Time for a new computer

[Kickstarts-suck]

My computer died about 2 weeks ago and its time for a new one.

I was at work and saw in OfficeMax sales paper 2 computers for a good price.

1st one is

http://www.officemax.com/omax/catalog/sku.jsp?skuId=21711845&searchString=computer&category_Id=283


2nd is

http://www.officemax.com/omax/catalog/sku.jsp?skuId=21711854&category_Id=283

I want to stay in the $500 and under range because ill be buying this computer myself and dont have much money. I mostly want a computer to play Battlefield 2, surf the web, and to put my pics on and music on.

If you have another computer I should look out just let me know.

Thanks

its hard to stay under $500 for a PC. are you only using for really basic tasks? slower low end computers usually result in a frustrated user. if it were me i would save up more to have a higher price range and if you have the skills build it yourself way easier and you get everything you want for less. Of the 2 I would say HP but the Acer has a 22" monitor and the HP does not and the Acer has a bigger hard drive which is a plus. Check Newegg.com they sell whole computers or all the parts to build one yourself. I just looked and there are 28 desktop computers in the $400 - $500 range

[brian76708]

Originally posted by FoxHondaRider
its hard to stay under $500 for a PC. are you only using for really basic tasks? slower low end computers usually result in a frustrated user. if it were me i would save up more to have a higher price range and if you have the skills build it yourself way easier and you get everything you want for less. Of the 2 I would say HP but the Acer has a 22" monitor and the HP does not and the Acer has a bigger hard drive which is a plus. Check Newegg.com they sell whole computers or all the parts to build one yourself. I just looked and there are 28 desktop computers in the $400 - $500 range

i think those are both good buys personally when are you going to need more then 500 gigs and if you do you can buy a external hardrive for 100 that is the last thing i would worry about because it can easily and cheaply be upgraded. on the first one it says the processor is 2.2mghz which dosn't seem bad at all i didnt see how many gigs of ram but you can always getter more afterwards for cheap with running vista i would have at least 2gb of ram.

one thing to consider is go to a site like dell and build one without a monitor. if you are happy with the monitor on your predent computer, just use it on the new computer and save $200 to $300 on the price of a complete computer

[Quad18star]

I had mine built.

2 Gig HD,
CD/DVD burner
Windows Service pack 3 ... I didn't want Vista
Some upgraded video card , and a set of new speakers.

Cost me less than $500. I already had a new monitor so that was a bonus. My next PC I'll have built again.

[MOFO]

Originally posted by Quad18star
I had mine built.

2 Gig HD,
CD/DVD burner
Windows Service pack 3 ... I didn't want Vista
Some upgraded video card , and a set of new speakers.

Cost me less than $500. I already had a new monitor so that was a bonus. My next PC I'll have built again.

2 Gig HD??? ;) :blah:

[416exfreak]

Originally posted by MOFO
2 Gig HD??? ;) :blah:

That wouldnt work to great...:eek:

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by MOFO
2 Gig HD??? ;) :blah:

Damnit ... shows how much I know about computers.

2 Gb of Ram .

500 Gb HD

I need a new PC too, or a hard drive at least. I got mine in 2001 with a whooping 40gb harddrive. it's so bad I have to delete stuff like everyweek.

[<DRS>GPF]

neither of those talk about the graphics architecture and youre wanting something thatll play some games.

check to make sure you can upgrade the video later with at least 1 "pci-E"(pci-express) card.

for good video, look for terms like "Stream Processing Units"(800 is tops, 120 is decent) or theyll say "Processing Cores"(216 is tops, 112 is decent)

[<DRS>GPF]

Originally posted by MOFO
2 Gig HD??? ;) :blah:


sadly, i remember drives smaller than a gig.. :(

[wvspeedfreak]

The first Compaq I ever owned had a whopping 1g hd :p

[Kickstarts-suck]

I have a nice samsung 19" LCD screen now but I was just wanting a 22" :devil:


But I can deal without it.

I have a ATI Radeon x1300 pro graphics card in my old computer that I was hoping I could reuse in the new one. Also have an extra stick of memory.

I would love to build one and I was thinking about it but I just dont think I have the smarts to do it. My uncle works on computers as a living so I could get him to help me. Ill think about that.

I was checking this one out on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229056&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-83-229-056-_-Product

[hypersnyper6947]

The next computer i will buy will be a Mac. They are amazing my girl has one, we live together so i use it all the time. They really are much much better. They are just immune to viruses and pop ups, and fast and extremely user friendly. They are a bit over $500 you can get the one we have its a laptop for $999. Its worth it though.

[MOFO]

Originally posted by <DRS>GPF
sadly, i remember drives smaller than a gig.. :(


chit, I remember the days of using a audio cassette for storage to save my BASIC program's - good 'ol TRS 80. Back in the day I used to WRITE my own games from programming publications if I wanted to play a game...LOL!

I also remember using BBS systems before the internet was used by the public - my first modem was 300 baud and you used to put the phone over it to communicate... :eek2:

I'm starting to sound like an old person... :(

[brian76708]

Originally posted by MOFO
chit, I remember the days of using a audio cassette for storage to save my BASIC program's - good 'ol TRS 80. Back in the day I used to WRITE my own games from programming publications if I wanted to play a game...LOL!

I also remember using BBS systems before the internet was used by the public - my first modem was 300 baud and you used to put the phone over it to communicate... :eek2:

I'm starting to sound like an old person... :(

starting haha jk

[quad2xtreme]

Originally posted by MOFO
chit, I remember the days of using a audio cassette for storage to save my BASIC program's - good 'ol TRS 80. Back in the day I used to WRITE my own games from programming publications if I wanted to play a game...LOL!

I also remember using BBS systems before the internet was used by the public - my first modem was 300 baud and you used to put the phone over it to communicate... :eek2:

I'm starting to sound like an old person... :(

my first computer was a Commodore 64...I had 2 floppy drives and a 300 baud modem for connecting to the mainframe at WVU. The television would only handle 40 characters wide so programming was a pain. I went to school with more engineer wannabees who didn't make it because of running public BBS systems. We laughed at you audio cassette guys...old school. LOL!!!

[<DRS>GPF]

Originally posted by MOFO
chit, I remember the days of using a audio cassette for storage to save my BASIC program's - good 'ol TRS 80. Back in the day I used to WRITE my own games from programming publications if I wanted to play a game...LOL!

I also remember using BBS systems before the internet was used by the public - my first modem was 300 baud and you used to put the phone over it to communicate... :eek2:

I'm starting to sound like an old person... :(


HA! i remember those too.. my first PC was a commodore64 and the first actual upgrade i bought was a tape drive. lol

by the time our school got the TRS-80 they had 5-1/4 floppy drives built in.(like model III's or something like that)
i remember a friend of mine saying that something over 1.2gig is useless because programs arent and dont need to be that big..

i played a couple of BBS games, particularly one called VGA planets.(really ancient technology for gaming by todays standards)
i was just noticing theyve got mainstream video cards with 2gig's of memory..

itll be interesting to see the PC in another 5yrs... 40" touchscreens.. solid state terabyte drives.. id even bet that VR(virtual reality) is going to make a comeback considering the breakthroughs in processing efficiency.

[Kickstarts-suck]

Originally posted by Kickstarts-suck


I was checking this one out on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229056&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-83-229-056-_-Product

Any input?

[brian76708]

id buy it

[<DRS>GPF]

Originally posted by Kickstarts-suck
Any input?

its OK.
upgradeable if needed.



edit:

ok, i went to newegg to see what $500-n-change would buy me..(building it myself)

case & power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811162042
(this is a 180watt upgrade from the one you were looking at)

motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130130
(upgradeable to quad-core)

CPU(processor):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115132
(200mhz faster than what was in the one you were looking at)

memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231226
(faster by 266mhz and lifetime though the mfr)

video card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127379
(this is leaps and bounds faster than the one in the system youre looking at)

harddrive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262
(seagate w/5yr warranty)

CD/DVD burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106264
(comes with its own copy of Nero)

operating system:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488
(your own stand-alone copy)

$575.92 without shipping..
it was $36.xx to ship to my area, so for me it was $612.xx..

i could squeeze tighter and lose $50 - $75, but i wouldnt be as satisfied.

they really arent all that difficult to put together.