Posted: 5/8/2006 8:17:50 PM EDT
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I'm thinking about getting a new computer to replace me 4 year old machine. I want something for surfing the net, online gaming, and some lite video and photo editing of home DVR movies. This is what I'm currently considering: www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=999955000050002&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01173&id=pcmprd55200050002 www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=999955000050001&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01173&id=pcmprd55200050001 I'm leaning towards the HP but I've fallen behind the times when it comes to computers and need some advice from the experts. |
If I lived near you I'd build one for you for free. Yeah, I'm a geek and I actually enjoy building PCs... The HP will be better for video editing, as it has 2GB of RAM. I prefer the AMD processor in the Gateway though...it's a tough one. The HP comes with a 15" flat panel while the Gateway has a 17". Personally, I'd go with the Gateway and buy another 1GB of RAM to give it a little more juice. |
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Hmm...do yourself a favor and buy a dell. Daily deals from dell small business. You can buy these, and they come with 1 year warranty. Just an idea. This is a damn good PC for the price/warranty/os. Just dump a few extra bucks and upgrade the RAM to 2GB. Gotapex usually works up some good Dell Small Business deals daily: DellSB - Dimension 5150 with 2.8Ghz Pentium D 820 Dual Core , 512MB DDR2, 160GB HD, DVD+/-RW Dual Layer and 1 Year Warranty for $569 including 17" LCD Monitor! (Posted by: Apex) There`s a $420 instant savings on this computer with no rebate to send in, and you get Dell`s 17" e176FP LCD monitor with fast 12ms response ($289 value). You get one with a FREE upgrade to a 2.8Ghz Pentium 820 Dual Core processor ($100 value), 512MB of dual channel DDR2 SDRAM, 160GB S-ATA 7200RPM hard drive ($40 value), 16x DVD+/-RW burner ($50 value), integrated 7.1 channel audio, 10/100 networking, Windows XP Home, and a 1 year warranty. Start here through the following link to these Dell Small Business desktops: DELL SMALL BUSINESS DIMENSION DESKTOPS Click on Customize It under Dimension 5150 $569 All of the options for the lowest possible cost should already be selected, along with the LCD. Upgrade whatever else you may want. Here are a few things we would suggest, though they may raise the price: NEW! Dell All In One Inkjet 810 [add $69 $19 or $1/month] 19 inch E196FP Analog Flat Panel [add $80 or $2/month] Scroll to the bottom and click on Continue, and again at the bottom of the next page, and the next, and then on the bottom of the following page click on Add to cart Finish checking out. Ground shipping is FREE. Expires 4/5/06. Update: For just $349, you can get a Dimension 1100 with 17" LCD monitor. Just follow the link above and customize this one. |
| I always use this site for buying computer stuff. Buy the parts here and slap 'em together yourself. It couldn't be simpler. |
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I'm not sure how much things have changed in the OEM machines in the last couple years, but as recent as 3 years ago you pretty much had to freshly install an OEM copy of Windows right away (ie not the "restore disk" they gave you) in order to get rid of all the extra software which the manufacturer put on the machine. That extra software (it runs in the background is hardly ever noticed) can slow down a machine substantially, even if it's fast and has a lot of memory. These days, the biggest bottlenecks in performance are memory and video processing. I've not looked at hardware for a while, but without looking at what you're getting, etc. I'd suggest that at the bare mininum you need 2G of memory. Also, a high-RPM disk is important, very important, for video editing. |
If you're OK with installing software, I'm sure the folks here who are competent with computers could provide you a parts list (to be purchased through, say, newegg.com, which is where I've bought most of my stuff over the years) which you could then get a local geek to put together, and you could install the software on... |