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Originally posted by daenku32: Originally posted by Giovanni:
[b]Don't expect to play games if you don't expect to pay lots of money.
You can most definately get a kick ass gaming system with a monitor for under a $1000.
Just make it a XP 1800+, 256MB DDR, GeForce4 MX or ATI Radeon 8500. Anything better than that and price begins to rise expotentially.[/b]I only have a Celeron 1000 with 256mb ram and Geforce2 MX400. I have yet to find a game that doesn't perform well. Might have to upgrade the Video Card to a radeon 7500 or something better to play Unreal 2 soon though (I'll wait and see)
Joe, 98 GL sport (V6 MTX)
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I have heard some decent things about the VPR matrix line at Best Buy. It seems like a decent computer. By the way it uses (i think) a 32mb GeForce 2 GTS-V video card.
Dells are nice too...and if you are patient they provide rebate offers once in a while which can be combined with coupons readily available on the internet. Often times, you can get a very nice system for a steal.
Im not too fond of the Compaqs, except for the fact that you can get an Athlon XP processor (which is cheaper). But most of the savings from buying the Athlon XP processor is nullified by Compaq's overcharging on other components included in the computer. If you want an Athlon XP processor system I would buy it at a computer package from an independent computer store or build your own computer.
1998 E0 Ford Contour SVT Built on 8/19/97 -- #3101/6535 Silver Frost/Midnight Blue * New Cupholders * CEG sticker =) * 9005 Philips BlueVisions * Sound System: Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X617 HU, RFosgate fnq514 components, RFosgate 6x9 3ways, RFosgate 12" sub, MTX 5ch/800w amp, 1 Farad Cap * Removed Ford emblems * Fogs w/parking lights and aimed up * Brushed Aluminum Style Grills all around * 205/55/ZR16 Bridgestone Potenza RE730's * Removed Headliner * Visit MY SVT website (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)*
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Having built a few and bought a few  my only advice is that the main companies (Dell, Compaq, Gateway, etc.) have bits that are engineered and re-engineered to work together. Your lessor made systems might have quality components but if these components don't work well together then you've got problems. It's the total package that make these babies hum! If you do decide to build a system don't forget to add the cost of software including the OS, as this adds up quickly.
Matthew W. Campbell-- bigMoney Racing -- 1999 SVT #220 "NT4UA" /O.Z. Crono Evo\'s/ /Rear Deck Sub/ -- 1972 Chevrolet C/10 Custom Deluxe-- 1980 Camaro in fewer pieces-- "If I had invested...in IBM or something like that, I would certainly have been wealthy within a decade. Instead, I bought a Porsche...and got a life" Leon Mandel
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If you do decide to build a system don't forget to add the cost of software including the OS, as this adds up quickly. XP-Home is $90...Then there is the Free-Ware edition
1998 SVT Contour E1, Black 2001 Honda SuperHawk VTR1000F "I bent my Wookie" www.mamisano.com
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Originally posted by mamisano: XP-Home is $90...Then there is the Free-Ware edition There is also the awesome MS Office alternative, Sun StarOffice. For the giant sum of, um, nothing.
Matthew W. Campbell-- bigMoney Racing -- 1999 SVT #220 "NT4UA" /O.Z. Crono Evo\'s/ /Rear Deck Sub/ -- 1972 Chevrolet C/10 Custom Deluxe-- 1980 Camaro in fewer pieces-- "If I had invested...in IBM or something like that, I would certainly have been wealthy within a decade. Instead, I bought a Porsche...and got a life" Leon Mandel
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Originally posted by daenku32: Originally posted by Giovanni:
[b]Don't expect to play games if you don't expect to pay lots of money.
You can most definately get a kick ass gaming system with a monitor for under a $1000.
Just make it a XP 1800+, 256MB DDR, GeForce4 MX or ATI Radeon 8500. Anything better than that and price begins to rise expotentially.[/b]Great advice but I'd stay away from the GeForce4 MX for gaming. It doesn't support all of DirectX 8s features. You'd be better of with a GeForce3 Ti 200 or the Radeon 8500.
Clinton
'96 T-Red Contour SE V6 ATX
'01 Radium Sentra SE
-Waiting for-
'02 CD Silver Focus SVT
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Dude, I got a Dell!  Dell 8200, 1.7G P4, 40 Gig HD, 256k Ram, 32 Meg Geforce2 GTS Video Card, Sound Blaster Live Audio Card, 40X CD Rom, 40/16 DVD, Dell Monitor, Cordless Keyboard $ Mouse, Network card, Internal Modem, Harman/Kardon Speakers, OS Software, Office XP, 3 Year Extended Warranty/Service, etc. All for just over $2,000.00 Canadian EH! Reformatted the HD once to remove all the factory installed crap and I've not had any problems from it. Regular maintenance of the OS is all that it needs, like scan disk and defrag etc. Go Dell, great computers and yes, great service! Stephen
96 Contour, GL, Zetec, ATX.
03/18/1996 Build Date.
Drop in K&N
NGK Laser Platinum Premium Spark plugs
Niehoff Premium Ignition wires
Wheel Well Air Intake Resonator removed.
*Just the beginning*
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Get a Dell, possibly through a business account, and you get all kinds of free tech support 24/7. You can call and talk about ANYTHING, any time of day! You can complain that your Mac stuff doesn't work with it. Seriously now, the Dell hardware is good. Most of the motherboards are made by Intel. The warranty is good, too. 30 days satisfaction, or full refund, etc. I'm saying to get a Dell because I used to work for them. I was tech support for about a year. I've got some horror stories, too. Feel free to produce a horror story for one of the Dell gooberz that answers the phone! P4, 256MB RAM or more, 40+ gig HD, GForce3 or higher, 16X or higher CD burner, DVD, 56k, etc. Have fun!
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I'm going to recommend Dell as well. Although I build my personal machines, we use Dell workstations at work almost exclusively. We started leasing them just over a year ago and the majority of the company now has them. In that timespan we have had MINIMAL hardware problems.
Because of the good experience at work, I had my folks buy my sister a Dell for school. Looking at this home oriented machine, it appears to be just as solid as the business workstations, though it needs a memory upgrade badly (only 128). The only real downfall as others have mentioned is uninstalling all the 'free' stuff they give you. But thats going to be with any pre-built system.
I'm really rambling here so I'll finish up, I'd say go for Dell, but if you choose to build your own machine, there are plenty of us (me included) in the area that do computer support or admin for a living and could help you out if needed. Happy shopping!
EDIT: Keep in mind your gonna be charged upwards of 100 bucks for shipping these things, probably something to keep in mind when price searching the mail order companies.
Jesse
Beltsville, MD
98.5 Silver Frost SVT
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My only reccomendation is that if you get a new machine do not get a celeron. You can get an Athlon XP processor for very competitive prices that outperform Pentium 4's clocked at even a higher speed. (On most applications.)
Try to get a 7200 rpm drive.
If your machine comes with XP make sure you get at least 256 mb ram and you'll be ok. If you can get more go for it.
Stick with those specs and you can build your own computer for a very good price or go with a name brand for more reliability than the "budget" pc.
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