How Much for a new PC?

[Big Don]

My baby is making odd fan noises and otherwise acting up. She's (holy crap) seven years old. How much is just right for a new one?
the games I occasionally play are all little flash games online, I don't do any hardcore mathematics, I web surf and email and occasionally do a little minor (crop/red eye/ nothing fancy) photo editing.
My monitor, keyboard and speakers are fine so I won't replace them. I want a plain Jane type, function over form case. Is $750 enough or would $1000 still be better. I won't buy a box computer, no Dell, Gateway or HP.I know a guy who has a shop and he'll do me right, but, business is business and I wanted a couple of more opinions than his...

 

[Carol]

Not enough info to be able to say. It depends on what you're looking for and what you are getting for the money, what kind of service guarantees are offered, what the guarantees cover and how long they are good for...

 

[Big Don]

Not enough info to be able to say. It depends on what you're looking for and what you are getting for the money, what kind of service guarantees are offered, what the guarantees cover and how long they are good for...

Any and every time there is a hardware problem he fixes it as fast as I can get to his shop, he swapped out my cd rom drive last year (6 years after purchase) come to think of it, I did bring a six pack of beer, although I drank half of it... so Really Really good service.
I don't really do much. I read the news, look at gadgets online, play a couple of flash games, nothing that would make me a power user. I don't really need the power and speed my current computer is capable of. I watch some Youtube videos, now and then download an ebook. I'm just kind of a plinker...

 

[Bob Hubbard]

$300-1,100 at Dell.

I've seen comparable rates at Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.

 

[MJS]

$300-1,100 at Dell.

I've seen comparable rates at Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.

Sounds about right to me. Of course, given the state of the economy, it may be wise to order directly from Dell, rather than risk BB and CC.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

CC I heard was bought by Blockbuster, though I dont have confirmation on that.

 

[Carol]

Don,

Service like that is first class...assuming the guy stays around and is good to his word. Sounds like the kind of fellow that will take care of you as much as he possibly can.

The reason why I mention service is...sometimes it seems its nearly as expensive as the PC. My mom loves her old Dell, so I've got my eye on a new desktop for her from their outlet store. The desktop is about 365, with a year of service (24 hour response). I want to add a couple years on to that (to keep her from calling me!!). Dell wants something like $225 just for the extra two years of service.

If you have the specs of the differnt PCs, then perhaps we can make a more objective call as to whether its a good deal. Off the cuff, it sounds like you'd do OK with the lower priced machine.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Some suggestions.

- More RAM is always good. 2-4GB minimum, especially if dealing with VISTA.
- SATA drives. IDE/EIDE/ATA are older slower tech.
- More USB ports is always good. Make sure they are 2.0 or 3.0 USB.
- Integrated Modem & Network card are usually fine.
- For casual sound needs, integrated sound is ok, but if you're an audiophile, look into add-on sound cards.
- Go for seperate CDRom and DVDrom drives if possible. While DVD drives can run CD's I've noticed some minor performance hits. Integrated DVD/CD burner is fine though.
- If you want some extra performance, go with a non-integrated video, with it's own dedicated memory.

Been a while since I last speced out a system so I can't offer much in the way of specifics.

 

[Sukerkin]

Some good advice above, ladies and gents.

Don, if your machine is seven years old then you won't believe the changes that have occurred in PC hardware as it's been driven by the gaming industry.

I'm sitting looking at my home network and figuring out that I'm looking at thousands of pounds worth of kit that is now almost valueless. Even the machine that I'm using now (that is also my gaming platform) is miles behind the curve.

What I'm getting at is that for a few hundred pounds you will be able to get a PC that far exceeds your user requirements. Indeed, one of the buget laptops would do you fine.

 

[Big Don]

Indeed, one of the buget laptops would do you fine.

I've considered that, but, as I rarely go anywhere would feel dumb having a desk bound laptop...
Work-home-dojo-home-repeat
really need to consider getting a life along with a new computer...
Thanks, everyone for the advice.
My friend Charles, the one with the shop, is very good and I have sent a fair bit of business to him so he always takes very very good care of me and mine, he's just that kind of guy. My first computer in 98 was an IBM Aptiva (teh Aptiva from Hell) I am so over mass produced/ big name computers...

 

[Grenadier]

Since you're not a hardcore gamer or someone who needs advanced 3D graphics, there are several packages from Dell that include a nice LCD monitor, for low prices:

http://www.xpbargains.com/best_deal.php/dell_desktop_deals.htm

Even the 300-ish deals would be more than plenty for your work, such as this one:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...n&s=bsd&oc=brcwa1p&dgc=BF&cid=7421&lid=197378