My 7 year old Gateway dinasaur bite the dust. I'm looking at Dell but don't know what to get. I'm not into gaming, just want to use it for the internet , burn a few music CD's and word processing. Iv'e been on that darn Dell site a week and not sure whic to get. It's not that I'm cheap I just don't want to pay for something I don't need but don't want to be underpowered either. I do want to go with a 17' flat screen . Hey ,If you are bored and want to help build me one , let me know what you come up with. Thanks

 

Just don't go cheap and expect a hot rod.

It's kind of a personal preference thing.

A nice, well rounded computer will be about $1K.

I would get alot of RAM, a DVD player, Flash card capability, and high bus speed.

The flat screen is a must. You won't regret it.

I just bought a mid priced Dell about 9 months ago. As long as you can understand your customer service tech if you need one, you will be fine.

 

Every PC on the site will likely do what you need.

Set yourself a budget and spend it.

A few pointers...

Integrated hardware is not as desireable as the seperate components (video and audio). Pay extra for them if you can.

Avoid Celleron processors if possible.

Buy every bit of Ram you can afford.

Dual drives make CD copying easier.

Get the digital flat panel if you swing it but make sure your video card can handle it.

A Dimension 4700 is a decent starting point.

 

So how does this sound? dimension 4700 ,Pentium 4 Processor 520 with HT technology, 512mb DDR SDRAM at 400Mhz,80 GB Serial ATA Hard drive. Whats the difference between 48x cd-rw and a 16x cd-rw ? Also does anyone get a 3 1/2 floppy drive anymore? Thanks

 

I always get the floppy and speed for creating CDs on the drives

 

A couple things I would suggest is bump the ram to 1G, 512M is almost minimum any more. Also why not get a DVD burner. It will burn CDs and if you decide to start burning DVDs or use the DVD burner to back up your system, you already have it.
I would get a floppy. There are times you may want to transport a small file, but do not want to use a CD to do it.

 

I planned on the burner, isn't that what the 16x cd-rw is? Thanks

 

Dell, Gateway etc are not true IBM clones. Their parts are proprietary. I got mine out of the shop a while ago. The tech said a power supply for a Dell would be $135. One for mine would be $35.

Unless you get top of the line most of the Dell's, Gateway's etc come with the sound & video built into the mother board. If a basic computer is all you want, fine. Otherwise you need a seperate video & sound card.

A friend of mine wanted to know why my computer speakers sounded so much better than her Dell. I just gave her a look. Two reasons, I have a sound card & I paid a little more & upgraded the speaker system that came with the computer.

Check out http://www.buyabs.com/. I bought mine from them several years ago. I've gone from Win 98 SE to Win XP, added memory, a second HD & just installed a Plextor PX-712A DVD/CD burner. It's running great. I look at the new ones & get the itch. But, this one still does everything I need it to.

 

If it was a DVD burner it would say DVD not CD. It may be a a CD burner that reads DVD, but does not burn DVD.
Edit: I went out to Dell and looked at the 4700s. It has a 48X CD burner and a 16X DVD-ROM, which is a DVD reader, not a DVD burner.

 

Orlando,

Man don't do it, Haven't you read this thread?

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...hreadid=185529

If you buy a new puter you might as well have wiped your behind with the cash.

Technology!! Oh happy day.

 

So what did you order?
Mine should arrive on Monday (it's in transit)
The monitor and cordless desktop arrived today, now i'm waiting on the tower and speakers.

I'm so impatient, woo hoo!

 

Build your own. If you can change your own oil, you can build your own computer for approximately 50-60% less than ordering one from dell or gateway. If you do order, keep in mind dell's customer support is in India now, not America. You'll be lucky if you can get someone that actually understands your problem.

 

yeh those bastards cant speak english. its lik going to a autoparts store their knowledge with computers goes no further then what they see on the monitor:-p