I prefer a desktop to a laptop, because of the durability. I've used laptops, and simple every day use of moving them around, shifting them, and what not, cords get loose, the connections wiggle out of place, etc, etc. I'm a desktop person, 100%. Hubby, on the other hand, loves being in the recliner, so he's all about the lap tops.

17" is bigger than the one I have now, which is fine as it is, so I think a 17 will be great. ;)

SOooo not an apple girl. ;)

We aren't really good at the hardware. We know our software good, but the hardware we aren't confidant enough about. I do have a friend who "claims" to be confident, but of the 3 machine's she has put together, none has lasted more than a year before burning out. No way in hell I'd let her build me one. :D

If we knew more about it, I'd love to just build one. But I don't think that'll be an option at all.

Also, we are on cable, the highest one we could get. :D I'll NEVER go back to dial up ;)

We like the Dell's a lot, but honestly, for the price, I'd rather just go with something a bit cheaper. When I stated out the dell with what I wanted, it was coming in more than the northgate with less stuff over all. Granted, Dell is a very good brand, and very good about replacements.

Compaq's... well, when we bought the computer we are running now, 4 years ago, we had just had 3 different friends who had bought Compaq's within about 6 months before us.

Compaq #1 was sent in for repairs (under warrenty) three times in that 6 months, all problems that were hardware problems. First time, the fan went out, next it was a bad memory sector, and lastly, the power source. She got rid of the computer after trip #3, and got a whole different brand.

Compaq #2 was only sent in once, in about a 4 month time period. I can't recall what the problem was, but it was just shutting itself down. Now, I'm thinking that the fan went, which was causing it to over heat, etc, etc.

And Compaq #3 had the hard drive go within about 7 or 8 months, I want to say, and then the power source went almost immediatly after they got it back.

That right there was MORE than enough for us to say: No, Thank you.

I'm sure they are good computers, but our own experience in hearing how rotten they were then, well.. that was enough.

The truth is anyone who's had a good computer is going to stick with that brand and like Sharni said every brand has it's lemons. However I'd just like to say I have a Dell. Got it a couple years ago. The problems we had were...well a ton. Anyway my main problem was no one would help me, even though we had a waranty, everyone kept telling me to call someone else. It took us 9 months to get anyone to listen to us, and that was after I contacted the better business bureau and they gave me a number to call. Whoever I got ahold of finaly had us mail them back the computer and they sent us one that worked ok for the most part until recently. Now the cd burner quit working, and one by one, our ports won't recognize things we plug in. Anyway, we also never got our rebates. Not one of them. They mailed us a piece of paper that was labeled "packing slip" and when I mailed it back they told me it wasn't what they wanted, they wanted the packing slip! It was crazy and if your going to finance through them, well that's another story. They've actualy called and told us we owed them 3 months of payments when we weren't behind even one! And when I called them back they told me they had no record of ever calling me! But that's just my experience, if you're lucky to get a good machine the first time from them then I'm sure you'll be ok! :rolleyes: :D Good Luck!!

*cough* Alienware *cough*

*fart* bring the deed to the farm *fart*

lol;)

What I know of Alienware is good, HI END equipment, but SURE not at popular prices.

Build your own. Computer that is, not farts.

Sorry to be so late Gilly. It was a long night, but I see you have lots of views to chose from.:)
I’m past due to start with a new box myself, and am searching out something that I want to last for at least 5 years. Check ANYTHING I say with somebody like MilkToast, who really knows what they are talking about. All my thoughts are self gathered. :dizzy: (be careful of “EXPERTS” ;) )

First point is that just like you, many people have their refund checks in fist and are computer shopping. Prices DO reflect demand throughout the year, and the undisputed best time is during summer vacation when sales are at their lowest. If you can keep the $ stuffed in the mattress for another month, you’ll get what you want for as much as 25% less than when school starts again, before the holiday or when refund checks start burning holes in pockets. ;)

Just from what I’ve seen, Dell has the best BASE prices, are reputable and provide support. BUT……… they are VERY capable at the sales desk and not a bargain with any add-ons you WILL want. They constantly switch the better feature for “free” and have the matching components “available” at the very full price.

I personally, have gone the tinker-toy route, since my first Trash-80, and plug the desired components together myself. That’s not as scary as it may first sound.:)

There are sites that will guide you through the matching components and give you a tone of information if you want to do a little digging. You have to decide how many dollars your hours are worth. Some sites just have the best prices while others have the most information. Like these:
http://www.pricingcentral.com/best/...components.html
http://www.pricewatch.com/

When you really look at it, your computer is just a processor (that does everything), some RAM memory (a place to do it), and a motherboard (to connect them and hang everything else on).

Right now AMD gives you the processor with the most bang for the buck and when I graph a curve, it’s easy to see that around 2.5 GHz is the sweet spot of $/performance.
I like the Athlon XP 2500 with Barton Core, for $75 - $80. The chip decides what RAM you need and you can get 512MB for about $120. Your applications dictate how much you need, but that’s about as little as I would go just to handle a good graphics package and do some multi tasking. You can always add memory very easily. Add a good chip cooler and heat sink for just a few bucks.

The manufacturers will tell you what boards they like with what chips and you pick something to match your extras. I like something with room for TWO hard drives. After screwing around some real virus problems just this year, when I knew better :o, I’ll never have my applications on the same drive as my data. I put my OS and programs (which is where most software issues occur) and ALL my data on another. Address books, pictures,…. EVERY BIT of data! When I have a problem, I just reload the programs without loosing the my files. 80 GB of HD are about $75.

Pick out what you want for burner, to watch TV on (I already have a bigger TV ;) ) or whatever. Chose a case that fits the motherboard and has at least 400 watts of power with some good fans. Cram it all in and do it for less than $6 bills. LOL :)

You can save a lot of dollars putting it together your self and you don’t have to touch a soldering gun to do it. Just read and plug. Now go talk to somebody that knows what they are doing. :D

very happy with my dell

Hi Gilly,

One point overlooked in all the above (don't mean to obfuscate your situation) ...

First I agree with PF about the AMD Athlon. Best price performance ratio going. And your not paying for the Intel name (over-rated) and getting equivalent or better performance. Yes, the 2.5 gig is a great buy.

And it's not really difficult to build your own system. When you buy one from any of the commercial vendors, it sort of equates to the NASA mission: you're getting 10,000 parts, all from the lowest bidder.

Building your own allows you to pick and choose which hard drive, which burner, which motherboard, etc. Putting them all together requires only that you take your time, watch out for static, and voila!!!

As I began saying, buying a commercial machine guarantees you are getting the "minimum daily requirement" as far as component reliability is concerned. Everything in there is running at the max design allowance simply because adding components that have, for instance, a 20% tolerance in their design factor means adding a couple of bucks to each unit ... Compaq, Dell, Gateway, HP, EMachines ... doesn't matter. When it comes to churning out 10,000 units a month, that couple of bucks per machine adds up, so they just don't do it. It's a matter of competition and price cutting.

One of the areas that are perpetually overlooked for the task at hand is the power supply. All the commercial vendors put in an under-nourished power supply, designed only for the components that are included at the point of manufacture.

When you begin adding more "stuff" (extra CD, a DVD, a high performance video card, etc) that require extra power, that whimpy power supply that was great on the vanilla machine can no longer provide the needed watts. The result is unexplained system hangs, blue screens of death, and various other anomolies due to fluctuating system voltages.

For example, most processors run at 3.0 volts. EXACTLY. When it's processing instructions at the rate of 2,500,000,000 per second, even a minor power fluctuation (1/100th of a volt) of say 1/30 th of a second means that the processor has just hiccupped on millions of instructions!!! BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH.

No matter what you buy, check with the vendor to make sure you are getting at least a 400 watt (more is better) power supply. A good beefy power supply will run cooler, and will not be forced to run at it's maximum. And because everything else in there depends on its stable operation, you will most likely have fewer problems with your other components as well, since devices that are able to run at their specified power ratings run cooler, last longer.

A good example of that is a CD burner. If the power fluctuates while you're burning a CD (the burning process requires more power), you can either throw the CD away or use it as a nice coaster.

If you choose to build your own, a good mid-tower case will have ample room for adding extra stuff in the future (more bays, more space for hard drives, etc) and most cases already come with a very good power supply as part of the package.

Good luck ...

The Dog

Oh ...

You may want to check out a publication called "The Computer Shopper"

Then you'll really be confused !!!

Or ... you might find a great system at a great price.

I checked them out. Built me a sweet ass purple puter. No way in hell I have the money to spend on their product though.

But you said you got your tax refund...:p

Yeah, but taxes only go so far. ;)


We bought the Northgate tonight, and slapped on the 3 year service plan, in case the cpu ends up being a dud.

I've done some reserch, and havn't found much wrong with them, but we'll wait and see. We'll be setting it up tomorrow, and hopefully will have it going and all our stuff transfered by Friday. :)

I'll only add this to the mix now that you have a box on the way... my apartment power (the AC power) is less than desirable. One of the best things I did for my PCs was to add a cheap UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to the main box. Not only does it keep it running during power outages (or more exactly, it gives you a chance to shut down cleanly) it is also a good line filter for a lot of crap. I went through 2 power supplies on one PC and another 2 on two other boxes before my UPS was installed. Since then no problems.

Just something to think about if you have had power supply problems in the past.

(PS. for those wondering how bad the power really is at the apartment here, the oscilloscope does not lie... it sags down to ~85VAC and can surge above 130VAC!)

I don't think I've ever heard of that, I'll look in to it :)

Hubby also ordered his today- a dell notebook that he customized to his specs. He works for a college, so he gets 10% off ordering it through them, and there was a promotion going for an additional 10% through today only, so he managed to get his 1,180 notebook for 950, plus tax and shipping.

and how much is Dell charging for shipping a notebook? ;)