Hello,
I’m looking in getting a new pc. Any suggestions? I love macs, but they are way too expensive for my budget…
Chivas989
Dell or Gateway, they’re cheap and reliable. How much are you looking to spend and what do you want to do with it?
If your budget is tight, go with one of the low end offerings from Dell or Gateway. My company builds systems, and there is no way on God’s green earth we can even BEGIN to approach the pricing they manage on the lower-end stuff. A couple months ago, we took one of Dell’s $399 machines and tried to build a clone as cheaply as possible. The clone cost us $673, and that’s OUR cost – before anyone involved in building it got paid anything at all.
However, if you can afford more machine and are looking at something in the $1500 and up range, we can build systems that compare favorably to Dell’s high-end models at just over a third of the price.
So instead of buying a $1500 Dell, talk to a local system builder, and you can probably get a system that would cost $3000 to $5000 through Dell.
Long story short, use the big name brands for low-end machines, and go to an independent for high-end. I recommend going somewhere that you can actually look the guy who builds your system in the eye.
what do you have now? If you have a monitor and speakers and junk, and it is no hurry, try dellauctions. I got one for 200 that had enough balls for what I am going to use it for.
Well, my budget is between 1800-2000 cdn. I mostly surf the net, read emails, login remotely to work and a few other things. But no heavy video/sound editing or photoshop. I might get into building websites and stuff…
Chivas look at Apple’s Ti-Books. I have one at home. Its a sweet machine. $1999 Ti-Powerbook 15inch screen 1.33 G4, 60gig HD, 256Ram, 2 Firewires, built in Airport (Apples wireless network) and a combo CDRW and DVD Reader. You can get a combo drive DVDRW & CDRW and a 12inch screen model for $1799. They are solid books.
directpc.ca has some pretty decent prices
Bought an E-Machine PC about 8 months ago and I’ve been very happy with it. Bought it at a big box store with a LCD and Printer.
I bought it on the recommendation of another forumite, so I have no worries recommending them as well.
The only issue with Dell was the delivery charges and the extra money you need to pay for all of the useful software. It works out to be the same once you add it all up versus buying from a store.
I bought a Gateway a few years ago, and unless they have changed their ways, I wouldn’t recommend them. I took my pc in for a repair to an honest repairman I trusted who told me the fan that cooled my processor was way too small. He told me that happens with Gateway, they get discounts on parts that no one else wants, then use them on their machines. It only cost me $10 to replace, but it could’ve cost me hundreds had the problem not been solved before my processor bit the dust. Again, things might be different now, I’d look into it if I were you.
Go with DELL.
Their customer service is second to none. And I’ve had a few BIG problems in the past and they have been there for me.
jaystyles
***** Computer Nerd About to show his ugly head *****
Dell = sucks
Gateway = sucks more
Apple = sucks the mostest
I know most people over the age of 30 cant deal with computers, but the BEST way is to invest some time and learn how to build your own. Its Hella more fun, you get 10 times more bang for your buck, and its EASY! its like snaping together legos.
hey, what are you doing with your pc? Is it for work with word processing, internet, casual gaming?
or do you need a really good system for video rendering, or photoshopping or anything?
i personally always custom build my own pc’s, but would recommend a DELL to someone who isnt as computer ‘savy’ ? One of the systems at my house is a DELL. and I say DELL, because they always have random deals where the system you get is awesome. For example the system i got was really good 2.4 P4, 80g HD, 256 ram(yea i know) mx420 vid card… but it had a 15in LCD and i bought it over a year ago for $650 after tax. which is insane. its for my brother so i didnt have to do much else to it. right now you build a similar system and its gonna cost only a little less and that system was for over $1000 on dell, only cuz i got 20% off here, 15% off there $100 off and free cdrw.
anecdote. but dell has these good deals every once in a while. Right now dell has a ‘server’ system thats really really good. it includes a p4 2.8ghz, 40gig HD, low level 8MB vid card and paltry 128 ram… but its only $300 after rebate!!! add say 1 gig of ram for $150 and a new vid card if you even need one for $50-150 depending on your needs and you got a great system for $500-$600. thats all USD and add tax. im not sure if that deal can be applied for CAN though.
but if you got questions, feel free.
how bout alienware.com…i hear they make some sick machines…not cheap though.
I would never buy an alienware. It’s main purpose is Gaming, and you can save at least half if not more buying the same stuff online.
you want something that’s nice? small? compact? looks good anywhere?
get a shuttle.
www.shuttle.com and add whatever you want to it. get a nice lcd panel and you’re set. forget big bulky computers… unless you’re going to overclock and so forth.
I’m sold on Dell. Their service is unreal. Just the other day my modem went out. I got on the phone, got through to someone very fast. I was on the phone for 30 minutes for the whole thing and got off the phone @ 4:30 pm central time. When I got home the next day @ 2:00pm the new modem was already @ my house! Warranty covered it too. Someone mentioned their shipping charges, just visit Dell.com on a daily basis. They run different specials continuously. I held out for two months until the deal I wanted was offered. Sometimes it a combination of free shipping, free memory upgrade, free DVD/CRW upgrade, or free 17" LCD display upgrade! This is what I held out for, did I mention no interest for 90 days! I’m sold on Dell but like I said, be patient.
BigWall doesn’t know much! Macs cost a little more but it is well worth it. Look for a used iMac G3, it will do all you want and won’t cost too much. I saw some for sale for around $500.
[quote]BigWall wrote:
***** Computer Nerd About to show his ugly head *****
Dell = sucks
Gateway = sucks more
Apple = sucks the mostest
I know most people over the age of 30 cant deal with computers, but the BEST way is to invest some time and learn how to build your own. Its Hella more fun, you get 10 times more bang for your buck, and its EASY! its like snaping together legos.[/quote]
I agree. Oh…the hatred I have for Dell and their bastard parnter in crime, Intel. My parents bought an emachine a few months ago, it isn’t that bad. I recommend an AMD machine, they are much more reliable, better performance, and cheaper than Intel.
Like others have said, it depends on the machine you want. If for office/internet, you don’t need fastest machine with all the fancy components. I assume it isn’t for gaiming, becasue if it was, you wouldn’t be consulting t-mag.
[quote]CDarklock wrote:
My company builds systems, and there is no way on God’s green earth we can even BEGIN to approach the pricing they manage on the lower-end stuff. A couple months ago, we took one of Dell’s $399 machines and tried to build a clone as cheaply as possible. The clone cost us $673, and that’s OUR cost – before anyone involved in building it got paid anything at all.
[/quote]
Dell builds them for cheap because Intel gives them parts that informed people don’t want. So Intel oh shits, but wait, they have Dell, so Dell runs a promo with these chips, and boom, instant liquidation.
I’d really appreciate if you could answer this question: Which processor does your company and/or customers prefer Intel or AMD? I’m biased b/c I’m a gamer and I also work at AMD. For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would build a system with an Intel processor.
I would like to thank everybody who took the time to reply. However, I have decided to spend a little more $$$ and get myself a Apple Powerbook…