Posted: 7/26/2008 3:02:22 PM EDT
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In the market for a new desktop. Looking at a gateway at Best Buy for $550. I have a nice new monitor. Basic details are Quad Core 2.1 Ghz 1 Gig Ram 500 Gig HD ATI 256 Card Card reader slots DVD Burner. I have built my own in the past but dont want to deal with that again, but I guess I am handy with them. I have reservations about getting a mass produced unit. But what is everyone else using? And would you recommend or steer clear from Gateway. Thanks |
| My exgf had one of those all in one unit gateways that was a POS, used oddball propitiatory parts you couldn't buy anywhere. The normal towers maybe a bit better when it comes to that. For the money though you could get a barebones kit from tigerdirect with a bit of a faster cpu and a couple gigs more of RAM. Only downside would be I dont think they come with anysort of OS so if you dont already have a copy of XP or Vista thats another $1xx. Also if you do any gaming you'll probably want something better then a 256meg ATI card. |
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go have a local computer shop custom build one for you. you'll get the exact specs you want, you can still get XP, and you'll be supporting a small business. almost all "off the shelf" computers are made with cheep components, and don't perfom as well as they should by the spec sheet. most major brand computers use crappy hard drives and poorly timed motherboards. BTW, in computers you really do get what you pay for. |
Video would be fine then, But 1 gig ram is pitiful, you'll want atleast 1 more. I'd compare prices of building your own over on tigerdirect and newegg first, like I said in the previous post you'll get something a bit nicer. Oh and if you go tigerdirect you'll need to buy a cpu fan seperate most of there barebones dont include that. The only prebuilt pc I would buy again would probably be a Sony, I had one I gave away to my niece and nephew and its still running after 8 years with all the original components minus the HD that I replaced when I had it for a larger one. |
Yup, it's known as the "Gateway to Hell" for a reason. Take a look at Systemax. Made and supported in the USA. www.systemaxpc.com/ |
| Looked at tigerdirect and your right, thats the way to go. One question about the power supply. Does it usually come with all the required harnesses and wiring. I would imagine that the mobo instructions would come with a diagram of where everything gets plugged into. The PCI cards, ram and stuff are all no brainers but the wiring is a little confusing. But I am guessing that if my pot smoking high school drop brother can build a killer system I should be ok. Thanks for the help guys you confirmed something I was already thinking. |
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Don't buy a Gateway if you intend to run XP (99% chance it'll come with Vista)... you'll have to research the source of every single piece of hardware and gather the drivers from the four corners of the earth. Gateway will only provide drivers for the OS they install which will be Vista. Also, margins are razor thin on PCs, so it's a safe bet they'll cut any corner they can to save a dime. That means they'll use shitty components for the power supply, cables, off-brand memory, optical drives... you name it. Better to build it yourself and KNOW what's inside at the end of the day; you'll be glad you did. |
Yes the PS's in the kits will have all the needed plugs for the mobo and other drives with a few left over in case you decide to add more drives in the future. Hooking power to the mobo is very easy, usually the biggest pain in the ass wiring wise is doing any additional usb or firewire ports that maybe on the front of the case, but the board should come with a schematic showing where to plug in for additional ports. |
Why would you assume the OP can't speak Tamil?  I have a circa '98 Dell running XP. I just replaced the original HD (40 gig should last forever!), maxed out the memory @750k and went broadband internet. Little sucker runs fine for me, but I don't do games. If I were to replace it I'd go local. We have a young guy who opened his own shop and he has helped me both at work and home in the past. Knows his stuff. Last one I built was a 486. When the Pentium's came out Dell was too close to what I could do it for to fool with it. |
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i've been ordering dells for the business i work for for 2.5 years. i've ordered alot of them and have probably had maybe 3 incidents that caused me a head ache. for the most part they are a good brand. the vostro line runs strong. hell even the walmart line of dell inspirons runs well. hp is ok in my opinion also. lenovo is a bit more expensive i believe but they are a good brand definately. for that matter i have a systemax server sitting right next to my desk that has been great. i have had it for about a year an a half now. its run smooth the enitre time. so i vote for systemax as well. you can't really go wrong with any of those. after that its just preference in what you want it to do and look like. |
Dude, 640K should be enough memory for anyone! 
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Nope, he's wrong. The worst piece of shit out there is eMachines. Of course, Gateway owns eMachines. Seriously, avoid Gateway and eMachines like the plague. Lately I've been having problems with Toshiba, too. I've been having good luck with Dell and HP hardware. Dell tends to ship basic systems without a lot of crapware and are pretty much ready to go out of the box. The HPs tend to be totally crammed with crapware and are in serious need of an enema before you can use it. You need to go into "Add/Remove Programs" and uninstall everything that isn't a part of Windows. |
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