new computer purchase

[redbone]

I want to purchase a new computer and one of the problems I have is that each computer mfg has its own lingo description and not being that savvy on a computers list of what is does becomes difficult to cypher. what are some of the question I should be asking when approached by the salesman. The salesman so far have all been all to eager to carry me directly to the one on sale and not bother show the rest of the line I.E. name brands.

Your Input would greatly appreciated

Maybe tomorrow... but not today

[Troy]

A few important things to consider:

Processor: You want at least a pentium 4 3 ghz
RAM: You want at least 512 mb of ram
Hard Drive: At least 80 gb
Get a cd / dvd burner

Operating System: XP Pro preferred but XP Home should suffice.

Think about warranties. You should get at least a full year, and some carry 3 year warranty.

Get at least a 17" flat panel monitor.

I am not too big on brands, but the ones you've heard of are probably safe. If you can get the above options for the cheapest price, then you probably have done well

Try

[JC]

It very much depends on what you are going to use the system for. If for instance you will be just using it for web surfing and emails, you will need a very different system than if you were going to use it for gaming, video editing, etc.

If you post, in general terms, what you will use the system for, I can give you my $.02.

[Troy]

quote:Originally posted by JC

It very much depends on what you are going to use the system for. If for instance you will be just using it for web surfing and emails, you will need a very different system than if you were going to use it for gaming, video editing, etc.

If you post, in general terms, what you will use the system for, I can give you my $.02.

I agree, what will you be using the computer for?

Try

[redbone]

quote:Originally posted by Troy

quote:Originally posted by JC

It very much depends on what you are going to use the system for. If for instance you will be just using it for web surfing and emails, you will need a very different system than if you were going to use it for gaming, video editing, etc.

If you post, in general terms, what you will use the system for, I can give you my $.02.

I agree, what will you be using the computer for?

Try

Since I'm retired I have more time to spend on the computer. It's great pass time and I like surfing.
Besides that I pay bills online, record keeping, burning cd's, I take a lot of pictures, I do bible study, besides all that I don't want to be restricted with other things I might want to do in the future...can't think of any thing off hand. at the same time I don't want to spend more money than I need too.
Other than retail stores, I have looked at this web site

http://www.visioncomputers.com/

that allows you to build pretty much what you want. Just not sure what I want. I'm saying it's diffcult to cyfer all the lingo that says what a computer will do. I'm still using a computer that started out with windows 95 and I have since upgraded to 98 SE. pettey much had it built which was a mistake. It works fine at the moment...for how long....good question. The only real thing I know is I will buy a computer that is upgradable for the future if that's possible.


Maybe tomorrow... but not today

[HayZee518]

I have a DELL 4600C. I ordered it with 512MB of RAM because I do a lot of graphics. I have an Omega zip drive - it acts like another hard drive but I can remove the media according to which programs I'm running. I have a cd-dvd and burner.
I wish I could connect up with DSL but I'm out in the sticks so I use dialup 56K modem.
I make use of a word processor so I have that installed.
Online gaming is a bit slow but it still works.

[LazyPup]

Two years ago I set out on the quest of a new computer. While I am by no means a computer geek, I have been tinkering with computers since the late 1960's when I was a remote terminal operator on a Univac 1050-II mainframe, and having run the full gamut of home computers from the Comodore 64 to the present IBM compatible PC's I pretty much knew what I would demand of my new machine.

I am not a gamer. My goal was productivity, productivity and more productivity. On average I have five or six productivity programs such as MS Works (word processor), MS Home Publishing (Graphics), MS Paint (graphics), Windows Media Player (music library which currently has over 5000 songs on the computer) Bible Library (18 versions of the Holy Bible plus a number of references), and the Internet and Ghost Surf, which is a firewall program.

My parameters at the time were
1. a fast processor (Preferably a Celeron Processor.) (2.8gig was state of the art at that time)
2. minimum of 512mb of memory with provision for expansion (I have added two additional 512mb cards).
3.Combo drive (DVD/CD/CD_RW)
4. Built in memory reader
5. a floppy disc. (The computer did not come with a floppy drive but I added it for $30).
6.LAN card (Local area network) because we have three computers in the house all networked.
7.high speed graphics card
8.A minimum of 4 USB ports (This one has 5 ports)
9.Audio jacks on the front panel
10. 17" flat panel monitor

Once I had decided what I wanted my computer to do, i then set out searching all the websites to see what was available. Dell, Gateway, hewlitt-Packard, Accer, IBM, Compac (from previous experience I am not a big fan of compac computers).

After nearly three months of searching I had still not found what I wanter at a price I could afford.

In addition to checking the online sources I checked all the local electronics retailers, Circuit City, Office Depot, Staples Office supply and a half dozen computer stores, but still not finding what I wanted at a price i could afford. (I had targeted $1000 for the package).

One afternoon contrary to habit, I ended up at Walmart with my girlfrined. I am not a big fan of walmart, and usually I bow out when she wants to head that way, but somehow I ended up there anyway. After nearly an hour of aimlessly wandering the aisles she decided to go look at the ladies unmentionables, and not desiring to hang around that dept. I told her I was going to check out the electronics dept and meet her in the coffee shop in half an hour.

Imagine my surprise when I found Walmart had an Emachines W2888, fully loaded with all the features i had been looking for, with the exception of the floppy drive for only $599. At first I thought the price must be miss marked or perhaps this was the processor less the monitor, surely something was amiss because that price was 35% under the manufacturers direct price from the factory. Maybe this is a lost leader come on deal and they really don't have one other than the display model in stock, i thought.

The sales girl came over and assured me they had ten in stock at that time, and that was the regular everyday price. WEll, it didnt take me long to pull a couple hundred out of my wallet and toss one in layaway to be sure I locked in the price. I figured I would have it paid off in about three weeks.

Three days later I got a letter from a client who had stiffed me on a bill about four years before that. To my utter amazement the letter contained a check for $500, the balance on his job. Needless to say, i tore up the road shooting off to wallyworld to grab my new computer.

It is now nearly two years later and this machine has performed flawlessly, aside from the fact that I did once have a serious problem with viruses, but thanks to Troy, that problem was corrected quickly.

I normally do not turn my computer off, so this machine has basically ran 24/7 for two years without a hitch.

As I said before, I am not a big fan of Wally World, but I would certainly check them out when looking for a computer.

[montecore]

Wow! What a post by LazyPup......I just had a very long post to add then realized after I tried to post I was not signed in and lost the whole post. So here I go again.

Stay away from Dell, Gateway, Compaq and HP systems. Why? They all for the most part use proprietary parts. What is that? These are parts that are specifically made for their systems and if they go bad are very very expensive to replace.

Within one hour we had 3 different Dell systems come in from 3 different people. Today we had 4 more Dell systems on the bench. This red flag should tell you something about Dell.

Remember all of those Gateway Country stores that popped up? While they are for the most part closed down and most Gateway's are sold online.

Compaq and HP are in the same arena as Dell. We service many of those systems each month as well.

Emachines use to be very bad many yrs back but now they have turned this around for the most part. I would not buy an Emachine myself but they seem to be pretty stable for most users.

Your best bet is to buy locally from a computer shop. You may pay a little more up front since we don't do enough volume to get the discounts/rebates. But you will get peace of mind. If it is a good shop you will get prompt, curteous service when you need it. You will not get that from Best Buy, Circuit City or WalMart when something goes wrong. It will take 3 to 4wks to get your system back from Best Buy or Circuit City and you even bought it from them...do you have that long to wait? Service is the name of the game!

We have a 1 to 3 day turn-around time and it usually is 1 to 2 days and people have their system back up and running. People are amazed at how fast we can turn their system around. That is why they keep coming back to us.

I hope this helps.

[redbone]

quote:Originally posted by montecore

Wow! What a post by LazyPup......I just had a very long post to add then realized after I tried to post I was not signed in and lost the whole post. So here I go again.

Stay away from Dell, Gateway, Compaq and HP systems. Why? They all for the most part use proprietary parts. What is that? These are parts that are specifically made for their systems and if they go bad are very very expensive to replace.

Within one hour we had 3 different Dell systems come in from 3 different people. Today we had 4 more Dell systems on the bench. This red flag should tell you something about Dell.

Remember all of those Gateway Country stores that popped up? While they are for the most part closed down and most Gateway's are sold online.

Compaq and HP are in the same arena as Dell. We service many of those systems each month as well.

Emachines use to be very bad many yrs back but now they have turned this around for the most part. I would not buy an Emachine myself but they seem to be pretty stable for most users.

Your best bet is to buy locally from a computer shop. You may pay a little more up front since we don't do enough volume to get the discounts/rebates. But you will get peace of mind. If it is a good shop you will get prompt, curteous service when you need it. You will not get that from Best Buy, Circuit City or WalMart when something goes wrong. It will take 3 to 4wks to get your system back from Best Buy or Circuit City and you even bought it from them...do you have that long to wait? Service is the name of the game!

We have a 1 to 3 day turn-around time and it usually is 1 to 2 days and people have their system back up and running. People are amazed at how fast we can turn their system around. That is why they keep coming back to us.

I hope this helps.

So, montecore, going to a company such as visioncomputer.com as I mention above is not a bad approach ?

Maybe tomorrow... but not today

[montecore]

Redbone,

I have looked at their site and compared their $399 system to ours and there is NO comparison. Our system for the price is better than what they are offering. Let me explain why:

Processor/CPU Intel Celeron vs AMD 2500+ 64bit (we have a better CPU)
Harddrive 40GB 5400RPM vs 80GB 7200RPM (we have a larger/faster HD)
Memory 256MB DDR is the same as ours
Case it shows 2 large bays ours have 3 large bays.

I would assume the other components are like ours but hard to say since they don't list them on their site.

I would stay with an AMD Athlon 64....these will run circles and out perform most Intel CPU's. The also will save on your energy bill since they draw 70-80W vs 160-180W for an Intel. As a result they run much cooler than Intel.

You need a minimum of 256MG DDR to run a stable Win XP Home. The more memory the better.

The average (normal) size HD's are now 80GB.

If you already have a monitor then you can use that...this will save you some money in the end.

We offer up to a 5 yr warranty on CPU & memory. One yr on all hardware. 7 day a week tech support. Plus many other perks.

Do you live close by visioncomputers?

Let me know if you need any other help or if you what like to hear more of what we offer.

[redbone]

quote:Originally posted by montecore

Redbone,

I have looked at their site and compared their $399 system to ours and there is NO comparison. Our system for the price is better than what they are offering. Let me explain why:

Processor/CPU Intel Celeron vs AMD 2500+ 64bit (we have a better CPU)
Harddrive 40GB 5400RPM vs 80GB 7200RPM (we have a larger/faster HD)
Memory 256MB DDR is the same as ours
Case it shows 2 large bays ours have 3 large bays.

I would assume the other components are like ours but hard to say since they don't list them on their site.

I would stay with an AMD Athlon 64....these will run circles and out perform most Intel CPU's. The also will save on your energy bill since they draw 70-80W vs 160-180W for an Intel. As a result they run much cooler than Intel.

You need a minimum of 256MG DDR to run a stable Win XP Home. The more memory the better.

The average (normal) size HD's are now 80GB.

If you already have a monitor then you can use that...this will save you some money in the end.

We offer up to a 5 yr warranty on CPU & memory. One yr on all hardware. 7 day a week tech support. Plus many other perks.

quoteo you live close by visioncomputers

? yES WITHIN 20 MILES

Let me know if you need any other help or if you what like to hear more of what we offer.

Maybe tomorrow... but not today

[montecore]

Well did you get your new computer yet?

[X Y Scaling]

Here's my experience.
When e-machine first came out. I bought one. It had a 300 mhg. processor and only 3.2 gig hard drive. That tells you how many years ago it has been.
Years later, the only reason I have moved up is because of faster processors.

I'm now on my second e-machine,bought it about 18 months ago. It has a 2.70 ghz. processor. Excellent in my opinion. I'm retired too. Plus, I spend a lot of time on the web and I enjoy digital photography using Photoshop 7.

Over the past 5 years I have recommended this band to over 15 friends and family members who have bought and been very satisfied with the computer. One other thing. You may put no credence in Consumers Union but in the new December issue just released, in the "less expensive" computer area (under $800) They rated
e-machine as #1 and Dell as #7. Maybe so, maybe not, maybe just their opinion.

I love the space inside the cabinet for upgrades too. If I can help answer any questions, just let me know.
Regards, Tom


Vinyl and Laserdisc Fan

[montecore]

Yes, I agree as i stated earlier. E-machines when they first came out used very cheap component parts and the tech/service was horrible. Now everything has changed for the better. Emachines have completely changed the way they build their systems. From everything I have read they now sit at the top of their class. So the Consumers report is pretty accurate. I said I would not buy one b/c as a techie I want to know every component in my system.

[redbone]

quote:Originally posted by montecore

Well did you get your new computer yet?

Not yet. I like the idea that Vision computer has with the online remote access. Problem is if I forget and leave a password lying around somewhere. At present all passwords are on a floppy, but I think I have a mild case of CRS. They also claim the AMD processor is subject to over heat and cause problems and that the speed is overrated(forgot the numbers) Anyway, I'm still in the market and interested in any input you have.

Maybe tomorrow... but not today