Should I buy - or build my new computer?

Rocksteady

Ok guys, this is my first time --- IF I decide to build a computer. I have some $ to work with, and hate to invest in another Dell, (which I read aren't even as good as they used to be Mad

) I looked at Sony, YIKES! What's with those PRICES!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! Shock

I really need some advice. It will be for a small business, so I'll need the XP-Pro, with Vista update capable OS. (Should I just wait for Vista? I heard it's going to be out in Jan. '07)

I know this is a shock, but I'm NOT a Gamer, please don't kick me out of TN!..

I just never got into it, so I won't need all that kind of stuff, but I still want good grapics & LOTS of gigs & memory.

I have a Dell with 256Ram (circa 2002) and as some of you will remember, I installed a new DVD drive with Sean's help (Thank you Sean!

) But to date, that's the only thing I've attempted after opening up the case. I was told there's room for a gig in there, should I just upgrade this one with some more memory or start over with a new empty case?

I'll needs Lots of virtual memory for pictures etc.

I like the green & blue lights in Hammy's case too,,

Also need a land line now, what's the word on Vonage?

I looked at Newegg this morning, but don't know where to start... All I know is I have to avoid static electricity while installing stuff with special gloves or touching metal before I go in, but the rest is uncharted waters to me. I'd sure hate to ruin a bunch of expensive stuff, maybe I should buy one, if so, WHICH one is best, guys?

I'm on my way out today, but I'll check back late this evening in case anybody has some ideas...Thanks so much in advance for the help too, you guys are the only ones I'd trust to ask!

All suggestions & ideas welcome, feel free to debate with each other on this subject too, I know I have a LOT to learn... Confused

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ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

hey rock....without even reading your post all the way through....

...what do you THINK we will all say....;D
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Rocksteady · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 1:01 pm Post subject:

Uhhhhh,,,, home built?

Yeah TH, but remember now, you're dealing with ME, and all my non-abilities, LOL,, so please have mercy!

As you can guess I'm not real sure of myself building one, so with that in mind, I wondered if there was a brand that was the lessor of the evils in a decent price range....? You geniuses have a tendency to overestimate my brain size,,

I have about $600. to play with, but only need the tower right now. I'm leaving in about 10 minutes for the whole day ( taking Mom shopping oh boy) back later,,,

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mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

Well, you probably won't be able to build a computer as cheaply as you can buy one, especially if you don't need top-of -the-line performance. However, building your own has the benefit of more closely tailoring the machine to your needs/desires. I, on the other hand, will never have another factory desktop. This is because I like tinkering and tweaking my computers.

Frankly, there's not much difference between the brands you mention. Let's face it, if you need customer support, you're pretty much hosed with them all. At work, we buy Dells and have very little trouble with them.

My 2 cents.

Good luck!

sickofsoyo · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:33 pm Post subject:

if I was in your position, I'd wait for the new core 2 low end CPU, E4350 or something, and use that.
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fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

Building a system isn't really all that hard, if you take your time. It really depends on your budget, though, and how in-depth you want to get.

Like Mojo said, as far as store-bought, you're pretty much on your own anyway, and Dells are one of the better pre-built rigs available. We use several of them at work, and have very few issues, our call center has never missed a minute of action due to a downed machine.
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Xal · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:46 am Post subject:

Having dealt with people in your computer literacy braket a lot (no offense intended RS

) I would say you'd be better off buying a prebuilt system. When it comes to prebuilt you are always better off with a brand, lets face it, there are a lot of complete morons building systems out there and the last thing you want is to fork out for a nice new system that frys in a month because the idiot forgot to apply thermal compound to the HSF or some other stupid mistake. I have always supported HP for office systems and to date they have never let me down. For a start, HP contracts ASUS for their motherboards and IMO that is a good thing. HP also have a lot less in the way of customized parts, meaning that you can usually replace parts with standard off the shelf parts. Dell for example usually require that you replace parts with only DELL replacement parts. Also, if you go for a brand PC then get a desktop, avoid "slim" or "compact" systems like the plague. Not one Brand makes them right and they are a nightmare to find parts for and upgrade.

On another note, why not get a good laptop that will suit your needs, seeing as you are not a gamer you can pick up a suitable laptop for arround the same price you would spend on a custom build (give or take $100).

Ordinarily a custom build gets my vote but in your case I would say HP and only because of all the systems I have used they have given me the least headaches.
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HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

Xal · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:41 am Post subject:

Try saying that to the client I had that fried 4 motherboards trying to use a standard PSU on their dell systems. They may be using off the shelf stuff now but I have worked with numerous nonstandard dell systems in the past and as a result have kept clear of them since. This is my opinion dude, no need to jump to dells defence so vehiemently

Dell are a good brand, I never said they weren't, I only said that I prefer HP systems. I have had less issues with HP than dell and HP are cheaper in most cases (at least they are here). A point against dell though from a tweakers perspective is that a lot of their lower end systems don't have PCIE or AGP slots.

Oh, and if my info is outdated tough &%^$, I don't care cuz thats not the point. I can't be bothered to say "on dell model XXX made in XXXX there was a problem with blah" so when I say something don't be so quick to jump down my throught. I had a bad experience with dell desktops and switched to HP, if dell have resolved the issues I had with them then good for them.

And will people
PLEASE STOP TYPING STUFF IN CAPS....
it looks rude.... see^^

At the end of the day, Dell or HP doesn't make much difference to RS, its all preference. So, feel free to go to a store and do it the chick way

Buy the one that looks coolest to you. If you want guidelines on specs just ask and you shall recieve....... in abundance

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Xal · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:46 am Post subject:

Oh and just to add, the nonstandard motherboard form factor is just one of the things I was refering to, whilst you can find motherboards to fit dell cases, some won't, hence the non standard comment. Dell laptops are good, I usually recomend them but I don't personally like dell workstations.
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HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

Xal · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 8:19 am Post subject:

Cool, lol, it was about 6 or 7 years ago that I had issues with them. Glad they finaly woke up and did it right.
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Rocksteady · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:52 pm Post subject:

The Chick way, eh Xal?

I hope you know me better than THAT! You're so funny, I laughed a long time over that one,,,

That's how I choose a purse, not a puter.. (check this out, lol:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AVRI&viewitem=&item=180065990738&rd=1&rd=1

I might get one of these, not sure, it's a lot of clams for an empty bag, hee hee)

Anyway Xal you're so right about my computer literacy bracket, which is why I asked what everyone thought. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to reply, it helps so much, and I think I'll take all you Tweaker's collective advice & get another Dell.

My old Dimensioon 8200 @ 256mb is running slow now, even with a 5 meg upgrade, but has never given me a problem I couldn't fix myself (or with TN's help,, Very Happy

)

HoseB, I don't know much about HP, so I'm glad you also think a Dell is ok.

Mojo & FnF seem to agree too about a pre-built too, which is comforting.

Sickofsoyo, good point about the core 2, Dell offers this option in several of their desktops.

Xal, I agree about avoinding the Spacesavers, EVEN THO THEY LOOK REALLY COOL, LOL

Good idea about the laptop... Y'know something, I already have a Dell Inspiron that I don't use much, remember the one my cousin put a new motherboard in for me last year? It's really nice, but it only has 128mb. Slooooooowwww,,, so it stays in my brief case.

Maybe I should toss that in the puter shop for a supreme upgrade.....? I could call & see what they were able to do. The batteries won't hold a charge, but I could fix it up for a lot less than buying a new rig I'm sure, depending on how much space it has in there for memory.. I think my cuz said it was capable of holding a gig, which is an improvement. (!!!!) I even have a laptop cooler pad for it, and it looks great. Hmmmmm..

I went to Dell.com and "built" one to see the price. With everything I wanted, starting with a $599 base price, it came to $1699, this did NOT include the monitor or speaker system, but had the Core 2 - 5000 and 2 gigs, 160mb hard drive, and few other frills that I really want bad. This is clearly way beyond my budget!!!

Next question:

What would you guys think of my throwing both the laptop & the Dimension into the shop for serious upgrades? There's really nothing wrong with my old 2002, but is it worth fixing up? Or should I wait till I can afford a new purse? Errrr, I mean computer?

We're lucky to have a great computer place in town, and they do good work.

Thanks for all your help guys, what would I do without my TN'ers to keep me out of trouble? Shock

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mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

sickofsoyo · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:23 pm Post subject:

yeah, for sh*ts and giggles, what exactly are you aiming to do and spend?
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HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

Rocksteady · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:32 pm Post subject:

Mojo, you're so cool, thanks! I'm limited to $600. right now, that's why I wondered if I should just upgrade the laptop & desktop's memory + gigs etc. with that $..

HoseB, thanks for checking that out, here's a list of stuff I wanted on a 9200.. I skimmed it down to $1012, still too high.. :

here's what I like, yeah that 20"monitor looks niceeeeee,,

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6300 (2MB L2 Cache,1.86GHz,1066 FSB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Professional edit
UPGRADE TO WINDOWS VISTA Upgrade to Windows Vista Business from XP Pro, $10 payable at redemption edit
MEMORY 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs edit
HARD DRIVE Free Upgrade from 80GB to 160GB edit
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive edit
MONITOR Free Upgrade from E197FP to E207FP edit
VIDEO CARD 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache edit
SOUND Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit
OPTIONAL PORTS IEEE 1394 Adapter edit
Accessories
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER No Floppy Drive Included edit
MODEM No Modem Requested edit
SPEAKERS No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) edit
KEYBOARD Dell USB Keyboard edit
MOUSE Dell Optical USB Mouse edit
Software
PRE-INSTALLED PRODUCTIVITY No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD edit
PRE-INSTALLED SECURITY Norton Internet Security™ 2006 Edition 15-months edit
Service
WARRANTY & SERVICE 1 Year On-site Economy Plan edit
DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS No ISP requested edit
PURCHASE INTENT Purchase is not intended for resale. edit

ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
Miscellaneous Dimension 9200
Labels Windows Vista™ Capable
Digitial Music Music Jukebox by Yahoo! Music - Basic music software
Digital Photography Corel Snapfire Basic - Organize and Edit your photos
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0

total - $1,012
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Xal · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject:

Heres what I would build for ya, for sh!ts and giggles hehe

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133172
Case with window

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153028
Thermaltake 500w Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131030
Asus P5B motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116001
Pentium D 805 2.66ghz dual core (can be upgraded to conre later)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136003
320GB Hard disk

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145539
Corsair XMS2 RAM - 1GB (2x512)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102190
Soundblaster X-fi Platinum (cuz I know you like to mess with music

)

Add your choice of DVD burner and acessories.....

Someone else can tally up the cost but I am fairly sure its under any of the brand offers in the same category

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Xal · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:39 pm Post subject:

Oh and this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130052
Graphics card

Then you could just use your old screen etc untill you have more cash to upgrade

This is all just for kicks though, I'll have a look for a brand that will do what you need for around your budget

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Custom case

Rocksteady · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:44 pm Post subject:

WOW Xal, that's great, thanks! I'll definitely check it out.. I always liked Newegg. The question is would I build it RIGHT. hee hee//

Btw, the music thing is already taken care of tho, I run mine through a 600 watt power amp into 2 JBL tower speakers with four 15" speakers, horns & 2 built in subwoofers.

Plus I have an extra 15" 250 watt powered sub hooked up just for shts & giggles, LOL,

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mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

That's not a bad start-up system you've come up with Xal. I added XP MC for OS and that totals $958.31 shipped. She'll have at least another $50 in odds and ends, so let's call it $1000.

So, Rock, you can trim the above system a bit, depending on what you need/want. You may be able to make it affordable, but, Frankly, $600 isn't much to work with.

You may want to upgrade what you have a bit, and start buying components as you can afford them. Buy the mobo, CPU and memory last.

Hell, I don't know. Now I don't even know what to advise you to do.

Xal · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 5:28 pm Post subject:

Well, take out the sound card and use onboard, that saves 180ish then go for a cheap nonbranded case with its own PSU (crapy but good enough for a base system) and you can drop it by another 100 or so. That sould bring you down to arround 750ish. You could build a cheaper system if you bought a lower spec motherboard but it wouldn't be as upgradable and you'd end up replacing it with a better board later anyways.

For now get yourself a RAM and hard disk upgrade for your dell and that should tide you over till you can afford a new system.

Here is an HP option from newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883107184
Pentuim 4 3.06GHZ which you should be able to upgrade to dual core cheaply, IE the CPU I posted earlier will work in it as far as I know. No monitor but you could use your existing one to start off with.

Here is a laptop you may like

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834115300

I would suggest you save up a bit more cash and build your own decent system tho, you could get step by step instructions from us if needs be

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ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

Building a comp yourself (which im confident you could do) also yields for better upgradability.

Picture this....

Top of the line MOBO....
Top of the line PSU (since you dont want to wire THAT again...lol)
Bottom of the line CPU, GFX, and RAM.

Then...when money comes in, you can upgrade each of your interchangable parts individually and have yourself a sweet machine....

my .02
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Rocksteady · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:21 pm Post subject:

Yeah Mojo, I'm a little confused myself, which is nothing new! geek

TH, I like that idea, skimp on the fun stuff till later.. What do you think the price would be, using components you'd choose for yourself? Remember, I'll still have access to my first Dell for all the music stuff. It's just for a small biz, but needs to be FAST & reliable.

HB, I hate to miss that deal on the Dell 9200, but need to consider costs.

And your Newegg frankenputer sounds wonderful someday, Xal.

How's this plan, Guys:: (??)

How about I ask the local PC place what they'd charge to beef up both the LP & DT for me, and get a new monitor. A SUPER good new monitor, like 2dad.

heh heh Now I need to know which monitors you all would recommend, depending on the cost of the LT & DT upgrades. I'm thinking $400 for the upgrades & $200 for the monitor....? or vice versa, gotta check.

The orig. Dell 8200 tower case I got in '02 would be real easy to add to, it was the largest one available at the time, and has LOTS of room inside, since I always planned to upgrade everything later. I have pix of it I'll post later, that I took while switching out a 2nd DVD drive. It looked so simple to bulid, just bolt stuff in or plug in stuff.

How tough would it be to upgrade both LT & DT, is my question now. The Laptop is virtually new, with no miles on the MB yet, so I'm thinking that might be the best idea (for the price.) .

I might upgrade to XP PRO & the highest memory etc. on the LT, for the business, and hook in the new monitor....?

Hey thanks for all your ideas, it's narrowing things down now. That $600. has to stretch a bit, so I want to move slow after looking all all options carefully..

It's just so cool to have an excuse to get and/or upgrade a new puter!!!

It's getting close to my birthday too, I love this time of year

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Very Happy

Can I hook up a new flat screen monitor to the LT? Never really dealt with the thing, since I like the big system better all around.
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2old2care · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:36 pm Post subject:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128025

945 mobo w /ICH7 southbridge ...Saves several bucks and natively supports PATA opticals... will be much easier to deal with for a first timer.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116213

How about spending $12 more and getting the 800FSB Smithfield core. This is a cool running chip, and has a lot of bang for the buck.

Oh crap....RS posted while I was doing this. Oh well, I'll post it anyway.

RS you can pick up this Dell 24" for just over 7bills, which is a good deal for these monitors. I like mine.

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