I always want to wait until the newest technological breakthrough becomes “standard”. There was the CD burner and USB 2.0. Now I think it makes sense to wait until run-of-the-mill systems include a DVD burner.
When will this happen? Also, what will be the next innovation that we will want to become standard equipment?
LOL - my ambition is to buy this little computer a bit more RAM, as it thinks it only has 28 MB.
DVD indeed! Spoilt young whippersnapper!
<Only joking>
There is rarely any need to wait to buy a computer. Buy it when you need it. Forget the current prices and what may come out next year.
But… by something upgradeable. A box that can have all components replaced. From motherboard to disk drives. So you can add that DVD writer next year. Etc.
Yeah, in a month they should start the special deals…but computer prices don’t always drop. I saw Dell selling a nice computer witha dvi LCD monitor for $690, including shipping & taxes, so I bought it. Two weeks later they dropped the special & now its about $1000.00.
Building your own is the best option, since like ftg said you can swap out parts when they break or need to be upgraded. I usually check out the system suggestions from here:
http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/index.html
and use their links to pricewatch to buy the parts. Putting the parts together is amazingly easy, here’s a howto with pictures:
http://gamespot.com/gshw/stories/flat/0,12880,2842650,00.html
Dell and Gateway will likely be pushing Christmas specials in a few more weeks.
My strategy has always been to just buy when you need it. Don’t wait for “this” or “that” to come out. Everytime one thing appears, there’s another on the horizon to wait for.
A lesson:
I spent $3400. on my first Windows machine. It was a P166, which was the fastest available besides dual Pentium Pro machines at 3 times the money.
If I had bought a Pentium 90 for about $1200. - $1500., it would have been about a year to a year and a half before I would have begun to find software that my machine wouldn’t run. By then, a P166MMX (slightly better) would have run me about $1500. I would then have had a decent machine to hand down to my son, a slightly better machine of my own, and about $400. in my pocket.
Don’t buy state of the art unless you have money to burn.
There’s always something new coming out. It’s been my experience that nothing stays up-to-date for long. My advice, buy the best so you wont have to upgrade for a long time.
If it’s in stock it’s obsolete.
That was quote of the week somewhere once after a guy in a computer store was overheard saying it.
DVD from hardware and software/encoding point of view seems to be in such a state of flux at the moment I wouldn’t even bother getting a burner. Just get a DVD player/CD burner drive instead.
You can get some fairly amazingly good quality DivX movies fitting into CD-Roms now, I am hopeful that future codecs will help make CDs a continuing, viable, easier, more compatible and universal, cheaper alternative to DVDs. At least until DVDs get cheaper and easier.
You knew when you came here you would get the right advice. Just which one, huh???
I have this problem whenever I buy anything from cars to electronics. Buy the best you can comfortably afford for your actual needs. Don`t buy an SUV anless you need one. The same goes for computers. Plunk down for a good one that you can upgrade as the individual upgrades get cheaper. This way you can pick and choose the ones you need when you need them-for less. Pay up front for the latest and greatest and you pay too much.
I have a P2 350MHZ. I keep adding to it. CD burner, video card, good sound card. more memory, network card etc…
Just my humble advice.
I’m using a Gateway 500mHz with a 20gig hard drive. A few days ago my keyboard died, so I went to get a new one. Of course I had to look at new computers.
First of all, I’ve decided to get a notebook computer when the time comes to replace this one. I mean, why not? I looked at a Sony Vaio and an HP. The Sony had a 1.6gHz Pentium IV processor and 30g on the HD AND A 16" screen for $2,000. The HP had a 2.0gHz P4 with a 40g HD and 15" screen for $1,800. Either one is faster and has more storage than my two-year-old Gateway, and they take up much less space. Both have DVD/rewriteable CV-ROM. With the Sony PD150 camera I’m looking at, I can have my own portable editing studio.
But should I buy now? No, not right now. I still want to get the camera first. Also, Christmas is coming up and I have to buy presents. Plus I’m trying to save money for a house. I’m thinking that after Christmas they may be cheaper. Or maybe the Next Generation will be out and the price will fall even more. Or maybe the Sony will get a 2.0gHz and another 10 or 20 gig on the HD for the same price as the one I just saw. 2.0gHz would be four time faster than my 500mHz, so it wouldn’t bother me if they suddenly came out with a 3.0gHz (if they haven’t already).
So since I don’t need a new computer right now, I’ll just wait for a few months for the price to come down.
I thought run-of-the-mill systems already did include DVD burners. Isn’t that what a SuperDrive is?
I assume that with all the modern operating systems capable of SMP, and the hi-end models coming with multiple processors, the era in which run-of-the-mill boxes have them too as a matter of course is right around the corner.
IMHO this is a good time to get one. USB2 is appearing which takes care of the USB1.1 bottelneck. CD-RW’s are standard. XP is a much better OS then win9x or me. So DVD-RW’s or whatever are going to become a standard - you can always add them later at a reduced cost to boot.
Also the war with intel and amd have pushed prices lower and performance higher. Intel is taking a bit of a lead lately which could lead to higher prices and not as rapid of a speed increase.
It seemed like the speed went from 1ghz to 2ghz much faster then 500mhz to 1ghz. That rapid increase has hastened obsolense but now I think it’s slowing (just my humble O) so your system should remain fast enough for quite some time.
For novices, I strongly urge not building it yourself. Remember, you are not buying hardware to heat your house, your are buying hardware to run software. With pre-built systems you get basic software to get you started. Think software first, hardware 2nd. Get the hardware necessary to run the software you want to use.
Buying “state-of-the-art” is for people with vanity issues. It never makes economic sense in any circumstance. Buy upgradeable, affordable stuff. 2 years from now you can get next year’s state-of-the-art for cheap.
Yes I must agree that unless you have all the software on your present computer (and your not going the Linux route) buying a complete computer is really worth it.
When you factor in the cost of items like an OS, office suite, cd burning software, fax software if you were to buy them outright it would most likely rival the cost of the hardware.
My reaction is: who cares?
What are you going to use this new computer for? Surfing? Playing games? Encoding MPEG2 video? Computer animation? Controlling your home? What?
“Building your own is the best option, since like ftg said you can swap out parts when they break or need to be upgraded. I usually check out the system suggestions from here:”
I thought so too, but I got this 4550 Dell in Oct & it comes with a book on how to put just about anything in it. You just push two buttons on the case, it swings open & everything is right there for you to change. You can put in another HD, another cdrom drive, more memory (the slots are right in front of you, easy to access, not behind a power supply). Far easier to update than any other computer I made for myself.
Anyway, here are some deals:
"Free shipping now, save $75. Staples has a special deal on the HP
Pavilion ZE4000 (Might be sold out online, check your local store) built to order notebook. $300 instant coupon code
discount and $100 mail in rebate.
Cheapest configuration: Item 499489
Celeron 1.6Ghz 128MB/20GB CD 14.1" XGA Screen, Mobile Radeon Graphics
Chip, XP Home, Corel software, Free extra battery for price of one!
$1044 - $300 coupon code 20518 = $744 - $100 rebate = $644.
Also: Compaq 900Z Notebook, Item 494276 AMD XP1500+ 256MB/20GB 8xDVD
14.1" TFT w/ATI Radeon graphics 10/100 Ethernet XP Home $1124 - $300
coupon - $100 rebate = $724."
Note, you do have to add options to the laptop to get it to 1099 for the coupon code to activate…
Computer stuff always gets faster and/or cheaper, so that’s not a good reason to put off a purchase. Conversely, if you don’t need a computer right now, that’s a very good reason to wait. Waiting for a DVD-RW drive is silly – it’s easy to install one, or have someone install one for you, later.
As for what to buy, there is usually a sweet spot in the price vs. performance ratio. Do not pay for the absolute latest and greatest – you’ll pay twice as much for a 10% performance increase. Right now, I’d buy something with a CPU between 1.7 and 2.1 GHz, probably an Athlon XP. I’d put 512 megs of ram in it, about 80-100 gigs of hard drive space, get a GeForce4 Ti4200 if you want to play games, a GeForce2 if you don’t. Everything else (CD-RW, mouse, monitor, etc.) is all personal preference.