Where to Buy a New Computer?

wbatl1 · 02-01-2004, 01:37 PM

Do yall have any recommendations for me on where to shop for a new computer-preferably online. I do not have the time nor ability to build my own. Thank you very much.

The_herd · 02-01-2004, 01:41 PM

Its all going to depend on several things. What its going to be used for? Price you are willing to pay? Which type of processor you prefer, if any? How upgradable do you want it to be? And how customizable do you want it to be?

Danny · 02-01-2004, 01:45 PM

Dell is usually pretty good, but I build my own

wbatl1 · 02-01-2004, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_herd

Its all going to depend on several things. What its going to be used for? Price you are willing to pay? Which type of processor you prefer, if any? How upgradable do you want it to be? And how customizable do you want it to be?

I want a computer that will run most/all games, but not at the highest graphics level. BY this I mean, I want a functional, good but not awesome, computer. I am willing to pay a good amount for a computer that is like this, and that I will be able to use for a long time. Custimization is the reason I am trying to leave the Brand Name computer sellers, beacuse it is darn neaer impossible for me to find the right upgrade.

The_herd · 02-01-2004, 01:49 PM

I have a Dell now and its been pretty good for the 2 years that I've had it, but as was discussed on here about a month ago, I recently purchased a new video card and found out I couldn't run it because they went cheap on my power supply. I've also found that upgrading is near impossible, so I'm going to start building my own soon.

mckerney · 02-01-2004, 01:51 PM

Call Dell, ask for Kevin.

Godzilla Blitz · 02-01-2004, 01:53 PM

I've bought two Dell desktops and have been very happy with their performance. My mother-in-law is still using the first one, which has got to be ten years old now. Never had a problem with either of them.

Like The Herd said, they are limited as to their upgradability, although I would think that is true of any of the major brands, no?

Good luck with your decision.

Raiders Army · 02-01-2004, 01:55 PM

Alienware's prices are around the cost of Dell's computers. I had a Dell, and now an Alienware, and they're both good machines. The Dell I had to reformat every 6 mos. I've had the Alienware for 8 mos, and haven't had a problem....yet.

VIKING FAN · 02-01-2004, 02:08 PM

If you do happen to buy in-person at a store, don't buy from Circuit City. If you have problems and have to take it in, they send it to somewhere in Illinois for repair. Took 28 days to get mine back!

amdaily · 02-01-2004, 02:09 PM

I custom configured one at www.americancomputech.com. Great price and no problems thus far.

BigJohn&TheLions · 02-01-2004, 02:48 PM

Dude, get a Dell. I am totally thrilled with both my Dells. Previous HP & Compaq's were garbage...

Barkeep49 · 02-01-2004, 03:04 PM

I have a Dell XPS and have been very happy in the 9 months I've had it now.

Ramzavail · 02-01-2004, 03:05 PM

Dell definitely - if you buy a computer at a store - you will get ripped off.

jeff061 · 02-01-2004, 03:11 PM

I'd get a Dell. I'm a bit of a PC nerd, so i'm not really a fan of pre-built pc's in general. But Dell consistantly scores tops in the business for support, they have decent prices, and sell some nice hardware.

Going the Alienware route you can get some crazy powerful systems if you want to drop the cash, but i haven't head flattering things about their support. I'm assuming support is important to you if you don't have the ability to build a system.

Ryan S · 02-01-2004, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbatl1

Do yall have any recommendations for me on where to shop for a new computer-preferably online. I do not have the time nor ability to build my own. Thank you very much.

I would avoid Dell or any of the other "big names".

Look for a website that allows you to custom configure your PC. You will probably end up with a better system for less money than going for a brand name PC. You also stand a better chance of knowing exactly what is inside your PC.

Since I am not in the US, I don't really know of any good sites for this, but I am sure somebody will be along shortly to help.

jeff061 · 02-01-2004, 03:27 PM

But once again, when it breaks good luck getting it fixed. Just don't buy Compaq/HP, they are expensive and their support sucks.

SunDancer · 02-01-2004, 03:32 PM

Isn't Dell going downhill in service quality?

jeff061 · 02-01-2004, 03:36 PM

I know its tempting to rag on the big names. But Dells strong point for the last decade has been their support. Conversley Compaq's major shortcoming was their support.

TazFTW · 02-01-2004, 04:05 PM

Dell's power supplies are under rated. I know that the ones they rate at 250W can put out around 345W.

http://www.ibuypower.com is another custom config place. Heard some good initial impressions.

jeff061 · 02-01-2004, 04:09 PM

Well just to throw other options out there. http://www.ilevelup.com/

Don't know to much about it, pretty new company. But the guy who runs it is a good guy who i've seen post at large and small gaming sites asking for opinions.

Barkeep49 · 02-01-2004, 04:12 PM

Looks like they just sell cases there although I've heard good things about them.

jeff061 · 02-01-2004, 04:18 PM

Ah yeah, You're right. Oh well.

The only place i buy from is http://www.newegg.com

.

lynchjm24 · 02-01-2004, 05:12 PM

The GF just bought a new dell with a pentium 4 and a flat screen monitor for $725.

Greyroofoo · 02-01-2004, 05:21 PM

Go to a local community college, there are always local techies that will custom build a computer for ya

Tasan · 02-01-2004, 05:49 PM

If you go that route, I could custom build you one. PM me if you are interested. I do this all the time locally for friends and various people.

Solecismic · 02-21-2004, 04:07 PM

Anyone heard anything about Velocity Micro? I've been hacking away on this p2 for three years now, and it's time for an upgrade.

RawIsDan · 02-21-2004, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

I have a Dell XPS and have been very happy in the 9 months I've had it now.

Same here. My past three computers have been Dell's.

Craptacular · 02-21-2004, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RawIsDan

Same here. My past three computers have been Dell's.

Think I'm on 4 or 5 now.

WussGawd · 02-21-2004, 04:43 PM

I've got five Dells in my house, all of varying age. I think they give you a better bang for your buck than most.

Taur · 02-22-2004, 12:23 AM

So, the rumors of Dell moving their tech. support over to India are false?

I thought I heard that Dell was moving their entire Tech Support department over to India. Most computer experts were then expecting a major, major downgrade in service quality.

stevew · 02-22-2004, 12:36 AM

Buy a Power Mac.
For a shade under 10K you could get a smokin! machine.

• Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5
• 8GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 8x1GB
• 2x250GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
• ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
• Apple Cinema HD Display (23" flat panel)
• 56k V.92 internal modem
• SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
• Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English
• Mac OS X - U.S. English

Subtotal $9,695.00

Seriously tho, Apples are pretty nice, though Ive never run the Windows emulator on mine.

21C · 02-22-2004, 12:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taur

So, the rumors of Dell moving their tech. support over to India are false?

I thought I heard that Dell was moving their entire Tech Support department over to India. Most computer experts were then expecting a major, major downgrade in service quality.

I bought a Dell in Australia. I was very happy with the price and options but it experienced some early problems when going online. When I rang the tech support, I dealt only with technicians in India. All was fixed by them and it has been going well ever since - although there were some communication problems on both sides when getting things sorted ( please - no Aussie jokes

).

I would imagine then that there is some truth to your reports.

gabeschw · 02-22-2004, 08:32 AM

I also recommend Dell, and if you want to save some money, I have been very happy with the refurbished system I bought from them. It was indistinguishable from new when I got it, and I believe they offer the same warranty and technical support on the refurbished systems as they do on the brand new ones. The only negative is that you have to choose from what is currently available, and can't customize it at all. Whenever I've looked, there has been a good selection, though.

condors · 02-22-2004, 06:48 PM

i got an alienware pc and if i had to get another pc today i would look there first(and probally last)

wig · 02-22-2004, 06:49 PM

I heard alienware is crap when it comes to service

Young Drachma · 02-22-2004, 07:36 PM

I bought a Sony Vaio laptop from Best Buy. I obviously wasn't going to build my laptop, I didn't have a lot of money to spend and the day I went there, the machine I bought was marked down to just over $600 (after pesky rebates....but I sent them in).

So it really depends on how much you want to spend and what you're looking for in a machine. Store bought machines aren't the worst, especially if you're not doing a lot (and in my case, know how to configure it so the crap pre-loaded goes away).

But I worked in Systems for four years in the Air Force and in all the years we ordered machines, the Dells we had worked great, rarely gave us problems and if they did, their tech support was always very responsive.

Not trying to be a Dell fanboy, just sharing perspective. Good luck making your choice.

AZSpeechCoach · 02-22-2004, 10:31 PM

I've been very happy with my 3 Compaqs. I wouldn't know about crappy service because 2 of the 3 have never needed service, and the other one had a Best Buy service plan. I might be lucky.

Easy Mac · 02-22-2004, 10:34 PM

I bought mine from www.cyberpowerpc.com

Its been a great PC, got everything I needed and things I dont without a huge price (like an LCD temp display, too many lights and fans, a memory card reader even though I have no media to read). It seems very similar if not the same as Ibuypower.com

WussGawd · 02-22-2004, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taur

So, the rumors of Dell moving their tech. support over to India are false?

I thought I heard that Dell was moving their entire Tech Support department over to India. Most computer experts were then expecting a major, major downgrade in service quality.

Yes, Dell has moved Tech Support to India.

Solecismic · 02-22-2004, 11:20 PM

I'm not so concerned about tech support, because either the computer is getting shipped back because it's broken or not what I ordered, or I'm keeping it. That's more of a sales department question. So Dell has a certain appeal, though I'm concerned because they spend so much on advertising and their prices are merely okay.

Alienware I heard builds extremely nice computers, but takes forever to ship them. I'd like my new computer before the Ides of March. I don't want to skimp on the motherboard, or on the number of ports/card slots available.

IBuyPower.com looks very tempting, as does cyberpowerpc.com (though Cyberpower does seem to have a rash of customer complaints recently). Do people have recommendations on motherboards?

BishopMVP · 02-22-2004, 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

I bought mine from www.cyberpowerpc.com

Its been a great PC, got everything I needed and things I dont without a huge price

Same here. From my experience, they are a little shoddy on the putting together of the machine (one CD Drive won't open on its own) but I'm very satisfied with the rest of it.

baystatebuckeye · 02-26-2004, 11:52 AM

Jim,

Have you considered building your own? You probably know a hundred times more than I do about computers and it only took me a couple of hours to put one together.

I bought all my components from newegg.com. They have the best prices I could find and I had everything delivered in three days!

As for the motherboard, I have an ASUS mb and an Intel 2.8 chip. It works great.

02-01-2004, 01:41 PM	#2
The_herd College Starter Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Fort Lackland, Texas (San Antonio)	Its all going to depend on several things. What its going to be used for? Price you are willing to pay? Which type of processor you prefer, if any? How upgradable do you want it to be? And how customizable do you want it to be? __________________ Oakland Raiders: HFL's 1970 AC West Champs

02-01-2004, 01:49 PM	#5
The_herd College Starter Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Fort Lackland, Texas (San Antonio)	I have a Dell now and its been pretty good for the 2 years that I've had it, but as was discussed on here about a month ago, I recently purchased a new video card and found out I couldn't run it because they went cheap on my power supply. I've also found that upgrading is near impossible, so I'm going to start building my own soon. __________________ Oakland Raiders: HFL's 1970 AC West Champs

02-01-2004, 03:11 PM	#14
jeff061 Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: MA	I'd get a Dell. I'm a bit of a PC nerd, so i'm not really a fan of pre-built pc's in general. But Dell consistantly scores tops in the business for support, they have decent prices, and sell some nice hardware. Going the Alienware route you can get some crazy powerful systems if you want to drop the cash, but i haven't head flattering things about their support. I'm assuming support is important to you if you don't have the ability to build a system. Last edited by jeff061 : 02-01-2004 at 03:12 PM.

02-01-2004, 03:27 PM	#16
jeff061 Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: MA	But once again, when it breaks good luck getting it fixed. Just don't buy Compaq/HP, they are expensive and their support sucks. Last edited by jeff061 : 02-01-2004 at 03:30 PM.

02-01-2004, 05:49 PM	#25
Tasan College Starter Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Houston, or there about	If you go that route, I could custom build you one. PM me if you are interested. I do this all the time locally for friends and various people. __________________ 2011 Golden Scribes winner for best Interactive Dynasty

02-01-2004, 01:45 PM	#3
Danny Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Dell is usually pretty good, but I build my own

02-01-2004, 01:51 PM	#6
mckerney Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000	Call Dell, ask for Kevin.

02-01-2004, 01:53 PM	#7
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	I've bought two Dell desktops and have been very happy with their performance. My mother-in-law is still using the first one, which has got to be ten years old now. Never had a problem with either of them. Like The Herd said, they are limited as to their upgradability, although I would think that is true of any of the major brands, no? Good luck with your decision.

02-01-2004, 01:55 PM	#8
Raiders Army Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: The Black Hole	Alienware's prices are around the cost of Dell's computers. I had a Dell, and now an Alienware, and they're both good machines. The Dell I had to reformat every 6 mos. I've had the Alienware for 8 mos, and haven't had a problem....yet.

02-01-2004, 02:08 PM	#9
VIKING FAN n00b Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Ventura-like'Minna-SO-ta'	If you do happen to buy in-person at a store, don't buy from Circuit City. If you have problems and have to take it in, they send it to somewhere in Illinois for repair. Took 28 days to get mine back!

02-01-2004, 02:09 PM	#10
amdaily College Prospect Join Date: Nov 2003	I custom configured one at www.americancomputech.com. Great price and no problems thus far.

02-01-2004, 02:48 PM	#11
BigJohn&TheLions College Benchwarmer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: New York	Dude, get a Dell. I am totally thrilled with both my Dells. Previous HP & Compaq's were garbage...

02-01-2004, 03:04 PM	#12
Barkeep49 Coordinator Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Not too far away	I have a Dell XPS and have been very happy in the 9 months I've had it now.

02-01-2004, 03:05 PM	#13
Ramzavail College Starter Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Strong Island, NY	Dell definitely - if you buy a computer at a store - you will get ripped off.

02-01-2004, 03:32 PM	#17
SunDancer College Benchwarmer Join Date: Sep 2002	Isn't Dell going downhill in service quality?

02-01-2004, 03:36 PM	#18
jeff061 Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: MA	I know its tempting to rag on the big names. But Dells strong point for the last decade has been their support. Conversley Compaq's major shortcoming was their support.

02-01-2004, 04:05 PM	#19
TazFTW Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Honolulu, HI	Dell's power supplies are under rated. I know that the ones they rate at 250W can put out around 345W. http://www.ibuypower.com is another custom config place. Heard some good initial impressions.

02-01-2004, 04:09 PM	#20
jeff061 Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: MA	Well just to throw other options out there. http://www.ilevelup.com/ Don't know to much about it, pretty new company. But the guy who runs it is a good guy who i've seen post at large and small gaming sites asking for opinions.

02-01-2004, 04:12 PM	#21
Barkeep49 Coordinator Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Not too far away	Looks like they just sell cases there although I've heard good things about them.

02-01-2004, 04:18 PM	#22
jeff061 Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: MA	Ah yeah, You're right. Oh well. The only place i buy from is http://www.newegg.com .

02-01-2004, 05:12 PM	#23
lynchjm24 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Hartford	The GF just bought a new dell with a pentium 4 and a flat screen monitor for $725.

02-01-2004, 05:21 PM	#24
Greyroofoo Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Alabama	Go to a local community college, there are always local techies that will custom build a computer for ya

02-21-2004, 04:07 PM	#26
Solecismic Solecismic Software Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Canton, OH	Anyone heard anything about Velocity Micro? I've been hacking away on this p2 for three years now, and it's time for an upgrade.

02-21-2004, 04:43 PM	#29
WussGawd College Benchwarmer Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Avondale, AZ, USA, Planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy	I've got five Dells in my house, all of varying age. I think they give you a better bang for your buck than most. __________________ "I guess I'll fade into Bolivian." -Mike Tyson, after being knocked out by Lennox Lewis. Proud Dumba Elect of the "Biggest Dumba of FOFC Award" Author of the 2004 Golden Scribe Gold Trophy for Best Basketball Dynasty, It Rhymes With Puke.

02-22-2004, 12:23 AM	#30
Taur High School Varsity Join Date: Jan 2002	So, the rumors of Dell moving their tech. support over to India are false? I thought I heard that Dell was moving their entire Tech Support department over to India. Most computer experts were then expecting a major, major downgrade in service quality. __________________ END OF LINE.....

02-22-2004, 12:36 AM	#31
stevew Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: the yo'	Buy a Power Mac. For a shade under 10K you could get a smokin! machine. • Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5 • 8GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 8x1GB • 2x250GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm • ATI Radeon 9800 Pro • Apple Cinema HD Display (23" flat panel) • 56k V.92 internal modem • SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) • Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English • Mac OS X - U.S. English Subtotal $9,695.00 Seriously tho, Apples are pretty nice, though Ive never run the Windows emulator on mine.

02-22-2004, 08:32 AM	#33
gabeschw n00b Join Date: Nov 2003	I also recommend Dell, and if you want to save some money, I have been very happy with the refurbished system I bought from them. It was indistinguishable from new when I got it, and I believe they offer the same warranty and technical support on the refurbished systems as they do on the brand new ones. The only negative is that you have to choose from what is currently available, and can't customize it at all. Whenever I've looked, there has been a good selection, though.

02-22-2004, 06:48 PM	#34
condors College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	i got an alienware pc and if i had to get another pc today i would look there first(and probally last)

02-22-2004, 06:49 PM	#35
wig Banned Join Date: Jan 2004	I heard alienware is crap when it comes to service

02-22-2004, 07:36 PM	#36
Young Drachma Dark Cloud Join Date: Apr 2001	I bought a Sony Vaio laptop from Best Buy. I obviously wasn't going to build my laptop, I didn't have a lot of money to spend and the day I went there, the machine I bought was marked down to just over $600 (after pesky rebates....but I sent them in). So it really depends on how much you want to spend and what you're looking for in a machine. Store bought machines aren't the worst, especially if you're not doing a lot (and in my case, know how to configure it so the crap pre-loaded goes away). But I worked in Systems for four years in the Air Force and in all the years we ordered machines, the Dells we had worked great, rarely gave us problems and if they did, their tech support was always very responsive. Not trying to be a Dell fanboy, just sharing perspective. Good luck making your choice.

02-22-2004, 10:31 PM	#37
AZSpeechCoach College Prospect Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Phoenix	I've been very happy with my 3 Compaqs. I wouldn't know about crappy service because 2 of the 3 have never needed service, and the other one had a Best Buy service plan. I might be lucky. __________________ The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they'll be when you kill them! Visit Stewart the Wonderbear and his amazing travels http://wonderbeartravel.blogspot.com

02-22-2004, 10:34 PM	#38
Easy Mac Registered User Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Here	I bought mine from www.cyberpowerpc.com Its been a great PC, got everything I needed and things I dont without a huge price (like an LCD temp display, too many lights and fans, a memory card reader even though I have no media to read). It seems very similar if not the same as Ibuypower.com

02-22-2004, 11:20 PM	#40
Solecismic Solecismic Software Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Canton, OH	I'm not so concerned about tech support, because either the computer is getting shipped back because it's broken or not what I ordered, or I'm keeping it. That's more of a sales department question. So Dell has a certain appeal, though I'm concerned because they spend so much on advertising and their prices are merely okay. Alienware I heard builds extremely nice computers, but takes forever to ship them. I'd like my new computer before the Ides of March. I don't want to skimp on the motherboard, or on the number of ports/card slots available. IBuyPower.com looks very tempting, as does cyberpowerpc.com (though Cyberpower does seem to have a rash of customer complaints recently). Do people have recommendations on motherboards?

02-26-2004, 11:52 AM	#42
baystatebuckeye n00b Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Chelmsford, MA	Jim, Have you considered building your own? You probably know a hundred times more than I do about computers and it only took me a couple of hours to put one together. I bought all my components from newegg.com. They have the best prices I could find and I had everything delivered in three days! As for the motherboard, I have an ASUS mb and an Intel 2.8 chip. It works great.

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