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Need to buy a new desktop computer, advice needed.

A

Anonymous

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My Dell Inspiron laptop is just getting too old and outdated and I need to get a new desktop. It has to be a PC so I can run my work software. I'll need to update my Adobe Pro, Microsnot Office, etc... No need for a monitor and speakers, I'm good there. Needs to be pretty fast, cause I have no patience for a slow computer, a big HD and lots-O-Ram. A cordless keyboard is a must too.

What would be a good brand, what should I stay away from, what speed processor, size of HD??? All serious suggestions are welcome :beer
 
I guess Mark edited the post to say 'PC' after your post Rick? To avoid the constant 'get a Mac' replies.
I talked to the local PC shop before buying my latest laptop to see what ones he got the least of for repairs/crashes and general knowledge of who's screen is best pic, uses least power, etc. I use my laptop for pleasure mostly so I wanted compact, light and long battery life and had no need for a built in DVD drive. I ended up getting a Toshiba (model?)12"-13", their screen is really clear and uses little power, forgot what it's called but not LCD, LED, etc. It has a 6+ hr. battery life and is pretty thin/light without the DVD.

I would go on sites like CNET and select different brands/models to compare side by side and see which one has the most features you want >bigger HD, more memory (can always add more so I wouldn't use this to choose one over another), ports-HDMI, etc. processor speed.
Jon
 
I don't get it. Mark's pockets are deep; he spends gazillions on engines that blow up, and yet he doesn't have a job. He must either be on welfare, deals drugs, or has Nigerian connections...
 
For brand names, I'd stick with Dell or HP.
-For processors, look for Intel i5 (or i7 if you're looking to blow alot of money). The i5's come in dual core with speeds up to 3.33Ghz, quad cores around 2.8Ghz. I7 are quad cores, 2.8-3.8Ghz, stupid fast, and just as stupidly expensive.
-For Ram, look for at least 4Gb DDR3.
-HDD size around 350gb. Add a 1Tb drive for backup.
-As for Windows, anything you buy will probably be Windows 7 home. I'd suggest upgrading to Win7 Professional 64bit. With Pro, you can have a virtual XP machine to run older programs and there's a built in backup utility that saves an image of your drive. And it being 64bit, you can upgrade the ram to over 4gb to whatever the hardware limit is. If your work software won't run on win7, you can use the virtual xp machine to run it.
 
"Gigantopithecus" said:
For brand names, I'd stick with Dell or HP.
-For processors, look for Intel i5 (or i7 if you're looking to blow alot of money). The i5's come in dual core with speeds up to 3.33Ghz, quad cores around 2.8Ghz. I7 are quad cores, 2.8-3.8Ghz, stupid fast, and just as stupidly expensive.
-For Ram, look for at least 4Gb DDR3.
-HDD size around 350gb. Add a 1Tb drive for backup.
-As for Windows, anything you buy will probably be Windows 7 home. I'd suggest upgrading to Win7 Professional 64bit. With Pro, you can have a virtual XP machine to run older programs and there's a built in backup utility that saves an image of your drive. And it being 64bit, you can upgrade the ram to over 4gb to whatever the hardware limit is. If your work software won't run on win7, you can use the virtual xp machine to run it.
Click to expand...

Agreed on all counts. Dell Outlet would be the first place I'd look.
 
"Gigantopithecus" said:
For brand names, I'd stick with Dell or HP.
-For processors, look for Intel i5 (or i7 if you're looking to blow alot of money). The i5's come in dual core with speeds up to 3.33Ghz, quad cores around 2.8Ghz. I7 are quad cores, 2.8-3.8Ghz, stupid fast, and just as stupidly expensive.
-For Ram, look for at least 4Gb DDR3.
-HDD size around 350gb. Add a 1Tb drive for backup.
-As for Windows, anything you buy will probably be Windows 7 home. I'd suggest upgrading to Win7 Professional 64bit. With Pro, you can have a virtual XP machine to run older programs and there's a built in backup utility that saves an image of your drive. And it being 64bit, you can upgrade the ram to over 4gb to whatever the hardware limit is. If your work software won't run on win7, you can use the virtual xp machine to run it.
Click to expand...

I knew I'd only get one serious response...thanks Jamie!

Don't need or want a laptop again, got the phone for portability. Has to be a PC and not a Mac (preferred) so my crap bidding software will work. It works with a USB key and will not work on any Mac system, period.

Currently running Office 2003, XP pro on a 6 yr old system.
 
I've got the Juneor July issue of consumer reports here in the house that had a big computer writeup in it. I'll see if I can locate it and get you the info...
 
Before making go fast goodies for Mustangs full-time, I did IT for 8 years. I can't recall the amount of Dell machines we had fail. At one company it was pretty much 90% of all the hard drives in one particular model, probably 150 units. The batteries would stop holding a charge after about 13-15 months (warranty was only 12 months). The next place used Dell desktops, 75% of all their hard drives failed, none of the HP's had any issues. Even though these were all corporate leased machines with 3 year parts warranties so stuff got replaced for free, who wants their data lost?

I'll never, ever buy a Dell. I buy a base-ish HP every 3 years for $300-$400 and throw the old one away. The machines are light years better than the were 3 years ago so the speed increase/data storage is noticeable. Sounds like you are not playing games or anything fancy so you don't need a $1000+ machine. I have 3 hard drives, 2 internal and 1 external. I keep the OS on one, all data on the other and then backup that data onto the external automatically daily. Then, when/if the machine dies, a quick trip to Best Buy, $300-$400 later, plug in the external drive and I'm off working again. The base machines are so cheap its not worth paying the 'Geek Squad' to fix it if its something major.
 
"Shaun" said:
I'll never, ever buy a Dell. I buy a base-ish HP every 3 years for $300-$400 and throw the old one away.
Click to expand...

Didn't work in IT but had to work with PC's (including Mac's) Dell's were the worst. I'd stick with HP.
 
HP has their problems too. Their d530 series and the ones that use the same power supply are some of the worst. That power supply has a tendency to blow flame out of it when it fails. And the bracket that holds the heat sink breaks, causing overheating, and sometimes frying the processor. I ran into this constantly before we replaced all of them at work. The latest problem we're having is numerous brand new HP servers with failing sas drives. 8530 laptop failing to charge batteries is another issue we're running into.

I don't buy prebuilt pcs. I build my own. I've worked for Dell, HP, and now contracted by IBM. Worked on them all, and all have issues.
 
I finally made time to dig up my consumer reports and here is a summary.

Desktops:

Computer name______________Price

HP Pavilion HPE-510Y__________950

HP Pavilion Elite HPE-410Y______930

HP Paviliion Elite HPE-235f______950

Dell Studio XPS 7100__________700

HP Pavilion p6730f____________680

Dell Inspiron 1580-9186NBC____550

HP Pavilion p6774y___________570

Dell Inspiron 580_____________530
 
Consumer reports also rated Macs. Here is their ratings:

all in one (need no monitor, etc so you end up spending more for that and tossing the old)

MSI AE2420 3d-046US__________1800

iMAC 27 inch MC5510LL/a_______1700

iMac 21 inch MC509LL/A_________1500

Asus ET2400INT-B148E_________1280

Sony Vaio VPCL137FX/B_________1700

*Gateway ZX4951-33e__________750

Apple iMac 21.5 inch MC508LL/A__1200

* - Recommended out of all of them including my previous post..

Apples are nice but are for people who don't want to think about purchasing a computer. If you want to do some research you can get something with similar performance for significantly less $$$.
 
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