My desktop is 5+ years old, I think it's time for a new one. Any suggestions on what I should be looking for? What should I stay away from??

Thanks!

I just finished building a computer from parts. Really pretty easy and fun. Bought an aluminum case and filled it with an Asus motherboard, ATI video, 2GB ram, etc.
Bought a 1 terrabyte drive at Frye's for a bit over $100 and got Vista Premium builders edition for $99.
First use of Vista, I'm quite impressed overall.

Dan

We bought a new Dell desktop last fall, no monitor just the PC, didn't need a new monitor. It did come with keyboard and mouse. Intel 64 bit dual core processor. Vista 64 bit Home Premium, 4 gig memory, 300 gig harddrive and R/W DVD/CD drive. Also got one of those multi-memory card adapters, supposed to handle just about any kind of digital memory card. Just the basic video adapter, it's just a basic desktop for printing, paying bills, etc. Don't remember the exact price but under $400 including tax and shipping. No problems with Vista and this pc is fast.

I like Dell, we have Dell laptops at home too and use Dell desktop and laptops at work. If you're looking checkout Dell Small Business and Dell Home online. You do not have to own a business to buy from Dell Small Business. The two, Small Business and Home, compete with each other for business. They don't offer the same package deals on both sites but have comparable systems and you can usually configure different options to end up with the same thing. Keep an eye on them for awhile, their deals are always changing.

If you want let me know what you're looking for and I'll keep an eye out, I get emails from both with their current sales. I got emails every day last fall and earlier this month. Send me your email address and I'll forward any deals that meet your needs.

I've been looking at Dells for the last 30 minutes or so. The last computer I bought was an off brand I've never heard of before, want to go with more name brands this time. They seem to have pretty good deals on them, I've found some online coupons even.

24" iMac

Mac. Just get a Mac.

I would never buy another dell. They used to be great but in the past few years they have had some quality issues. Being a computer nerd I have helped a bunch of people with dells customer service and it is horrible. I have to say about the worst CS I have ever seen. I would put a vote for building your own or finding a local computer store. You will get a better product with better support.

I guess IMO, it kind of depends on how fast you want to go, what kind of applications you'll be running, what your budget is, how long you plan on keeping it, and if you ever want to get your "hands dirty" when the time comes to upgrade.

I would go Intel, and if you'd like to be "future proof", go with their latest i7 chip, but it will cost more. I'd also go with a 64 bit operating system, as it can handle many, many gigabytes of RAM should you need to upgrade (a LOT more than 4GB, which is the max a 32 bit operating system can use).

I've never bought a Dell or anything like that, as I like to build my own. Knowing what each component is capable of, what my upgrade options are, and if I CAN even upgrade if need be is more important to me than being stuck in a Dell rut. i.e., buy one, in 5 years throw it away, buy another one, in 5 years throw it away... etc...

I've had my computer for 3 year so far, upgraded the CPU twice, added RAM, upgraded my video card 3 times, added another hard drive, upgraded the power supply with a higher output one once, and added an X-Fi 7.1 surround sound audio card, all to keep up with my personal demands. I feel I can easily squeeze out about 5 or more years from this thing barring any catastrophic failure. Plus it's fun! (at least the hardware part is.)

If you can build a sweet Chevelle, building a PC is cake.

I just upgraded to this Dell What I purchased was less that parts to rebuild My old computer and it all new. Vista is quirky but that cause it is not layed out the same as some of the other Microsoft products so there is a learning curve but so far things are good:thumbsup:

Product Description
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor E7300 (3MB L2, 2.66GHz, 1066FSB), Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit

Total Charges: $669.70


Item Description:
----------------------------------------------------
Inspiron 518 - Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor E7300 (3MB L2, 2.66GHz, 1066FSB), Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit
Unit Price: $913.00
Quantity: 1
Total Price: $913.00

-- Inspiron 518 --
-- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor E7300 (3MB L2, 2.66GHz, 1066FSB)
-- [224-3201]
-----------------------
-- Memory --
-- 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz (4 DIMM)
-- [311-8883]
-----------------------
-- Keyboard --
-- Dell Entry Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
-- [330-0914]
-- [330-0916]
-----------------------
-- Display --
-- Dell S1909WX 19 inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor
-- [320-7479]
-----------------------
-- Video Card --
-- Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
-- [320-7320]
-----------------------
-- Hard Drives --
-- 500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache蒂
-- [341-7013]
-----------------------
-- Media Card Reader --
-- No Floppy Drive or Media Card Reader
-- [341-5008]
-----------------------
-- Operating System --
-- Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit
-- [420-5769]
-- [420-6436]
-- [420-8820]
-- [420-8873]
-- [420-8874]
-- [420-9105]
-- [420-9127]
-- [420-9130]
-- [463-2282]
-----------------------
-- Mouse --
-- Mouse included with Keyboard purchase
-- [310-5678]
-----------------------
-- Modem --
-- No Modem Option
-- [313-3137]
-----------------------
-- Optical Drives --
-- 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
-- [313-6354]
-- [313-6549]
-- [420-8152]
-----------------------
-- Sound Card --
-- Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
-- [313-7049]
-----------------------
-- Speaker --
-- No speaker Option
-- [313-2198]
-----------------------
-- Productivity Software --
-- Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007
-- [420-6585]
-----------------------
-- Security Software --
-- McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 30-Days
-- [410-1160]
-----------------------
-- Service --
-- 1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
-- [960-3249]
-- [983-3680]
-- [988-7347]
-- [989-2110]
-- [990-8029]
-- [991-1587]
-----------------------
-- Entertainment and Editing Software --
-- WildTangent Games
-- [420-9352]
-----------------------
-- Labels --
-- Windows Vista蒂 Premium
-- [310-8626]
-----------------------
-- Dell Remote Access --
-- Receive an E-mail for your Dell Remote Access
-- [467-7316]
-----------------------


-- Limited Time Offer: Discounted Memory Upgrade ($75 Value)!
- $75.00

-- Dell EPP Members: Save $165 off this select Inspiron Desktop System!
- $165.00
ADDITIONAL DISCOUNT AND COUPONS
------------------------------------------------

-- Receive 7% off your Member purchase

Subtotal: $625.89
IVA: $43.81
Shipping and Handling: $29.99

Shipping Discount: -$29.99

Total: $669.70

then I called Dell to question the delivery date which was to be Feb 2
Rep said he could not tell me when it would be ready for shipment but was going to upgrade me to next day shipping at no extra charge to help make sure I was happy with Dell. that upgrade was about a $100 savings I recieved email on Jan 21 of shippment, arrived Jan22

Nice unit wide screen is sweet, no issues yet, former desk top was 8 years old Asus motherboard 900 MGZ processor, 1 gig memory, 19" Viewsonic monitor, was a real nice system age must have caused it to develope problems on mother board

If you like pretty operating system and a pretty compter get a Mac. If you want something that works fine really any brand will as long as it is the specs you want. Ram and memory and processing speed I guess is where you want to work. Sure there is a huge Mac craze right now and you have to have an apple, but its just "Pretty"

Matt

Thanks for the Dell suggestions... on the speakers, don't you need them or are they included within the monitor?

Don't think they come with the monitor. We use to get a set of speakers with every desktop at work so I have lots of sets. They're pretty good Labtec speakers, about 10"-12" tall, 4" wide. Bass boost and tone control. I'll send you a set if you want them. They're not new but probably never used. They gave us speakers but you couldn't use them in the office. So there are sets that have been sitting around in cabinets for years. Same with headphones, we had filing cabinet drawers full of them.

Rachael,
What do you plan on using this computer for?
If your going to be playing games, I would advise you to stay away from system board integrated graphics.
I've had two Dell systems and both have become bottlenecks to where you can't upgrade. This is NOT done by accident. They want you to come back to them.
For instance:
If I were to upgrade the cpu on this current system, I could go no farther than 2.4 GHz/400 bus speed. The rambus modules cost about $238 per gig, and the motherboard has a limit of 2 gigs.
So I could spend $600 on the present system and still not be 'up to speed', and in a year have to spend even more for another brand new system.

If I were you I would build my own. That way you can build beyond the future.
For instance:
The motherboards that you can buy from places like zipzoomfly.com can utilize yesterday's technology of dual core and intermmediate quad core cpu's and can also be inexpensively upgrade to i7 cpu's.
Proprietary motherboards simply limit your future and are basically 'throw away's'.

Now, if you don't play games, let's face it now that eventually any new system you get is going to be too slow for you at some point in time.
At this point, expandability or 'throw away and buy new' are your choices alone.

But another case in point depending on what your going to do with your computer:

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with an Intel 1.8 GHz. cpu and 512 mb. of rambus memory.
It takes Nero 9 about 8-10 hours to encode and burn one, 2 hour DVD movie from an AVI file.

You see, it all depends on what your plans are.

Case in point about Dell:

I started with a $549 Studio Slim System with an
"Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor E7300 (3MB L2, 2.66GHz, 1066FSB)" which costs about $125 retail.

They want to charge an extra $300 to upgrade the CPU to an "Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor Q9550 (12MB L2, 2.83GHz, 1333FSB) [add $300 or $9/month1]," which costs $398 retail.

So your actually paying $425 for a $398 processor. So your spending $27 on nothing.
This is just 1 item mind you. By the time you get done building a complete system from Dell, your talking about paying an up front cost of over $500 to much.

Just so your aware.............

Not to beat a dead thread into the ground, but I went to the Dell website and picked one of their top gaming systems to re-create at home to give an idea of the money that can be saved for the do-it-yourself-er.

Dell-
SYSTEM COLOR Stealth Blue Anodized Aluminum Chassis with X-Panel edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® 64-bit Home Premium (English) Service Pack 1 edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7-965 Extreme - Level 2 (Factory O/C'd to 3.73GHz) edit
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 4Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis edit
MEMORY 6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 at 1066MHZ (3x2GB DIMM) edit
VIDEO CARD SLi, Dual nVidia GeForce GTX280 1024MB edit
HARD DRIVE 1TB - SATA-II, 3GB/S, 7200RPM, 32MB Cache edit
OPTICAL DRIVE Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capability edit
MONITOR No------------------------------------Monitor edit
SOUND CARD Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium edit
SPEAKERS---------------------------------------No speakers
KEYBOARD Dell USB Consumer Multimedia Keyboard edit
MOUSE Premium Optical USB Mouse edit
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER Dell 19-in-1 Media Card Reader with Bluetooth 2.0
System Price---------------------------------$5,049

Home Build-
Thermaltake Dream Tower Series -Tsunami Aluminum Mid Tower Case w/Transparent Side Window - $112
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® 64-bit Home Premium (English) Service Pack 1------------------ $90
INTEL BX80601965 Core i7 Extreme Edition 3.20 GHz QPI 6.40 GT/s Socket 1366 Desktop Processor-------- $1010
Zalman CNPS9500 AT CPU Cooler-------------------------------------------------------------------$47
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound--------------------------------------------------------------------$5
CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGY CT2KIT12864BA1067 2GB PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066) DDR3 Memory----X3--------------$180
EVGA 01G-P3-1282-AR Geforce GTX 280 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 (2.0v) Video Card----X2------------- $800
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB SATA 7200 RPM 32MB Buffer Hard Drive----------------------------$97
Sony DVD RW with DL Capable///LITEON DH16D3P-08 16X IDE DVD-ROM--------------------------------$60
MONITOR -----------------------------------------------No Monitor--------------------------------
CREATIVE LABS 70SB088600002 SoundBlaster X-Fi Titauium--------------------------------------------$134
SPEAKERS------------------------------------------------No speakers-------------------------------
Logitech 920-000379 G15 Gaming Keyboard-----------------------------------------------------------$70
LOGITECH New G5 Laser Gaming Mouse 910-000093 Mouse ---------------------------------------------$50
SABRENT CRW-UINB 68-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader w/ USB 2.0 Port supports SDHC/VISTA-----------$15
ZALMAN ZM850-HP 850W SLI/CrossFire Active Power Supply ------------------------------------------$190
ASUS P6T Intel X58 Core i7 Extreme/Core i7 Socket 1366 PC3-16000 (DDR3-2000) ATX Motherboard ---------$244
Sony FD MPF9201121-1/MPF920-Z (Z/121) 6082 1.44MB 3.5in Floppy Disk Drive ---------------------------$11
D-Link DU-520 QuickMedia High Speed USB 2.0 5-Port PCI Adapter---------------------------------------$29
System Price---------------------------------$3,144

So I guess it comes down to the question, "Is that Dell Logo on your computer worth $2,000?" :D

Thanks for all your responses guys. I ended up going with an HP. I looked at the Dells and they didn't seem as nice.

I'm not going to do any gaming, can't remember the specifics on the one I bought but it runs circles around the old one.

Only downfall is some of the programs on the older computer didn't transfer as well so I need to figure that out. I was also using Front Page for my website and that doesn't want to work now either so I'll have to get something different. Any suggestions?