New Computer time

[bopicasso]

So my six year old desktop bit the dust about two weeks ago. I decided to order a dell from there webpage. I customized the one I wanted and placed the order. But the order is delayed for the second time. It wont arrive till mid August!!! I cant take it anymore, I have been without my media server for to long, im having music withdraw. Is Bestbuy a ripoff? Im debating just heading up there and picking one out...
Any recommendations before bestbuy opens????

[polktiger]

If you buy from Bestbuy, I wouldn't let Geeksquad touch it. From friends and family that have purchased there, I have heard only problems and complaints. But these are also people that are familiar with using computers, but really know nothing about computers. So, I expect part of the problem/complaints are user related.

Used to be you got a bunch of preloaded crap from Bestbuy. Anymore, Dells are coming that way too with trial ware and other junk to be cleaned out before using the machines.

[billbillw]

Do you have any Microcenter stores near you? Their custom builds are pretty nice and priced accordingly. You could also try to build one yourself. Computers are not nearly as complicated as some people think. These days it basically:

Case+power supply
Motherboard
CPU+heatsink
Memory
Hard Drive
DVD/CD ROM/Burner

If you are a gamer, then you'd look one step further and get a video card, but most people can live with integrated graphics these days.

The only other thing you need is software. IMO, Windows 7 is extremely easy to install and most of the driver support is built in.

[bopicasso]

Is it really cheaper to build your own, im actually on new egg right now shopping diy computers. Without the windows software they run as much as the complete computer from a box store.. If it was cheaper I would definately take this route.

[billbillw]

Is it really cheaper to build your own, im actually on new egg right now shopping diy computers. Without the windows software they run as much as the complete computer from a box store.. If it was cheaper I would definately take this route.

Its not cheaper. Its just better. Better quality parts, truely customized to your needs, no bloatware from the factory. Just a clean OS and the software of your choosing!

To put together a system and keep costs in check, you really need to shop the sales. Microcenter and Frys are leaders in low cost Motherboard/CPU combos. Frys has new sales every Friday, plus some through the week. Microcenter has new sales every Tuesday (and sometimes Friday).

The caveat is that the best prices are usually in-store only. Frys has some available to ship, but not near as many.

[bopicasso]

I decided to check out the local box stores to see if any had a good deal.
I went to bestbuy, target, and walmart with no luck, all over priced towers with slow processors in my price range.
Decided to check out office max on the way home and bingo. They had the HP p6330f on sale 30% off. Regularly 700 onsale for 500. It came with the Intel i3 530, 6gb ram, and 1tb harddrive.
Im erasing all the crap as we speak and transfering all my music.

[mrbiron]

It all depends on what you general use of the computer is going to be. If you are the average internet surfer, word processor, i'd head out to the local box store and grab something simple. You won't need 6 cores to run your daily life and would be able to get away with a basic dual core computer. You just need to figure out what your use is going to be, then go from there.

If you are the above average user, media, code writing, graphics, you will NEVER find a computer in store that will do what you want it to do. That is where the DIY comes in. Like stated above, it is rather easy. Most components will only fit into 1 slot so you really can't mix that up.

One word of caution, just like the people on here, it can become an addiction depending on your level of involvement. I would know, just finished my 10th step getting away from it and now i am trying to spend my clams on audio equipment....i think computers are the lesser of two evils.


Computers Anonymous helped me and can help you too!

BTW - Gaming rigs are a different breed altogether!

[billbillw]

I decided to check out the local box stores to see if any had a good deal.
I went to bestbuy, target, and walmart with no luck, all over priced towers with slow processors in my price range.
Decided to check out office max on the way home and bingo. They had the HP p6330f on sale 30% off. Regularly 700 onsale for 500. It came with the Intel i3 530, 6gb ram, and 1tb harddrive.
Im erasing all the crap as we speak and transfering all my music.

Sounds like you did OK. Quick fix, instant gratification.

One other thing I didn't mention, regarding a benefit of building your own is the ease of incremental upgrades. I've been using the same case now for something like 5 or 6 years. In that time, I've upgraded the motherboard once and upgraded CPUs twice, brought the memory up, new SATA burner, added multiple hard drives, put in a few different video cards, and one new power supply in it. I feel my current configuration is quite competitive with current offerings. (Core2Quad/P35MB/4GB ram/9600GSO) I rarely go more than 2 years without some sort of significant upgrade to keep my system from getting long in the tooth. I just wait for clearance sales on certain components.

[jflail2]

Sounds like you did well for the $. Enjoy!


+1 to what bill said about upgrades, but I've not even had to go as far as mobo/processor on my old desktop machine. I had it for 4+ years, and the only things i added were a better video card, sound card and more ram. Everything else was from my original build.

I'm a laptop guy from here on out, so no more building my own machines...

[billbillw]

I'm a laptop guy from here on out, so no more building my own machines...

Say it ain't so! Sorry to hear that...
I like laptops, but for what I do, a laptop would never keep me satisfied.

[bopicasso]

Basically, I really dont need much from my pcs. Im continuing my education and spend time researching, writing, and reading online. Other than that i take part in basic browsing and media streaming. I use my desktop to serve media to my ps3. I would like to build a pc someday. But I was running out of patience being without my media server for 2 weeks and just jumped on the first deal. I spent all morning shopping for different pieces to build a pc. Even though I dont need the capabilities my new pc is capable of, its just nice to know that it can perform if I need it to.
I opened my case and it has room for upgrade. The low point of the model I bought is the powersource is only rated at 300w. If i made any significant upgrade that would probably be the first.
I just hope this pc last another 6 years like the previous it replaced.
Thanks for the comments and help!

[renowilliams]

Say it ain't so! Sorry to hear that...
I like laptops, but for what I do, a laptop would never keep me satisfied.

I hear ya. I like having a full tower machine for my media encoding and general workhorse. I also have a duel core laptop which my wife usually uses.

[polkatese]

I've a Dell Dimensions 8400 from 2004, it is a P4 added the RAM to 4GB, installed Windows 7, add 2TB HDD, and voila, continue humming. As much as I want to upgrade it to a i5, I've no excuse. My wife uses it more to browse and check her email. I have all my family videos transferred to the HDD.

Next desktop would be an iMac, if and when.

[jflail2]

Say it ain't so! Sorry to hear that...
I like laptops, but for what I do, a laptop would never keep me satisfied.

I hear ya Bill. I used to be vehemently against laptops as it was much easier for me to upgrade a desktop. Alas, 6+ years in an office environment where I stare at a PC all day everyday has broken me from wanting to game (or do anything really) on my PC at home.

As such, I use it for surfing the polk forums, googling answers to random questions, music for ipod and news. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am of the "email and music" crowd for home pc usage...

[billbillw]

I hear ya Bill. I used to be vehemently against laptops as it was much easier for me to upgrade a desktop. Alas, 6+ years in an office environment where I stare at a PC all day everyday has broken me from wanting to game (or do anything really) on my PC at home.

As such, I use it for surfing the polk forums, googling answers to random questions, music for ipod and news. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am of the "email and music" crowd for home pc usage...

I guess I can understand that. I don't game much (at all really) any more, but I do a lot of photo, video, and audio work at home. Its all the stuff I can't do at my job ;)

For that I find I need multiple hard drives, a large color accurate monitor, and a fast quadcore CPU. I currently have 3 internal drives and one external. I actually took one out recently.

[hockeyboy]

I just had the guys at Cyberpowerpc.com build my machine. Had some hiccups with the power supply but in all 2 grand well spent. This machine is super fast with all the bells.

[DSkip]

There are other benefits rather than easy upgrades. Having a better BIOS that allows for overclocking is a great value when building your own. I was able to build a system (including a 20" hp lcd monitor) for $400. I already had the operating system so that helped, but it runs like ones that were $800 at that time. I was also able to get slightly over a 1 ghz boost on my CPU by overclocking.

Choosing a case to your liking is a plus as well. Mine is not flashy by any means, but instead built to silence all the components. When its on, you don't even hear it.

I just had the guys at Cyberpowerpc.com build my machine. Had some hiccups with the power supply but in all 2 grand well spent. This machine is super fast with all the bells.

That's quite an investment. I told my wife about a "dream" build I had going for a computer and it ran that high. I didn't much care for the look in her eyes after that.

[Sherardp]

I spent around 1600 bucks on my current rig and it screams fast( AMD 965BE) . SSD paired with 750gb Caviar black and all. Rocking a GTX 275 Nvidia card all in a nice Antec 902 case. Just bought a 1tb drive to use as a media drive. Congrats to you guys and those screaming fast rigs.