Off Topic: Buying A New Computer & Need Input

[beth]

The top pick so far is Sony's didgital studio. Anyone have a Sony and care to share your experience with it? I already know the monitors are great. I have one and would not get anything but a Sony monitor.
If you're immpressed with other computers, your comments on that would also be apprecited.
Thank you!

 

[bizkit]

I do this for a living ....what do you want the PC to do for you?

 

[galina]

I have an E-Machine here. Nice, and affordable. You can get one with a dvd player. They have the fastest booting. Got mine at Best Buy. 100 Bucks rebate. 400, in the end. I don't know your budget but if I had my first choice it would be a Pentium 4. <img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" />
Galina

 

[david s]

i am a computer tech also if u want a awsome system best thing to do is get one built find a good computer guy to build not a computer store they charge to much and somtimes give skimpy parts and if u want a real quick system ask about the new raid 0 setups they let u pull from 2 hard drives for more spped hard drives are turning in a bottle neck my computer is a dual 1.7ghz with raid 0 if that makes any sence to u lol

 

[beth]

Games
Cable TV set
copy files onto cd [backup]
internet
down the road probably some digital pics of my tank
music
I do A LOT of multi--tasking [and I'm pretty tired of me being able to do more than my computer can keep up with---if you know what I mean].
Hmmm...can you think of anything else I might want to do? Its been a very long time since I bought a computer.
Thanks for your help!

 

[stevew]

Dell is the only way to go, quality, compatability with Microsoft and good support all at a competitive price. Computers & Software is what I do for a living.

 

[wamp]

Why not build your own?
Cheaper and better and get what YOU need in it. Thats what I will do next. I hate my HP. Has their on software on it and when you try to change it you get lots of conflicts.
P.S. I like AMD processers. Some don't but I have NO problems with lockups and other processer related problems. I have run this 850 for a while. It lags a little in hard core gamming but for every day performance it outperforms my pentium.

 

[reeferx]

Is this a desktop model you are looking at?
If so, out of the box, for mainstream computers it is hard to beat Dell for speed and price.
You might want to wait just a little longer if you go top notch, because the new 2+ g machines are going to have double the cache on board. There is ~always~ something around the corner though.
I will sell you my Colecovision Adam computer!
Just kidding, actually I won't sell that.

 

[david s]

i agree beth for what it sounds like u want to do dell has best package and imo the best gernric pc out there i do heavy gaming so i need a powerhouse but for what u want to do dell sells more machine than u need and has support for it too

 

[david s]

hehe this is off topic butt amd rules it kills pent in every benchmark amd is all i will run and have for years

 

[bizkit]

I would agree....
Shop the local stores first. They will give you name brand componets, and if something goes wrong they are right there to fix it. No shipping it back. Look at a AMD solution for your processor. Cheaper than a P4 but give you better preformance. If you go P4 get a Northwood P4 ...the newest P4's with DDR Ram. Amd's also use DDR ram as well. Here is a good site to help you in the buying process. <a href="http://www.anandtech.com.." target="_blank">www.anandtech.com..</a>
Building the PC now a days is not very difficult and you can grab componets from anywhere. If you decide to build it yourself the best shop online to hit is <a href="http://www.newegg.com" target="_blank">www.newegg.com</a> they are one of the best. Also alot of places carry barebones systems which all you need to do is buy the rest of the parts. For video stick with either an ATI or a Nvidia based Video card. Sound get a creative labs soundcard. Network Card if you have a home network or cable access get a 3com or an intel based card. Modem really and truley any modem will do. Get Win XP as your OS. I made up a AMD configuration and a Intel based Config that might help you with this venture if you so choose. Anandtech has a buying guide so does Ars
<a href="http://arstechnica.com/guide/index.html." target="_blank">http://arstechnica.com/guide/index.html.</a>
Hope this helps!

 

[bizkit]

OOPS for forgot the systems one second.

 

[galina]

Both of my brothers have built thier own computers.. they're pretty smart when it came to computers but they got pretty frustrated. I would reccemend buying from a good brand name... like Dell. Family members have had good experience with them.
Galina

 

[david s]

i guess it all depends for me i would build but i am a tech lol it could be confusing to build but they are better computers by far then generic brand Butt as far as store bought computers dell is best out there and about the same price too its all in what she wants havin support allways helps too for people who arnt computer people and from what she wants to do a dell would definitly do it with np

 

[david s]

hehe holy spam

 

[bizkit]

Here you go I used newegg for all prices you can check out other sites like <a href="http://www.pricewatch.com" target="_blank">www.pricewatch.com</a> and <a href="http://www.pricegrabber.com" target="_blank">www.pricegrabber.com</a> and also <a href="http://www.ibuyer.net" target="_blank">www.ibuyer.net</a> to look for your lowest price. Also reseller ratings is a good place to check out.
Configs the only thing to change between them is the Motherboard and CPU.
Asus VIA A7V333 Chipset ATX Motherboard 141 if intel get a Asus P4B266-C Intel 845D chipset ATX Motherboard 117
AMD ATHLON XP 2000+/266 FSB PROCESSOR CPU - RETAIL BOX 211 if intel Intel Pentium 4 2.0AGHz 512K Socket 478 Processor 400MHz Processor Bus- Retail Box 325
Crucial Micron 512MB 64x64 PC2100 DDR RAM, 184-Pin 180
WD WESTERN DIGITAL EIDE HARD DRIVE 120GB 179
PIONEER INTERNAL ATAPI 16X DVD-ROM MODEL 106S/2 53
Lite On 40X12X48 CDRW Model: RTL40125S-Retail 106
Case This is up to you anywhere from 50-150 ..
Just remember this good airflow and at least a 300W
ATX 2.03 & ATX +12V Compatiable powersupply.
Video- For what you said I would go with ATI
get the ATI Radeon 8500 DV 292
Has input,output,tvtuner,dvd decoding and is
also good for gaming as well.
Creative Labs Audigdy Sound card 61
3Com Nic 32
Diamond SupraMax 56K V.92 PCI Modem 17
Windows xp pro 110
Sorry I forgot to put $ on everything.
THe AMD setup would run ya bout 1450 the Intel rig about another 100 bucks.
If you are intimidated by doing it yourself. Get a Dell. ......and if you do please post
"Dude your getting a Dell!"

 

[beth]

Wow, thank you guys for all the quick replies!
Why is it that everyone loves Dell, but I do not?? We use dells at work and they seem noisy and troublesome to me....???
What computers have the ADM chip? I know that the pentium chip is a lot of hipe, so I'm not opposed to getting a less popular processor.
I have thought about getting my computer guy to build me one, but I don't know if it would be cheaper...it would be a 3 yr easy service and I do trust him. He is excellent, but pricey.
This is what I am salivating over....
<a href="http://www.sonystyle.com/vaio/popup/specs_rx690g.pdf" target="_blank">Dream Machine</a>
What do you guys think??
Thanks again for all the input!

 

[naturelover]

It's always better to built your own. This would earn you money in longer run when you want to go to the new machine in the market. easy to upgrade. Most brand names cannot be upgraded since they built in everything on their motherboard. I've built total 3 machine since i got intrest free purchese from my work place.

 

[galina]

Hey Beth, that computer from the link looks pretty sweet. "Dream Machine" seems accurate. Everything looks good. Looks a bit pricey.. but hey, if I could afford it, it would be one of my top choices too.
Galina

 

[tykill]

build your own, you can get a duel system pentium 3, 1 ghz, cheaper than a pentium 4. Then you put in your extras, top of the line video card,graphic card, 512 megs of ram. This is a whole lot cheaper than buying a name brand that doesn't sell you top of the line stuff.
Name brands sell you Pentium 4's but without some of the other exspensive things that you need to run it. Slows the whole thing down. And if you need to upgrade a name brand, plan on paying thier product that you have to buy.
Build your own!!!!!!!!