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PC Reviews/Info

ChileMass

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This is about as "Miscellaneous" as it gets - anyone out there know of a good website or discussion board that reviews computer products? In plain English, preferably. I am in the market for an upgrade to my home PC and there are a lot of deals out there, but there's also a lot of conflicting information, much of it from the manufacturers. Any sites where I can get objective info that is readily-understandable would be appreciated.
 

Greg

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One word: Dell. I'm an IT Professional by day and can certainly help you configure a system based on your needs. What are the primary uses going to be? e.g. just Email, Web, basic word processing? Or higher end stuff like digital image editing, digital video, gaming? Let me know. I'd be glad to help and can even recommend an inside sales rep for you to contact. PM me.
 

Max

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Here's a good site to look for deals when you get close to what you want. Even though I don't own one, I agree with Greg that it's hard to beat Dell's current pricing. And some of it can be found at the site I have listed here.

http://www.gotapex.com/deals.php

Max
 
S

stoopid

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As greg offered, I am a PC enthusiast before I'm a hiker :p... and I work as a tech support analyst by trade... anyway, I'm qualified to give you advice is all I'm saying.

Dell does make a decent desktop, but if you're looking for nothing more than something to surf the web, just get one of those cheap Walmart special emachines for like $400 (even includes a monitor). My feelings are that if you're going to spend more, find a relative/friend you trust that's a PC hobbyist and have them custom build it. There are NUMEROUS advantages to custom building (tech support's cheap, it's usually that same friend/family member coming over for dinner... "Oh, and Pat, can you look at the PC real quick, it's giving me some I/O error at startup...") 8)

There's a lot to this, but I do need to say that if you're looking for a single site to make yuour mind up you won't find it. Most websites are either overclocking/enthusiast related, or 'paid for' by the prebuilt manufacturer to promote their product (ie --the reviews are heavily skewed to favor a product that really is not worth the money).

One problem with buying prefab machines is their idea of tech support -- put the install cd in the drive and reinstall EVERYTHING. Kiss your data goodbye, say hello to at least an hour's worth of your time GONE, plus the loss of all the data that may have been recoverable.
 

Greg

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stoopid said:
There are NUMEROUS advantages to custom building (tech support's cheap, it's usually that same friend/family member coming over for dinner... "Oh, and Pat, can you look at the PC real quick, it's giving me some I/O error at startup...")
My feeling is there are more disadvantages here. Namely, your friend may claim to be proficient in this stuff, but exactly what are his/her qualifications? I can also tell you from experience, but it gets old quick when people ask for PC help just because they know I work in the field. I don't mind helping close friends and family, but it often starts to trickle down to "hey, my cousin's friend's dad's computer......".

Granted, some of the initial tech support people from the big companies may not be much help, but at least there is a channel to eventually get the help you need. You often get three years warranty on parts too and you won't get that from a friend that builds you one. The big players are so competitive nowadays that you're not going to save that much anyway.

Also, try to envision what you may want to do with it down the road. Web may be the primary use now, but you may quickly find that you may want to get into digital imaging or video, or even gaming. You'll definitely want hardware that will support that if you think you might get into it. The software for some of that stuff is so easy to use now so don't be intimidated by the technology...
 
S

stoopid

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Sorry Greg, me and you obviously come from two completely different PC worlds.

Because I disagree with so much in your post I'm just going to walk away from this thread.
 

ChileMass

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New PC for CM

Greg -

BTW - I bought a new PC this weekend (doing my part to kick-start the economy). Turned out that Dell was significantly more expensive, so I bit the bullet and actually bought a PC from WALMART! An HP Pavilion model 335 with 2.5Ghz Pentium 4, 80GB hard drive, 15" flat screen, 256MB RAM, CD RW, etc etc. The package was only $798, so I just couldn't find anything better at a comparable price. With what I saved I bought a nice Lexmark 5150 3-in-1 unit, which makes nice photo and regular copies. I can't believe I bought a computer from Wallyworld, but it's fine for the family and for what I need in a home office.

One last thing - can you recommend a cheap source for a legal copy of MS Office basic version? There are a lot of discount software websites out there that look pretty suspicious, and I am opposed to downloading it for free off Kazaa, etc. Is there anywhere out there where Office can be purchased for less than $200?

Thanks as always for your help -

CM
 

Greg

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J

jlangdale

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I'm actually a former Compaq employee and I'm another Dell fan. Their support is top notch.

However, I'm more of a Mac person personally. But when I do PC stuff at work I'm more often than not on a Dell and last two places I've worked we've gone with Dell servers.
 

ChileMass

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Greg -

Actually, I have to admit I had been using a pirated version of Office I got from a friend, so I am starting from scratch. Those "stores' certainly have a range of prices. I kinda need to quickly upgrade the software that came with the PC, so I am going to do some more research on this.....any recommendations would be appreciated.
 

Stephen

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I recommend Dell to those who are not savvy and just want a computer.

Otherwise I always build myself. For reviews, I often look at Tom's Hardware Guide (http://www.tomshardware.com/). For prices, it's Pricewatch (www.pricewatch.com). There are certain vendors on there I'll never buy from (again), but the majority of them have been straightforward.

Pics of my PC are at:
http://www.dunhom.com/newpc/

I'll give ya the specs if ya really want.

-T
 
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