PC Buying Recommendations...

[Chief Rum]

Hey all,

My mom's looking for a new computer, so I thought I would help whittle down the fiedl by asking you know-t-alls of your favorite sites to go do computer shopping.

She is looking for an Internet and Office machine, and doesn't need high end stuff to run games or anything like that. She is open to either buying a desktop or a notebook.

She would like to buy a regular make (PC or Athlon) with good technical service (as we have had some bad technical service experiences).

Where would you guys recommend going for something like this, wityh a balance between the above considerations and price being of primary concern?

Thanks in advance.

CR

[pennywisesb]

CR, try going to Frye's (Sp?). They are all over LA and I've heard nothing but good things from them from my friends who have bought computer stuff there. Apparently their prices are pretty good and their selection is really good too. I hear they have a "bad taste" tax for any Angel fans which may be an issue however. :eek:

Josh

[Deattribution]

www.cyberpowerinc.com seem really reasonable price wise, and where I was going to purchase before deciding to do it myself.

I've heard both sides of the fence as far as tech support, but you'd have a difficult time finding a place with cheaper prices that allow you to customize to fit your needs as much as they do.

[Rich1033]

I dont know anything about Dell's support, but I just bought one from them on monday. They had a nice sale, though I am not sure it is still going.

This was for $755 and free shipping.

P4 2.8 GHz
1GB DDR SDRAM
80 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
48x CD-RW Drive
16x DVD-ROM Drive
Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Card
3 year at home warranty (didnt really want it, it was with the package)
No monitor

Everything else on the computer was just the stock options.

[Danny]

Dell has a good reputation for desktop PC's.

I've been going to Fry's since their original opening whatever number of years ago. While once good, now, Fry's does not have very good prices compared to what you can get elsewhere and their service is abysmal.

There are a lot of highly rated resellers online that you will likely be able to get good prices from. Newegg is the best, but you will have to pay sales tax which means it wont be the best deal.

[Lathum]

Dude-get a Dell

[pjstp20]

Dell has a good reputation for desktop PC's.

I've been going to Fry's since their original opening whatever number of years ago. While once good, now, Fry's does not have very good prices compared to what you can get elsewhere and their service is abysmal.

There are a lot of highly rated resellers online that you will likely be able to get good prices from. Newegg is the best, but you will have to pay sales tax which means it wont be the best deal.Ive never payed sales tax at newegg, but I live in Florida. If you live in California or Illinois I think you have to pay, not sure though. Plus don't get a desktop at newegg unless you want to put it together yourself.

I got a barebone system from Cyberpower and I don't have any complaints. It shipped fast, nothing was missing, and it has run great since I bought it. I can't comment on the tech support because I never used it but I heard that it's not the best. I did ask them a couple questions via e-mail and they did reply within two days, but most places will do that.

A place that I've been hearing good things about is Monarchcomputer.com, and it looks like their prices are pretty reasonable. It's based in GA so you won't be paying any tax in CA. You should also check out the computer section on ResellerRatings.com. It has customer reviews on every e-tailer and retailer on the planet. A must resource for computer shopping in my opinion.

[Alf]

I'd recommended a laptop. Those come relatively cheap now, and since she is not a gamer, she won't need to upgrade the graphic card or whatever is rquired in ages, so laptop would be my choice.

[sterlingice]

Dell's really gone downhill with support the last couple of years since oursourcing all but their high end support. However, they still got the top rating in PC Magazine this year.

As for laptop or desktop, be prepared to pay $400-$600 just for having a laptop. The fact that it's not really upgradeable shouldn't matter since it's your mom and it doesn't sound like she's going to be doing any tinkering any time soon. But at the "low end" of acceptable in PCs from major manufacturers will run you about $700 right now while you'd be hard pressed to find a non-crap laptop for under $1100

SI

[Hoya1]

I got my pc from Tiger direct. I like everything about the system. I also had a good experience with the tech support.
All the pcs are configurable also
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=1307

[gstelmack]

Dell. I'll either build it myself, or get a Dell.

[jeff061]

Dell. I'll either build it myself, or get a Dell.

Agreed.

[CAsterling]

Dell's really gone downhill with support the last couple of years since oursourcing all but their high end support.

I agree completely, there level 1 support for home users is less than useless, it took me 4 months to get a memory problem fixed (3 months of that was trying to convince their level 1 it was a memory problem) because their techies didn't understand how to do diagnostics.

The PCs are good, but their level 1 support sucks

[Alf]

SI : you have fairly decent laptop affordable starting at 750-800€ in France.

[scooter]

I've purchased computers from MicronPC for a number of years (my wife and I have 3 between us). They are out of Idaho, and they used to have prices that were pretty competitive with Dell, etc (I haven't bought a new PC in about 2-3 years). I've never had to use their tech-support (that's a good sign) so I can't recommend them for that, but I've been completely satisfied with the computers themselves.

I think right now, a number of the major manufacturers are doing back-to-school sales and rebates. It could be a great time to buy a new PC.

As far as laptops go, I bought a Toshiba from CompUSA last November for like $1000 (after all their damn rebates!). I love it. It was probably "last year's model", but the specs were very competitive. I still check the ads in the paper each Sunday, but I've yet to see better or equal specs for a better price.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Although I'd only build one if it were for me, for light users who only need a reliable, passable system, I'd vote for Dell. I had two of them before and they both were reliable, trouble-free systems. Actually, they're both still working, even though the oldest one is about ten years old now.

I just priced out a Dell P4 system for my grandmother for about $600 delivered. Something like this (http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&kc=6V588&l=en&oc=D24SO&s=dhs). (I'd probably add some RAM to that one.)

[daedalus]

If you are up to building one yourself, you should be able to do so fairly cheaply with NewEgg stuff. Possibly building one out of a Shuttle SFF barebone system.

If you are not then Dell may be a good choice. If it is not a rush, then I would keep an eye on GotApex. They come up with good Dell deals frequently. If you are patient enough, there are frequently deals where LCDs are thrown in.