Getting a new computer - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

SteelBlue · 10-07-2006, 03:49 AM

It's been 6 years since I purchased a computer. Can some of you tech heads give me an idea of what I should be looking for? I'm not looking for the worlds greatest system. I want to be able to play around with photos, movies and music and otherwise we'll just be using it for the internet. I just want an idea of what is suitable.

Colly Wolly · 10-07-2006, 03:59 AM

Go to Dell.com. Look at what is the most expensive, and what is the cheapest, and then buy something in the middle.

MikeWaters · 10-07-2006, 04:07 AM

you probably want something that will run Vista well. But I don't know what the requirements for Vista are.

To answer this question properly we need to know 1) what you want to use your computer for and 2) how much you want to spend and 3) do you want to building it yourself (I've built my last two).

Cali Coug · 10-07-2006, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

It's been 6 years since I purchased a computer. Can some of you tech heads give me an idea of what I should be looking for? I'm not looking for the worlds greatest system. I want to be able to play around with photos, movies and music and otherwise we'll just be using it for the internet. I just want an idea of what is suitable.

I would go to Tigerdirect.com. They have a barebones kit you can buy right now with a Core 2 duo processor and good motherboard for $499. It will knock the socks off of anything Dell will sell you. You would have to assemble the computer, but a nerdy friend should be able to help you with that (they give you all of the parts you need in the kit). It is REALLY easy to put it all together.

Cheap and super fast.

SteelBlue · 10-07-2006, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

you probably want something that will run Vista well. But I don't know what the requirements for Vista are.

To answer this question properly we need to know 1) what you want to use your computer for and 2) how much you want to spend and 3) do you want to building it yourself (I've built my last two).

The computers I've looked at on Dell run XP but say they are Vista compatible.
To answer your other questions:
1) I want to store and manipulate photos, home movie clips, music. Beyond that mainly just internet use.

2) I'd like to spend less than $1,000. I'm quite tempted by those $600 offerrings at Dell. But this is where I need help. I see those 3 upgrades for each item and I don't know which I would need and which are overkill. Here is the one I'm looking at (the middle one):
http://www.dell.com/content/products...=19&l=en&s=dhs

3) As you may have guessed I am wholly unqualified to build my own system.

Looking at that middle option, is there anything I'd need to upgrade?

MikeWaters · 10-07-2006, 04:28 AM

manipulating digital video can use a lot of CPU power. But if you don't care how long it takes, then not as big a deal. It probably helps to have a decent video card if you are going to video work also, but that is not my area. I get the video card for game playing, so that is always sufficient. You don't need that.

160gb harddrive is not going to be enough by a longshot. But you can just buy another and install it yourself later.

At minimum you probably want a gigabyte of RAM.

I'm not terribly familiar with CPU's righit now.

SteelBlue · 10-07-2006, 04:36 AM

Would 250gb hard drive be enough?

Colly Wolly · 10-07-2006, 04:37 AM

Upgrade to atleast a gig of RAM and a DVD burner. I purchased a laptop from Dell back in February (know the nerds on the board will mock me for this). I was on the phone with them for about an hour drilling down the order and negotiating a price. If you keep asking them to make it cheaper, they will throw in mail in rebates and stuff like that. They will really try to upsell you on extended warranties, so be ready for that.

MikeWaters · 10-07-2006, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

Would 250gb hard drive be enough?

it depends. if you are keeping digital photos, you may want to have 2 hard drives in case one fails. in addition to an off-site backup. Like CD's you keep in a different physical location (fires).

Videos will eat up a lot of space quickly. But if you just capture then burn onto DVD and then erase, not that big of a deal.

You will always underestimate how much space you need, IMO.

Parrot Head · 10-07-2006, 03:26 PM

First, you don't have to settle for green screens nowadays. It's been a while since you got a computer, so I'm not sure if you were aware of that. But also, Dell can hook you up. Check www.slickdeals.net frequently and you'll find some awesome deals. This week they posted:

Dimension E521 Athlon X2 3800+ (Dual Core), 1GB DDR2, 160GB SATA, DVD-ROM, Windows XP Home, No Monitor $374

You'll find some awesome suff there. Or Fatwallet carries those deals too. Last year they had the dual core right when it came out for $1000 WITH a 23-inch monitor. I almost jumped on the deal just for the monitor which was selling for a grand by itself.

Yeah, you can build something blah, blah, blah, but if there's a problem, who fixes it? But do consider upgrading the hard drive on your own. That's really easy whether it's internal or external and it's kind of exciting. Again, slickdeals carries great deals on hard drives, so you should never pay those upgrade fees for a desktop HD unless you're getting a smoking deal.

(I hope I don't get in trouble with Mike for pimping another site.)

10-07-2006, 03:49 AM	#1
SteelBlue Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Norcal Posts: 5,821	Getting a new computer It's been 6 years since I purchased a computer. Can some of you tech heads give me an idea of what I should be looking for? I'm not looking for the worlds greatest system. I want to be able to play around with photos, movies and music and otherwise we'll just be using it for the internet. I just want an idea of what is suitable.

10-07-2006, 03:26 PM	#10
Parrot Head Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 763	First, you don't have to settle for green screens nowadays. It's been a while since you got a computer, so I'm not sure if you were aware of that. But also, Dell can hook you up. Check www.slickdeals.net frequently and you'll find some awesome deals. This week they posted: Dimension E521 Athlon X2 3800+ (Dual Core), 1GB DDR2, 160GB SATA, DVD-ROM, Windows XP Home, No Monitor $374 You'll find some awesome suff there. Or Fatwallet carries those deals too. Last year they had the dual core right when it came out for $1000 WITH a 23-inch monitor. I almost jumped on the deal just for the monitor which was selling for a grand by itself. Yeah, you can build something blah, blah, blah, but if there's a problem, who fixes it? But do consider upgrading the hard drive on your own. That's really easy whether it's internal or external and it's kind of exciting. Again, slickdeals carries great deals on hard drives, so you should never pay those upgrade fees for a desktop HD unless you're getting a smoking deal. (I hope I don't get in trouble with Mike for pimping another site.) __________________ Oh, he's very popular Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude. - Bronco, when asked how to describe PH

10-07-2006, 03:59 AM	#2
Colly Wolly Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,281	Go to Dell.com. Look at what is the most expensive, and what is the cheapest, and then buy something in the middle.

10-07-2006, 04:07 AM	#3
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	you probably want something that will run Vista well. But I don't know what the requirements for Vista are. To answer this question properly we need to know 1) what you want to use your computer for and 2) how much you want to spend and 3) do you want to building it yourself (I've built my last two).

10-07-2006, 04:28 AM	#6
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	manipulating digital video can use a lot of CPU power. But if you don't care how long it takes, then not as big a deal. It probably helps to have a decent video card if you are going to video work also, but that is not my area. I get the video card for game playing, so that is always sufficient. You don't need that. 160gb harddrive is not going to be enough by a longshot. But you can just buy another and install it yourself later. At minimum you probably want a gigabyte of RAM. I'm not terribly familiar with CPU's righit now.

10-07-2006, 04:36 AM	#7
SteelBlue Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Norcal Posts: 5,821	Would 250gb hard drive be enough?

10-07-2006, 04:37 AM	#8
Colly Wolly Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,281	Upgrade to atleast a gig of RAM and a DVD burner. I purchased a laptop from Dell back in February (know the nerds on the board will mock me for this). I was on the phone with them for about an hour drilling down the order and negotiating a price. If you keep asking them to make it cheaper, they will throw in mail in rebates and stuff like that. They will really try to upsell you on extended warranties, so be ready for that.