Brand New Computer

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Brand New Computer

LOLOLOL! Ok Feba, you're right. My experience with my budget HP's and Compaq's was a figment of my imagination. Carry on!

EDIT: Oh ya, and you know your quip about the OS? Well go ahead and take that mb out of that budget pc and replace it with another, your software will no longer run on the pc. So that means shelling out for a new OS too. Oh wait......thats right......I'm wrong.......I didn't have to do that! /slap /slaip Gotta knock some sense into my head! LOLOLOL

[Temagori]

Re: Brand New Computer

lol I didn't mean to cause a war of the minds here, but from what I gather I can go after a pre-made one just make sure to ask if it is standards compliant? I just want to be abit prepared when I go to a store and buy a computer. I don't want to bust of $300-$500 and get home and not be able to play games softcore and do the basic stuff.

I don't plan on swapping to Comp FFXI hardcore or anything just as a back up plan etc. Plus I'd like to be able to see videos/play flash games with no issues. That and being able to utilize my internet are my only concerns. I just want to know what questions I should be asking since obviously I am going into a world I know only little of.

[Mhurron]

Re: Brand New Computer

Feba is lumping whitebox PC's with HP and Dell's. Disingenuous but it makes him look right.

A whitebox PC is no different then building it yourself, they use the same parts and what not, all you did was pay extra markup on them and more on top of that for labor.

Budget PC's from Dell and HP on the other hand follow no standard. Can you run them without the embedded Video adapter? Maybe, maybe not. Can you replace the motherboard? Most likely not. Is the included OS going to work on anything else? Nope.

Does Feba have the experience to know this? I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Brand New Computer

lol I didn't mean to cause a war of the minds here, but from what I gather I can go after a pre-made one just make sure to ask if it is standards compliant? I just want to be abit prepared when I go to a store and buy a computer. I don't want to bust of $300-$500 and get home and not be able to play games softcore and do the basic stuff.

I don't plan on swapping to Comp FFXI hardcore or anything just as a back up plan etc. Plus I'd like to be able to see videos/play flash games with no issues. That and being able to utilize my internet are my only concerns. I just want to know what questions I should be asking since obviously I am going into a world I know only little of.

Well if you are going to go in the $300-$500 range and buying from a nearby electronics store, watch out for the sharks that will try to sell you something more than you need or add-on's you don't need. If the comp has a DVD burner, don't buy discs. Look online for deals on them and get them that way. Sometimes you'll get double what you get in the store for the same price. If you have a keyboard and mouse already, don't let them talk you into a new one. Impulse buys when you are excited about a major purchase aren't a good thing to do. Say no, go home and think about it, and then look up peripherals on the computer and compare prices to the in store ones. Again, many computer related items can be bought cheaper online.

As for an actual computer stay away from eMachines. While they have some of the cheaper prices, I've heard a lot of complaints about them. I'm not too sure about Acer brand comps either but if I were buying, I'd steer away from them. I've owned Dells, HP's, and Compaqs (I think thats all lol) and I'd buy a Dell or a HP again if I had to but not a Compaq. Though back in the day Compaq wasn't part of HP and now they are so maybe they have improved. For your purposes, Intel or AMD doesn't matter. You aren't an avid gamer and aren't using your computer for anything intense. So don't let them try to stick you on that. Personally I'd stay around the $400 range and then buy an extended warranty as long as it is from a long standing reputable store. Extended warranties saved my hinney back in the day and if you aren't too computer savvy, it might save yours too. Also, you'll might have to run FFXI on low settings because you'll probably be using an integrated graphics card and most of them aren't worth poo.

Feba is lumping whitebox PC's with HP and Dell's. Disingenuous but it makes him look right.

A whitebox PC is no different then building it yourself, they use the same parts and what not, all you did was pay extra markup on them and more on top of that for labor.

Budget PC's from Dell and HP on the other hand follow no standard. Can you run them without the embedded Video adapter? Maybe, maybe not. Can you replace the motherboard? Most likely not. Is the included OS going to work on anything else? Nope.

Does Feba have the experience to know this? I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

LOL Thank you Mhurron for injecting some actual knowledge into the subject. I was assuming the OP was looking for a budget shelf stock pc, which I had intimate knowledge of unfortunately. HP and Compaq are common shelf stock pc's in traditional brick and mortar establishments and would probably be something they might consider.

[Temagori]

Re: Brand New Computer

You aren't an avid gamer.

Ouch. Yeah... Big gamer...just not on comp...>.> ; ;Thanks for the tips though. So what I'm gathering is it would be best to go to a place that built them from the ground up and is then selling them?

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Brand New Computer

Not meant as an insult, just an observation. Most avid PC gamers have a more intimate knowledge of computers and some even build their own. My apologies if you were offended.

Yes, you could go to a local pc shop and check out prices there. Many of them also use integrated graphics though. Here is a big name local shop by me with a comp in your price range:

Milwaukeepc.com

As you can see, integrated graphics. So if you do, maybe stress that you don't want integrated graphics and cut corners on other things. You don't absolutely need a floppy and you can buy a USB one for around $15 at some point if you do. A DVD drive is needed but do you absolutely need a burner? If you don't, you could save some money there too. Also getting a smaller hd will save money but make sure there's room so you can add one later in case you need to. One gig of ram is a good start and saves you money over going whole hog and asking for more. Also you can expand that later if you need. Just mull stuff like this over with them so you can try and keep in your price range and still get something that will work for you.

[Temagori]

Re: Brand New Computer

Thanks a ton, I appreciate it. ^^

[Feba]

Re: Brand New Computer

My experience with my budget HP's and Compaq's was a figment of my imagination.

"I can understand that you have had problems in the past, but those aren't really reflective of how things are now, " as I've already said. I'm not saying that you don't have experience, just that it doesn't apply to what we're talking about.

So that means shelling out for a new OS too.

It shouldn't. You should be able to make a backup of your things and use a recovery disk (Microsoft provides a utility for this if the manufacturer doesn't provide them) to reinstall it. The manufacturer's website should have any missing drivers.

I just want to be abit prepared when I go to a store and buy a computer.

I would recommend against buying a computer in a shop unless you absolutely know what you want. It doesn't give you nearly as much information as an online store would, and it's usually harder to find their policies and such concerning returns.

It's also much easier to look for (and find) deals online. I cannot agree enough with TGM to look out there for coupon codes, special deals, and generally just check around before you buy something. I've priced out laptops that would cost around $800, found a coupon code that allowed me to price it out to be worth $1000 (by adding batteries and choosing a better CPU), and have the price go down to $750~.

Feba is lumping whitebox PC's with HP and Dell's.

Yes, pretty much. I'm talking about budget computers (sub $400 or so); it doesn't matter if there are nonstandard computers out there because you can ignore them and there are still ones that will work perfectly well.

A whitebox PC is no different then building it yourself, they use the same parts and what not, all you did was pay extra markup on them and more on top of that for labor.

I highly doubt you could build a computer for cheaper than they provide it, for the sole fact that OEMs get huge discounts on Windows licenses. That alone is enough to take a significant amount off the price when you're looking at this price range. A monitor is also a significant cost if you don't have one (or you want to get something newer and possibly better).

As for an actual computer stay away from eMachines.

Agreed. The only person I know who has an eMachines PC and doesn't hate it is my grandmother, and she wouldn't know what a bad computer was if it smacked her in the face. I've never heard anything good about them, and I'm pretty sure it just plain doesn't exist.

Acer, I'm not so sure about. They're on the cheap side, of course, but they seem to work alright. I've only really known much about one of them, though, and that was probably from 97 or so.

Also, you'll might have to run FFXI on low settings because you'll probably be using an integrated graphics card and most of them aren't worth poo.

I would really, really recommend against this. Make sure the motherboard has a PCI-express x16 slot (google it) and room for the card, and buy a dedicated graphics card. You can get them for $30-$40 on the low end (I personally have a 6200LE I got for under $20 in this PC, although it's AGP), and for such a small cost it will be much better.

Local PC shops can be a good place to get computers built at a relatively low cost-- not as cheap as an OEM, but other than that they have most of the benefits of doing it yourself (the fun and experience is what is lost, mainly). I'd recommend you just look them up online and in their store before you put down any money-- see what kind of reputation they have. Do people view them as a valuable place they're glad is still around, instead of Best Buy; or do they look at them like they look at shady car mechanics? It isn't uncommon for PC shops (local ones and big corporate ones) to misdiagnose problems or find some other way to overcharge customers, so you want to be sure you're going with someone trustworthy.