Need help choosing a new computer

[cubboyroy1826]

Okay i need to get a new computer for my son to replace the old Gateway i am trying to fix and use for work. I have a good monitor he will keep and have a wireless keyboard and mouse already. I need something with at least an 80gb hard drive and 512k of ram. The kicker is he plays World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights online and has been told he needs a very good graphics card. I have looked at Dell and Emachines and the systems that have the upgraded graphics card push the price up to $1000. I honestly want to spend between 500-700 ( yeah i know cheapass). Any other ideas?

[hitmanwa]

Use Ebay and build your own. Personally I feel if you buy from Dell, HP, whomever you're stuck with them cause a lot of the stuff is too proprietary and it's difficult to upgrade without buying a new system.

[Desnudo]

This might do the trick for you.

http://www.alienware.com/Configurator_Pages/bot.aspx?SysCode=PC-BOT&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

[Airhog]

Ive priced building my own computer on Newegg.com. For about 700 bucks I can get the machine I want. For 800 bucks I can build one with a great graphics card. Knock almost 100 off that though if you dont want to go liquid cooled.

[mckerney]

This might do the trick for you.

http://www.alienware.com/Configurator_Pages/bot.aspx?SysCode=PC-BOT&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

Would likely be a good option as long as you're not expecting anything in the way of customer service and support.

[Rich1033]

I need something with at least an 80gb hard drive and 512k of ram. The kicker is he plays World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights online and has been told he needs a very good graphics card.
WoW has run great on my Dell 2400 with P4 2.8ghz, 1 gig ram, and just the intel integrated graphics.

[sterlingice]

WoW has run great on my Dell 2400 with P4 2.8ghz, 1 gig ram, and just the intel integrated graphics.
That's impressive. Integrated graphics must have come a decent ways.

SI

[Desnudo]

Would likely be a good option as long as you're not expecting anything in the way of customer service and support.

What was your experience?

[Draft Dodger]

That's impressive. Integrated graphics must have come a decent ways.

SI

I think they have - although my biggest complaint is that tend to use system memory...lowering your available RAM. If you're looking for a lower-priced PC, I'm ok with recommending a PC that uses integrated video...with one major caveat - it should have an AGP (or the newer PCI express) slots for a graphics card in case you want do upgrade that down the road.

At least that's what I did for my wife's PC - she just needed a basic machine (bills, email, internet), with the capability to play the occasional game. So far, the integrated graphics have been fine for her, but the option is there if she ever needs it (more likely, she'll end up with one of my hand-me-down cards if I ever upgrade).

here's (http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?sku=5574185) a model that's similar to what she has. (that particular sku is in while supplies last status, and will probably be sold out within a couple of days)

[Draft Dodger]

What was your experience?

Alienware has a pretty big reputation for having piss-poor customer service and tech support. Firsthand I can say that my experience wasn't very good with ther support (the machine, on the other hand, was excellent).

anyway, there's a lot of places out there with so-so support...but not a lot who are charging a huge premium for their product like Alienware does.

[cubboyroy1826]

Hey thanks for all of the responses. I am headed out today to pick something up. My brother in law has had a pretty loaded Emachine setup. He picked it up for about $600 and he plays most of the same stuff my son does. I will let ya know if i find anything in my travels today. Might also go car shopping so it should be a fun day.

[sabotai]

Just to throw this in: Do NOT get an Emachines computer. Just don't do it!

[sterlingice]

I think they have - although my biggest complaint is that tend to use system memory...lowering your available RAM. If you're looking for a lower-priced PC, I'm ok with recommending a PC that uses integrated video...with one major caveat - it should have an AGP (or the newer PCI express) slots for a graphics card in case you want do upgrade that down the road.

At least that's what I did for my wife's PC - she just needed a basic machine (bills, email, internet), with the capability to play the occasional game. So far, the integrated graphics have been fine for her, but the option is there if she ever needs it (more likely, she'll end up with one of my hand-me-down cards if I ever upgrade).

here's (http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?sku=5574185) a model that's similar to what she has. (that particular sku is in while supplies last status, and will probably be sold out within a couple of days) While I'd never consider it on a desktop (just built a new desktop with a Radeon 9600XT AIW), it's something to think about when I have a little more money and I'm looking at buying a laptop. In that case, I'm not looking for a primary computer for gaming anyways- just something that will get the job done.

SI

[Draft Dodger]

While I'd never consider it on a desktop (just built a new desktop with a Radeon 9600XT AIW), it's something to think about when I have a little more money and I'm looking at buying a laptop. In that case, I'm not looking for a primary computer for gaming anyways- just something that will get the job done.

SI

just bought a laptop, actually, and it does the shared memory thing. I don't have it yet (still in transit), but I'm kind of interested to see how it handles stuff.

it's mostly for work, so I'm looking for "slower paced" stuff - either some text sims or turn-based strategy games - and generally those will be less graphic hogs. FOF and OOTP will be on there, probably Alpha Centauri too. Curious to see if I can get Rome TW or maybe SimCity to run well on it...

[Greyroofoo]

Alienware has a pretty big reputation for having piss-poor customer service and tech support. Firsthand I can say that my experience wasn't very good with ther support (the machine, on the other hand, was excellent).

anyway, there's a lot of places out there with so-so support...but not a lot who are charging a huge premium for their product like Alienware does.
I got quite opposite experience with dell. Piss-poor machine but with great support