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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,816
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,816 |
I don't want to go ahead and say Dells are the best. But I voted them b/c it's the best out of the other choices IMO.
Prebuilt I think Dell has a good cost/value. Look around on Ebay for computer parts and you'll find a gazillion HP/Compaqs that are inop. I dunno if HP just sells off it's warranty returned stuff instead of fixing them and selling them refurbished (like Dell), but there sure are a lot of them on Ebay.
Check out the Dell outlet, sometimes you can find a great deal on a refurbished system. Picked up my laptop for $1247 shipped. One month old... sold for more than $2400 new. Dunno why it was returned, but nothing really wrong with it (besides what I did to it... damn headphone jack has a short now...).
EDIT: thought I'd give ya a heads up too.
Emachines is owned by Gateway now (dunno if the systems are the same...)
Compaq is owned by HP. Compaq systems are the same as HP, just don't have the bells & whistles the "higher end" HP systems do. Will probly have cheaper sound/video cards also.
Dell Latitude notebooks are made by the same place that makes the old IBM Thinkbooks (i.e. quality). Targeted for buisiness. Means lower end video/graphics.
Dell Inspiron notebooks are made by a lesser quality manufacturer, but are targeted at consumers.
Last edited by Kane; 08/10/05 06:44 PM.
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 937
Veteran CEG\'er
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Veteran CEG\'er
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 937 |
A Dell with a P4 is your best bet. I would avoid the Dells with the Celeron processor. These are the budget PCs. You know the ones that are $499 for the whole package. I at one time had a Celeron and it was very slow with everything. I didn't even game with it. When your looking for a PC look for free upgrades such as more memory or a bigger hard drive. That could save you some money as well.
Former owner: 1999 Contour SE Sport
Current: 2000 Eclipse GT
There are three ways to do things: the right way, the wrong way, and the Max Power way!
Isn't that just the wrong way?
Yeah, but faster!
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,065
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,065 |
Spend the money and get a good Dell. However, if you get a laptop, spend the money AND GET THE EXTENDED WARRENTY!!!!! I can't stress that enough! That is the one mistake I made with my current computer.
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,317
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,317 |
Dell if you MUST get a pre-built... But you can save at least $100 if you build your own. usually alot more
~Ryan
1999 T-Red SVT Contour
41k Miles #1701 / 2760
B&M, Custom Y-Pipe, Alpine HU, Pioneer 6x8's & 6x9's
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 5,143
Addicted CEG\'er
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Addicted CEG\'er
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 5,143 |
ibuypower.com
DO NOT GET A DELL! I have had and heard of so many problems from them. I run a small business repairing computers, the majority of computers I get that have major problems are Dell's. In my experiance, I have found their primary problem is the hard drive failing, I had a friend with a latitude 1100 laptop he got on sale for $600. Not a bad price for a new laptop... He had a 1 year warrenty.. The week after the warrenty expired his computer started stalling a lot, and making noises, I told him I would look at it for him for free.. the noises he was hearing were the bearings on the hard drive taking a dump. He just said "screw the laptop" sold it to his friend for $200 then gave me that cash and got some cash from his parents and said "build me a really fast studio mixing system" so I did, and to this day the computer runs reall well. if you want a really good custom built PC without any hassle... go to Ibuypower.com and put your personal touch into the specs of it.. I would suggest getting an Athlon 64 system.
98 Corolla LE 1.8L DOHC 1ZZFE
TEIN H.Tech Springs
Tokico HP series Struts
Short ram air intake
Tsudo Axel Back Exhaust
... if a jelly fish stung me.. would you pee on the wound?
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 688
Veteran CEG\'er
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Veteran CEG\'er
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 688 |
I currently have a computer from Cyber power inc. (www.cyberpowerinc.com) and love it, Hasn't given me any troble as of yet. They are also running some deals due to school comeing about check out this AMD Rig. Gamer rig for 775 of course no monitor. but use the extra you would spend on a dell get a nice monitor and maybe add a few goodies, theres a list of extras you can choose from.
2002 Ford ZX2 5spd (2nd baby)
Former owner of 1998 Mystique (never filled the shoes on my first love)parents traded for new sable
Former owner of 1996 Mystique(My true baby  )
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,889
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,889 |
If you want to DIY, this is one of systems I'm building this weekend for a customer.
Great performance with lots of headroom for future growth.
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 1.8GHz 1GHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor $146.00
Motherboard: CHAINTECH VNF4/Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra SATA RAID 8:1 surround $83.00
Memory: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM $86.99
Videocard: SAPPHIRE 100110L-GN-H Radeon X300SE HyperMemory 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI-E $52.50
Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 $53.00
Optical drive: NEC Dual format CD/DVD recorder $43.99
Windows XP Home $91.00
Cables,cooling system, misc shop supplies $20.00
Modem $9.00
Generic case with 450 watt power supply $60.00
Floppy drive $8.50
$653.98 my cost.
If you're up to the task this is a really nice setup and not to hard on the wallet.
99 Contour Sport SE MTX
KKM filter, B&M shifter
No res, BAT kit
Green car silver hood (because silver is faster)
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,423
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,423 |
If you can wait for a great Dell deal, they are hard to beat price/performance. Often times, you need to skip the upgrades from Dell and buy them separately. A friend of mine got a P4 2.8 w/HT, 512MB RAM, 4700 w/ 19" DVI LCD for $540. One cannot build systems this cheaply.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,605
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,605 |
Originally posted by APT:
If you can wait for a great Dell deal, they are hard to beat price/performance. Often times, you need to skip the upgrades from Dell and buy them separately. A friend of mine got a P4 2.8 w/HT, 512MB RAM, 4700 w/ 19" DVI LCD for $540. One cannot build systems this cheaply.
Like hell you can't 
#3162 of 6535
98 SVT Silver frost
Viper Responder 791 w/ 2way remote start 
Let the modding begin!
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 31
New CEG\'er
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New CEG\'er
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 31 |
i just bought an hp livestrong pc... 2 ghz, 14in widescreen... cost to me = 1099
plus 50 from each cpu goes to the livestrong foundation...
its pritty sweet
if you decide laptop
Nextel gives discounts to almost every buisness out there, (help me fight bordum at work!) if you work for a decent sizied company send me a pm of where and ill look it up and see if you get a discount! just because i love my CEG family.
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