It is hard to decide, if someone was to be looking for a new PC, tablet, laptop or desktop, which would be the best choice if these were the guidlines????


GUIDELINES:
1. 250 Gb+ Hard Drive
2. 1 Gb+ Memory
3. Pentium 4
4. 3 GHz+ Processor
5. Atleast the DVD±RW ( dual layer) & CD-ROM drives
6. 800 MHz+ Bus
7. Microsoft Windows OS
8. Under $2,500


This post has been edited by microscopic^earthling: Aug 8 2005, 05:16 AM

it needs to be a bit more specific. how can you class desktops and laptops in the same price range? i voted alienware, but it's waaaay too general. what about the graphics card? on a system like that you wouldn;t want anything less than a 128 MB PCI-express, at minimum.

Not me, I don't 'buy' a PC from a company. I would rather go and get the parts myself and assemble them myself. It's much more economical and also, I get the computer with the configuration that I want. I've got 2 computers, one at home and one at my univ, both assembled and work great.

I would say the best way to go about getting a pc for that price would be to buy individual parts. You make the machine, you decide what goes in it and what brand and its costs you a lot less. As long as you are confident enough to build it then this is always the best option i feel.

For buying out right i would have to say dell, they are probably the best out there for price and range of machines. You also get the longest warranty with them (3 years if im correct) and they come out next day if anything goes wrong. We have over 400 machines from them plus 7 servers and they have never put a foot wrong. Service is very good from them and your not sitting at the other end of a phone to them for hours on end. Online it gives you the option of a basic machine then you can add/remove parts from it.

Self made, realy, it's much better when you make/configure it yourself. You can get what you want, not more, not less (and no expensive upgrades).
Plus, if you assembled it yourself, you know your pc, it's much better when you know your hardware if an error occures.

I would vote for IBM , but the thing is that new coming IBM would be from Levono so i am not sure about their quality. If i were a gamer i would make my own Nforce based , Athlon64 System with PCI-Express and 2 Gig is RAM , 2500$ Is alooooooot of money for a desktop if you make your own system.

I would how ever caution you to stay away from the Cow (Gateway) and lesser know brands..Sony has looks but its the smae as Dell or Compaq/HP systmes. Alienware rocks but u can get better deals if you search more.

Macintosh is a totally differnt thing with differnt set of softwares. It is expensive but it is a good system for alot of desktop work (except Gaming of which many titles are not avialble)

So post us what do you need this system for and how many do you want to buy.

Yeah, like people have said before, you need to add more details. If you are going for a laptop, I would definitely go with a dell (just make sure you get a three year warranty, I have found that laptops have a nasty habit of going bad after the first year).

As far as a desktop is concerned, I would go with building your own (if possible). There are lots of step-by-step build your own pc guides online that can help you (and obviously there are many forums you can go to for help on installing hardware). One of the benefits of building it yourself is that you will be able to choose exactly what parts you want, and another advantage is that you can save quite a bit of money by doing it yourself. I have built and upgrade every single one of my machines and I have found that you can learn so much more by doing it yourself. Don't be afraid to give it a go.

Optykal is right. You will need more details.

Also, have you checked out the latest laptops and PCs? The specs are pretty average when it goes to power users but it's much better to buy your own computer parts, etc.

Let's see... if I were you, that desperate, I would go with Alienware. However, it is pretty stupid that they want you to pay for your warranty. I have to say that Alienware is VERY money hungry. Just wants to keep every penny for your PC.

Here are some guidelines if you haven't changed your mind on the branded PCs yet:

1. Alienware: hardcore gamers / power users or computers
2. Dell: More of SOHO (small office - home office) computers with average spec (by the way, what is the original word for specs? o_O) It's like a classic system if you aren't too much into gaming.
3. Acer/Compaq: I don't know about these. Some of these branches in Bangkok have closed down. Not very popular these days but they're also not for the serious gamer-type systems.

However, like others have said before, it is best to get your own computer. But! don't forget to post before you assemble your own if you have not done it before. You need plenty of experience and levelling-up in your computer hardware skills (lol j/k). Seriously, if you don't, you should at least take a good picture of where all the wires go with a camera.

It will save you a good amount of money but it's a trade with time. It took me three hours to assemble my own computer but hey, it's gonna take a lot more than that for the computer to arrive You'll also get better with computers too!

Well, at least not the Apple, as you require some Windows OS;)

If you know so well what the specs should be like, I'd go to some local vendors, explain what I need, and say what the budget is as well (make sure the budget you name is on the low side;)), and see how they react.

If anything goes wrong with your computer, you want someone else to be responsible for it, at best someone that is not living on the other side of the country. Also, if your sought combination turns out to be instable, than the vendor 'd better find out than you.

It is pretty hard for non-hardware specialists to figure out a stable combination, and the vendor should know, or have some sort of warranty.

In your case the highlights are not too specific so it shouldn't be hard actually.

That's also what I recommend : the local vendor, which is able to understand what you need and will repair if it crashes.
For professional use as well as for home playing, the ability of repairing in a short period of time is the keypoint, provided that the local reseller is not too much expensive.
There is also an alternative choice : choose the computer which is able to do the fastest backups (bootable backups on multiple DVD's) and buy the cheapest system you can find, and take somewhere enought money in order to buy a new system in case of hardware crash.