I'm doing some looking around for a friend who lives in the US and might need a new PC soon. The thing is, I don't know where to look. She'll need an out-of-the-box PC that'll be easy to hook up. Are there any online stores in the US that sell good desktop PCs at a reasonable price? What I am looking for is a Pentium 4 at at least 2MHz with 512MB RAM, decent (doesn't have to be top-notch) video card and sound card, a decent-sized HDD and WinXP. The rest isn't all that important, and she could probably keep her current monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Any tips on where to look and what to buy? It has to be as cheap as possible though as she doesn't have a lot of cash but her current PC ... well frankly it sucks
A bit over $500.00 from Dell, new with warranty. I got a P4 2.4ghz, 256mb ram, video, 40gb, CD-RW, XP Pro, with 17" monitor for like $505.00 new in the door not long ago. It is a perfectly useful box.
on that last site, scroll down to the deals from August 9th, there is a Dell Dimension 2400 listed there that is pretty reasonable, comes with a 15" LCD Monitor too.
Well the thing is that if I look at that offer, it looks great but when I make a few changes to the basic configuration of that system, such as a larger HDD, more RAM and such, all of a sudden it's not $599 anymore but over $1000. Getting a stupid Compaq from BestBuy for $650 (no monitor, as seen on http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1055388017077&skuId=5673853&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01172 ) starts to sound better than it did before I checked Dell.com
Well the thing is that if I look at that offer, it looks great but when I make a few changes to the basic configuration of that system, such as a larger HDD, more RAM and such, all of a sudden it's not $599 anymore but over $1000.
LOL, I was going to make a similar post--after I customized it with the things I thought were necessary, it came out to $989 or something (before rebate, though).
But the specs on the Dell were pretty good if you aren't a heavy user, I think.
I'm no big Compaq or HP fan myself, but don't you think it'd be wiser to go for that bestbuy deal than to get a Dell? Sure, the 15" TFT monitor's nice, but since her current monitor's still good (and a new 17" CRT monitor doesn't cost much anymore either) she could stick with that and get a much better computer that she can use longer because it won't have to be upgraded as soon.
When I bought my own PC a couple months ago (I posted about it here), I went to Dell too and made a similar configuration as what I'd just bought. Dell was almost twice as expencive, even though I had to buy a seperate 17" CRT monitor with my PC. In their commercials Dell talks about how they can be cheaper than others by leaving out the middle-man... I'm sure they can be cheaper, but right now it looks like they've just taken over the roll op the middle-man too and thereby make a bit extra profit
We generally get all our PC's from Infotel (recently acquired by Tiger Direct, but still operating independently). We've bought enough from them over the years that we have our own account rep, which is pretty nice when you have a special request.
--Jördan It's a wasted day if you don't spend at least part of it flying upside down.
Personally, I like to buy each piece I want in my PC (CPU, mainboard, RAM, graphics card etc.) and although this would sound like a very expensive way I never found an out-of-the-box pc that was cheaper than the config I put together!
One thing I found out for people who aren't computer experts (especially when it comes to both software errors and hardware issues) is support. so, FutZle, if your friend is just an average pc user with almost no knowledge of how things work in the background, I'd say she should go with a package (like Dell's for example).
I can't find any site for a computer-selling company called infotel (all telephone-related companies) but TigerDirect had some nicely priced computers too. Are they (TigerDirect) reliable?
As much as I hate to say it, I'd probably go with the one you checked out at Best Buy. Since you're not able to build her a computer from thousands of miles away and since the Dell is too much money, that's probably the way to go. I can't believe I'm telling someone to buy an off-the-shelf computer from a computer store. I'd definitely recommend Dell but evidently the lower-priced models are not enough for what your friend needs.
I can't find any site for a computer-selling company called infotel (all telephone-related companies) but TigerDirect had some nicely priced computers too. Are they (TigerDirect) reliable?
I've ran into a lot of people that buy stuff from Tiger Direct. They seem to have a good reputation.
she might be able to do with the budget PC for a while, it's not like she needs or can afford a top-notch PC, but I'm looking at the future too, and then a basic PC like what Dell sells just won't last very long. I'll give her some tips next time I talk to her and let you know what she wants to do, although I won't be able to resist telling her what I'd do
however, I just discussed similar questions on a local forum of the hardware market. most guys there built the machine themselves and one thing I noted is, all the guys say if you are building a pc for a young lady who actually knows nothing about the hardware, all she demands is Intel P4, a LCD if she/you would like to spend the extra cost, and good looking case/mouse/keyboard. They pay no attention of other configurations as long as they feel it's as fast as similar machines. ( I suppose they will feel so simply as it's a P4
Sure these young ladies are average pc user playing few games and doing no designs etc.
One proudly built an AMD one for her girlfriend in college and asked in the forum for others' opinions. All said she'd be disappointed though it's as fast and costs much less. Same thing happened to my girl friend when we were to buy a new pc for her paper works and internet activities. The first two thing she mentioned are a P4 and a LCD.
lol bjlt, Pentium 4 is probably the only thing a lot of people know because of commercials that praise that processor. They probably want a TFT/LCD monitor because of the little space they take up, but as you said, you won't buy one unless you have the money for one and need the extra space. It's the same with Windows XP... I talked to someone (also a girl) the other day who asked me how she could upgrade to Windows XP. I told her to go to the store, buy the upgrade, and read/follow the installation instructions in the box. She then told me she'd thought it was free, like MSN Messenger's recent upgrade.
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Posted - 11 August 2003 : 20:48:37
