time for a new PC...advice?
 

Like the title states. Windoze, please, sorry mac fans.

I would prefer 'build' one myself. I do not need a monitor, keyboard, ethernet card, OS, speakers etc.

what route should I go?

Any companies I should check out?

would like to go midrange- I don't play games nor am I a computer geek.

Time is not an issue, I have another old franken-computer that i use in the mean time.

Thanks

Go to PCmagazine.com and check out their reviews

Many are so cheap now. I don't know why you'd want to do it yourself, unless you just like that sort of thing.

www.cbwarehouse.com

They've been there for a long time. They sell everything you need to build one, and they have pre-builts of varying performance grades. I've bought parts, as well as systems for a previous employer from them and never had any troubles.

For desktops I use Dell's at work. They've been reliable for the life of the latest contract (total of about 8 years, I guess). Problems have been uncommon but usually involve internal hard drives and various USB problems. I understand that Dell is not alone with the USB problems.

With laptops, I haven't been pleased with Dell. It's a PITA to write a justification for anything else but people who take the time either buy an Apple or a Viao.

FWIW.

B

I love my HP. I'd just go to like Bestbuy and buy an HP tower with a warranty for like $700. Should be pretty damn nice.

My tower was only like $450, and it works well but I should have coughed up a bit extra for some better stuff. Like a better graphics card.

Not sure why you would want a desktop when dockable laptops are the way to go! I'm the head computer dude at a large at war government agency and my recommendation is Fujitsu. Great bargains on their refurb site and their ebay store. I'm on a great tablet laptop I just purchased from them with dock and extra battery for around $850. Great units, check them out. Or I have extra laptops and desktops I'm selling cheap. Most are brand new! Two Panasonic Toughbooks that I have are really nice!

If you build one yourself, I'd recommend www.newegg.com. Prices are excellent, they seem to be a fantastic company. I haven't ordered from them (ship to US only) but all the hardcore gamer types seem to swear by them. Lots of user-reviews for hardware. Prices are cheap, now is a good time to build. You can get AMD Athlon X2 dual core CPUs for dirt cheap, same with a mobo and DDR2. I just upgraded my PC (I do some gaming) and it was very cheap for a pretty powerful setup. If you run Vista, I'd recommend at least 2GB ram. Don't bother with more than 3GB unless you run Vista 64 bit. Also recommend a dual core CPU and AMD over Intel simply for bang-for-buck ratio. Since you don't game, the latest Intel chips aren't worth the cash, IMO.

Because laptops are more expensive, fail more often, and are harder to repair?

Wrong answer.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=4893792&WishListTitle=1234

That is a sweet computer right there! Lotsa memory, power, and space. Pretty good for the price. You will get more bang for your buck with that machine than one off the shelf at best buy that will cost like 1300 bucks.

You can just buy one at best buy ~$90.


One of the reasons I do not like Dell etc.. their towers do not allow for easy upgrades- limited ram slots, no place to put extra drives etc.

What is the point of making a small tower (DELL!), if it just sit next to the desk? And it is harder to cool!

Dd you see my post?

Your two word rebuttal blew my mind

www.tigerdirect.com

For motherboard go for ASUS, same with video card, for HDD go for Seagate or Hitachi. For case with power supply go for Antec. For CPU, any flavor of C2D and for memory, make it Kingston or Transcend. For optical drives, NEC is the best followed by Liteon. For monitor make it Viewsonic or SONY.