Need advise on New PC'S

[newcentury]

I'm totaly confused. I've been shopping around for two new PC's. The first one that I need is for my niece. She wants something that she won't have to mess with for a while. (Husbands boss tried helping on the last one and nothing but problems) It is used mostly by her and her two daughters. They use it for homework and games, not real internet surfers. I've come up with 3 of them. For her I would say $600-800

The second one I need is a new one for my small retail store. Since we sell satellite and cellular, we do access the internet alot via Starband. I want something that can be my main machine with probably 2 other machines networked. These are existing machines, 2 Dell Cellerons (566 I think) that have min of 256k ram and a 10 and a 40 gig hd. I want to use the main one as the gateway machine (don't I?) and also be able to access my QB Pro from them. These two machines have W98SE. This machine is more in the $800-1000 range.

Well, here's what I've found so far and was just looking for some opinions on these machines and the dealers. Any and all opinions welcome. If you don't want to post, please email me.

http://www.pcinfinity.net/specials/s.../SIMBADDA2.htm

http://actualpc.com/PS_Systems3.asp
SYSAMDA002
IC Athlon System with AMD K7 Thunderbird 1.4GHz
ELITEGROUPE ECS K7VZA 266FSB 1AGP 5PCI SLOTS WITH SOUND ON BOARD, AMD THINDERBIRD 1.4GHz(266) WITH HEATSINK & FAN, 256MB PC-133 SDRAM, 40GB WESTERN DIGITAL IDE 7200RPM ATA100, 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive, 16x10x40 CDRW GOLD STAR, 64MB Nvidia GeForce2 AGP Chaintech VIDEO CARD, PCI 56 FAX MODEM Lucent WITH VOICE V90, Cyber Acoustics CA-3060 3-Piece Subwoofer System, Keyboard PS/2, PS2 SCROLL mouse, ATX MIDTOWER CASE(4-5.25"+2-3.5") 320W, MS WIN 98 S.E. OR WIN ME OR WIN XP HOME EDITION. 3 YEARS WARRANTY.

AM-Comps Athlon XP 1800+ 256MB RAM 40GB HD DVD
64MB Graphics/56K/NIC/No OS
http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage...4112#prod_desc

Again, any help welcome.

[tycoonist]

If you are looking for a computer for your niece, have you ever thought about buying a bundled computer from Wal-Mart. I know that many people here might not like that idea, but I got a HP bundled computer from Wal-Mart for about $800. It has everything I need. The only upgrades I've done to it is installing a network card. Also, I'm about to install some more memory. This might be the best for your niece because it's great for homework and games, and also for Internet if they ever get into that.

This is only a suggestion. You can always buy a computer online. There are some great deals on the Internet nowadays.

[JDT]

Alot of people will laugh at the suggestion about Walmart, but I would agree with tycoonist. My first computer came from there (HP bundle), and it worked flawlessly. I too added more memory and a network card and never had a problem. The other thing about buying there is, if you have a problem, you can take it back. For what your neice is using it for, I see no reason not to consider it.
The other suggestion would be a Dell. They have some very good deals right now.

[tycoonist]

Yes, I would agree that Dell and even Gateway are having great deals on computers right now. Many people aren't buying computers since the recession so computer dealers are offering great computers at low prices.

[elroy]

Check out the deals listed at www.techbargains.com they usually have some GREAT deals on Dell machines. Pentium 4- 1.6gb machines for around $500

[madfish]

ya can pick up a nice ready to go system from Tigerdirect right now, thier sale is still going on.

Madfish

[bill1971]

Newcentury:
These guys are right. I ordered a Dell system on New Years Eve ;
didn't need a system,but since I build systems, I wanted to see
exactly what my competition was in a major brand. Plus the
special deal and upgrades at that time were so good, I couldn't
build that system for that price. I've added 128MB Ram, DVD-ROM drive, a matching Dell 19" monitor, Logitech Z-340 3-piece speaker
system, and Philips sound card. Here it is:

Dell Dimension 4300
Wndows XP Home Edition
Microsoft WorksSuite
1.6GHz Pentium 4
256MB PC133 SDRAM
Geforce2 MX 64 MB AGP video card
Philips PSC702 soundcard ( the on-board sound sucked )
Logitech Z-340 speakers and subwoofer
80 GB Maxtor 5400rom Hard Drive
Standard 1.44 Floppy Drive
24x/10x/40x NEC CD Writer
16x Lite-On DVD-ROM Drive
No modems installed
1 yr. Dell Warranty

This is a standard Dell charcoal/black system w/ all black
components, which is a nice change from beige. Like I said, I don't
need this system;I just knew it would be a great system for the
money. Dell really makes their money in the memory upgrades and the like.

$1050 + shipping

This might be overkill for what you want to do, but it should be more than enough PC for all of your computing needs.

- Bill

[KissmyDonkey]

Might check out the refurbished special on Dell.com

I got laptop with a 14" screen, ATI 16 meg mobility card, 256M memory, 20 gig hard drive, CD-RW, 1 Ghz P3 CPU for a littleunder $1300.00 in thier refurbished section....it comes with the same warranty as a new computer and it was a brand new computer...

The dell support site is a + for the do it your selfer on drivers, bios upgrades ect....

so check out the refurbs there.....

You have to be prepared to purchase what you want when you see it cause the good deals go fast.....

so slap it in a cart and buy...

[rwhiteside]

just wanted to say I have had bad experience with HP computers: my friends hard drive crashed after 5 months and my moms power supply is going bad after 2 years. I know that they use cheap parts in them, so thats how they can get there prices so low. But these two computers may just be the exception, but to really get quality I would say build a computer or atleast go with a manufacture like Dell.

[rockjockjared]

Well, I work at a major electronics retailer in their PC Tech department so here's what NOT to buy Don't even think about an eMachine...too many reasons to list. Compaq and HP aren't too bad, but if you're wanting something that's good and reliable then go with a mail order. I have a Dell laptop that I am extremely satisfied with. I build my own desktops...but it's a little harder to build a laptop...sigh. Gateway is o.k., from what I have heard their customer service sucks. We have people bringing them into the store...under warranty from gateway and paying us to fix them b/c they can't get them to do it. There are a lot of other mail order PCs out there too...tigerdirect seems to have some good deals going on. As do most manufacturers. Your best bet is to know exactly what you want in the machine and shop around until you find it...and stick with name brand parts...watch out for computers that cut corners with cheap modems and weird proprietary sized power supplies. They're more pain than they're worth!

Jared

[rwhiteside]

how can you build a laptop???