I’m finally looking to buy a new PC for the home. Simple question. Where should I buy it from?
As a benchmark, I saw an HP at Best Buy I liked for about $1000. But I always have this sneaking suspicion that I could find a better deal somewhere other than a big box store. I’m also not keen on buying one online because I don’t like dealing with shipping & handling and I like having the option of physically going to the store and yelling at someone if there is a problem.
I’m in NYC.
Dell does fine in the low to mid range. They use proprietary parts sometimes and that rightfully pisses people off. However, they have massive buying power and tons of options so it doesn’t get much easier than configuring something from them online.
A big part of the question: have you decided on an operating system yet? I’m guessing from your OP that you intend on running Windows. Is that right? Windows Vista or Windows XP? Or do you care?
A friend’s computer died, out of warranty. She took it back to Best Buy to ask them to look at it, and they asked for $200. They couldn’t tell her if $200 would fix whatever was wrong, but they wanted $200 before they’d even look at it.
I don’t think it’s a question of where you buy a PC but what brand you buy. Get something reliable. I’ve had two Dells and no problems with either of them. Stay away from Compaq.
Vista seems to be the future, so I’ll probably go with that.
Why, out of curiousity?
Depends what you want to do with it.
I can get a PC that for my parents is massivly overpowered for less than 1/2 your $1000. OTOH, my brother will probably spend twice that on his next PC and want more after a year.
For my parents, a larger monitor would be the best upgrade they could get. For my brother, probably the video card.
Agree. I bought a desktop and a laptop recently, and on both, when I asked, they gave me free shipping (free handling too :D). Their tech support and customer service people seem to be the best (or least-worst) of any I’ve dealt with.
If you know what you want,you can pick and choose your options to “build your own” either online or by phone. They may be among the last that will let you pick XP if you want that.
To be fair, I’ve only owned one. It was in the shop three times in about two years. Hard drive replaced, motherboard replaced, not sure what all was done to fix it. The fourth time it crashed I gave it to my daughter’s boyfriend, who works with computers. It wouldn’t work more than a few hours at a time for him either.
Plus, it made these awful screaming noises. I thought the house was haunted.
We had Compaqs at work for awhile, and they kept our IT folks busy there too.
Is Compaq even around anymore? I thought it was swallowed up by HP?
I like J & R.
I purchased a Toshiba laptop with warranty from them last year and am extremely happy with it.
I had one small problem with it and was able to bring it back to them for in-store repair. It was very nice taking the subway to have it fixed rather than shipping it to another state like I had to with my previous laptop.
Well, the obvious solution is to check www.hp.com and see how much it would be to order it directly from them. More importantly, the question is what do you want to do with the computer? You can get a computer that will do the office, web browsing, photos, etc. thing for under $400. The only reason to spend $1000 is if you want to play games, or if you do intensive stuff like video editing.
My curreny PC is a Compaq Presario I bought in 2002. The only complaint I have is that the max memory is only like 1 GB and I can’t really play games like Supreme Commander or Company of Heros on it. Never had to take it in for repairs or anything.
NYC has tons of choices. Seems like you want to play games, and that you don’t want to go internet. I would use the internet to price systems/components and get an idea of what exactly you want, then start visiting small computer stores, who can build to spec. I find J&R and the other big box stores too expensive personally. I like to visit the Computer Shows - MarketPro is having one at Queens College on Saturday (10:00 - 4:00) and Tri-State Fairs has one at York College gym on Sunday (10:00 - 3:30). These are frequented by local vendors (usually from Queens and Brooklyn) who will build to specs.
Good luck.
P.S. I’d have named a store, but I tend to buy individual components from NewEgg and other suppliers and put it together myself, so I’m not familiar with any of the locals.
The company was absorbed, but HP’s keeping the Compaq brand alive so they can get more shelf space and that many more chances that one of their products will be purchased.
Home PCs, and more specifically, home PCs that are not tricked out for gaming performance, are such a commodity item now that it’s pretty much gotten to the point of buying whichever computer you like the looks of the most, and from the store that annoys you the least.
As mentioned, HP did buy Compaq. Compaq is now their bargain brand. I’ve stopped buying from them - I was more satisfied with my old Packard Bell machines than Compaq ones.
As for XP vs Vista - can you even get XP machines anymore? I have a Vista laptop as a loaner, and it sucks in many ways.
I buy most of my computers at Frys, a Silicon Valley tradition, but it works only if you can intimidate the sales droids.
Actually I just remembered my PC before my Compaq was a pre HP/Compaq merger HP Pavillion. Man what a piece of shit that thing was.
The problem is there are too many damn options. I don’t need “gaming performance”. I just want to be able to relax for a few hours after work playing Command & Conquer or whatever. I don’t want to have to spend an entire week becoming an expert on which graphics card, processor and memory configuration is ideal.
I’ve been frustrated that those $1000 HPs have everything I want except for good video cards, but the power supplies are too anemic to support adding a big one. 350w is the heftiest they offer on that line, either in the stores or on their web site.
Bummer.
Otherwise I’ve had good luck with both Dell and HP unless I need something special.
Costco, if you have a membership. Their return policy is pretty good, although it was recently modified.
I’m on my second Dell and I’m very pleased with them. You don’t need to schlepp the machine to the store if it’s broken; you can get in-home service for a small fee. I’ve used it and it was well worth it.
I just bought a new Acer PC from CDW. I had no problem getting Windows XP (I did not want Vista). There’s a CDW warehouse not far from the office, but you may have to get it mail order if you go with them (no sales tax compensates for shipping costs). I’ve had bad luck with XP and mixed experience with Gateway.