Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches California So I Want to build a Computer

Tom's right - Dell has had some AMAZING deals on 1.8Ghz P4's (around $400) no kidding...

everything but the monitor, INCLUDING 1-3 years of next-day support...

if you can get a dell 1.8 for 400 bucks, go for it.
save yourself a lot of time and effort. espicially if you dont need a badass video card.

otherwise building a computer is always fun. enlist the help of a friend, or one of us.

if you want 2-300 gbs, you got a whole slew of options. how many hard drives do you want?
with ide, you're limited to 2 per channel(still like that right?), which also includes your cd-rom drive.
so you'd have a max of 4, and then you'd need to buy another controller card.
of course you could buy 3 80gb drives and achieve your goal.
so it all depends on what you want. this is long and rambling, so i'm gonna end it.
i think i am now going to be late for work.
look what you made me do.
thanks @$$h013

-jason

Hey where are you finding these deals at for the dell 1.8 ive been looking all over their website and I cant find it.

you have to watch the bargain sites...

www.slickdeals.net
etc...

(folks - add your favorites)

What do you think?

Computer

I think it is a bit overpriced...... but overall not a bad deal. I gotta think for $750 you can build a nicer system and pocket about $250

try ubid.com for computers as well. They have lots with bids ending around the $379 mark

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm?id=13640

P4 1.7Ghz system for $479!

That's not a bad deal. Dell desktops are decent machines, though not my favorites. As for the other white-box computers.. always check the components it comes with. A cheap high-powered computer is like a beat up 79' Pinto with a 302 in it.. sure it goes fast as **** but it's still a fuggin pinto.

Zach - you've got PM!

Has anyone heard of or dealt with A.R.T. Multimedia before (they are in Milpitas)? I always see their ads in the SJ Mercury Newspaper in the Business section. They seem to use quailty components and offer very reasonable prices. I was looking at their Super Athlon computer:
Super Athlon

Asus A7V333 VIA KT333 chipset,supports 266 FSB
256MB DDR PC2700 333MHz Ram
MSI GeForce4 MX420 64mb DDR w/TV
Maxtor 40GB ATA133 7200rpm HD
1.44MB TEAC Floppy
ATX Medium C550 w/300w case w/front USB ports
Logitech Internet keyboard
Logitech Optical mouse & Pad
Audio on motherboard
400w Speakers
Sony 52x IDE CDROM
US Robotics 56k V.90 w/voice faxmodem(#2977)
Windows XP Home Windows 98 SE
(Monitor Not Included)

AMD XP Palomino 2100+ $787
AMD XP Palomino 2000+ $752
AMD XP Palomino 1900+ $722
AMD XP Palomino 1800+ $695

I like the components of this computer...though, id probably upgrade to a 80GB HD, and 512 DDR ram.

What do you guys think? I want a nice computer before I go to college. I am really interested in quality audio hardware (i was thinking of getting the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz soundcard). Apparently this system has audio onboard the motherboard...is this any good? I am also interested in a decent/nice video card; i work in photoshop a lot and will be watching full screen DVD's (i do not think i will be doing extensive gaming, but that may well change once i get to college )...the reviews I have heard about the nVidia GeForce4 MX420 have been alright, nothing great. Should I shell out the extra $50 and get a Radeon DDR 64mb OEM 8500?

Thanks guys