i know what i want, or, i guess what im willing to buy. i know alot about computers, i just am lacking knowlage about specific brands. im going for the $699 machine from dell or IBM. they are about the same. upgradable to my satisfaction. i know dell is anti gun, but i might have to go aginst my usual style and ignore that, if its the better machine. i hear dells got the best customer service. any input on whick company is best?

I have an HP that has had a lot of problems, but I suppose anybody can have trouble. If you call them to get a repair they do not try to help you. They try to get rid of you. I have averaged about 2 months of calling every day, once a day for each repair. Not buying HP again. They merged with Compaq, which I have heard is even worse.

Build a machine yourself. You'll like it much better.


I know i do!

Well, if I had a choice between the two, I would get the Dell.  I know they constantly rank top in reliability and customer service.  I know many happy people that use Dell but I don't know anyone using IBM. So I guess you can't go wrong with Dell.  Its too quick to conclude that Dell is anti-gun.  If you are referring to the incident with gun shop owner recently, its their EXPORT department that screwed up.  But it doen't reflect on their company policy.  If they feared that their computer was being exported to terrorist overseas, they should've contacted the buyer and confirmed whether ultimate destination is US or overseas before just cancelling the order. My previous job was export of defense articles so I know how strict the export law is.  I bet you the guy at Export Department got fired for this incident because he failed to do whats necessary.  He should've contacted the buyer and confirmed at least following info.

1) What is the computer going to be used for?
2) Is it for export?
3) Is the buyer on the black list for illegal exporters?
4) Is the ultimate destination on the "do not ship to" countries list?

Micron XP+ Creative Studio Powered by An AMD Athalon 1900 with Quanti speed architecture, XP Home Edition. Great for graphics, sound, reliability, and speed!

I have an IBM Aptiva K6-2 450 and a Dell P3-500.  Both have been reliable, but I prefer the Dell.  Documentation support and any needed downloads for the Dell are readily available online. I use the Dell as a small server and it has been very easy to find needed drivers, etc.

P.S.  If you enjoy being the red-headed stepchild, buy a Mac! [;)]

I got one of [url=www.emachines.com]these[/url].  Computers you don't have to think about.  The top of their line, the T-4155, has one down from leading edge everything, video card, etc.  I opened it once, to see that it had all it was supposed to.  Hooked up to a cable modem, you have to work real hard to beat it.

Looks like they pumped 'em up a bit since I got mine.  T4200 with a 2 gHz processor.

i almost put "NO MACS" but decided not to. lets not let this degenerate into a mac vs PC fight.

as for the uses, just normal everyday stuff. i want to get back into online gaming. this       ga(y)teway 400 Pentium 2 machine don't have the horsepower to keep up, even in older games. also, my current 5 gig HD is quite irritating.
I would like more than 20 gig, but I will settle for now, I can always upgrade. same with memory, the $699 machines are packin a 128 dimm, so later i can stick up to 1.5 gig 'O' ram in.




been there, done that. not for me, but i have built for other people. i have been through A+ cert class, so i am quite capable. i just don't have the time or interest right now.

You have mail!!

I hope this will help.

Get a Super DELL and youwill NOT be supporting anti gun companies like Microsoft, Dell, etc.

I'll second the refurbished idea.  I bought one from Micron four years ago.  It was about 1/3 less than the exact same machine would have been brand new.  Warranty was exactly the same except for three day service instead of next day.  The video card went out after about a year.  They had it to me in two days.  If I were buying name brand again, I'd go with a refurb.

I just ordered a new computer from a seller that has one of those ebay stores.  Very good deals there.  This particular stored offers a three year warranty which is about as long as a computer will work for me.  I'm a programmer and need a fairly up to date machine to get my work done reasonably fast.  For my $950 I got a 1.8GHz Pentium 4, 80gig hard drive, 512MB DDR RAM, 64MB video card, 32x cd burner, dvd player.  I'm going to a local shop to get a used 19" monitor for about $100 or so.

Misanthrope

If you are going to play games with it you would be better off building one or buying a clone with an AMD chip(price difference doesnt justify an Intel CPU), lotta RAM, at least a Geforce3 Ti 500 video card, and a 7200rpm HD. The 700 Dell will have an onboard sound chip as well as videochip, you would probably be disappointed.

If you know enough about a computer to build one, I would go with that option.  Get a dual Athlon motherboard and get two speedy processors for the same price as ONE Pentium 4 2.2 ghz.  If you want to go cheap, then you still may want to consider the homebuilt version.  Get a motherboard capable of taking a tualatin celeron processor that uses the .13 micron core technology that the Intel P4's use.  You can overclock the living crap outta one of these with almost no effort at all.  If you don't want to bother with overclocking the chip, then go with the Athlon for a chip with a great price/performance ratio.  The athlons are right up there with the P4's even though their MHZ rating is lower.  There are other things that make up for a higher MHZ and that would be a higher front side bus speed and more work per CPU cycle.  This is what gives the athlons the performance they need to keep up with the "faster" P4's.  If you want to spend a few extra bucks, the dual athlon motherboards aren't that expensive and they will toast a P4 quick using certain database software and game programs (quake III engine uses dual threading).  You just have to spend another $250 at least to cover the extra $ for the slightly more expensive motherboard and extra processor (not top of the line athlon, but close enough).  If you want, I can spec out a system for you at a reputable mail order company and you can simply order the parts by the number and then assemble them all when they get in.  Howz that sound...

If the chap knew enough about computers to build one I highly doubt he's post such a question as to which computer to use to a forum.

I just bought a DELL 8200.  2gig Pentium 4 with 256rdram and 80gig hard drive, 19inch screen, 24x CDWR.  Some more extras for $1199.  Near the top of the line, but not the top.  Goto techbargins.com and they have some discounts and mistakes on websites that you can take advantage of.  My buddy bought a 17inch LCD flat display from Dell for $167.  They tried to weasel out but he bought some more stuff so they gave it to him.

I do not care for ANY branded machine.  You are paying for the name, not hardware.  Proprietary stuff is difficult and expensive to upgrade; one of my problems with MAC.

Most any fool can build one - assemble the chunks really.  But one level lower than the fastest CPU to save some money; ie: a P III or AMD rather than a P IV.  Get the fastest hard disk you can find and a video card that is suited to your CPU and needs.  1000MHZ CPU is not the be all end all.  Performance is more affected by transfer speed to video, hard drive and amount of memory.  Windows version affects things as well.  Try to get 2000 Pro and hardweare that will work with it.  Vendors are generally (though not always) able to help you match video, CPU motherboard, drive, memory and OS.  Computer Shopper magazine helps although the price bot web sites are better.  ASUS makes a good motherboard although not the cheapest.  Intel chip sets are best with their CPU rather than some of the wannabes.

[url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?id=104442&page=2[/url]

ok guys, i could easily build a machine. i know a good deal about it. i have done it. the fact is, this isnt exactally my computer im talking about. it is for a family member. i said "my" becasue i thoguh i would spare everyone the boring details of the situtation, and get the stuff i need to know. i know all about machines, and how they work, and i know i could build something that would blow a low end dell or IBM out of the water. however some people arnt that confident, and want a name brand and warrantee (hence, they dont wanna take a chance on me screwing up something) i guess thats fair enough, all i really need to know it the quality and customer service of dell and IBM.

because there is no room for macs.  Get a pc if you want lots of functionality and compatibility, and get a workstation if you want power.  Mac is the worst of both worlds.

mattsd:  I would stay away from IBM.  My brother's IBM hard drive died after only 6 months, and the one they sent him to replace it(after 2 months of customer service red tape) died after a month.

I was thinking about an EMachine, Norm_G how long have you had yours? Do you play any games on it, I was wondering how the graphics are.

Hey didja ever think of building one??? It's real easy, why don't you try that?!?!?

(Just messin' with ya)

My 2 bits is to recommend that you avoid the AMD Athlon processor based systems.

I bought a 1.4 GHz AMD system from [url]www.project-ind.com[/url] and while it performs well the friggin thing is hot a damned furnace.

I actually hate using it because it heats up the entire office to unbearable proportions (I shit you not, the amount of heat this thing puts out is totally out of control.)

I won't buy another one regardless of how fast it is....unless I lived in North Dakota or something like that.