My ooooooold computer is finally showing its age. I bought the HP Pavillion with 733Mhz, 128Ram and 40 Gigs about 4-5 years ago and recently, I couldn’t get it to start! I took it to the shop and they told me that most of the wiring is showing age and rust (that’s what I get for living in an island minutes away from the beach!) so it only has a life expecancy of 6-8 months. That brings me to my question…
Now that I have a good-payin’ job and I’m out of the college life, I want to buy a computer that’s real good, yet not over my budget of about $1000 or less is perfect (the lower the better!) I don’t intend to build my own custom computer because I don’t know much about that and I don’t have time to do that as well!
I will get a digital camera so easy upload and good amout on Hard Drive Space and RAM is a must. I also like the DVDburner and a fast processor. I have a ipod and other stuff that I want do do too…gaming is not a priority.
Here’s a few I’ve been looking at…
ThisGateway® 5200X which I think is a pretty good deal with a monitor and all the goodies included.
Or this HP Dimension 8400. Ths price is good and they recently lowered their price and DVD burner upgrade but the Ghtz and and no docking station for media files is a neg.
Then I found this Gateway 550GR. No monitor though but the specs are awsome. It says refurbished but that should be fine right?
I’m trying to stay away from HP/Compaq because I HATE compaq and the HP I have right now I bought before the merger…if I could have your two cents with the comp. mentioned above or you guys have any other suggestions, please let me know!!! Thanks in advance!
My suggestion would be to stay away from the big-box manufactures (HP, eMachines, Dell, ect.) as all of their consumer stuff tends to be crap. I would look to see if their is a local whitebox maker around, or I would go to Monarch Computer. For $900 or so you could configure a nice Athlon 64* machine, and then pick up a 17" CRT from a local store and you are set to go. The build quality will be better than what you get from a large OEM.
Athlon 64 2800+, 1GB RAM, 200GB Hard Drive, Dvd burner, Radeon 9550 video card, Windows XP Home.
Just about any new PC that’s running WinXP will be such a vast improvement over what you have now I don’t think you’ll see significant differences between them. Now I consider a computer to be a generic engine for running my stuff so I see most differences between brands as ginigerbread that really doesn’t matter.
As for details like loading from a camera that’s a matter of software, not a difference in the computer as they will virtually all use a USB connection. I personally prefer to have contol over where my photos go so I just use a USB card reader that acts like a removable disk drive.
I personally wouldn’t spend over $500 on a new PC as I’m likely going to want to replace it in a few years. I am in the market for a new one so I’ll find whatever the best deal is, be it eMachine, Dell or whatever. Until now I’ve built all my own machines but I am through with that. As it is I’m already having to give away spare monitors so I don’t want to see another CTR screen. I’ll probably be getting a 19" or larger LCD screen and getting my next PC without one.
Make sure you have at least 512MB ram and if you plan on doing heavy photo editing I suggest a gigabyte. Make sure it has lots of USB 2.0 ports or plan on getting a powered hub.
You’ve got to be kidding me. How the heck are you supposed to even be able to clean the dust out of that thing? The innards are a solid brick! And I don’t even wanna guess how they had to route the memory bus so that the two modules could be at a 90 degree angle to each other.
The downside of the Mac Mini is that is only comes with 256 MB of RAM; from what I understand, OSX tends to play best with 512MB or more memory. And it only has a single memory slot, so that makes upgrading more difficult. And further more, can you upgrade the memory on the Mini without voiding the warrenty? Apple reams you on memory upgrades - they want $425 to upgrade to a gig of RAM; a single stick of good 1GB PC 3200 RAM only runs $180-$200 or so.
Not to mention it only has a 40gb hardrive, and no DVD burner in the basic version.
The propellerheads I hang out with are still debating this one. Some folks (like me) say 512MB minimum is comfortable for MacOS X. Others say that they run with 256MB in their similar-to-a-Mac-Mini iBooks and don’t have any complaints. It might end up being a matter of individual tolerance for snappiness.
The unofficial position is that if you can open it and upgrade it and not break anything in the process, then your warranty is okay. The only reason Apple is putting the whole “memory upgrade should be done by authorized personnel” bit is to discourage clumsy folks from accidentally snapping off a tab while cracking the case.
One thing to also consider: most third-party Apple dealers (ClubMac, MacMall, etc.) usually sell Apple’s computers with a free memory upgrade (plus a minor installation fee). Their new catalogs haven’t come out yet, but if they follow tradition and offer free 512MB RAM in their Minis, that’d be the safe-n-cheap way to go.
All OEMs tend to ream you on memory, IME.
On the plus side, the Mac Mini has dedicated video RAM, instead of the shared video/system RAM you find on most low-end PCs. That ought to give better video performance for an entry-level box.
As for macs, I’d rather stick with Windows…I’m much more confortable with them…I guess the general feeling is that the big company isn’t a good choice to go with in getting a computer…
RandomLetters, I did check out Monarch Computers but I was confused with the names they give to the computer and all these extra information was quite overwhelming. Could you please please send me a specific link on the monarch Computer website about the computer you mentioned above?
Thanks for you help and hopefully, I get more comments on the computers I’m considering!!
reoch, I looked at the Monarch site and the PC that caught my eye was the $900 Monarch Centira Ultimate Desktop Special. (I don’t know if a link will work so I’m not even trying.) It had a DVD burner, 512 megs of RAM, 120 GB hard drive. It looked pretty good at first glance. If Monarch has a good track record for quality (I don’t know either way), then I think you could get a very good deal here.
rjung, you beat me to defending the Mini. As you know, I have ordered one and am impatiently waiting for it to arrive. (Mmm, new computer smell!) I ordered the 512 MB upgrade but like you, I’ve heard many other Mac people say that 256 is really okay. But personally, I knew I’d want at least 512 since I tend to do a lot of heavy Photoshop work (and Garageband, which works best with 512). I believe that 3rd party vendors are selling compatable 1 GB RAM sticks for less (around $200-ish) so I’m going to wait a while (perhaps to the end of the year) and get the RAM upraded. I have confidence that (unless this thing is some huge lemon or something) that the Mini will be just fine.
However, reoch, I understand your reluctance in switching platforms. The Monarch sounds good to me. Good luck with your new computer!
I’m sorry reoch, I looked at the Monarch page with that computer I cited above (here’s the link, just in case it works), and the price is actually $739. This may be the one that Random Letters mentioned.
Ooh, that’s good to know, LordVor, when I need to buy a new PC! (I have a fairly new one and I just ordered the Mini so I’m good for a while :D).
I tend to not add costs like monitors into new computer configurations, because people often use their existing monitors. However, sometimes you want a new monitor, you know? Same with keyboard and mouse. And I totally forgot about the OS. Yes, that definitely brings up the price.
:eek: I really do like the monarch website but I wanted something that I could just plug and go…and not having a OS is a little uncomforting and adding that to the list is another 100 bucks or so right?.. Also, I need a new monitor for sure since it keeps making this high pitch sound every now and then and the keyboard is acting up too… So I added everything I needed and my gosh, it’s close to 1200…a little bit over my budget…
I don’t mean to keep ahem b*tching about everything but don’t the website sell any “Packaged” Deals (like monitor, keyboard, mouse, maybe even speakers) to make it easier for a :wally like me?
I just want to make sure I’m making the right decision because this is a very big purchase for me!! I’m really thankful that I have you folks to help me out!!
Reoch, you probably want to stick with a larger seller. I love shopping sites like Monarch, and buying individual components and putting them together myself. However, when it was time to get my brother a PC, I turned to HP (who had the best price/performance tradeoff at that time) and a three-year warranty.
Dell, Gateway, and HP make reliable machines you won’t have to tinker with, if that’s not your thing. Here’s the minimum you should look for:
At least 512MB DDR RAM
At least 40gb hard drive, unless you plan to store music and movies. Then at least 80gb.
A dedicated video card. No matter what you plan to do, a dedicated video card is better than integrated video. I like the Dell from your OP (which you called an HP) for this reason.
A CD +/- RW drive.
Multiformat media readers are cheap and can connect to a USB port. Plus, whatever device usually also connects to the computer. We have one, but everyone still connects the cameras and handhelds to the computer, rather than using the reader.
When I shopped for my brother, I kept all three sites open in different windows, and kept configuring until I got the PC he wanted in the right price range. As I mentioned, this turned out to be an HP, with a Dell monitor.
