windows, they tend to have more compatibility issues (especially hardware drivers).
Brand recommendations? I’ve heard that Dell’s low end is crap but their mid-level stuff is actually decent.
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Low end anything is pretty bad. Low end ram, video on board, small power supplies etc. I have seen 110 watt power supplies!
I always get my clients to go a little above that, $800 to $1200 should get you a decent machine that will do anything you could want. Even the stuff that you dont know you want. Be aware that vista needs a good video card to run well.
Dual core, 3 or 4 gigs ram, 320 gig hdd, 400 watt PS, vista and 20 inch lcd monitor is pretty much the norm right now.
I deal with these guys (http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/Computers(ME)/ComputerSystems(ME)/GamingSystems(ME)/Default.aspx) but I go to the stores so I have no idea what the internet end is like.
My business partner and I have recommended/set up about a dozen machines so far from http://www.dfsdirectsales.com/ the Dell refurb site. Companies buy large quantities of “generic” desktops and laptops, then the warranty or lease is up and the boxes go back to Dell, and Dell re-sells them here.
Every box I’ve helped someone buy is for people who just do what you want to do. Certainlly I would not recommend them for gaming. But for everything else they’re plenty (provided you run XP and not Vista).
I personally bought one as my work machine. Every day I run 2 copies of Visual Studio.Net, plus Visual Studio 6, Eudora, SQL Server Manager, Trillian, Firefox, Photoshop and sometimes WMP - all at once.
The only thing I did was check out the RAM specs for the machine on www.crucial.com and bought the max amount of RAM for the machine. You can get good Crucial memory for cheaper than the memory upgrade price on the site (meaning buying a machine with more RAM - they don’t actually let you configure it). I got a box with an 80GB HDD which is plenty for most people. I keep my massive amounts of work data on an external drive.
Oh, those machines don’t come with a monitor. But I have plenty of CRTs around the house and they work just fine, so I saved money that way.
(or probably even if it goes well, actually), we’re likely to be in the market for a new computer in the next week or so.