Buying a new desktop, suggestions?

[MyOwnDemon]

So, I think it's time for me to retire this computer and get a new one. I need something fast with alot of power so it's good for design work... but I'm not interested in all the little gadgets, add-ons, and port stuff. Definitely not a tech guy here. Just something practical and affordable.

Anyone have any good desktop recommendations?

 

[powell1]

I bought my current pc from Magic MICRO Computers. PC, Barebones, Computer Systems, Parts Online and it's been great. I got a pretty good deal on it too.

 

[chatmasta]

Buying the parts and then putting them together will save you a LOT of money, and that's money that can be spent on making the computer better. It's really not difficult to assemble at all, you can find guides online. All plug and play.

 

[sampunk]

Buying the parts and then putting them together will save you a LOT of money, and that's money that can be spent on making the computer better. It's really not difficult to assemble at all, you can find guides online. All plug and play.

that's true if you want the best machine that is available. If you want a good enough computer and a monitor, Dell has the best price (check this
Dell Deals & Dell Coupons, Dell System Deals & Dell Coupon Codes, Dell Laptop Deals, Dell Desktop Deals @ eDealinfo.com for deal and promotion, sometime there are really hot deal)

i buy my computer part from newegg.com, they have the best price and CS

 

[ashleybaker]

mac pros have always appealed to me. but never actually used a mac so always keep with windows boxes. And like chatmasta says... its easy to build your own (and you get exactly what you want and need (and if you don't know what you need, go to some hardware forum and get them to help spec up a system for you)).

But then, if you just want something that works and can't be bothered to build it yourself it is probably easier to just get a dell (or mac) or whatever. At least then you know it will work perfectly out of the box. (or at least you would hope... )

Even the cheapest pcs (£300-400) are fine for work (and even some games, probably) tbh.

If you do design work make sure you get a couple of monitors. So much more handy having two... esp if you do coding as wel

 

[projectv3]

depending on your budget perhaps you could check out a laptop + docking station combo?

 

[ashleybaker]

If you're using a laptop all day it kills your fingers! even with a mouse too. (for me, anyway). Unless you get a separate keyboard too. which kinda defeats the point. (unless the docking station meant this...? )

(And also, laptops are so easy to break, and so much harder to fix/upgrade. Handy though to use it wherever, and they're so cheap now)

 

[nachoninja]

Find a deal on a Dell

 

[Supergeek]

Buying the parts and then putting them together will save you a LOT of money, and that's money that can be spent on making the computer better. It's really not difficult to assemble at all, you can find guides online. All plug and play.

Wrong. You only save 5-10% at most. I built my computers for many years, since back in the early 90's, and in the last couple years the price difference isn't worth the hassle.

If you get one bad component, or set up your CPU cooling wrong, you can be out time and money.

I bought a Core 2 Duo from CyberPower PC back when they first came out, and building it would have cost almost the same as ordering from them.

If your time is valuable and you're not a computer component expert, don't bother building your own, even if you can.

 

[ChrisS]

I totally agree with Supergeek. I used to be a tech guy, had all the A+, Network +, MCP certifications etc, and I've had a hell of a time with putting together computers.

The last one was just a few months ago for my brother. The motherboard instructions were wrong, and it had a problem with the case. I finally had to take it to a shop. He spent four hours trying to figure it out. What a freaking nightmare.

It's worth it if you are geeky and want the best of everything, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it for anyone else.

 

[eric281]

I've really found that the only time it's cheaper by any significant margin is if you are using an open source operating system. 12-13 years ago I made a decent living building systems and selling them in small newspaper classifieds (i was 14-15), and back then the profit margin was much higher. The problem with that business model was that I used one copy of Windows 95 on all of them. If i was packaging them with the OEM version, I still would have made money, but now I don't think so. Dell and it's competition get so much cheaper pricing by buying in bulk that it just makes up for it. Another thing is a company like dell can have sick warranties. So most of the time when people are comparing these prices, they aren't comparing apples to apples.

Quick Dell Warranty Story - My younger brother packed up and drove back to college after the summer of 06. During his drive he fell asleep, the car rolled and the laptop was tossed from the car, and no one at the scene noticed. Someone eventually found it, and contacted dell with the service tag #. Dell sent that person a box with paid shipping. Dell received it, took the hard drive out, recovered the data, and put it all on a new hard drive in a brand new laptop. At this point they called my brother and told him the story and said that the laptop was being overnighted to him. That's an amazing warranty and amazing service if you ask me.

 

[stickman373]

I'm all for building a computer from the parts up. You can get everything exactly how you want it and you will know that there are quality parts inside. Nowadays, the margin in cost isn't that great, but look for great deals on sites like newegg and tigerdirect with rebates and you can build a solid system for a decent price.