Need a new Desktop, my laptop is dying a slow death....

[FinanceDude]

I checked the search area, the last thread was a year ago. Where's the Bunny when I need him?

I would like to run Windows 7, and would like a fast chip and a wide screen monitor of at least 20 inches. Other than that, I am not going to do gaming or anything like that on it.......

Ideas? I think a dual core or quad core Intel chip would be great.........

[calmloki]

Re running Wdoze 7 - my understanding is that you really want a 64 bit chip to allow useful RAM capacities beyond 4 Gig. Probably not an issue for you, my bottom feeding computer shopping a couple months ago it was an issue. Per normal for us, anticipate upgrading all your peripherals after learning the new backward compatible gimcrack really ain't.

[FUEGO]

From a quick search at slickdeals, this came up for $300: HP PAVILION SLIMLINE S5120F Desktop, AMD Athlon X2 7750 Dual-Core Processor, 4096MB, 500GB, NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE Graphics with 128MB, Windows Vista Home Premium, Factory Refurbished - NP187AAR#ABA - Buy.com

Comes w/ vista, but otherwise it should do the trick per your specs. Nice processor - not the absolute latest and greatest, but dual core and relatively fast (ranked at the mid level of "high end CPUs"). Should work fine for word processing, spreadsheets, internet, email, photos, etc. You'd need to buy a monitor. Watch for deals, you can probably snag a 20-22" sucker for $100-$150 pretty easy.

Bestbuy had a laptop deal yesterday for a decent midrange laptop for $250 WITH windows 7. But only a 15" screen. May still be available in your area (they had a few left where I am in store only).

Also, Black Friday should present plenty of computer deals. I imagine target, walmart and the like will have plenty of $300-$400-$500 desktop computer bundles from dell, hp, etc.

FD, how much are you looking to spend? That may help with figuring out what you can get. $400 for a desktop+monitor is probably the least you'll see. $600 will get you a lot more. $1000 will get you a beast of a system.

[W2R]

I remember the bunny recommending reconditioned desktops at Dell (I think).

Either way, Dell is always a good option.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I remember the bunny recommending reconditioned desktops at Dell (I think). Either way, Dell is always a good option.

Yes; their outlet has pretty decent prices. And they have a special 15% off coupon valid on their outlet computers right now (desktops and laptops) if you know someone who has one (or you buy one off ebay/ejunkie). I got a sweet netbook a while back for ~$200 from the outlet.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I remember the bunny recommending reconditioned desktops at Dell (I think). Either way, Dell is always a good option.

Yeah. I'm not too keen on their recent slashing a lot of jobs locally in order to expand in India and China and elsewhere, but as much as I'd like for that to be a criterion for determining what I bought, if I insisted on that I'd have no options at all, most likely.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 Yeah. I'm not too keen on their recent slashing a lot of jobs locally in order to expand in India and China and elsewhere, but as much as I'd like for that to be a criterion for determining what I bought, if I insisted on that I'd have no options at all, most likely.

Hey, it's hard to make a nice $300 computer if you have to pay people the wages we are accustomed to in the USA!

[FUEGO]

Financedude, here's a fairly beastly machine for $400 smackers. Still has vista but it apparently includes a free upgrade to Windows 7. Nice fast quad core intel chip. Roughly 2x more processing power than the $300 rig I posted earlier. Note it also does not include monitor.

PC Connection - Aspire M5700-E5801A : 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Quad 4GB RAM 750GB hard drive

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO Financedude, here's a fairly beastly machine for $400 smackers. Still has vista but it apparently includes a free upgrade to Windows 7. Nice fast quad core intel chip. Roughly 2x more processing power than the $300 rig I posted earlier. Note it also does not include monitor. PC Connection - Aspire M5700-E5801A : 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Quad 4GB RAM 750GB hard drive

Looks like what I need. I am hoping to keep it at $600 or less with monitor. Is Acer a good brand? Don't know much about them......

Will all my XP programs and files run on Vista?

[REWahoo]

FD, for what it's worth, the bunny said Acer is a decent brand. They have been working hard to gain greater market share and he bought one of their laptops (for his kid) and said it had held up well.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude Looks like what I need. I am hoping to keep it at $600 or less with monitor. Is Acer a good brand? Don't know much about them...... Will all my XP programs and files run on Vista?

$400 for a computer and another $150-200 for an on sale 24" monitor.

Acer is decent. Probably up there with all the other big manufacturers now. They are all likely made of similar parts from China and assembled in similar factories in China or Malaysia or Indonesia.

Most stuff will run on Vista. I have a couple of xp machines and a vista machine and I have yet to find anything that won't run on Vista. It isn't too bad, plus you can upgrade for free to W7.

I'm running a very similar Dell with quad core and it is more power than you need for non-games assuming you don't do a lot of video rendering or 3D CAD/modeling. You'd need a better graphics card to do any of that high end stuff anyway.

[Disappointed]

Fuego: Look at this deal.
The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

I like the Dell Vostro line as it does not come with all the useless softwares that do nothing but cause the bootup time to take longer. It costs $479 and it comes with 20" monitor. I think the deal is for today only.

The website "dealcatcher.com" is a good site to watch for computer deals.
mP

[FinanceDude]

What about this one?

Dell OptiPlex Intel 2.6GHz PC, 23" LCD $599 - dealnews.com

[MichaelB]

Acer is a global brand. Acer and Dell are the ones that drove IBM out of the low end business and home market.

How long do you plan to keep the computer and how much video processing do you need? Maximum memory on the lower priced intel chips is 4GB, which is a lot today but can be a limiting factor if you want to keep the machine in productive use for more than 3-5 years.