Posted on 01/03/2006 7:10:43 PM PST by Sally'sConcerns
I am looking at buying the computer linked below and need some feedback. I'm not very computer savy.
I only use the computer for browsing the web and email. My son took a look at this computer and he stated it had enough power for him to play his online games when he comes to visit.
I would appreciate any feedback or information. Thanks!
But I'm sure your son would much rather have the XPS 400 for only $969! :-)
You should pick up a 100 lot of dvdrs and cdrs.
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It has an integrated ATI graphics chip. I think these are based on the ATI 9600 chip set, kind of low-end graphics but if you're not playing Quake 4 then it shouldn't be an issue. This system will have plenty of power for the basics.
It has become increasingly difficult over the last half year to operate a Windows box safely on the web, unless you spend some effort fighting the various spam, trojan, virus, spyware, malware, ... and other stuff. I just spent 3 days cleaning up 3 of the Window's PC's in my family that were almost unusable with infestations of multiple bad programs.
It's almost to the point where the simple "web, document and email" user wanting to minimize time and money spent would be better off with a Linux box.
For simple "web, docs and email", you don't need more memory -- 512 Mbytes will be enough, running Windows XP. It will be more than enough, running Linux.
Your son playing online games when he comes to visit however puts a wrinkle in this. First, it means you must have Windows, so forget my Linux sermon above. Second it means that this box really isn't enough, unless you son is fairly tolerant of minimal games hardware. Third, it increases the effort you will need to keep your computer from being overrun by bad software. Fourth, you do not want to be doing anything sensitive, like online bill paying, Quicken (to track your money) or TaxCut/TurboTax to do your taxes on a system that is not definitely safe from bad software.
Contrary to what one poster suggested, this machine cannot be upgraded that much, because its power supply is weak and cheap. Adding a good video card, more memory and a bigger faster disk drive will risk making the machine unstable (crash when working hard, especially on warm days). It looks to be a "300 Watt" power supply that is not from one of the companies specializing in good power supplies.
Few gamers will tolerate playing on a system using onboard video for long. Heck, I won't even tolerate doing just web and email on such a system for long. I have some onboard video systems where I tried to save money by not getting a dedicated video card, and the screen display was just too fuzzy, due to the low video bandwidth. I ended up adding a video card to those systems.
Most games will run much better with 1 GByte of main memory, not 512 MBytes (which is one-half of 1 GByte).
If you weren't doing games (or your son wasn't), then 80 GBytes of disk might be enough. My wife is running on such a disk, doing just a few pictures she likes from my sons digital camera, and is a long way from filling up that little drive. Start doing much storing of pictures, or adding games, and you will wish you had a few hundred GBytes. Start storing video, and you will want ten times that (multiple really big disks).
The basic distinction in this class of system is games, or not games. You can put together a decent "web, document and email" box, like the one you point to, for $500. Just adding "games" to that mix makes it about $1000 - for about twice as much memory, twice as much disk, twice as good video, and twice as much power supply. Add to that the problem that keeping a system safe from bad software is more than twice has hard if you have a young male doing online gaming than if you have his mother doing simple stuff on the web.
So you really need to decide whether or not to spend the extra money to support the gaming or not. Despite your sons reassurances, he probably won't be happy with this system for gaming for long. I build and maintain several gaming systems for my son and his friends, and they play online games many hours at the table next to me.
The fans look ok - the fan hole above the processor on the side panel is nice. So I wouldn't worry about that.
Whoever said AMD is bad, Intel is good, is full of it. I run both, and both are fine. Right now in fact, AMD has the lead over Intel in several product categories. To be honest, you will never notice the difference. Not even I notice the difference. I honestly don't know whether the box I am typing on right now is AMD or Intel - I have some of both in front of me. I have to poke around inside the hardware configuration menus to see which is which.
Intel CPUs are running hotter these days, but they run fine left on overnight. That's no issue, unless something is broken with a fan or such. And even then, the CPU will just slow down if it gets too hot, without any harm caused.
Get a macintosh!
bttt
Rather I would purchase already built computers from a place such as MonarchComputer.com, that specializes in selling computers, not parts. Monarch is highly rated on ResellerRatings.com, and another company I have been a happy customer of for a long time. Here are a couple of choices that I would recommend to your consideration:
| Monarch Furia Value Desktop Special(AGP) | $528 |
| Monarch Adversary Value Gaming Desktop Special (PCI-E) | $871 |
Notice that this Gaming system has about twice as much disk, memory, video and power (its Antec 480 power supply is worth twice what a no-name 300 watt supply is worth).
The best thing, however, would be to call Monarch. Unlike Newegg, Monarch will have phone representatives who know what they are talking about, and who can help you decide on something reasonable, given your needs. They will provide you with more accurate and useful advice than you can get off a FreeRepublic thread.
And your son might be able to play pong.
LOL
Macs are generally the best computer system for most users, and the new systems should be affordably priced.
Stay tuned.
I think you can go to a Frys or Best Buy and get that same level of computer for about $350. Open boxes could be cheaper.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Office automation, web browsing, document editing, accounting, tax preparation and many other such applications can be run that way just fine, just by cranking up the amount of memory and getting a faster processor. But gamers already push their Intel chips as fast as they can go, with as much memory as they can afford, and the fastest graphics.
Unlike the professional multimedia developers and increasingly the home media center buyers and other consumers of quality products that "just work", gamers are cheapskates, pushing to get as many bits, cycles and pixels per buck as they can get. The polish matters only within the game. The hardware and operating system platform matters little, beyond being the fastest, cheapest most widely supported platform available.
That means running native Windows at this time, on Intel or AMD x85 architecture CPUs. Microsoft has worked hard for this particular monopoly. It is at its apex now, and will not fall quickly.
AMDs w/ x2 dual cores rock. I'm saving for one right now. Intel is slipping.
Sure, if that's what they need. Silly waste, if not.
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I would not recommend Best Buy at all. Way too high pressure sales tactics.
Fry's tends to have some cheap stuff that they sell at heavily advertised low prices, and a broad stock of other stuff, at decent but not especially low prices. I'd avoid buying there unless you know what you are doing, or its the only way to get what you need right away.
When I can wait a few days, I buy from Newegg (for components) and places like Monarch (for prebuilts).
Ratings at Resellerratings.com:
I recommend sticking with retailers having ratings of 8 or 9.
Best Buy 2.00 CompUSA 2.28 Walmart 3.30 Dell 4.12 Hewlett Packard (HP) 4.14 Fry's (Outpost mail order) 6.60 Monarch 9.19 Newegg 9.25
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