Maveric's Computer Suggestion Request

[Maveric]

As some of you know, My Dell Laptop bit the dust (yes, the warranty has expired) and it looks unlikely that my brother will be able to get his friend to fix/upgrade it. I bought the Laptop as a Desktop Replacement. The Dell was reliable for the three years I had it and ran great up until about the time the warranty expired (go figure). The Dell Customer Service was also really helpful. I loved having the small compactness of the laptop, but I kind of miss the 19-inch screen that I had with my former Desktop. If I get another Laptop it would have to be at least 17 inches. 60 Gig memory was enough for me although I care more about the RAM and Graphics (NVIDIA only since CoH was designed using their features), both of which should be high-end quality.

So now I’m debating on whether or not to go back to a Desktop especially now that Flat Panels have drastically reduced in price. I prefer a Higher-End equipment/computers as they seem to last longer, considering how fast Technology advances.

I can probably afford $2,000.00 - $3,000.00, depends on if I get the Unit Operations Manager position that I recently applied for at the Hospital (wish me luck). I do spend a lot of my free time on the computer so I’m willing to spend a little more than I normally would on my hobbies.

Is Alienware really that over-hyped?

Okay, so here’s the request;

Pretend you have about $2,500.00 and can probably get another $500.00 or so if you think you need it. Post what Laptop and or Desktop system you would buy and include some of your opinions about it.

Much appreciation for the help,

-Mav

[inkblaster]

Wow, if I didn't hear the roar of chirping crickets I'd have never noticed this thread.

I can't speak much to the current best of the best for manufacturers, I will say desktops are cool as you can upgrade, and speaking of cool, I really like the shuttle XPC cooling system for the processor, slap a radiator in the pc and call it good! Nice small form factor, and PCI-Express ta boot.

If I had the money I'd build me one of them today, but I don't and can't really justify it(pokes 6-year old desktop, c'mon, BREAK!), but just sayin' that's what I'd go with.

And lcd panels schmanels, give me my 21" CRT monitor any day, that healthy glow I give off helps me see in the dark better. ;)

[ThunderMace]

I would just build my own. is that not something you are able/willing to do?
also look for some good deals on New egg and Global, I saw they were selling an Amd 3000+ 64 bit system for @ 600 sans video card.

[Blur]

If your going for a laptop, it's pretty tough and expensive to build one, although it can be done. My sister just got an alienware laptop and she seems happy with it. Itf your going the desktop route, I would build it yourself. Look for deals at Fry's or your local computer store. Fry's always has motherboard/cpu combos at great prices. New egg has good prices as well.

[Malibu Sally]

How about those of us who have no clue about assembling one ourselves? Any recommendations?

Please.. no "it's easy to build one". Been through that already and it's NOT.

[Blur]

If your going for a laptop, it's pretty tough and expensive to build one, although it can be done. My sister just got an alienware laptop and she seems happy with it. Itf your going the desktop route, I would build it yourself. Look for deals at Fry's or your local computer store. Fry's always has motherboard/cpu combos at great prices. New egg has good prices as well.

You could take it to a store with computer services, and they would do it for a price. ex Bestbuy or Compusa.

[Black Razor]

I highly advise Voodoo PC (http://www.voodoopc.com/). There systems are much better then Alienware. Or at the very least try a Falcon NW (http://www.falcon-nw.com/) system. Alienware PCs arnt any better then Dells or Compaqs ..there mass produced. Thats not a bad thing but if your looking for a high end to mid range gaming PC the two I listed are MUCH better. I actually have a system from each of them ..Fragbox from Falcon and a Voodoo Omen .. and both are excellent computers. However if you have the technical knowledge building your own system is the way to go... much cheaper and you can potentially get a much better system.

[Lorash]

The only problem I have with Alienware, and why I stay away from thier stuff, is that they tend to overclock thier parts. Over clocking can be fun, but only if you know exactly what you're doing, and are willing to accept the consequences of a higher probability of your parts going to hell and having no recourse (ie. a voided warranty).

If you're going for a laptop, I'd recommend an IBM, if you want something solid that'll last a while. I had a laptop (which I sold to a friend) that I got in 99 that's still going strong and the only thing I ever needed to do with it was replace the cd drive with a dvd drive ;)

Compaq laptops are ok, but after a few years they tend to develop problems due to some of the chincy internal cabling (especially for the connector that goes (inside) from the mobo to the screen), and that leads to having to smack it often in certain spots to get it to work right.

If you want something 'off the shelf' in a desktop, and don't plan on relying on the excruciating pain of thier technical support you could always go with a Dell.

As Black Razor so appropriately mentioned, Voodoo PC and Falcon NW are also great choices, and I've never heard anything bad said about machines produced from either. Falcon is a long-time builder of machines made especially made for the Gamer, so that would be my first choice, if I could afford it.

I tend to build my own systems, because it does tend to be a little cheaper, and I like the 'electric legos' feeling of building them on my own ;)

Hope it helps.

[Remianen]

BR is wise.

But one place I can recommend for more budget minded folks is United Micro (http://www.unitedmicro.com/) . A friend of mine recommended them to me and I managed to score an Athlon XP 3200+ with 512 megs of RAM, GeForce 5700 LE, 200 gig hard drive (only 7200 rpm tho), Soundblaster Audigy Gamer+ card, etc for $803 total (shipping included). That was great for me because I just needed a new rig FAST since the venerable Gateway I had been using for years had finally given up the ghost. :p It's just a stopgap machine until I can finish putting together my dream rig (with dual Xeon processors and all that other unnecessary stuff :P). I can put together a machine on United Micro's configurator within your budget that would be a pretty dang good gaming rig. Play around with the configurator and see what you come up with. Voodoo and Falcon Northwest are great too but IMO they're for "computer enthusiasts". I love 'em but they may be a bit high end for many folks just looking to get a computer that can play today's games and run basic software packages.

[Half Life]

If you want a good gaming rig, try www.ibuypower.com they assemble them for you and its not Dell, so you will be getting good gaming parts. They have some pretty cool cases and you can completely build your computer yourself in terms of what parts you want.

The most expensive thing you will get is your graphics card, i recommend finding what is the most expensive and going a step below that. The newest ones are always overpriced, so the one below it is usually just as good but saves ya 75 bucks.

[Maveric]

thanks for all the advice guys/gals. i'm really not into building the comp myself. last time i tried manually working on my desktop, i almost broke that card thingy that i had to install for the broadband modem connection.

i don't trust my brother's friend to build one for me.

good news!, i just learned that i can get a dell computer using a discount through my job's E.P.P. (employer purchasing program) who are partnered with dell. at the moment, i can get $400.00 off and an additional 12% off total price if I get the 3 year complete care package which i had planed to do anyways... the discount ends today and will probably change or be extended. basically i've pretty much decided to get a desktop XPS Gen4 system.

could you guys/gals do me another favor and log onto dell.com and help me customize it?

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/dimen_xps4?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

hard disk space is not a big deal to me, 60 gigs was fine. what i really want is super fast performance. also, i'm unsure about the monitor choice. i definitely want a large flat panel (space saver) but i want superior graphics as well. also not sure what the difference/advantage is with the LCD flat panel compared to the other flat panels....

anyways, same as before, pretend you have $3,000.00 and are going to buy a dell XPS Gen4 system, how would you customize it and why...

thanks again all!

-mav

[Remianen]

Now, I'm going by your stated preferences though I think that going with a bigger hard drive can extend the life of your computer. Mainly by preventing the need (down the road) of upgrading storage. Going for a lot more RAM than you currently need is another way. This is what I came up with:

Dimension XPS Gen4
Date & Time: April 28, 2005 8:18:48 AM
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Dimension XPS Gen4 Qty 1
Pentium® 4 Processor 640 with HT Technology (3.20GHz, 800 FSB), Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition Unit Price $3,325.00
Dell Home Customers: Save $400 off the Dell Dimension XPS!
Offer Ends Soon! View Details
- $400.00
Catalog Number: 29
Sort
Module Description Product Code Sku Id
Dell Dimension XPS Series - Gen 4 Pentium® 4 Processor 640 with HT Technology (3.20GHz, 800 FSB) M640H [221-8099] 1
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition WHXP [313-7222][412-0688][420-4927][412-0749][412-0721][420-4938] 11
Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x1GB) 2GB5 [311-3771] 3
Keyboard Dell Quietkey® Keyboard QK [310-1582] 4
Monitors SAVE $100! 20.1 in 2001FP Digital Flat Panel 2001100 [463-6627] 5
Video Card 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce 6800 NV6800 [320-4081] 6
Hard Drive 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) 80S [341-0986] 8
Floppy Drive and Additional Storage Devices 3.5 in Floppy Drive FD [340-1927] 10
Mouse Dell 2-button scroll mouse SM [310-1871] 12
Network Interface Integrated Gigabit Ethernet IN [430-0742] 13
Modem No Modem Requested N [313-3607] 14
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0 AAREAD [412-0705] 15
CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD + FREE UPGRADE! 16x DVD+/-RW w/dbl layer write DV16DVP [463-4686][420-5079] 16
Sound Cards Sound Blaster Audigy™ 2 ZS (D) Card w/Dolby 5.1, IEEE 1394 capability SBA2X [313-3114] 17
Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) N [313-4514] 18
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only CORELM [412-0701] 22
Security Software No Security Subscription NS2 [412-0754] 25
Digital Music No Digital Music Software Requested NOMM [461-8388] 27
Digital Photography No Digital Imaging Software Requested NODPS [461-3064] 28
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options Save $90 Instantly with the 4yr Premium Solution Package PRSDHS4 [960-5880][902-1553][902-1603][950-7447][960-2800][982-0947][982-0828] 29
Premier Warranty Support Dimension XPS, Specialized Support XPSSUPP [960-2697] 31
Internet Access Services 6 Months of America Online Membership Included AOLDHS [412-0585][412-0625][412-0687][420-3224] 37
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support XPS3SAP [463-5453] 82
Financial Software No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial QBSSP [420-5139] 83
ACCESSORIES
Dell 720 Color Printer Qty 1
Free Dell Color Printer 720 Unit Price $0.00
Catalog Number: 29
Sort
Module Description Product Code Sku Id
Dell Color Printer 720 Free Dell Color Printer 720 FREE720 [255-0071] 1
Hardware Support Services 1Yr Ltd. Warranty- Advance Exchange AE1YR [902-7040][960-4638][960-2840] 29
TOTAL: $2,925.00

It's not the best system out there, but it should fit your needs for at least a year or so (depending on how much Longhorn changes things).

[suburbanhell]

ViciousPC.com has some pretty nice build-your-own systems...this one is the high end of your price range but just messing around with it I came up with this:

PROCESSORIntel Pentium 4 LG 775 Prescott Processor at 2.8EGHz, 800MHz FSB, 1M CacheSYSTEM COLORJet BlackMAIN BOARDMSI 865PE NEO3-F INTEL 865PE w/800MHz FSB, 8X AGP SATA & DDR OnlyMEMORY1024MB Kingston PC2-4200 DDR2 533MHz Memory (2 X 512MB)HARD DRIVE 1200GB S-ATA 150 7200RPM Hard DriveHARD DRIVE 2None.RAID SETTINGRAID 0 Striped Drives - For Performance Purposes (SATA Drives Only)VIDEOnVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB DDR3 w/PCI Express, DVI and TV OutCD/DVD/RW 152X Max Variable CD-ROM DriveCD/DVD/RW 2Internal DVD+CD Rewritable Combo Drive 16X52X32X52RECORDING SOFTWARERoxio Easy CD & DVD Creator 6 Basic DVD/CD RW SoftwareSOUNDCreative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum ZS 7.1 Retail EditionMODEMInternal Creative Labs Modem Blaster 56K V.92NETWORK CARDOnboard Gigabit (10/100/1000) PCI Network CardFLOPPY DRIVE1.44MB 3 1/2 Floppy Disk DriveCASEFull Tower Screwless AMD/Intel Certified 350W Case w/TyphoonTM Cooling SystemCASE MOD"See Through" Side Window bearing Vicious Logo and Red Cold-Cathod LightingCASE COOLINGLevel 3 TyphoonTM Cooling system w/Dual Additional 8CM Front Case FanKEYBOARDLogitech Cordless Multimedia Keyboard (Comes with Matching Cordless Mouse)MOUSELogitech Cordless Mouse (Comes with Matching Logitech Cordless Keyboard Only)SPEAKERSCreative Labs Inspire 7700 7.1 8-Channel Speakers w/SubwooferPORTS1 Serial, 1 Parallel, 1 Game/Midi and 6 USB portsMONITORViewsonic G90FB 19" 0.21 dp 1600X1200 PerfectFlat MonitorOSMicrosoft Windows XP Home EditionSERVICEStandard 3 Year Limited Parts and Labor WarrantyMEDIA READERInternal 7 in 1 Card ReaderSTORAGE MEDIACD Recordable Media 100 CD SpindleSOFTWARE BUNDLEMicrosoft Office XP ProfessionalADDITIONAL SOFTWARENorton Anti-Virus 2004Price:$2941.00

Edit: Oh I'm soooo glad that came out readable... :rolleyes:

[Lorash]

Now, I'm going by your stated preferences though I think that going with a bigger hard drive can extend the life of your computer. Mainly by preventing the need (down the road) of upgrading storage. Going for a lot more RAM than you currently need is another way. This is what I came up with:

Mine came out basically the same as Remianen's, but i went a little conservative with the monitor (19" in stead of the 20") and 1GB of memory instead of 2GB, which saves you $530.

If you have the cash, though those upgrades will keep you going for well over a year (I'd probably get at least 2 years out of such a setup without feeling "the need for speed") without feeling a pinch hardwarewise, imo.

I would take, if it were me, the cash savings from my two "downgrades" and crank up the processor speed to the maximum one in the list (3.80GHz), as it would be much MUCH easier to upgrade a couple of ram sticks or a monitor later down the road, if you needed to. And you still end up saving about a hundred and ten bucks, on top of it.

I myself have a 19" Planar LCD now for going on 2 years and I love it. If I ever replace it as my primary desktop monitor, I'll be using it as a tv in my home theater setup in my bedroom.